and then there were 18

sometimes i just don't trust God to take care of things. i tend to go about my life as if my worry and insecurity were gonna add days to it. why do i do this?
hank and i have been worked up into a frenzy (ok, I'VE been worked up into a frenzy.. hank's just playing cool) trying to plan these spring break 07 trips to honduras. in august as i was writing the application & reference letter/forms, sending emails, calling youth pastors, and answering endless questions, i thought for sure we would fill up the 24 spots in no time. but as of last wednesday (1 month out from the absolute deadline) we only had 3 students committed to going. i was really discouraged because we weren't getting the feedback i hoped for after i put all of me into planning this trip. so that morning, i decided to take the initiative and put out an email to anyone at all who had remotely inquired about the trips. i wanted to give all these youth pastors the benefit of the doubt, in thinking that with everything going on in their individual ministries, that honduras just slipped their minds. well, i was right! not even an hour after i clicked send, the phone started ringing and the second week was OVER booked! for the rest of the afternoon, people kept on calling and emailing me wanting to know more about the trips! they were all so thankful for my email... they only needed to see the words Honduras and Spring Break in the same sentence to remind them! God turned those 2 weeks and my doubtful heart upside down in a matter of hours, in the way only He can!!
earlier that very same morning, i started studying through the book of john. for me, it's just good to go back from time to time and read stuff that i think i already "know". often i try to sell myself the lie that if i heard it in awana that i've already mastered it. see? not true! so.... i opened God's word to the fourth gospel, sat back in my chair, sipped my coffee, and prayed for God to make real to me the miracles that the multitudes were becoming bored with in chapter 6. and little did i know that just a few hours later, He would make chapter 1 verse 16 as tangible and nourishing as food.
from the fullness of His grace we have received one blessing after another...