Underestimating God

My friend, Allison, asked about when I have underestimated Jesus and when He has proven Himself to be more than I need. Perhaps I should tell you about God's financial provision for the mission trip this fall! As a background to this provision, I should tell you that my friend Jodie and her husband have been helping us every time Christa has gone on a trip. Christa has been to Avignon, France, and Montreal, Quebec, and other parts of Canada, and our friends and family have assisted us greatly by being God's provision for those trips. Whenever we nave sent out an SOS to friends and family for aid to make the plans happen, Jodie has always given--and very generously. This March Jodie and Aiden started sending checks to our Baileys on Mission account that the church keeps. At the time, we as a family just thought it would go for whatever Christa was doing in Montreal this past summer, but that never materialized. Then our church started promoting this disciplemaking trip to work with the Indians in Sells, AZ. But my mind was divided. My focus was on getting Christa ready for university in Montreal, and I could not give any emotional or spiritual energy to anything like a fall mission trip--to anything for ME at that point. Or so I thought. When we got home from taking Christa to university, an ordeal in and of itself, the promotions for the mission trip continued, and it looked like it was not too late to sign up after all. I was relieved that when I finally approached our adult minister, Jason he told me that only one other female had signed up to go and that he would be thrilled for me to join the team.Thank you, Rachel, for being obedient and timely, when I was not! The team had not started their training; Jason had postponed it to let more sign up and to avoid Labor Day. Whoo! Hoo! I just did not worry about the money. We did not have a red cent that was not spoken for but I just did not panic. For those of you who know how I like things to be decent and in order, this was not my usual reaction. But to be truthful, all of my emotional and spiritual energies were spent clinging to God because of Christa's being at school. I just had to trust or my family would be picking up pieces of me along GA400 due to shattering and splattering. In the meantime, my friend Jodie started sending checks again...randomly...OR NOT! Ultimately, she sent just what I needed to pay for the trip. I never told her how much the trip costs were. In fact, we did not know the exact cost until late in September because Jason was waiting for the best airline ticket rate! Jodie and I never talked during this process, except that I did let her know that I was going on the trip. She sent exactly what the trip cost with about $20 extra, I believe. Two days after we got home I wrote her a long email, explaining how God had used their family's generosity to help Christa to travel, to do Sojourners in Quebec, to experience God's call to missions, and so forth, and how their continued faithfulness had allowed me to go to Sells and what I had gotten from that experience--a TON, let me tell you. Anyway, last week I got an email from the church that two more checks had come to Baileys on Missions account, EACH for $500--both mailed the day Jodie got that email, likely one before and one after receiving it and realizing that more trips were likely in the future! After the checks arrived, I found out that Jodie and her family had put their home on the market the previous weekend...and it was already under contract, in a flat housing market! Yeah, I think we underestimate God. Hang onto your hat, and keep me in your prayers as I see where the Lord is leading! However He leads, whatever I expect Him to do, I am quite sure I will underestimate the outcome!! "He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than everything we ask or think"! Of course, He is! Tell me how God is providing for you and how you have discovered ways that you underestimate Him as well.