Faith vs. Fear

I had a dear customer I was working with on her travel to Africa who was being told some misinformation from a well-meaning relative right before her departure to Africa for a missions trip this week.  Her relative was adamant that she would be going through customs on her outbound flights into Africa, and I was trying to assure her that she would NOT have to go through customs on the outbound, but rather on the return.  I made sure to give her a second opinion, and also the number to the airline and she emailed me back saying that the airline said the same thing that I told her and that now she finally has peace of mind and has NO idea why her family member made her freak out!!!  Here was my reply...

I am glad that you were able to call them for your own peace of mind to check this out for yourself.  I hope you have a WONDERFUL trip and I know myself that sometimes I can battle with fear vs. faith.  I want to be trusting the LORD more and not listening to my own fears OR the fears of others.  I trust that the LORD will be WITH YOU and protecting you each step of the way as you are walking by faith in HIM.
If I might share with you....  I say all of this because I understand fear all too well.

We are adopting from the DRC, and it seems that people come out of the woodwork to put in their opinions, fears....  I think it is a battle that each adopting family faces.  The battle of faith vs. fear.  And in the long run, being anxious about our adoption is not going to help it along at all, not one bit!  There are lots of obstacles, and who knows?  It might take 3 years to complete, but we are stepping out by faith and praying that the Lord will bring us through to the finalization and beginning of our new life with our child HE wants to bless us with.

Learning a lot and just felt that I could share this with you.

God bless you and I will be praying for you on Saturday for your trip to go smooth sailing.... or flying I mean!!  ;)

Please keep in touch and let me know how things go... photos.... Let me know how I can pray for you....  This is our ministry and JOY, so please keep in touch.

Lilies of the field...

"Which one of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his splendor was not arrayed like one of these."  ~Matthew 6:27-29

Blessings and prayers,
Tabitha :)
www.adoptionairfare.com

Pregnant in My Heart

My heart is pregnant right now with love for a baby we have never even met.  The Lord has been working on both of our hearts toward adoption for quite some time now and just last night, I felt like my husband was really giving ME the nudge to get this thing rolling which is what I have been waiting for!! Praise the LORD!!!  SO, we are taking baby steps of faith right now.  I feel like my arms are empty with a deep longing to hold this child.  YES, it will likely be from the DRC.  We have met some amazing friends who have adopted from the DRC who we feel particularly knit together with in our hearts and are just seeking the Lord for the steps to take!

It is amazing to think that a child can be born in your heart and that deep seed of love that is planted by the Holy Spirit can grow and give birth one day to a child.  Truly this love is supernatural.  What will he or she look like?  How old will they be?  Will we adopt a sibling group?  How long is the wait?  How will we pay for it?  These are all questions that are left to be answered by the Lord in His perfect will and time.

But for now, our hearts are pregnant.  We are praying for this child or children who the Lord may have us adopt and rescue from being orphans.  We feel the incredible and massively STRONG current of the love of the LORD for these little children who the Lord has commanded us to care for from His word.  I am sure it is Him moving our hearts with His love for these little ones.  How will this play out?  I don't know.  Will there be road blocks?  I am sure.  But when we remember the road blocks that Jesus went through to rescue us, I am sure it will give us strength to keep pressing on with a love that endures all things, hopes all things, believes all things, never fails.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Orphan care and adoption are HIS heartbeat and I can FEEL HIS HEART beating inside of me.  Believe me, if I could tackle the whole world right now to bring this child home, I would do it.  But I can't.  I can only trust the One who has overcome the WORLD and I can be of GOOD CHEER as we wait upon the LORD with this deep aching in my heart and longing to be with my baby.  I can almost feel them in my arms.  And when I feel this way, it reminds me to PRAY for that one.  PRAY for safety.  PRAY for the Lord to bring them at the perfect time into our lives.  PRAY PRAY PRAY!!!  What if they say no and we won't be able to adopt?!!  Well, even if this never happens, what I feel in my heart right now is REAL and if we try and try and try again and nothing happens?  I just have to believe that this love is supernatural.  I have to believe that the Lord will honor any moves we make in the direction of orphan care and adoption.  I have to have HOPE and I have to believe.  Maybe the Lord wants us to feel this way to understand HIS incredible heart for orphan children?...  OR maybe, just maybe...  He IS doing this because He has a little one in need of a mother and father who He finds us suitable for.  If He sees fit, we will receive this child with surrendered hearts... With JOY, with incredible love to offer, to be a part of our family and to be hopefully also be a part of God's family forever.

A Question about Skirts

Today a friend from Facebook asked me a question.... "Do you mind telling me what "church/body of believers" you belong/gather to?  I noticed you all wear skirts.  I grew up in (named a religious group I wasn't familiar with), and we all wore long skirts.  We don't anymore, and you don't often see it anymore so I was just curious..." 

So, here was my reply...

We are Christians... 

"Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works." -I Tim 2:9-10

I believe that modesty is important in my walk with the Lord. I didn't always feel this way, but more and more, the Lord has put this on my heart, especially in teaching our girls to dress modestly. I believe that I can still be modest wearing pants. It is a little more difficult, but not impossible!! I don't always wear skirts, just most of the time. How about you? Are you born again? Does your fellowship emphasize modesty now? I think many people don't teach this anymore because the culture is such an influence, but I think as Christians, modesty should be something that we try to focus on more, rather than less.

However, the MAIN AND MOST important thing is the heart. If modesty is not coming from the heart, it would be just outward without the inward beauty of a heart that has been changed by the Lord's love. The heart is the most important, that we are washed in the blood of Jesus, walking in Holiness, and obeying the Lord in all things. Then, the outward things should come as an overflow of love to our LORD for all that He has done for us!! My husband is a pastor and we are so blessed to be in a fellowship that teaches modesty and emphasizes it. We as a fellowship do not "ban" wearing pants and there are no rules against that. There are no verses in the Bible that say anything against a woman wearing pants, but just that we as Christians should be dressing modestly.

Sorry if I had a huge response, but it is not every day that I am asked this question, so I am happy to give you an answer to this!

God bless you today!
Love,
Tabitha

Sharing the Gospel in the Adoption Message

I just had the opportunity to share with a Hindu man who took me in a shuttle to my hotel from the airport the other day.  I asked him where he was from and he told me he was from India and we got talking about the work that I do for adopting families to help them with their adoption flights.

He began sharing about how adoption is so necessary in India where he is from because the children are in desperate need.  I was really compelled to share with him about Jesus.  It was beautiful how the Lord helped me to bring up the topic of the gospel as it relates to adoption.  I began sharing with this man how there is only One God, and how Jesus Christ is God, and wants to adopt him personally into His family.  

This young man was very shocked to hear this.  Of course in Hinduism, they believe in millions of gods.  I proceeded to share with him God's heart for him to be adopted into His family.  I could tell the Lord was working on his heart.  I shared with him that this is the message of God's redemption that He has for him.  I shared with him how adoption physically relates so closely to being adopted into God's family and being born again.  I shared with him how when a person is adopted, they have a whole brand new LIFE!  Everything becomes new for them, and this is a picture of the new LIFE that Jesus Christ wants to give him too, if he will repent from his way of living and come to Jesus for salvation.  He sincerely thanked me for sharing this with him, and I left him with a gospel tract that had lots of verses on it.  

I can't wait for the next opportunity to share this!!  I am excited to see God using the story of adoption to touch people's hearts and help them to see the picture of having a new life and being born again.  Praise the LORD! 

~Tabitha
www.adoptionairfare.com

CUSTOMER VIDEO CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED!!!!

Thank you all SO much for the videos that you have entered into our customer video contest for Cheap Missions Trips and Adoption Airfare.  We are SO humbled and blessed by each one of your videos.  Most of all, we are now more encouraged to pray for you than ever before.  We are planning to be more strategic in our prayers for each and every one of the customers that the Lord sends to us to serve.  If this video contest has inspired us to pray harder than ever before, it was worth every minute of effort to be encouraged more deeply by all of your testimonies.  In your videos, you shared testimonies about how people are getting saved and how the Lord is leading you on your missions trips.  It really blessed our hearts beyond words and we can not express the JOY in our hearts right now!  One of you shared a testimony of a trip we helped you with to Mombasa, Kenya where you shared the gospel with a Muslim man and he was saved.

We heard testimonies about how through the services we provide, God put you on a specific flight at a specific time to minister to someone or for someone to minister to you.  Divine appointments that only the Lord could do and we are seeing such beautiful fruit of the Lord's hand upon us in picking out flights for our customers.  We are so blessed to be a part of the amazing things that the Lord is doing through each one of your lives in your missions and adoption journeys.

For those of you who did not get their videos in to us in time, that is OK!!!  We are planning some more contests for our customers in the future and this is hopefully the first of many more.  We want to be able to share YOUR testimonies of how the LORD is working and moving in your life.  Hallelujah!!!!

SO....... for the long awaited WINNERS of the drawing..... Here is a short video of our drawing today so that you can see who won the two grand prizes in the customer video contest!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GRAND PRIZE WINNERS!!!!!

WINNER OF GIFT #1

RACHEL DRISKELL FROM BRAZOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP!!!!!

($50 Dollar Travel Certificate for International Travel and World Globe)

WINNER OF GIFT #2 

LEAH MORFORD FROM OVERLAND MISSIONS!!!!!

($25 Dollar Starbucks Gift Card and $50 Dollar Christianbook.com gift card)

Thank you to all of you for submitting your videos!!  For those of you who entered a video meeting the guidelines for entry into the contest, we will be contacting you for your address to send each of you a special gift even if you did not win the grand prize drawings.

We love each of you and praise GOD for the work HE is doing in your life!!!  Thank you for allowing us to be a part of it.

God bless!!
~Kevin and Tabitha Lovell
www.cheapmissionstrips.com
www.adoptionairfare.com

Customer Video Contest!

WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO INVITE YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR CUSTOMER VIDEO CONTEST!!!!!

If you have been one of our customers with Cheap Missions Trips and/or Adoption Airfare, this contest is for you!  We are looking for customer videos for the next 10 days.  If you have been one of our customers, please submit your video and make sure to include the following info in your video to be submitted for the contest to win some incredible prizes in our official drawing on March 21st.  We are NOT IN ANY WAY comparing videos, just simply putting your name into a drawing if your video is submitted on time and fits the below criteria.

There will be one drawing and two prizes!!!!!

PRIZE #1  OUR FIRST NAME TO BE DRAWN WILL WIN A $50 TRAVEL CERTIFICATE (TO BE USED FOR TRAVEL WITH CHEAP MISSIONS TRIPS OR ADOPTION AIRFARE TO BE REDEEMED AT THE TIME TICKETS ARE ISSUED FOR ANY INTERNATIONAL TRIP.) AND A BEAUTIFUL WORLD GLOBE!!

$50 TRAVEL GIFT CERTIFICATE

BEAUTIFUL OFFICE GLOBE

PRIZE #2  OUR SECOND NAME DRAWN WILL RECEIVE A CHRISTIAN BOOK DISTRIBUTORS $50 GIFT CARD AND STARBUCKS $25 GIFT CARD

$25 DOLLAR STARBUCKS GIFT CARD

$50 CBD GIFT CARD

YOUR VIDEO MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES:

• We are looking for a video of our customers sharing about how our services were a benefit to you and your family or missions team (Please include testimonies of the LORD and testimonies about how your trip went etc.)
• Video must be 3 minutes or less
• Video must be emailed to us at cheapmissionstrips@gmail.com and subject must state VIDEO CONTEST
• You must state in your email that you are agreeing to the terms and conditions stated in the contest rules below 

CONTEST RULES, TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

• One video per customer of Cheap Missions Trips and/or Adoption Airfare.  Each person entering the contest will be entered into a drawing for the prizes above.
• Video must be 3 minutes or less
• Drawing will be held on March 21st, 2012 and winners will be posted at www.facebook.com/AdoptionAirfare and www.facebook.com/CheapMissionsTrips.  Please look out on March 21st for the winners to be announced in the morning!!
• By submitting a video, you are granting Cheap Missions Trips and Adoption Airfare a royalty free license to copy, distribute, modify, display, and otherwise use this video for any promotional or educational purposes. 

Thank you so much for being our faithful customers, and we are excited to see your videos and get you entered into the drawing for these above prizes!!!!

Please keep up with us on FACEBOOK and thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your journey.  We love all of you and consider it an honor to serve you with your travel needs.

God bless you and your families!!

~Kevin and Tabitha Lovell

Missions and Adoption Travel

www.cheapmissionstrips.com

www.adoptionairfare.com 

Working for Jesus

This morning, Kevin was telling me about a t-shirt he almost bought the other day at the little Kentucky variety store (of all places).  He said the t-shirt said,  

"Work for God....The retirement benefits are great!"  

We had a good laugh together, but this really got me thinking.  You know, before I was saved, I had a very "worldly" view about work.  I worked several years in the health care field from work as a CNA to becoming a tech in the Emergency room and then I went on to becoming a nurse.  I had many years in this profession before God called me to the mission field, and then to be a travel agent for Him.  I have done many "jobs" in the various seasons of my life, from de-tasseling corn as a young girl, to working in the field that I am so blessed to be in now, serving missionaries and adopting families as a travel agent for Jesus!

Today I saw a post on Facebook from a sweet friend and one of our travel customers who has used our services for her international adoption travel to Africa to pick up her sweet daughter.  We just recently helped her with flights to bring her daughter home to the USA.  It is always such a JOY to be able to see these families bring their little children home for the beginning of their new life together as a family.  I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing for the Lord each day than this beautiful work.  So, after having her little girl home for a few short days, she took this photo of her doing dishes.  

"Washing dishes makes her so happy. seriously! She sang the whole time." ~Adopting Mom of this girl in the photo

  

I remember years of work before being saved, and then beautiful years of working for the Lord after.  My occupation did not change when I got saved, but my attitude and heart changed completely and I remember having "JOY" in the most menial jobs.  I remember an older woman of God who came along side of me when I was first saved.  She was a "charge nurse" and I was a Nursing assistant at that time.  In the chain of command on our unit, I was at the BOTTOM and she was at the TOP!  I will never forget how she displayed Jesus to me when I had a job of cleaning up a mess that I will not even describe to you.  She and I both knew that it was my job, and I was not expecting any help with it.  I rolled up my sleeves, put on my gloves, and started in.  Well, a few minutes into this horrendous mess all over the walls, I will never forget what she did.  This "charge nurse" came in the room with me, rolled up her sleeves too, and began singing praises to the Lord while helping me clean up this terrible mess.  The Lord brought light and sunshine into the darkest room that day.  I know that He had put His JOY in her heart and I have never felt the same since that day about any work that God has me to do.  You see, with Jesus, and His Joy in our hearts, work is not just "work," it is an opportunity to sow to the Spirit of God!!!  And oh, when we sow to His Holy Spirit, His Word promises that we will "REAP" everlasting Life!

"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." ~Galatians 6:8

I can tell you that working for Jesus is so much better than working for me.  Today I remembered the many times that I "punched the clock" to make money and earn income to make ends meet.  Now I have so much JOY in serving the Lord's people who He sends to me to help them with their travel.  I have never had a work that I have enjoyed more in all of my life.  My husband and I are so blessed to be a part of this work.  Do you know that each time the business phone rings, we give thanks to the Lord for every phone call?  This is something new we are doing and it is funny how it totally changes our perspective on answering the phone!  Something so little that we can do to give thanks in ALL things, and then it is beautiful to see how there is JOY in everything as we look to Jesus for strength and perspective each day in the work He has us to do for Him.  And oh, one day, to see HIS face, the One who we have served when we do it unto Him.  I feel that it will be worth my whole lifetime of service to Jesus to hear those sweet words...

Photo of Artaban from the "Fourth Wise Man" at the end when he finally meets Jesus and has nothing to give him because he had already given it all away and spent his whole life for the moment he would meet Jesus face to face.  When he finally meets His Lord (Jesus), who he has served all those years, he feels so ashamed that he had once had precious gifts, but gave them all away and now at the end of his life he has nothing left to give Him and then Jesus says to him in the movie.  "Artaban, you've already given your gifts to me." Artiban doesn't understand since he is just meeting Jesus for the first time.  Now with nothing in his hands to give His Lord at the end of his life, Jesus replies to him...

"For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me."

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying (And in the movie, Artaban says), ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it unto Me." ~Matthew 25:36-40

"A life spent and exhausted for Jesus is never a wasted life." 

~Tabitha Lovell