How Did I Get Here?
Lately I've found myself asking, "How did I get here?"  How does a woman who grew up in Pea Ridge, Alabama (Yes, that's a real place) find herself signed up to go on a mission trip to minister to men, women and children in the Red Light District of Thailand?  Well, that's a good question. 

For the past year or so, Randy and I felt like God was calling us to missions overseas.  We've always felt that our mission field was here in America, in Alabama, in Alabaster.  We are active in our community, we minister to the boys at SafetyNet, we are privileged to be able to participate in ministry with Kevin Derryberry Ministries at LifeTech, the Lovelady Center, and the Wellhouse.  But God started showing us that these things weren't enough.  We’re called to reach ALL people, even to the ends of the Earth.  We prayed and felt that Randy and Sydney were being called to Belize.  Our church sponsors a school there - Light of the Valley - through KidsKonnect4Jesus.  The church organizes mission teams several times a year to go and love on these kids, their families and their community.  Randy and Sydney leave in 4 days (FOUR DAYS!!) to be a part of the ministry God is growing there.  I cannot wait to see how God works through and in them while they are there. 

But I didn't feel like I was supposed to go with them.  I felt I was supposed to go somewhere and do something that was outside my comfort zone.  God has been teaching me a ton about dependence and this trip was to be another step on that journey.  I reached out to Adventures in Missions and I was put in contact with a counselor who spent some time on the phone talking with me about where I felt God was leading me this year.  She advised me to pray, read the trip blogs and “chase the peace”.  Pray and ask God to allow me to feel peace about the choice I was making. I started looking at the blogs and the only one that would load on the website was the one about the trip to Thailand.  I tried for a couple of days and EVERY TIME that was the only blog that would load.  Truth.  I promise.  I read every single entry for the past couple of years.  And I cried and cried. 

I read about the abuse the women there endure.  I read about all the messed up beliefs due to their “religion”.  I saw the shame on their faces in all the pictures.  I read about how no one helps them, not even their families in most cases.  So I prayed about it and I chased the peace.  I called my counselor at AIM back and told her that I decided on Thailand. 

Immediately after that phone call, I started hearing from friends and family who knew someone in Thailand who was on mission.  My sister-in-law, my good friend, someone I work with.  These were people I talk to almost every single day and they had never mentioned Thailand or their connections to it.   

My dear friend asked if I would participate in Celebrate Recovery's Cardboard Testimonies.  My testimony read, "I used to hang out in bars to get drunk.  God is sending me into the bars in Thailand to share Jesus."  Little did I know, God had prepared me even in my sin.  I stepped off the stage and a man handed me 3 bills of Thai money.  He said he “was supposed to give them to me”.  What he didn’t know is that the only way that we will be allowed to speak to the women in the bars is to buy them sodas.  Basically to buy their time.  The money he gave me represents three women that I’ll meet there.  Please join me in praying for these three women specifically. God knew that I needed further confirmation so He sent a man with Thai money to Westwood Baptist Church in Alabaster, Alabama on that specific Sunday and prompted him to give the money to me.  You can't make this stuff up people.   

I’ve been praying for God to give me a verse for my trip.  He has been faithful to do so.  John 10:10.  “The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy.  I have come so that you may have life and have it more abundantly.”   For years and years I ran from God because I was worried about what I would have to give up as a follower of Christ.  I never thought about what I would gain.  The freedom from shame, the hope, the pure joy (even in trials), a redeemed marriage, a community that loves me and my family and is there when we need them.  I was worried about what I would HAVE to give up.  I missed the boat.  I WANTED to give up all the yuck because of everything that I GAINED through Jesus.  I don’t want the thief anymore.  I want Jesus.  And I want to share Jesus with those ladies and men in Thailand who don’t want the thief anymore.  They want freedom.  They want hope.  They want joy.  They want peace. 

They will give up everything to gain all.