go.

i'm borderline obsessed with this song ^^^ right now.
i love it!
especially the part at 2:37 when it says,
"let heaven roar and let fire fall.
come shake the ground with the sound of revival."
or the part when he whispers, "my God's not dead, He's surely alive!"
ahh, who am i kidding?
i love the whole thing!
i could rock out to it all day! :)


36 days until Kona,
$4,372 left to raise.

update.

He truly does care for you.
and He truly will provide. :)

38 days until Kona,
$4,422.50 still needed.

thirty.nine.days.

correction to the post about O.H.S.
i made OVER $700.00 from the ham sandwiches.
like i've said before, God is so good.

a photoshoot + a donation from the sweet W. family later,
and i'm down to needing $4,495. :)
God is providing.

39 days until Kona.

O.H.S (operation ham sandwich)

after waking up at 5:01am this morning...

and making about 220 ham sandwiches,

then delivering them all...

this girl (below) is exhausted...but happy!

God is so good. :)

i was only expecting to make around $400 from this ham sandwich sale,

but instead i made close to $700 to put towards my YWAM outreach!! :)

praise the Lord. 

He's providing.

i declare O.H.S. (operation ham sandwich) a success!

41 days until Kona,

$4,648 left to raise!

yum, ham. :)

tomorrow morning
i will be waking up at 5:00am
to make about 220 ham sandwiches
in order to help raise my support.
our kitchen will be turned into a ham-sandwich-making factory for the morning.
it's going to be crazy. :)

42 days until Kona,
$5,293 left to raise.

peace.

"so whatever You're doing inside of me
it feels like chaos, but somehow there's peace."
~sanctus real

some days i'm overwhelmed at everything that's going on.
the lists of things i need to have.
the thoughts racing through my head...
what i have to do before i leave.
what it will be like when i get to Kona.
wow. it's so crazy.

i can't believe that i'm actually going to hawaii.
in 43 days!!!
ohmygoodness, it's so close!

i'm so excited. :)

$5,317 still needed for outreach!
please pray that i can raise that amount.

faith, trust, joy.

i've been thinking lately (scary, i know...haha),
and i think that growing in a relationship with the Lord comes in steps.

first, i put my faith in Jesus as my savior.
then, i realized that i need to trust Him with every little part of my life.
and finally, i've come to know that when i'm trusting Him, the joy overflows from my life.

"consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."
James 1:2-3

consider it pure joy.
because i have faith in God.
His will will be done.

consider it pure joy.
because i have put my trust in the One who will never fail me.

pure joy.
because i'm trying to follow where He is leading.
because i know my Savior lives.
because He will provide for me.


46 days (almost 45) until Kona.
$5,317 left to raise.

i'd hop on the next plane if i could.

i would seriously hop on the next available airplane to hawaii if i could.
i mean, i have a new swimsuit, my camera, sunscreen, and a laptop.
that's really all i need for this, right?!
haha, i'm kidding. :)

48 days until Kona.
$5,324 to go. :)

this is awesome. :)

me and my PhotogenX teammates have been talking recently,
swapping flight info and such, trying to connect with people on our same flights.

i just talked to someone from the team,
and we are on the same flight from LAX to Kona.
our seats are even in the same row!

this means that (at least) one of my 3 flights to Hawaii
will be with someone i (kind of) know.
i'm pretty excited about this.
ps. my parents are too! :)

50 days until Kona.
$5,424 left to raise.

small things.

one of the things i need to get for this journey:

health insurance.

for as long as i can remember, my family has always gone "self-pay."

now, i need insurance for the trip to hawaii & my outreach.

U of N and YWAM recommended a company,

and i looked into it.

looking at their plans online,

i thought i was going to have to pay around $811.00 for seven months of coverage.

i got an email yesterday

from someone who is with the company,

and because i'm with YWAM, i get a 35% discount!

that means instead of paying $811

i only have to pay $537.15

praise the Lord!!!! 

He's continuing to provide,

in even the smallest things. :)

preparations.

i'm in the process of making sure i have everything i need for the journey.

on friday, my order from B&H came.

i got a camera/laptop backpack and a new lens for my camera. :)

i also placed another order for more Mudlove bands. i'm making some custom bands, so i'm super excited about them. :) our mission, as the PhotogenX team, is to be a voice for the voiceless. the bands i'm ordering will say "be the voice." cool, eh?

52 days until Kona. :)

send me.

"then i heard the voice of the Lord saying, "whom shall I send? and who will go for us?"

and i said, "here am i. send me!""

Isaiah 6:8

the cry of my heart for the past few days has been this:

send me.

i'm probably not the best person to do the job,
but i heard once that God doesn't call the qualified,
He qualifies the called.

i want to go.
i want to make a difference.
i want to shine the light of Jesus into a dark world.

54 days until Hawaii.
$5,460.00 still needed.

please pray that i can raise all the funds before i leave.
thank you. :)

life.

this life i'm living?

it's not mine.

no matter how much i try to control things,

i have no control over any part of my life.
this is something i have come to realize over the last year.

"...you are not your own; you were bought at a price..."
1 Corinthians 19b-20a

Jesus paid for me.
His blood covered my sins.
i am not my own.

"whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it."

Luke 17:33

i guess the day i accepted Jesus' free gift of salvation

was the day i gave up my life to live out His plan and purpose.

everything i am is now His.

Lord, use me for Your glory.

(55 days until Kona, $5,501.00 left to raise).

fifty-seven

57 days until Kona,
and i still have to raise $5,592.

Lord, make it happen. :)

fifty-nine days.

as of today,
February 6th,
i still need $5,631 for outreach.

it's coming.
slowly, but surely.

it would be a dream-come-true if that whole amount came in before i leave in April.
God can do it. i have faith that He can.
have i mentioned that God doesn't have a budget? :)
continuing to trust Him.

"trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
proverbs 3:5-6

59 days until Kona.

excitement is building

the excitement is building.

along with nervousness.

i've never done anything quite like this before.

i'll be gone for six months.

no breaks or vacations.

there will be no visits back home.

to be honest,

up to this point,

i've never been away from home for more than a week.

and come april, i'll be half-way across the world for 6 months.

what am i getting myself into?

62 days until hawaii.

peace and rest.

throw all your worries away.
give them to God.
God is bigger than all your problems, worries, and anxiety.
and He cares so much about you that He will take them away and give you peace.

Jesus says this in Matthew 11:28,
"come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

have you ever stopped to think that the Creator of the universe
loves you enough to take all your burdens and worries on Himself?
He loves you and will give you peace and rest.
you just have to trust Him and accept His offer. :)

it blows me away.

God will provide.

hey all, i just wanted to share a little story of what happened to me this morning,
and how i can see God's hand providing for me in mysterious ways. :)

i was at our thursday morning community-wide Bible study for ladies,
in my small group,
and the leader asked if there were any prayer requests.

i, being concerned about raising the $6,000.00 i need for DTS,
asked prayer for God's provision.
afterwards, one lady came over to see me,
(i thought she wanted to shake my hand),
but when our hands touched, i felt her slip money into my hand.
it was $20.00
i was so overwhelmed.

then another lady came to me and said she wanted to help me out.
i had to meet someone to babysit her two girls,
so i missed seeing the other lady.
my sister found me and handed me a check.
she told me it was from the lady who wanted to help me raise my support.
i glanced at the check, and saw that it was for $250.00
say whaaat?!?
OVERWHELMED.
God is so awesome.

last year, i was a summer missionary with CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship).
i had to raise $1,500.00 for support and it came.
i have no idea where it came from, but God provided.
i learned that God does not operate on a budget.

ah, it's so amazing to see God's hand in everything.

as of today, (february 2nd), i still need $5,700.00
i'm continuing to trust that God will provide the rest of the money i need.
He's been faithful so far. :)

i found this song ^^ yesterday.

it's a hymn that we used to sing at our old church.

i love this version...it's so relaxing and reassuring.

God will take care of me. :)

63 days until hawaii.

mudlove bracelets.

selling these to raise the support i need for my DTS outreach. :)
~Valerie