Off to Mazatlan

Tomorrow Cam departs for his first mission trip to Mazatlan, Mexico. This is a huge deal for him as he's felt it on his heart to do mission work for the past year or so. In many ways this is a dream come true for Cam. He really wanted me to go with him, but for a number of reasons it didn't work out:

1. Money is always an issue (the trip costs $900 and Cam put all of his birthday money toward it and a few others helped out as well but the rest came out of our pockets. If you are interested in helping fund this mission trip you can visit First Giving to donate. If you've visited before you might notice that the total raised off-line has been significantly reduced - that's because we had previously included the amount we had saved on our own and I've updated it to reflect the total that has actually been donated.)
2. Though I'm on my 3 month contractual leave from work and don't have to try to get time off, we weren't able to make arrangements for someone to care for Adi while we would be gone
3. In addition to finding someone to care for Adi we would have needed to find someone to care for our 2 cats, Bella & Mojo as well as our dog, Ihry and all our little fishes
4. I'm completely paranoid about both of us traveling together and the plane going down, therefore leaving Adi with no parents - it's the truth
5. I still hope to be pregnant some day and as we planned we weren't sure if it would be safe to travel to Mexico while pregnant if God blessed us with pregnancy by the time of the trip, which He has not (we're still waiting on you, Lord)
6. To be perfectly honest I would do better on a mission trip with a different mission. I'm not a huge fan of Western medicine, and while it certainly has it's time and place, I don't think pharmaceuticals offer a long term answer to many health issues people are afflicted by (for example: heartburn). I believe that God created perfect nutrition to achieve perfect health... eating that way is the hard part. So honestly, I'd rather share God's love in other ways, by praying, teaching, and loving those in need. I know that's going to sound super snotty to many people and honestly I've never been there so I don't know what these people are afflicted by or how easily they could acquire proper nutrition so ultimately I'm at a loss here. It's just how I feel. This is where Cam is probably cringing at my honesty and thinking I said too much!

So today Cam and I were completely moved, blessed, and encouraged in a way we hadn't previously known possible. We decided to enjoy some coffee at the Java House to spend some adult time together while Adi was at preschool. A friend of ours from church was there and before this friend left, out of nowhere, they handed Cam $50 to use as he saw fit on the trip. It felt like such a big deal, someone handing over their hard earned money in the name of Jesus to support the mission.

It didn't end there. When we got the mail there was an envelope from one of Cam's co-workers. She's a single woman who lives simply and modestly on her own. We expected to see a note of encouragement, which is precisely what we received. What we did not expect was the $150 check she included. She felt God asking her to bless Cam with this money (which felt like such a huge sum considering her circumstances) in order to encourage him on this mission. Let me just say that both of us cried. Yes, we did. Even Cam. We tried to smooth it over a bit because Adi didn't know what was going on so I had the opportunity to teach her another life lesson about how sometimes we cry when we are so incredibly happy.

$200 in one day may not sound like a lot to most, but it was a big deal to us. It was God's provision in a way we've never experienced it before and we were at a loss for words. Only praise for our Lord and the path he's leading Cam on. Maybe someday I'll be on the same path.