When God Provides like Crazy

Tonight Luke and I were on the phone working through some future plans and tough questions that have been running through our heads about God's provision.

When I'm afraid, my default question is "What if?"

"What if it doesn't work..."
"What if God didn't really say that..."
"What if I'm wrong..."
"What if there's something better and we're missing it..."

That's not a very good question to ask.
Unless it's asked in faith.

"What if I trust God?"
"What if God really meant it when he called himself my provider?"
"What if I tried something totally different and God does something cooler than I ever could have imagined?"

All throughout high school, even before high school, I was sure I'd go to a four year university. When God started whispering to me and telling me he wanted me to move to Gettysburg for Master's Commission, it freaked me out. I can't imagine how many times I asked, "God, you realize I won't graduate college the same year as the rest of my friends... right?"

He knew that already.


So I made some plans in my early high school years. And God gave me better ones.
He does that. And I love that about him. Even when it freaks me out.
I had to lay down my ideas about a four year school and instead join a discipleship and ministry training program at a church I'd never heard of.

Tonight while Luke and I talked, he started listing off a bunch of ways God has provided for us in the past year or so.

God brought us together.
I got a gift from my grandma's will that I was able to live off of for over a year, without a part time job.
God gave me the best home openers ever who invited me to live with them not just for the first nine months, but for summer, and the nine months after that.
God made it possible for the program I was in to create a job for me so I could give my time to growing the ministry and loving the students God called me to.

The list goes on with big things and small things: unexpected gifts, a raise for Luke, small jobs here and there to cover costs and give us freedom to do special things together...


God provides like crazy.

So now I'm 20 years old. And I have some high school classmates who are graduating college next year. It's weird and two years ago I thought my heart would be breaking because of that. But it's not.

God gave me a different life than I expected.
But it's better than I could have imagined.

Luke and I don't really know what our five or ten year plan is. We know we're called to ministry and we know where God has planted us right now with The Edge and The Ministry Experience.

We know the things we dream about and we know God's able to make all those dreams happen and so much more.


We know it's our job to trust Him first. We know God is a God who provides like crazy.
He does what he needs to do to accomplish his purposes and He loves us so much.


Thanks for asking us to join you in your awesome plans, God. I really love you for that.

Dear Family and Friends,
                  It’s been over 13 months since I moved to Gettysburg and it’s been a better and more beautiful adventure than I ever could have imagined. God has been so good to me and I love dreaming with Him about all that’s still ahead. As many of you know, I am now serving as the assistant director of Gettysburg Master’s Commission, the discipleship and ministry training program I was a student in last year. There are really great days and really hard days but every day is done with God and that’s why I love this job. This year I’m joining with 9 young adults as they make the lifelong choice to be disciples of Jesus Christ. I get so much joy out of watching them come alive in ministry as they experience that God has given them special interests, personalities, gifts and dreams that can all be used to live life with Him and reach people for Jesus. Today I’m writing to tell you about one more part of this ministry.

                  This coming January, I’ll be joining God and a team of about 30 other people on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic. Our church, Freedom Valley Worship Center, is partnering with many churches from the DR and a few from the states to run a festival called “Esperanza para la Cuidad” (Hope for the City). This festival will draw thousands and present the Gospel in powerful and creative ways to the people of the DR. My team will mostly support the presentation of the Gospel through prayer, street ministry, connecting with local churches, and the set-up and teardown of the festival. I am so excited about this opportunity! I am so thankful that God is making it possible for me to join with him in loving and reaching the nations.

                  I’d like to invite you to join with me, and with God’s heart, in this mission to the DR. There are three major ways you can support me:

1. Pray for me! I am asking God to break past my expectations, take me out of comfort zones I don’t even realize I have, and to use me to share the freedom found only in Jesus. I want to be God’s arms in comforting the broken, taking the cane from the healed person, and hugging the believer as they rejoice in the new things God is doing in their life. I am believing God for health on the trip and fresh vision as the trip approaches, that my heart would be united with God’s love for the Dominican people. For all of this, I need prayer.

2. Support me financially! The total cost for my trip will be $1,500. I’ve been amazed so far to see the sweet and unexpected ways in which God is providing. Would you consider giving to this trip? You’re not just buying a plane ticket or covering a fee, you’re partnering with God as he prepares me to go out and share the love of his Son with lost people. I believe He will bless you for your investment in missions and that through giving; you are as much a part of the mission as I am in going.

3. Visit my shop! All profits will benefit my trip to the DR. I’ll be selling items I sew, craft, and draw online at facebook.com/bl.chase. Please feel free to request anything I can make for you!

Thank you so much for considering the ways you can support me on this new adventure. God is so good to me and I could talk forever about the way He has made me come alive and blessed me so abundantly. It’s truly an honor to be able to go abroad, share the truth of who Jesus is and how beautiful (no matter the circumstances) life can be when you know and follow him. If you’re able to support me through prayer or financial giving, please let me know. I will then provide you with giving information. Prayer requests will regularly be posted to my Facebook account to keep you updated!

Thank you, friends and family for your generous hearts and all your love. I would love to bless you in return. If I can answer any questions or tell you more about this trip and what God’s doing in my life here in Gettysburg, please, please, please get in touch with me! 

                                               

                                   Love,

                                           Bonnie 

phone:(717) 802-2415 -- email: bonnie830@comcast.net 

Thank you.

Tonight as I was getting ready for bed, I opened my journal and did something a little different. I just started writing a list of things I'm thankful for. I had a hard time stopping and it just filled my heart with so much joy and an overwhelming gratefulness for who God is in my life.

I want to share a handful with you.

Tonight I'm so thankful for...

Number 1. My Mom visiting last Saturday night to come to the Johannes Amritzer service. I was beaming having her with me. I like showing off what an awesome lady I got to be raised by. :) After a powerful service, Mom stayed in Gettysburg to take Luke and I to the Lincoln diner. That makes for one happy Bonnie.Talking in a diner booth, eating breakfast at night with two of the most wonderful gifts God has ever given me. It was so good to be with you both.

Number 2. Surprise run-ins with Luke in the middle of a long afternoon filled with meetings. He is just the most fun and refreshing person to be around. What a good boyfriend I have.

Number 3. A chance to spend this coming Saturday with my friends Kimmy and Laura. What sweet, sweet, laughter-inducing girls. We'll be spending a big part of the day at Plato's Closet and a mall with Anthropologie. Lots of pretty coming up. :)

Number 4. The sun rises on the way into school this week have been beyond beautiful. I asked God to give me the ability to do artwork some day that would glorify him like those sun rises do. A morning drive spent talking to God about how beautiful his skies are and how beautiful what he's doing in my life is... that's a great way to start the morning.

Number 5. Isaiah 54. I'm just loving and clinging to that passage as a whole this week. (Verse 10. ah.)

...and sooo much more.

Thank you, God for hearing every word of my thankfulness tonight.

I like being talkative in times like this. :)

Most of all, I'm so thankful for Your love for me.

diy: Earrings and Hair Pins

  earrings made with buttons, fabric, thread, earring posts, and just a little super glue

 one of my favorite things to make: flowers made with felt, thread, beads, a little fabric, and a bobby pin