In all honesty, support raising has been difficult for me as a Hmong woman. I can’t lie that comparison doesn’t trickle at the back of my head every now and then. I've seen many colleagues who came after me raise all their support, and even some having raised their support so fast that they pushed back their departure date because they felt it was too soon to leave. It's an internal battle against comparing my journey with others, but when joy is worth it, it’s a battle that I don’t mind fighting over, and over again.
In the window of time God has a reason to where I am now, and I live for that. During the last week of pre-field training in North Carolina, we spent some time in Psalm 62:1-2. The LORD came through and comforted me with simple but powerful words, “wait for me; it’s alright; I am your salvation.” This spoke to me specifically in regards deadlines and support raising plateaus. Deadlines are great to help with pacing support raising, but in the past couple of months I have noticed that these deadlines were starting to become unhealthy for me; pressure and doubt started to rise. By the grace of God His Spirit caught me where I started to slip and reminded me to focus my eyes on Him no matter the circumstances. I believe in strategic planning, but when we allow those plans to steer the wheel instead of God, our faith is no longer based on what we cannot see (HIM), but rather on what we can: progress and results. God is working behind the scenes of everything in our lives. He writes the story, and we are privileged to play a part of it. It’s alright if you don’t meet your deadlines after you’ve done what you can. Wait on the Lord alone. Trust the Author of you salvation.