Hey, guess what?!?!

This is a common question I pose to many different people throughout my day. Most people don't really try and "guess what" because they know that I probably just have a random answer in mind.

Usually they're right. Most of the time, I don't really want them to "guess what". It's just my lead-in to get people intrigued about what new thing I am excited about that day. This is one of my favorite things to do. I love getting people on board with whatever I'm learning, discovering, reading, watching, doing, etc. I think it probably stems from my tendency to get overly excited about anything and everything--and well basically, I just want someone to share in that with me.

If something's really cool, I'm definitely talking about it to someone else, wanting them to think it's just as cool as I do. If I just read a fantastic book, I'll rave about it and force others to read it too-hoping they enjoy it as much as I did.

It's true, I'm always mobilizing...towards something.

I realized the extent of this the other night. Steven and I were out to eat at a new Mexican restaurant in Oak Park. New Rebozo. It was amazing. The ambiance, the character, the friendly chef that greeted each table individually, the food. Oh, the food. Pure deliciousness. As soon as I took my first bite of guacamole, I was sold. I quickly texted my brother and sister-in-law about how fantastic this restaurant was and how they just had to come here on their next night out. Steven just sat there, laughing at me, amazed that I hadn't even ordered the main course and I was already trying to get others on the 'New Rebozo Bandwagon'. I just couldn't help myself.

I like this quality about myself. It's how God created me and I'd like to think that He smiles down on my enthusiastic attempts at life. But lately, I have been wondering if He wishes I would use more of my bubbly personality to share the great things that He has been doing in my life. You see, most of the times I get distracted with the little things and forget about the big ones.

So, I'm correcting this issue now:

Hey, guess what?!?!

(insert dramatic pause here)

Something big has happened to me and Steven. Something that I should have been screaming from the rooftops the moment it happened, but instead have kept it pretty private and have therefore robbed God of the glory He so deserves.

(insert bigger dramatic pause here)

GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS. And here's how He's answered ours. IN A BIG, BIG WAY.

As many of you know, Steven and I have been planning to go overseas for quite some time now. It's been a dream of ours even before we started dating and has continued being an intricate part of our marriage, our relationships with others and our walk with God. To put it lightly, it's been our passion. Yet, 3 years later here we are. Still in Illinois. Still working jobs we don't really want to be working. Still not overseas.

As a very impatient person, this long process has been challenging. So to set a goal for ourselves, Steven and I said that we would try to make a decision on where we were going by the end of 2009.

So there we were, the week between Christmas and New Years. Still no decision and probably more confused than ever. We had different teams and places that were good possibilities, along with varying opinions on what this journey should look like. However, while many ideas were being thrown around, our goals remained steady. We desired long-term overseas experience. We desired to be a part of a team--to understand and experience the good, the bad, and the ugly. We wanted to learn how to serve, how to be humbled, how to be more Christlike. We hoped to be able to use our gifts in someway, though we were open to putting those aside if God had something else in store. We wanted to see the world--to see what God was doing and how we could be a part of it. These were our goals, our prayers, our vision. We just didn't know how that all added up and played out in real life.

So we did what most Christians do when they're at their wits end...we prayed. And we asked others to pray with us. We committed and asked others to commit to seeking the Lord through prayer with us for a week--in hopes that we could make a wise decision by the New Year.

God answered.

It happened when we were driving to Oklahoma to visit a friend for New Years Eve. On our way, Steven and I were praying in the car together when we got a phone call from an old acquaintance. It seemed random to us at the time that he would be calling us to catch up, but we honestly didn't think much of it. However, as the phone conversation continued on, I started to see Steven get excited. (This was exciting in and of itself, for I married a man who doesn't quite share my enthusiasm. Because of this, I knew something was up.) At one point, I even saw a huge smile break out on my husband's face and heard him say, "Oh man. My wife is really gonna like this." After what seemed to be like forever, he got off the phone and just looked at me with disbelief in his eyes and said, "You are never going to believe this."

Try me.

He then proceeded to tell me of this new opportunity we were being asked to consider.

The opportunity consisted of the following:
-Being a part of a new pilot team in Thailand. Ding, ding, ding! Thailand has been on my heart a lot recently and so I was already thrilled at the possibility of going there.

-Being mentored and discipled by the team leader and his wife (along with their 3 kids). Sweet, not only could we learn how to be a part of a team and how to be good potential team leaders, but we could also have the opportunity to see what it looks like to raise a family overseas. Keep going...

-Spending two years learning the Thai language and culture. Learning how to build cross-cultural relationships and engaging with the people. This would be a great opportunity to see a bit of what long-term missions would look like. We would go through culture shock, have to adjust to living away from family and friends, etc. This is starting to seem to good to be true...

-Learning with a team of business-minded people on how to do business well cross-culturally. The hope would be to eventually start a business that would provide jobs for the community, income for the local people, and the opportunity to see the Gospel spread. I mean, was this specifically created for my husband or what?!?.

More specifically, this pilot team will be a part of a new organization called Growing Entrepreneurs International. Its focus is to serve as a "middle man" between skilled and willing business-minded people and overseas missionary teams. As the face of world missions continues to change, there has been a great need for entrepreneurial skills. Even though much of the world today no longer allows "foreign missionaries", they do openly welcome new businesses that will bring revenue and jobs to their country. This has been a great opportunity for believers to not only bring the good news of Christ to a place that does not know of His love, but to also help develop struggling communities. However, a lot of teams have a hard time starting and continuing to run an entire business while also trying to do full-time ministry. Many of these team leaders are not trained business men, but rather pastors, biblical scholars, etc. There seems to be a great need to educate, train and equip people in doing business as mission. This is the need, the gap, that Growing Entrepreneurs International hopes to fill.

This was the opportunity presented to us--to be a part of this pilot team to Thailand and to help jump start this vision. This was the opportunity that put a huge smile on Steven's face and left me speechless.

This was the opportunity we had been praying for.

God answers prayers. In ways far better than anything we could ever imagine. In ways that are so perfect, so exciting, so humbling.

In ways that just blow our mind.

So, what's my point in sharing this with all of my 19 followers? Sure, it's an update on the journey Steven and I will be embarking on. But it's a whole lot more. I share this with you to show you how amazing our God is. It's unbelievable, really. Tears run down my face as I write this because I am in awe. In awe of how much our God loves us, loves to provide for us, and loves to show up in BIG ways.

I write this to mobilize you...towards big things. To mobilize you towards a greater faith. A greater faith in prayer. A greater faith in trusting God and trusting that He is listening.

I write this to remind myself of such things. To remember not use prayer as a last resort, but as my first priority in all that I do.

So hey, guess what?!?!

We are going to Thailand. For 3 years. Lord-willing. And we couldn't be more excited.

And hey, guess what else?!?!

It's all because God answered our prayer.