Raising Support : Raising {little} Children

I have had the thought, "this {raising support} would be easier if we didn't have three small littles underfoot"...but then I hear Karis from the other room singing, "Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust Him more".  What a great reminder, yes 'tis so Sweet to trust in Jesus! Her sweet little voice just singing away, all Glory to God, and my heart once again is reminded to be thankful. To trust Jesus in this entire process of raising support. To lean on the only One who is capable to sustain us, provide for us and give us the grace to {continue} to trust Him more.

If I didn't have Karis, Isaac and Olivia around, I might possibly miss out on some pretty good lessons the Lord is teaching me. We read them devotional stories from a great children's book, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing and just recently I read them the story about the mustard seed (as mentioned in the Bible in Luke 17). The words in the devotional pierced my heart...

Even the tiniest speck of faith--the little 

bit you have--so-small-it's-hardly-even-there faith--is 

enough.  Enough for you to do whatever Jesus 

has asked you to do. Because it's not about 

us and how much faith we have. 

It's about him and how faithful he is!

Those last lines, especially resounded in my heart. Because as we raise support, it's easy to get so focused on the here and now and think about how much we lack, or how much farther we have to go to obtain our goal...and then we can get discouraged thinking we may never get there. So it's in moments like that, the Lord even used a devotional for our children to remind me that my hope and trust is in Him. My faith is in Him...not in the goals we have to obtain financially. 

Cultivating their hearts is also VERY important to us during this time. I have the opportunity to continue to share Christ with them (because that's why we are going to Poland) and model my own trust in Him for all things. To provide all we need. It's always fun to hear Karis ask me what I'm doing as I write thank you's and she says, "are they supporting us?" Yes they are baby! And I pray that she (and the other two) grow to cherish these faithful supporters as much as Steve and I already do.

Wow, thank you Lord for not allowing us to raise support without Karis, Isaac, and Olivia!

Karis helping daddy send emails while she eats her snack.

He keeps us laughing when we start to feel discouraged.

This face just says it all-because some days as we're making phone calls, sending emails or meeting with people, he can be a handful-but still, we are thankful.

Karis enjoys helping as we write thank you notes to those who have begun to support us.

Our kids have enjoyed some extra snuggles with daddy during this time. Steve is down to 3/4 hours (and pay) so two days out of the week are spent at home for us to work on making contacts.

and sometimes, you just have to take time out of the emails/phone calls, etc. to play Candyland!

And then...there's Olivia...she's pretty chill.

And we're also enjoying new milestones in between the busy-ness of raising support!

So my heart is singing -- even when it is NOT easy to raise support with three little ones:

I'm so glad I learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior friend; And I know that Thou art with me, Wilt be with me to the end. Jesus, Jesus how I trust Him! How I've proved Him o'er and o'er! Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!

For more info about our transition to Poland, click HERE!