Here are some updates...

I'm almost HALFWAY to my goal of $2,300, which will secure my spot on the trip and i'm over 1/4 of the way to my total goal of $3,950! I still have a long way to go, but God has provided so much in the past two weeks!

Praise GOD my deadline to get $2,300 in my AIM account has been extended to May 13!! But on the not so bright side, if I haven't reached this goal by the deadline then I absolutely can't go on the trip. Don't worry, i'm not worried. Last week when I was stressing out because my goal hadn't been met on the day of the deadline, one of my friends shared this verse with me, "The Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent" Exodus 14:14

And then my deadline was extended and He took a burden from me once again.

I don't know why I am always so surprised when I see Him coming through and constantly providing for me. God has never failed me. As another friend and I were talking about HOW GOOD HE IS last week, I came to the realization that I haven't had an unanswered prayer. Ever.
There has never been something that I prayed about that God hasn't answered in some way and in a BIG way. Nothing that i've brought to Him has been forgotten. As insignificant as I am, as sinful as i've been and all the times i've turned from Christ, He always hears me. Especially right now, i'm at a point in my life where things i've been praying about for a while are all falling into place, (3 big things to be specific) and it is such a blessing to be able to see the plan of the Lord just come together in front of me. He is absolutely marveling.

"You're the Lord of all creation, still You know my heart"

I am feeling so in love with the Lord today, this is one of those "Song of Solomon" days where I can just feel Him overwheling me with His love :) "with great delight I sat in His shadow and His fruit was sweet to my taste" (if you've never read Song of Solomon it is one of the most beautifully written books in the bible and the love that God expresses through it is absolutely beautiful...reading it literally makes me giddy)

I feel relaxed and at peace with my support raising goals. I still can't stop thinking about Africa and have been reading blogs from people who have been and who are going. I would encourage anyone who is interested, go to adventures.org and read about some of the experiences missionaries have had there. In the United States, where we know absolutely nothing about hunger or want, it is so easy for people to ignore God's presence but in Swaziland He is so apparent to them when a need is met. He is there shining through every missionary who gets to feed or hold an orphaned child. He IS love. The people there see Him in the smallest things like being able to eat a meal that day.
In Swaziland 25% of the children under 18 don't have parents. They don't know love, or the comfort and protection that most of us got from our parents as a child.
God is not letting me forget them. He is laying this mission on my heart almost everyday, even when my schedule is jam packed with other stuff. He is giving me such a desire to go there and serve Him.

I apologize for this post jumping around so much! I have a lot of things on my heart today, mainly just how good God is, but it's not easy to convey through a blog post. Days like today when He is filling my heart completely make me want to share Him with everyone. I wish that everyone could experience the love and peace of Christ. It's one of those days that make me just want to serve and live for Him, to give myself to Him completely.