Absolutely the Coolest

Sometimes, no, wait, all the time, I'm utterly astounded by Jesus' goodness, His love, His never-failing faithfulness to us. His care and provision for us never fails, He comes through every time. It's beautiful and wonderful and exciting to see, to experience. My heart is bursting with joy for all the things He has done. There are so many little things, small ways He shows His care.

I recently discovered that there is a Disney quotes Twitter feed, naturally I started following it. I saw a quote from the song "That's How You Know" from the movie Enchanted, it said, "He'll find a new way to show you a little bit every day/That's how you know.../That's how you know he's in love."

The little blessings Jesus gives us, the ways He provides for us - in huge and small ways - remind me of that song. Daily He finds new ways to show us how deeply He love us. Blue, sunny skies when our hearts are grey and rainy, the perfect song playing at just the right moment to speak to what is on our hearts, His care shown through the kind or encouraging words of a friend. There's no denying - He's in love.

He's in love...with us! How incredible! It astounds me, amazes me, excites me. Seeing the way Jesus shows us that love, the ways He answers prayers, the ways He provides, it's just the coolest. It is so cool to see Jesus provide, that's all there is to it.

I've seen a lot of that provision recently, in small and large ways.

Like this coming Monday I'm running the Bolder Boulder this weekend. It's a 10k run in Boulder, Colorado that I really wanted to run ever since I learned about it last year, but really couldn't afford (why is it so expensive just to run?) So I decided I'd just save and do it next year...until one of my friends won a free entry, was unable to compete due to an injury, and gave me the free entry! So I'm running the Bolder Boulder. I didn't even pray to be able to run it, and Jesus still provided!

So I've been praying for money to be able to pay for college, and was proactive too by applying for a few scholarships. Months later, I hadn't heard from either one and figured I hadn't received them. I put paying for college and paying off loans before they accrued too terribly much interest into God's hands, knowing He'd help since He knew I definitely couldn't afford it on my own. Then I found out, my mom had forgotten to tell me I'd gotten one of the scholarships! And on Monday I got a call from the other scholarship I'd applied for, I got that one as well! To top it all off, the award ceremony for the second scholarship (from the ISA Houston) is on June 6, right after I'm done with finals, and my grandpa is paying for me to stop in Houston on the way back to St. Louis, go to the ceremony, and spend time with he and my grandma. I'd really wanted a chance to see them soon, as we usually only see them once a year and for a limited time at Thanksgiving. What a blessing!

And now for the icing on the proverbial cake of Jesus' beautifully sweet love and provision.

So one of my friends, let's call him Chip Wazowski since his real name can't be revealed at the moment, has been raising support for a summer missions project overseas, the location also cannot be revealed. A little over a week ago we were talking and he told me he still needed about $1,000 in support. Despite the large sum, I was sure God would provide if He wanted Chip to go on the project. I spoke to my friend again on Tuesday night...he still needed $1,000 and was supposed to leave Thursday morning. He needed $1,000 in one day.

Chip wasn't worried though, he said he wished he knew what God wanted for his summer - whether he was to go overseas or not - but he knew God would provide one way or another. I promised to pray for him, and prayed for peace and provision for my friend throughout Wednesday. I know I wasn't the only one lifting his support-raising and summer plans up to the Lord. Then I logged onto Facebook later last night and saw a status on Chips page - he was going on project!

He told me all the money had come in on Wednesday, people he hadn't even asked and barely knew had given him money! It was the coolest thing ever. Sitting there on my computer, hearing Chips story over Facebook messenger, my mind was blown by Jesus' answer to prayers. I was sure God had planted a desire to go serve through this trip on Chip's heart, and if God wanted him overseas, God would provide the money. And He did!

One of Chip's friends still needs $3,000 for the same trip by Saturday. If you can support him monetarily, message me and I'll send you a link to his page, and if not then pray, because prayer is powerful. Pray for the whole group going, that they will be strong in the Lord and spread His love and His message to the people in the country they are going to, that His glory would be known throughout the world.

Jesus is the coolest, providing the absolutely most amazing love, care, grace, and provision for us, His utterly undeserving and totally unworthy children. His love never fails, and His faithfulness is unyielding.