Our Ram in the Thicket

We choose to walk in faith, knowing that there is a Ram in the thicket. And His name is Jesus. 

~ from Day 2 of Trail to the Tree by Ann Morton Voskamp.

Our family is blessed to be reading through this free 17-day Easter resource!  We are currently on Day 3, timing our readings to end on Easter Sunday with Day 17.  To receive your own copy of Trail to the Tree, please visit this blog post by Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience.

God provided a ram in the thicket for our family this week.  We have been praying about a missions trip that our family would take on our own to a third world country this Summer.  We explored going to Brazil where we have friends who are missionaries there or to Haiti but those plans didn't materialize.

So, we considered the idea of going to the Philippines... for several reasons, one of which is that we wanted to show our kids where both hubby and I were born and raised.

We also have a Compassion daughter there that we would love to visit.  We could also visit the community where the children whom we are helping to send to school live.  We could maybe even witness Operation Christmas Child shoe-boxes being delivered to their recipients!!!  And... our kids would be able to see with their own eyes the realities of how people live in a third world country --- the very reason why hubby and I wanted to do this family missions trip in the first place!

But, there was one slight road-block... the cost of airfare!  It takes more-than-a-few-dollars for a family of four to travel from Canada to Asia... well, actually it takes a lot of dollars!!! :-)

So... as we started planning, I also started praying.

Last weekend, my sister-in-law told me that airfares to the Philippines with stop-overs in Japan are "on sale" on Expedia due to decreased demand for these flights because of the unstable conditions in Japan after the earthquake.  While the price-tag was oh-so-tempting, I wasn't sure about buying our tickets online and I was even more wary of the idea of passing through Japan in light of the after-shocks that they are still experiencing and the unstable situation with the nuclear power plants.

So... I kept praying, this time more specifically.  I prayed that if it is God's will for us to go to the Philippines, that He would provide airfares comparable to the ones I saw on Expedia but for flights that don't have to stop-over in Japan.

This past Thursday, I felt a prompting to "pop-in" to a travel agent's office.  I've never been there before, nor do I know anyone who works there.  Someone just recommended them to me in passing a few months ago.

So... off we went, hubby and I... not really expecting to find any deals.

We talked to the first person we saw as we walked in the door.  I asked for flights not passing through Japan.  Her response?  "I have an airline with a sale going on right now and the sale ends tomorrow!"  I thought, "Wow, perfect timing that we came today!"  But I was still skeptical as I know the airline she was talking about is the one that costs a lot of dollars!!!

When she told me the price quote, I couldn't believe what I heard!  The quote was Expedia price, but for flights not passing through Japan.  A savings of $1200 for our family of four... our ram in the thicket!  God had provided an answer to my prayers!!!

{Side Note} I called another travel agency just to compare prices.  I asked for the same tickets for the same date... and they weren't on sale there!

Needless to say, hubby and I took that as a sign from God... and we bought the tickets the very next day!!!  So surreal... we are going on our family missions trip! So, so, so excited! 

It's going to be an adventure, a God-sized adventure.  I know it!

Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly with God!