Here is the new news:
I am at 11% in my funding! I rejoice and am humbled in every percentage point that the funding increases, because that is another family or person that has trusted God to provide, and has trusted also in me to be someone worth investing in. Yes, knowing that 89% of my budget still remains is daunting, but in order to stay energized and moving in the right direction, it is important for me to savor every step in the right direction. After almost 18 months since beginning my partnership with ECMI-USA, sometimes I feel like it may never happen, or honestly, just plain tired. But as long as I am moving forward, however slowly or swiftly, I know that I am still on the right path.
Some other big news:
A prayer has been answered. I had said in a recent post that it was starting to become difficult even getting the one day off a week, but I was really not in a position where I could come back on 40 hours a week...I just knew that the more I was working, the longer and more difficult it would be to complete this process. So, when speaking with my boss, I understood that it was time to find a permanent sub for me...someone that could commit to being "me" on the days that I'm off, so the babies and my coworkers have consistency and so I could continue plugging away at fundraising. So this became a daily prayer for me.
Lo and behold, I found someone! A friend of mine, Lara, who had just come back from her student teaching in South Africa was meeting with a friend at a coffee shop to catch up. We got to chatting, and it turns out that this young lady had been praying for a part-time job during the summer. She had been having some trouble finding something since she was only available 2 days a week...well, guess what? She works in another child care facility and was looking to continue her work with kids. JACKPOT!! I got her an interview with my boss, and she is (I'm pretty sure this is official) going to be my permanent sub for Tuesdays and Thursdays! Her prayers AND my prayers were answered! So...
I am very likely going to start working part-time, as in 3 days a week. I am equally excited and terrified about this!
Reasons I am excited:
- I will have one more day a week to focus on support raising, which I hope will prove to move things along more quickly. Really, that is probably the main reason I am excited. I will be more available to people for appointments, have more time for blogging, have more time for composing newsletters, etc.
Reasons I am terrified:
- My finances are already a little stressed from where I moved down from 40 hours to 32 hours, and now I am cutting back to just 24 hours a week. Keeping in mind that I have a car payment, car insurance, cell phone bill and other bills, I am just a teensy-weensy bit nervous that I will be destitute within weeks. I must keep always in mind that God WILL provide.
- I am also relinquishing my full-time employee status, and that means I am losing my health insurance and other benefits. This means I will have to pay for individual health insurance, which anyone knows that this can be quite a chunk of change.
Hopefully, the sacrifices I'm making in pay and benefits will be worth it when I am fundraising much more quickly and efficiently. I hope you will pray with me that the Lord continues to provide for me since my occupational income will be quite low! I also pray that now that I will be committing much more of my time to support raising, that God will also provide the support needed to move into missions full-time. My December 31st deadline is very quickly approaching!
Thanks for reading!
Love to you all and many blessings,
Alison
To Donate:
1. Send your checks made out to ECMI-USA with a separate note with my name, Alison Settle on it to this address: ECMI-USA
PO Box 181
West Unity, OH 43570
2. Click here, specify me, Alison Settle, and you can donate through your amazon.com account.
3. Or for monthly donations via electronic transfer, send a request by email to rebekah.burkholder@ecmi.org
PO Box 181
West Unity, OH 43570
2. Click here, specify me, Alison Settle, and you can donate through your amazon.com account.
3. Or for monthly donations via electronic transfer, send a request by email to rebekah.burkholder@ecmi.org
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