My husband, Cody, and I recently took our youth group on a week long mission trip in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. I must say I am a Texas girl, born and raised, but I LOVE that area of Oklahoma!! I even caught myself thinking, God if you decided this is where you want Cody and me then I am ready and willing! We have been home for almost 2 weeks and I still miss the trees, hills and water.
(Let me pause for a minute and remind you of my "word for the year"...CHANGE and let me also remind you I like to plan things out!)
When Cody and I started looking at youth mission trips we had originally wanted to go to one that was in Texas, the same week as the Oklahoma trip. We scheduled it and put down our deposit then found out that camp was cancelled for that week and we needed to pick another camp. We decided to change the week we wanted to go but that didn't work with Cody's full time job schedule so we left the week the same. We picked this particular camp in Tahlequah because we thought we would be working at an orphanage and that sounded like fun. God's hand was definetly in this trip the whole time!! When we arrived at the camp we found out we were actually going to be working in a different town, Marble Falls, 45 minutes away from our camp, and for a single older man who needed help doing things around his house that he was not able to do himself. Gerald is a full blood Cherokee Indian and in his sixty's, he has health problems and is not able to drive. He travels around and sings Gospel music, he also has Gospel concerts at his house on an outdoor stage. The house he lives in is the home he and his 11 siblings were raised in, it is small and old. Needless to say, I learned a few things from this old Cherokee, including a few Cherokee words :)!! I do not have enough time or space to put everything on here but I will say I realize that God has His hand in every little detail of our lives, including the things that we do not even think about.
We were at Gerald's house to serve him and to do things in and around the house that he could not do himself. If the projects cost money then it was paid for by the mission organization, so nothing came out of the homeowners pocket. The mission runs on a budget so they ask the homeowners what they would like to have done and then the organization deicides if the funds are available for the project, all of this is done before the youth groups arrive. When we got to Gerald's house we found out that he had requested a new toilet but they couldn't provide that since they didn't have a plumber to install it, until God intervened. Remember I said earlier we had not planned on coming to this camp and did not want to come this week but... Besides being the youth leader my husband has a full time job as plumber, so when we heard Gerald needed a new toilet we told them Cody could install the toilet. Even though the toilet was not in the original budget there was enough left over funds to be able to get one! God is SO good!!!
You may be reading this thinking I am nuts to get so excited over some old guy getting a new toilet but if you look at the bigger picture God had it planned the whole time, before we did, that we were meant to come to this camp and work at this partcular house. My point is that even when we don't know every little detail or understand every bump in the road God does and it doesn't matter how small or how big we think it is, it's all huge to God!!! I am learning that my plans, or often times lack of, don't matter because God has it all planned out and it is going to go His way regardless of how much I think I have it planned perfectly.
I am being transformed and this trip was just another stepping stone along this incredible journey of life! A piece of my heart was left behind in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and maybe someday God will grant me the priveledge of returning to get it but if not that is okay also, I only want what He wants!!
God bless,
Denissa
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(Let me pause for a minute and remind you of my "word for the year"...CHANGE and let me also remind you I like to plan things out!)
When Cody and I started looking at youth mission trips we had originally wanted to go to one that was in Texas, the same week as the Oklahoma trip. We scheduled it and put down our deposit then found out that camp was cancelled for that week and we needed to pick another camp. We decided to change the week we wanted to go but that didn't work with Cody's full time job schedule so we left the week the same. We picked this particular camp in Tahlequah because we thought we would be working at an orphanage and that sounded like fun. God's hand was definetly in this trip the whole time!! When we arrived at the camp we found out we were actually going to be working in a different town, Marble Falls, 45 minutes away from our camp, and for a single older man who needed help doing things around his house that he was not able to do himself. Gerald is a full blood Cherokee Indian and in his sixty's, he has health problems and is not able to drive. He travels around and sings Gospel music, he also has Gospel concerts at his house on an outdoor stage. The house he lives in is the home he and his 11 siblings were raised in, it is small and old. Needless to say, I learned a few things from this old Cherokee, including a few Cherokee words :)!! I do not have enough time or space to put everything on here but I will say I realize that God has His hand in every little detail of our lives, including the things that we do not even think about.
We were at Gerald's house to serve him and to do things in and around the house that he could not do himself. If the projects cost money then it was paid for by the mission organization, so nothing came out of the homeowners pocket. The mission runs on a budget so they ask the homeowners what they would like to have done and then the organization deicides if the funds are available for the project, all of this is done before the youth groups arrive. When we got to Gerald's house we found out that he had requested a new toilet but they couldn't provide that since they didn't have a plumber to install it, until God intervened. Remember I said earlier we had not planned on coming to this camp and did not want to come this week but... Besides being the youth leader my husband has a full time job as plumber, so when we heard Gerald needed a new toilet we told them Cody could install the toilet. Even though the toilet was not in the original budget there was enough left over funds to be able to get one! God is SO good!!!
You may be reading this thinking I am nuts to get so excited over some old guy getting a new toilet but if you look at the bigger picture God had it planned the whole time, before we did, that we were meant to come to this camp and work at this partcular house. My point is that even when we don't know every little detail or understand every bump in the road God does and it doesn't matter how small or how big we think it is, it's all huge to God!!! I am learning that my plans, or often times lack of, don't matter because God has it all planned out and it is going to go His way regardless of how much I think I have it planned perfectly.
I am being transformed and this trip was just another stepping stone along this incredible journey of life! A piece of my heart was left behind in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and maybe someday God will grant me the priveledge of returning to get it but if not that is okay also, I only want what He wants!!
God bless,
Denissa
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