God Story- $605.23

My apologies for not getting this post up on Friday like I anticipated, but here it is now :) 

As I type this story, I think of God's faithfulness and pure goodness.

What an awesome God we serve!

On September 5th I was asked by a certain woman how much

more money I needed to raise for Haiti. 

She told me she was praying for me. 

My answer: exactly $1,200 more.

On September 11th, I gave her a BIG praise report that I only had half that

amount to raise left, only $605.23. 

(I actually even posted about it HERE)

 I thanked her for praying and said

He is providing!

 I was in awe of God to read her response back:

 She said that my trip to Haiti had been heavily pressed
 upon her heart by the Holy Spirit...

and that she was humbled to give the remaining $605.23.

She had been praying to The Lord about how much to give and had 

the answer of $600 and was so overwhelmed, overjoyed, and extremely excited

by God's working that she couldn't resist giving the extra $5.

She said it's all because of Him and for Him!

(AMEN. It sure is!)

On September 12, I wrote this on Facebook:

"Today on the 12th (12 days before everything is due) the additional 1,200 I needed this past week, that dwindled down to $605.23 yesterday is paid 100% and I am fully funded for Haiti!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't you love surprises?! God gives the BEST ones!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is what I now see on my Managed Missions Account:

He has amazed me again and again through the love of many...

who's hearts have been moved to give. 

How can you ever begin to say thank you? 

I could never do it all on my own.

It takes the whole Church.

The whole Body. 

He provided! 

From Texas to Australia and all over

my state of Michigan- He provided!

He is Faithful!

Thank You God! Thank You! Thank You!

WOOOOO WHOOOOO!!!

In case you didn't catch it. My last tweet said:

"100% funded for Haiti !!!

 Thank You God, Thank You, Thank You! 

He is Faithful to provide !!!"

You read correct - 100% funded.

Hoot, 

Holler, 

maybe even Dance a little :)!!!

and Praise God with me!!!

Stay tuned for a God Story about His Faithfulness....

 I will be posting it up tomorrow ;)

Almost there.

God is providing every step of the way.

Thank You God, Thank You, Thank You!

$605.23 left to raise for Haiti.

Almost there.

And the winner is...

After listing all the names with numbers

and then

having one of those numbers randomly selected...

I have a winner!

So without further ado...

The winner of the $50 giftcard to Barnes and Noble is: 

 

---------------------------------------------

Jessica (my cousin) and her husband, Daniel

----------------------------------------------

Congrats you guys!!!

Thank you to everyone who has given, shared, and prayed.

And thank you to everyone who has been following and encouraging me

on this journey back to Haiti. 

All I can say is: 
God has put some pretty amazing people in my life :)

I cannot express how grateful I am for each of you!!!

Please continue in prayer as I raise the remaining support needed.

Last Day (!)

The winner for the $50 Barnes and Noble giftcard

will be drawn this Friday, September 7th.

TODAY 

is the LAST day 

to enter (!)

Don't miss your chance ;)

Give, Share, Enter now.

Give, Share, Enter to Win!

 I will be back in Haiti soon!

7 weeks

just 7

that's it now

 I will be at Well Being Orphanage, helping out there,

surrounded by children that I have already fallen in love with.

As well as ministering to a new children's home

filled with precious little treasures

called Loving Heart.

Can we say excited?!?!

But I need your help desperately!

My plane tickets have been purchased and all,

I'm ready to go, but there is one thing...

I'm still in need of donations!

Here is how you can help me AND enter to win a $50 gift card 

to Barnes and Noble that I will be giving away.

Every $25 donation= 5 entries

(So $50= 10 entries, $75= 15 and so forth)

...also...

Share my blog on Facebook= 1 entry

Follow my blog= 1 entry

You must comment on this blog post 

with the amount of entries you have

OR

 email the amount of entries to me at

 newmerciesdaily@gmail.com

Last day to enter is next Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Winner will be drawn and announced on here September 7, 2012

Fall Harvest

photo recently taken from my mom's garden

^" Then He said to His disciples,  
“The harvest truly is plentiful, 
but the laborers are few.  

Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest 
to send out laborers into His harvest.”
          
                                -Matthew 9:37-38

When I went to Haiti last summer (2011)... I KNEW I would be going back someday.

I was so moved by the people, the culture... the desperate need!

God put a love in my heart for the country.

But the question remained: "When Lord?"
"When could I go back again?"

I desired His perfect timing.

I work as a full-time (+) live-in nanny
and realistically it's not easy to go away for a week...

I also knew I needed to stay in my job.

It's hard to wait on The Lord sometimes.

Especially when you "feel" 

ready to jump on a plane and go back to help.

But I needed to wait on Him.

Seeds started to be planted in my heart

and doors of opportunity started to open up

 one. by. one. over this last year...

confirming His perfect timing for me to go back.

Last year, September 2011, I read a blog post

 from then, the Executive Director of the organization Visiting Orphans,

Amanda Lawrence (who is now a full-time, stay-at-home mom, to her handsome son Jordan)

Her post burdened my heart about

many mission trips being canceled during the Fall season.

I encourage you to click on the link and read it (awesome post)!

While reading what she had to say,
this verse she posted struck my heart:

^"Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.  Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!" -John 4:34-38

Fast forward to this past winter,

I oddly enough kept thinking about sunflowers and sunflower seeds.

I began to write an email to a dear friend about sunflowers and how one must die

to itself to produce an even bigger crop the next year.

The sunflower seeds must be collected (harvested) though 
at the proper time.

My prayer continued:

"Lord, please clearly show me when to go back to Haiti." 

It was like a light bulb went off. 

What better time to go than the Harvest season?!

(I continued to pray... I would need to have a week off 

at the beginning of the kids school year, would that work out ok? 
It's a busy time of year to go.)

The very next day, after starting to write that email,

 I saw Katie Davis (a missionary in Uganda)

write this guest post about sunflowers.

While reading it, I was reminded of a favorite verse of mine

 that encouraged me going to Haiti the first time:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." -John 12:24

That day I read her post,

I KNEW what I needed to do. I had peace about it.

I looked on V.O.'s website and saw an October mission trip to Haiti scheduled.

They had just posted who would be the team leader:

It was Melanie, the same person 
that led the team I was on last summer!  
She had just agreed to lead another team there! 

I  was able to get that week of work approved off.

Thank You Lord!

 Quickly after, I announced to my close friends and family

that I would be traveling back to Haiti again in October.

During the spring months, 
I was continually reminded through verses about the Harvest Season.

During the summer months, 

while traveling throughout Michigan,

I passed more sunflower fields than I can count. 

More than I've ever seen in my life.

Beautiful reminders... again and again.

Thank you Lord!

The plane tickets have been purchased!

7 weeks and I will be back there again.

I am super excited! 

(Oh and about praying for laborers... did I mention this will be
V.O.'s largest amount of people going on a trip to Haiti to date?!
 All during a Fall month too!) 

Faithful Father!!!

 On a funny side note:

I can no longer eat peanut butter due to an allergy.

So last year, when I was in Haiti,
while everyone ate peanut butter,

I ate SunButter (made from sunflower seeds) on bread e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y.
A quick and easy thing to eat on the mission field for lunch.

Introducing...

Lee ( that's me ;) with Lou- my guy

So thankful to God!!!

 Lou and I
 started dating at the very beginning of June.

This summer has been the best one E.V.E.R.
(ever, ever, ever) by far!

Enjoying summer to the last drop

... and anticipating a beautiful Fall :)

humbled.

Photo taken by Karli Rose

It is hard for me to ask for things from people.

It's easier for me to ask for something

if it's for someone else.

But if it involves me, no way.

I hold my tongue. 

I decide that I need to pull myself up by my bootstraps

and figure it out on my own.

It's prideful. It's ugly. It creates a mess.

But I am humbled by God, 

His Holiness, 

by His mercy.

I need God

and I need help from God's people,

The Body of Christ.

My first trip to Haiti I didn't ask for help financially.

But this time around

(and in very recent days too)

God has shown me:

not once

not twice

but three times (!)

that I need to ask for help.

And The Truth:

That really it's not about me.

It is not.

 It's about giving up myself.

It's about becoming part of the bigger picture.

 

It's about people that are hungry and poor in every sense

physically and spiritually.

It's about going out into the world

loving and sharing The Gospel. 

 

It's about His Kingdom.

one that will never fade.

It's about His life in me.

It's about Him.

But I can't do it without The Body of Christ.

I need help.

So I'm asking. And I'm praying.

I need to raise a little over $1,500 more.

Every donation will go towards helping many.

I will be back in Haiti October 14-21.

If you are able to give, would you please give today?

And if you can't give, would you pray?

truly. i. am. humbled.

UPDATE (08/14/12)

I've created a PayPal "donate" button on the top

right hand side of my blog.  

Donations can securely be made through there as well! 

How to make a tax- deductible donation:

CLICK HERE: https://www.visitingorphans.org/cgi-bin/donate.cgi

THEN when it asks:

• Would you like to preference this donation toward the work of a specific team member or ministry? CLICK YES and WRITE: Alisha Bellows

From Above

Dessert my mom made- doesn't it look scrumptious?

Blueberries... yum!

There has been a beautiful big shift in the season...

 summer is full blown here in Michigan!

AND in the best ways!!!

*90 degree days*

*early morning sunshine and late, late sunsets*

(that take your breath away ;)

*popsicles*

*picnics*

*being by the water*

*BBQs*

*fireworks*

....SO much...

 I am so thankful to The Lord for it all!

Yes, even the hot weather...

 I would take a hot day over a cold one in a heartbeat. :)

But really no matter what the season.

No matter what the weather.

God is so good. 

His goodness is all around.

Today was the rainy kind of day, 

and yet there placed up in the sky

was a gorgeous rainbow for me to see.

Reminding me to look for His gifts everywhere 

because they are good and perfect,

truly from above. 

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."-James 1:17

The picture I took in my neighborhood. Can you see the rainbow?

"The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” -Genesis 9:16

The Lake

I headed down to the lake today. The water was so peaceful.

I sat down and opened up my bible.

It opened to

The 23rd Psalm

                      thank. you. Lord.

                              ... just what I needed to see today

Verses 1-3 spoke to my heart BIG time

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want. 

 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake. 

 I took some pictures to remember the moment...

He restores my soul.

                          ...yes...

                                      He does.

Thank you!

Thank you to all who gave, donated, helped, prayed, encouraged, and came out to the yard sale this past Saturday. It was a big success! The weather was beautiful and I met so many amazing people in the community- truly, I am so thankful! I will continue to raise money while preparing to go back to Haiti this fall. Know that every bit (help, time, donated items, etc.) is dearly appreciated. 

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

May God bless each of you.

p.s. -I made/laminated bookmarks for anyone to take at the yard sale and I saw this one left on the table with a rainbow of light around the picture. Remember my 7 beautiful colors God Story? I still see those rainbows everywhere and in perfect places... truly as it says below: "To God be the Glory"

My First Trip to Haiti

I thought I would share this:

It is pictures/video from my first trip to Haiti.

(Please pause music at the bottom of this page to watch. ;)

God really changed my heart in a BIG way through this trip.

And He continues to show me daily that it's not about me. AT ALL.

Can't wait to hug up these kids again...

Remembering

                              nothing compares to a relationship with 
                                             
                                                                    Jesus
                                                                                                         
                                                                                             nothing.

I was watching (THIS) 

When I paused it, 

the (above) picture

was the freeze frame.

 ...the faith of a child.

This is what I want to be like everyday...

believing Lord, that not only can You,

                                but You will.

You

are

Faithful.

Today I'm remembering these stories...

The Cloud

 A Divine Appointment (Part 1)

7 Beautiful Colors

Our Miracle Orchestrating God

The Fork in the Road

Lilies of the Field

I must trust Him.

I must have the faith of a child.

I must daily Lay it Down and  

P.U.S.H. on

because He has a purpose for my life.

He does, 

and He has one for you too.

He alone makes it Beautiful.

Remember His Faithfulness

(whatever you are going through)

He still is

and always will be Faithful.

Oh' Haiti, your on my heart!

 The other night,

 I dreamed about being back in Haiti.

Then in the last 36 hours, 

I've had Haiti on my heart 

again and again. 

I'm excited to go back there this Fall!!! 

So, so, so excited!

Does anyone feel called to come with me?

I'm Back

Happy May--- I am back in Michigan!!! 

And will be updating soon.

Thank you for your prayers. I'm healthy and home.

And had a wonderful time away too!

Thank You Lord!!!!!

I'm slowly responding to emails now.

I will respond to each one very soon.

I haven't forgotten about any of you guys. No way.

I wanted to say hi this morning...

So I made a quick video.

 (Enjoy the song...

It's one of my favorites ;)

Planes

It's crazy to think that only a few short years ago I had never been on a plane. Now I've been on more than I can count. Wonderful world of technology, I'm sitting in one now as I write this, headed off to Florida for a work trip. I'm SO READY for the sunshine! I see God's grace on me being sick all this past week, especially during a time when I'm NOT traveling. This past week I've been so sick, but even in the midst of very real trials, He whispers to my heart through His Word. God works even the worst circumstances together for my good (Romans 8:28)- I can be encouraged by this through it all.

Update: Recuperating

 The Lord is good and full or grace---

when I'm healthy

and when I'm sick too.

His mercies are still new every morning.

 

I talked about the nasty virus 

my body has been battling these days

 HERE and HERE

I think it's safe to say now 

that I'm recuperating and doing better.

Thank you so much for your prayers, THANK YOU!

Please continue to pray as I get back into the swing of things

after being down for a week with it.

God Story- Lilies of the Field

Don't you love these Spring blooms? 

Last Saturday night I was given an unexpected amount of money.

And on Sunday morning, the very next day...

I was surprised by an unexpected need that had to be met.

The amount of money was exactly the same 

to the dollar and cent.

WOW God!!!

He met the need before I ever knew there

was going to be one the next day.

Just another reminder of many that...

He is Faithful to provide the exact need!

Which reminds me of these verses:

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

  “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.   

-Matthew 6:28-34

How have you seen His Faithfulness 

in your life lately?

Please pray

Hi everyone, I'm updating on my phone asking for prayer. I'm still sick, with what's believed to be a horrible virus (stomach flu like). This is the 5th day I've been fighting it. Unable to keep food or water down. I'm dehydrated and concerned mainly about that because last year I had acute kidney failure and was in the hospital for 6 days then. Please pray I keep enough fluids in my body and recover quickly. Thank you dear friends!

First Time Seeing The West Coast (Part 1)

Last week Wednesday

a little before 4am

I drove myself to Detroit Metro Airport

                               to head 

                                   to The West Coast 

                                        to visit my friend Dana

                                                       eeeekkk! :)

Here is a glimpse of my trip there:

Wednesday: 

                Took early connecting flight and landed in Texas y'all! 

                                           
                                                   Then hello Reno, Nevada

 Settled in and relaxed for a few hours at Dana's

then we drove to Virgina City, Nevada

Had a great day and dinner with Dana's family.

And enjoyed the view in their neighborhood. 

 It's something pretty special to see

since I live in Michigan.

Thursday:

We took turns driving to California.

First we had to go into the mountains to get there.

Many had to stop and put chains on their tires 

because of the snow in the mountains

We quickly went from this:

To this (stopping in Sacramento, California): 

Then we drove to San Francisco, California

Do these houses below look familiar?

(I'll give you a clue: they were in the intro to a popular TV show

in the late 80's to early 90's. )