Razoo access

A few friends have informed me that sometimes it is hard to find the access to make a donation to my fundraising account... so I wanted to go ahead and throw the link into this post and make it as easy as I can for everyone! BOOOOOOM - there it is!

 

http://pta.razoo.com/story/Haleyhillwalkabout?referral_code=share

If you are new and just following my blog... I can give you an update about my journey! Side note update as well: since beginning fundraising, I am currently at 42% of the $5000!

This fall I have made a commitment to take 9 months out of my life to set aside to fast from the world and all its distractions by going into the wilderness of Camp Eagle. With this in mind, I have stepped out of my teaching and coaching responsibilities to pursue after what the Lord is calling me to do. I am purposefully stepping out of my worldly comfort zone and allowing myself to fully and only rely on Him. These 9 months will be dedicated to service, study, and sojourning. The program I will be joining is called Walkabout, it is a gap year program designed to build a strong enduring foundation of biblical knowledge, to kindle a lasting tight knit community, and to inspire Christ like change through experiential learning. I will also be involved in serving guests and the community of Rocksprings alongside Camp Eagle’s staff through purpose driven outdoor adventure.

My goal for this 9 month adventure will be to clarify my Christ-likeness. With such a full time commitment, I will not be able to have any kind of a job while pursuing these goals and therefore I am reaching out to those I feel would be interested in supporting such an endeavor. The program cost is $4000 which will provide for all my needs while at Camp Eagle for the duration of 9 months. Not included within this amount are my personal bills that I will still need to maintain while I am serving, as well as my personal financial needs for everyday hygiene. Camp Eagle is a nonprofit ministry and has made the cost for this program as minimal as possible. I would be honored to receive your support, whether that is in the form of prayers or a donation to fund my costs for the 9 months. Thank you so much in advance for your support. Pray that the Lord teaches me to walk in simple obedience this next year and allows me to more clearly see Him and His will for my life!

July has flown by!!

Well here we are... almost to August! And for those of you keeping up with my fundraising... you know that this means less than one month till the first day of my NEXT 9 months! Let the official countdown begin and we are at 24 days!!!

 

Joyfully

I share with you that as of last night, after a large donation, my fundraising has reached 42%!

These past few weeks, I have been blessed by those donating who have been a part of my life for a long time. Those within the church, my neighborhood and school systems. Those who have watched me grow from a young age to the adult that I am now. I can not think these people enough for their blessings in my life growing up, as well as their financial investments for the next 9 months!

 

UPDATE

So what is going on with me now...???

 

I am currently running around with my head cut off trying to figure out last minute ways to raise the last half of my money for this journey. I have had a few new friends who are looking into helping me with ideas and even asking their own churches for help.

 

Tomorrow I will leave Texas and drive a WONDERFUL 8 hours to New Mexico to be a bridesmaid in one of my best friends weddings. While I am very excited and honored, this just means I am one step closer to go time (AUG 17) which can make me nervous at times because of the fundraising. This trip will also be four days away from my home (work place) of fundraising. I know I will be focused on this... but I also know I am very excited to spend time with these wonderful NMMI friends that mean SOOOO much to me! Lifetime friends for sure :)

 

When I return, I will be mailing out last minute support letters to those who may not have accepted them via Facebook or are just not technologically savvy. Within my neighborhood, I am also filling the mail boxes with donation requests for my next garage sale. I am doing this as an effort to get more "stuff" to sale for a larger variety of people to come and purchase!

 

With that said - I am having a final garage sale to raise funds on August 10th and hope to have many people donate items because what I have left over from my last one is not enough variety. My goal for this garage sale is again going to be $100-$200, but of course I would love to knock those numbers out of the water!

 

When I said I was running around with my head cut off - I meant it! There are some days I have to just stop and remind myself.... The Lord is in control. Nothing I "DO" provides the money necessarily... HE is the Provider. I have many things to take care of within these last few weeks (wedding, making sure I have all my equipment, fundraising, garage sale, letters, donations, packing), but I am going to focus on one day at a time. That's the only way right???

 

Love you all!

Garage Sale and Job Update

HEY ALL :)

Well I had my garage sale this past weekend and it went pretty well. I didn't have too many customers, but I was blessed with those that did come out and a few friends stopping by to give me hugs, words of encouragement, and some donation money! I did meet my goal of raising between $100-$200 from the event and a very happy about that!

My next garage sale... I am hoping to have it at the beginning of August to be able to accept some donated garage sale items from friends to add to my own collection of "good stuff" that I was unable to sale this past weekend. Again my goal will be to raise between $100- $200!

Reflection... My own little Soap box

This weekend I was reminded in several ways of the goodness of the Lord and the way He is in control. I had a few high school friends/parents stop by and make donations which was such a blessing to me, not only financially, but emotionally as well. I also reconnected with some friends that I haven't seen or heard from in several years! And my new teammates are awesome blessings!

I have been in my own little "funk" for a good while now, but the Lord sent those sweet friends to lift me up. To demonstrate to me that my life does matter in more ways than I can see and that I am able to shine in His light even in my own dark times. To those friends, we may not have been best friends in school, but I am so thankful for the times we did share and the memories we did have. Your presence and support this past weekend has brought so much joy to my life and I can't think you enough for that.

The reconnection of good friends was such a surprise to me this past weekend. I was able to attend a 50th birthday party with a good friend. Talked to a best friend that I have missed dearly and just reflected on so many good times. I also had a few friends stop what they had planned for the day and come out to watch my indoor soccer games! Just to be able to just sit down and laugh ... such much needed moments as I prepare for my 9 months in the wilderness. To be able to catch up on life, encourage one another in our present stages of life and just hang out was such a joy!

Another praise before I am done. As I am playing on 3 indoor teams, I have made several new friends who have been hilarious and so uplifting! Saturday I was able to share with them more about my faith and why I am going away for 9 months... To my surprise, several of the wanted to help me with my fundraising efforts and were a blessing of encouragement! Ideas of a Zumba-a-thon and a bake sale were thrown out there! So we will see what all the Lord has in store for these new fundraising ideas and friendships!

JOB UPDATE
 





After considering the time left in the summer and the business of working at a winery 35 miles away, the job idea didn't seem like something I could do. Since the business is only open on the weekends, and I will be away for sure at the end of July.. there were only 3 guaranteed weekends I could work, one of which would be a training weekend. Needless to say add in the 70 miles a day, plus the gas of my SUV.. you can probably understand why I decided not to take the position.

 

I am still looking for some temporary jobs and was informed of a job place that sets you up with daily or weekly  jobs! So I am looking forward to finding some odd jobs to take up and begin raising my fundraising amount! I will look into that job placement business this week and see what I can find!
 

Love you all and thank you for investing in my life.

July 4th BLESSINGS

Happy 4th of July!!!

I hope everyone has an amazing day and is able to enjoy time with family and friends! I just wanted to share some blessings I have had today!

My day is being spent with my good ol' Pops (my dad). I am such a daddy's girl and love every second that we are able to kick back and relax together. For our day we planned to cook out and enjoy our time together! Thankfully it is not hot at all outside, so I will be able to sit outside with him some and play with my Mika girl (my dog)! Though I would love to spend time with my other family members as well, I am super happy for where they are each celebrating this holiday!

Two big blessings I want to share...

1. Time with my Pops yesterday

2. Financial blessings in my fundraising

*ONE*

So yesterday I had the wonderful joy of traveling with my Pops for several hours to just give him some company in the car while he ran some errands in nearby towns. We spent about 5 hours in the car traveling where all he needed to go and we were able to stop and eat at a hole in the wall Mexican food place in Menard. Doesn't seem like a big deal probably... but for me it was just such a fun time to spend with my dad. I haven't really lived with my dad since 2007, so around 6ish years and our quality time has been limited to holidays mostly.

During these hours in the car I really got to hear about my dad's life and how he is doing. Not the everyday "hey punk what's up" ... "oh you know dad just being crazy" conversation. It was nice to be able to stop what I was "doing" and get out of the house and go with my dad, investing time in his day. Nothing too extravagant or extraordinary, just good quality time spent with my dad that really meant a lot to me. Over the next 9 months away in the wilderness when I reach the moments of missing my family... I am excited to be able to look back at this moment and remember laughing, talking and jamming out with my Pops.

*TWO*

As this week began, July 1st approached and really hit me in the face. I had a quick freak out moment about my fundraising, as I was only at $600 of $5000! But, Father really showed me "Haley REMEMBER who is in control??" I was reminded that not only have I surrendered these 9 months of my life to Him and finding what He has in store for me, but I also surrendered much more. I gave Him all of my hopes, my dreams, my passions, my fears, and my worries. Man that sure is a lot of MY's.. but for me that is one thing this journey is all about. Losing ME and finding HIM in every aspect of my life. Not living of this world.. but living as He has called me to live.

So with a reminder of all that I have surrendered to and some deep thought and prayer, Father got me back on track and focused on allowing Him to be in control. I praise Him so much for the progress of fundraising and the friends that he has blessed me with. The financial blessings of people I do not know, those I have recently met, lifelong friends, and young brothers/sisters in Christ has completely BLOWN me away. The blessings that some of these people have shared with me, not only have helped me financially, but continue to show me that Father is in control!

As of today, the fundraising has passed the $1,000 mark and we are sitting on the 23% fully funded point! What a blessing and such a wonderful day to be able to celebrate these victories. Thank you friends who have invested and those who are still in prayer about this! You are a blessing!

Job Opportunities

So.. this past week I have been looking for odd jobs and opportunities to earn some money. Soon I will be posting to my Facebook friends that I am available to help with small jobs (like previously mentioned).

One evening on my way to my indoor soccer game, I passed a firework stand and got extremely excited about the opportunity to work there... considering this is like a weeks worth maximum of working. So, this type of business is use to hiring people for short periods of time. As I drove up, I asked the Lord to have His will and through that simple request, He did. I asked the sweet man if he had any openings and unfortunately he did not, but no worries... Father already knew I wouldn't be working there. Through this the Lord reminded me that He will provide and I need to just continue trusting Him!

Another opportunity that has been given to me is an opportunity to work weekends at a vineyard in a small town near here. A teammate overheard me speaking of my 9 month journey and my fundraising efforts. The day she shared this information with me, another worker had quit at work and she had told her boss about me. I plan on calling tomorrow and again am praying the Lord's will for this job and financial opportunity. I will keep yall updated!

One whole week of fundraising.. What now - GARAGE SALE?

Well week ONE is down and felt like it flew by! I have been blessed through my Razoo fundraising and have reached the 16% funded mark! I am super excited and prayerfully focusing on God's provision and that He is in control of these funds. The Lord is good and He will provide!

Thank you sweet friends who have financially invested in this journey of my life through this first week! Your encouragement through emails, Facebook messages and cards have brought so much joy to me during a very busy and potentially stressful time! To those of you still praying over financially helping me, thank you for seeking Him with this opportunity. He is the one who knows best and is able to provide all that we need when we choose to give financially to His work.

What now?

Okay so, after two weeks of digging and diving all in my storage unit and my closets at my dads house... I have come up with enough "stuff" for my first garage sale. I didn't get a chance to ask for donations for this garage sale, but I still have every intention to contact and advertise to my Facebook friends asking for garage sale donations.

So when is this garage sale? THIS SATURDAY - July 6th! Facebook friends can contact me for the address (since this blog is posted everywhere).