2022 in 2022

When God tells you to hit the ground running...

Our Ohio CarePortal.org team has a vision. We'd love to see our STATE network serve 2,022 kids in 2022. It's very achievable, as most goals are. You gear up for it, you set your sights on it and you RUN towards it... a step at a time. Doable.

But this year, just as I was setting goals and making plans... throwing confetti and screaming "HAPPY NEW YEAR"... thinking, 2022 was going to be different... better... easier, my family got Covid. Not all at once, but one at a time, keeping us in isolation for weeks on end and I lost my voice for almost 2 weeks. We cancelled travel plans, postponed birthday parties, and tried to keep as many of our commitments as we could remotely. And I have to say that I felt like I had lined up at the starting block and waited for the gun to go off, just to be told to go sit in the stands.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. " ~1 Corinthians 9:24

I have such fond memories of running (before I had the catastrophic car accident that is likely mentioned in another blog post, or will be someday). I remember the thrill of "beating your best time" and I remember applying that principle to other areas of my life, even as a kid. I am a "RUN to TAKE THE PRIZE" kind of girl! So when I'm benched, I'm devastated. I don't like to lose momentum. I was isolated in our basement for 5 days, contemplating how frustrating this "set back"was and I got so bored that ... I did some math.

2022 KIDS SERVED divided by the 236 CURRENT CAREPORTAL OHIO churches = Each CHURCH committing to 9(ish) kids.

I shared that that easy, 3rd grade math problem with a very small group of friends. I asked "what can we do this week to warm up for the race ahead?".... I had a request in mind that I wanted to gather items for... But my little circle of friends TOOK OFF! By the end of my 5 day isolation, I had 5 friends step up and say "I can serve ONE family". And here I sit 27 days late for posting my NewYear's Update... and marveling at how God has run ahead and made a way for me once again. One month into 2022 and my girlfriends have served 25kids! If you've been reading along for a while, you might see a pattern. When I was banned from buying mattress from an Amazon seller, God supplied 42 mattresses anyway (read that story here: https://renae566.wixsite.com/servantlife/post/getbanned) . When I was on bed rest (due to complications from the above mentioned car accident) God allowed me to make deep connections over the phone and the ministry didn't lose second of speed (read about that here: https://renae566.wixsite.com/servantlife/post/if-we-can-only-be-faithful ). I could make a very long list of times when I thought I was experiencing a set back, only to find that God was propelling HIS WORK forward!

"Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly" ~1 Corinthians 9:26

Here's the bottom line, the encouragement... the reason you read all of that:

God doesn't want us to run alone.

And He doesn't want us to wear ourselves out running after EVERYTHING- aimlessly. Not only does the Lord run with us, but He's already run ahead to make our paths straight and set the prize before us. If we will each run our best race, "in such a way as to get the prize", if we will chase hard after the Lord... serving 9 kids per church this year will feel like a laughably small goal. And in the end, WE ALL WIN.