A life of discipline

      It never ceases to amaze me how much different my day looks when I manage to start it early.  Some quiet time with the Lord, a cup of coffee in a still house - miraculous.  It also never ceases to amaze me how difficult this is to continue, even having experienced the amazing benefits just the day before, though once a pattern is formed it does help a lot, it's just the forming of that pattern which is such a challenge to me.  I'm not just talking about waking up early, but most areas of discipline, be it exercising, eating right, going to bed early or even keeping a budget.  I have found it to be true however that the more disciplined I am in one area, the easier it is to be disciplined in other areas, thus expounding on how important discipline truly is in my life.  
      Seth and I are entering into a season of forced (by ourselves) discipline.  For us this is going to cause a lot of change in the way we do things day by day, even where we do them, but I think it's going to bring a lot of good into our lives, not just as an end result, but even now.
        In case you are not aware, Seth and I are feeling called to go serve Dan and Regina and the others at Love's Door 4 All Nations in Zambia, Africa.  We will be there for about nine months and will be serving as hosts to the short term teams that come, as well as doing car and other maintenance type things.  We will be living in Livingstone near Dan and Regina (hopefully, we will need to find a flat to rent once we get there and are hoping to find one nearby.)
         For a long time now Seth and I have had a heart to serve overseas for a season, but we (I specifically) have been overwhelmed by the finances it takes to do so, not to mention all the unknowns which seem to me so much bigger when bringing young children along.  But who am I to stand in the way of what the Lord is wanting to do in and through us?  The Lord has really been softening my heart and teaching me to trust him completely.  I am daily reminded of

2 Corinthians 12:10 "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."       Just this past week we found out that Seth is most likely going to have six or more months of work coming up on a big house he has been asked to help build.  We are working at simplifying our lives as much as possible and cutting out many of the extras which are nice to have, but really not necessary.  We still have more than $20,000.00 to earn/raise before we leave (hopefully in January or February 2015) but I am excited to see how the Lord provides!  We would appreciate all of your prayers and encouragement as we take this step forward as a family.   If you feel called to help support us financially as we go, you can contact me at michelles72@gmail.com    You can find out more information on Love's Door at http://lovesdoor.org/leadership-team/       In the meantime, I have more areas than getting up early and saving money to be disciplined in, I also have a tri-athalon relay to prepare for!  I'm doing the swimming portion of a tri-athalon at the end of July.  Exciting times ahead my friends, exciting times!      Revision:  We are still planning on going to Zambia, but it will most likely be closer to January 2016.  Trying to rush everything and get the money together just seemed like too much.  We are still very excited to go, but feeling better about this plan.