A Free Lunch... well, dinner... and it was breakfast food...

This evening, I had the privilege of sitting down with two of my parents' best friends to talk to them about financially supporting me. We met at a Village Inn for dinner with my dad, and I was so excited to talk to them about what I will be doing in Germany in the coming months. I'll be honest, I was also excited for the bacon and eggs; I'm a sucker for breakfast food at any meal. After we caught up a bit, I shared with them the whole story of how the Lord led me to apply for jobs overseas and finally accept this position at Black Forest Academy. I talked about my passion for this demographic of students who I can so freely share the beauty of Jesus with during my lessons. (Grammar is an amazing reflection of how we serve a God of order not a God of chaos!) They told me they were excited to partner with me, and we continued talking about what I will get to do for God's kingdom with their partnership.

I get so excited when I get to share that I can talk to students about the freedom of the Gospel in my classroom because I remember growing up saturated in Christianese and watched a lot of kids I went to high school with walk away from their faith after misinterpreting it as bondage rather than freedom. Another one of my favorite things about this fundraising process for me is how humbling it is. I'm so loved by so many people, and I'm repeatedly humbled by the excitement of others to partner with me financially. People who know me believe in me enough to send me overseas to teach and love missionary kids. Of course I shared this, and, of course, God gave me another reason to be humbled.

After we finished eating, the hostess and waiter came to our table to let us know that the family who had just left the booth next to us had paid for our meal because they overheard that I was going on a mission trip. I still can hardly process how to respond. I'll never be able to thank that family in this lifetime, but some sibling in Christ chose to share in God's work tonight by blessing me with a free meal. No strings attached. What a great picture of the ministry I want to do: love and teach these kids no strings attached.