It happened!

A year ago, I was packing up to head to Arizona and New Mexico for our Intern Trek. I had just started fundraising a month prior to be on campus with InterVarsity that fall and had seen a couple little gifts trickle in, but nothing regular. I hadn't been spending a whole lot of time on it, but I had had sent out a stream of letters and had a few meetings and phone calls by that time. 

I remember checking my staff account a few days into the trip. We were at the home of a lovely woman who loved InterVarsity and fed us lots of food with green chile (that's the thing in New Mexico). I accepted her invitation to use her computer though it was late at night already. Signing into my staff account, I looked at the number sitting at the midpoint of the screen on the right side. I had hit it for the first time! $1400, the amount my supervisor wanted us to hit monthly! 

That night was a small victory. It was the first month of the fiscal year, and I felt that, maybe, raising a staff budget was possible. Over the course of the year, my faith in this area fluctuated, as did the amount I received and the energy I put into it. Sometimes I held my breath and followed up with a person who said he was interested, and I left the conversation with encouragement and hope. Sometimes I prayed in fear and other times in faith; occasionally I muttered prayers while asking God if they were true. Sometimes I chickened out, gave up, and simply ignored this area of ministry. 

But the year kept going. And now that the fiscal year is over, I can confidently say: I surpassed the budget I was supposed to raise. 

Yes. Dance in a circle. Throw a party. Praise Jesus. Eat ice cream. Give thanks. 

I have a stream of excuses that, if you listen carefully, translate into This-is-why-it-won't-work-next-year Fears: a lot of one-time gifts, a great supporting church (that I am leaving), a generous sending gift from the missions board that put me over the top in the past few weeks. But it the end, excuses aside, I was funded. 

And if I listen carefully, I can hear a faint sound of hope for the next year: a dear friend and a beloved brother eager to give once they are employed, the opportunities for new networks in a new place, and most of all, the promise that our God is faithful. He reminds me of the tangible grace scattered through my life this past year: a new laptop from friends, random red envelopes that let me celebrate life and hobbies, encouraging conversations that warm the deep parts of my soul, a job that accommodates ministry life so perfectly, promises in his word that I have held to as the year wrapped up. 

Next year may or may not look like that. I have neither more funding nor a job lined up. But the God who walks with me through the flourishing fields walks with me through the valleys. Either way, He is good. And may He be glorified.