Saying Yes When It Makes No Sense: Missions Trip

A mission trip invitation sounds inspiring until you price it out, look at your calendar, and remember everything else you are carrying. We sit with that tension honestly, because faith is not theoretical when you are overwhelmed, financially stretched, and unsure whether you even heard God correctly. From the very start, we speak to women of faith who feel stuck in pain or hardship and need a reminder that God can use the mess and still write a purposeful story.

In this episode I share the turning point moment that frames the whole conversation: a delayed, last-minute application to join a mission trip to Point Hope, Alaska with Aglow International, followed by an acceptance email that forced a decision. The next steps are where the message gets practical. We talk about obedience to God, the fear of inadequacy, and what it means to believe that if God is sending you, He will also provide. You’ll hear how provision came through people in unexpected ways, from financial gifts to warm clothing, personal care items, prayer, texts, and timely encouragement.

The story also includes real-life travel pressure: standby flights, oversold planes, and a bag sent ahead to Chicago while still stuck in Fort Lauderdale. Instead of spiraling, we watch how guidance and help arrive through community and quick problem-solving, reinforcing the faith lesson in real time. Along the way we ground everything in Scripture, including Romans 8:28 and Matthew 6:33, and we ask the question that lingers after the story ends: what could your yes unlock?

If you’re searching for Christian encouragement, a faith podcast about purpose, or a reminder that God provides when He calls, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs courage, and leave a review with the words you needed most from this conversation. I would love to hear from you.

Transcript

Welcome And The Heart Of Pain

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome to Positioned for Purpose Conversations. I'm your host, Carlette Marie. Yes. Our podcast is for women of faith who struggle to see God in their pain, in their hardship, and in their most challenging times. This is a gentle reminder that right where you are, yes, right there, God will use you in the mess, in your hardships and in your most challenging times, in your heartaches and in your pain. God has a plan for your story. Romans 8 28 states, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to his purpose. Welcome.

The Alaska Mission Trip Invitation

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Hi and welcome. So I there was this opportunity that came to go on a mission trip to Point Hope, Alaska with a Glow International. I remember hearing about the opportunity, but honestly, there is so much that was happening that I I thought um like this couldn't be something that I would want to go on. It comes with financial responsibility, and there are some things that I was struggling with, and I couldn't see how it was possible. But the trip itself, like it just kept lingering in my thoughts. I had this feeling that I need to be at that trip that God was calling me to go there. And so I waited until the absolute last moment to apply to go. And I applied, you know, just to say to the Lord, I applied. So when I didn't get through, I can see, say Lord, I was obedient. I applied and I didn't get through. And so when I sent in the application at the last moment, I remember receiving an email response that said, Thank you for your application. Please note that it will be prayerfully uh considered, you know, it would not be an automatic yes. And the person said that they would also be out on vacation and within three weeks they'll be returned and I'll receive an answer after that. And so I felt hopeful, but a part of me was saying, but maybe I won't get through. And I was leaning mostly to the not getting through only because the situation that I was in and the financial demands that it would take, I wouldn't see how that would have how it would have panned out. However, after the three weeks, I received an email and you know it, it told me that I got through. And so I was excited. I remember right where I was standing in my bedroom when I read that email, and I said, Lord, now you've opened the door, you will have to provide. I said, You see, all that is happening over on this side here. Me going on this trip is definitely going to need you. And

Accepted At The Last Minute

SPEAKER_00 3:22

my friends, I heard immediately in my spirit, take care of my business and I will take care of yours. And it gave me so much hope because another thing that the Lord reminded me of is that He was sending me. I wasn't going by myself, it was not just a desire of me wanting to go, it was that God was sending me on this trip, and we know if God is sending us that He'll make the provisions available for us. And so I can I tell you, I just watched the how God just sent the provisions, He opened doors, He made ways, listen, He caused people to just be sewing in. So today's episode is titled Saying Yes to the Call. Saying Yes to the Call. Because me actually saying yes and yes with the application, it didn't matter that I took a long while to apply, it mattered that I actually did apply. And in applying, God showed me that what I did was actually what he wanted. Because obedience is better than sacrifice, obedience is is is better than anything else, because that's what God wants us to do. Obedience, say yes to your will, Lord, yes to your plans, yes to all that you have in store for me. And I remember coming back from the trip and I was talking to one of my friends about it, and she said, What if you didn't say yes? What if you had just looked on what was happening with you and your own needs? You wouldn't have seen the way how God would just open doors and just cause people to be a blessing to you, you wouldn't have seen it, and I realized that that is so true. I would have missed that. First, I would have felt so bad knowing that I did not apply, that I didn't go because I would have heard about other person's experience and know that I wasn't there. And one of the things that I'll tell you, even though I might be jumping ahead on myself, I set no expectations about what I wanted God to do or anything when I got there. Like I wanted my mind to be just open and clear, not cluttered with what if this happened, what if that happened, I left it open. And over the coming days, because this is part one of a five-part episode, over the coming days, you'll hear me talk about how God moved amongst us and how he just reminded me that he is in charge that we go for that we go for the one. And so sometimes God might be calling you to do something, and it doesn't matter what it is, it might not be a trip to Alaska, but it might be calling you to say yes to something within your home, within your office, within your community. But immediately your thought that comes to mind is your own inadequacy, your own fear, and your own doubt, and you're you're willing to say no because you don't see how your yes, how God could use your yes for his glory. And so there's any lesson that I have learned is that all yes is important. It doesn't mean that there is no level of fear and that you don't feel inadequate, but it means that with all of that, God will use the fear and inadequacy that you feel for his glory and for his honor. The other thing I learned about saying yes is that God will have people who will pour into you. I remember one couple, she said to me, My husband said, I have to pour, I have to give, we have to give to Sister Connet, we have to give to Sister College, we have to support her. And they gave me an envelope that I did not expect, and an amount that I did not expect either. And that was God again just saying, You just have to be obedient because I have people line up along the way to be a blessing to you. I am funding this thing.

Provision Through People And Unexpected Gifts

SPEAKER_00 7:45

The way how doors open for me, I knew it was God. And can I tell you something? Let me whisper it to you. I cannot believe, right? I said to him, Daddy, I don't understand what you're doing. You see me struggling over this side here, over this side here, and crying out to you for help. Yet still I see you pulling out all the stops for me over here to get me here. And I didn't say it with any animosity or whatever. I remember just smiling because, like when I saw the doors opening and just how people were just pouring in and wanting to be a blessing. Honestly, I was happy. I was full of joy, just like knowing that this is a confirmation that this is what God wants me to do, and He's just opening the doors. I remember even I wanted another thermal shirt to go, and I was looking through my little kit as well, and I needed some personal care items. I didn't have enough. I think I needed lotion and something else. And that same evening I had some friends visited me, and she came, and her husband came, and this is another couple, and they opened a bag. What was in the bag? The shirt that the blows that I needed, and the kit that had personal care items in it. And that's how God takes care of us when we say yes. When I told my daughter, because I told her in the morning what I needed, and when they came in the evening and she returned, I showed her, I said, Daniel, look at this. Look how God has provided. And she sent the shirt and I said yes, and the other things that I needed. So even along the journey, someone else needs to see how God provides and how God takes care of his children. And I remember a group of friends just putting an event together for me as a way of sending me off. And I'm saying, God, you are awesome in all your ways. I remember, you know, just looking at that and I said, Lord, you know what I need when I need it. And I'm so grateful, so thank you, so thankful to you for what you are doing because you're building up my faith. You're showing me that yes, you're worried about things on this side, but I hope that you are seeing that this is a testimony that I see you over here, and just as I said to you, take care of my business first, and I'll take care of you. And that is me applying Matthew 6:33, which says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and everything else will be added unto you. God just showed me, just manifested himself there. I remember, and I'm telling you everything that led up to the day, so that for the rest of the days this week I can focus on getting there from the flight to being there.

Standby Travel Stress And A Way Through

SPEAKER_00 11:00

I remember because I was flying standby to go, and the day that I wanted to go was Thursday, June 18th. And when I went to the airport, the flights were oversold. And so, because I was standing on standby, of course, you know your bag would already be checked, so my bag was checked, and my bag was in Chicago while I was still in Fort Lauderdale. And I remember reaching out to one of my friends and I was saying, you know, you know, I didn't get through. She'd asked, so how are things going? And I said, Boy, I didn't get on to the flight, and my bag is in Chicago. And she said, Hold on, let's let me look at the flights and let me see what is happening. And she said she found two flights. But by the time I said yes, within a couple minutes or so, the flights had gone. And she started searching around and realized that flying one way to each of these cities would work out cheaper for me. And I said, Yes, go ahead. And and she went ahead and she booked the flights, and then she said to me, I'll pay for the most expensive leg of this flight because God knew I did not have all the money, even when I said go ahead. It would be all the money that I have, would be everything that I had in my name from the gifts that I have gotten, is what I would have put on that, and the Lord knew that as well, and so He provided that person to be able to do that. He provided people who prayed and who encouraged me, he provided a friend who said, you know what are the things that you needed on Amazon. I am going to get those things for you.

What Your Yes Makes Possible

SPEAKER_00 12:37

I want to encourage you today. I don't know what God has told you to do, and you're hesitating in doing it because you may be financially challenged or something else that might be taking place with you, and you're saying, I don't know how I can say yes when all these things are weighing me down on this side. Can I tell you, is it possible that in your saying yes, God wants you to see how he will do exceeding abundantly above all you could ever ask or even imagine? Could it be that in that way God wants to prove to you that he is your source, that he is your provider, that if you lean on him, that if you trust him, he will take care of you? Possibly that is it, because those are some of the things that I learned, right? Because not everybody gave financially, but some people gave their prayers, and that is their best for me because those are the prayers that get me. Persons texted me to encourage me, and those are the things that get me. So I am not just putting emphasis on the financial things, I'm putting emphasis on the portal support, whether it was through a text message, whether it was through a voice message that was left, a telephone call, those persons who gave me jackets and stuff to take with me, under shirts and stuff to make sure that I was warm, all of those count. All of those count. And I want to give God thanks because even the things that I thought about, the Lord provided people who would have given that level of support to me. So my question to you today is what will your response be to that which God is asking you to do? What will your response be? Because that is critical. Because it is he alone that opens doors. It is he alone that will fund that mission, that vision that he has given you. And in your saying yes, you're giving heaven access to move on your behalf. That is the first lesson that I learned. My yes gives access for heaven to move on my behalf. Because God wants to use you as a testimony to others, for you to share with others about what he's done in your difficult and in your most hardest of seasons. When it seems that God is asking you to do something that is hard and difficult, he wants you to know that in this season that he walks alongside you, that in this season he takes care of you, but your obedience is what matters.

Scriptures, Next Steps And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_00 15:30

So, day one of our position for purpose conversations is what he saying yes means and how it proves that God is sending. It's not just a desire that you have to go. How God proves that he is the one who sends. Whether it is something on your job, within your home, within your community, within your county, within your state, within your country, doesn't matter. It is in these moments God wants to remind you that saying yes to him and his plans for your life is more important than your disobedience. You're saying no, because you're saying no, I feel almost as if it locks up that which God has planned for you. It locks up what God can do for you. And so today I want to give God thanks for the yes that you will say in advance and giving God thanks for you for the yes that you will say to his plan and his purposes for your life. Because as you seek first his kingdom, his word says everything else will be added unto us. So if we seek what pertains to Almighty God, the everything else that we need, the children's salvation that we need, the finances that we need, the favor that we need, the help that we need, the joy that we need, the strength that we need, the grace that we need, the presence that we need, everything else that we need for this journey, God will supply it. All our needs according to his riches in the glory in Christ Jesus. So trust him on your journey and do not yield to your own understanding and in all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your path. If you feel that what you're being called to is not what God wants of you, believe me if you go to him and ask him, so is this thing that I feel what you want me to do? If this is it, let me know, confirm it. He will. Because can I tell you? He knows our personalities, he knows each of us, and he knows that the things that we will struggle with. And so if you go to the Lord and ask him for his help, I believe that he will help you because he did that for me. And so today, I pray that you would have found benefit in this conversation, and I look forward to seeing you on day two tomorrow as we delve a little closer into what yes meant and how my first day was. Blessings to you and see you next time. Spirit of the living God, I pray, Lord God, that you will meet your child right where they are even now. That you will minister to her, that you'll minister to him, whatever the call is that you have placed on their life. May they say yes to you despite what is happening around them. May they trust you that you are going to make ways where there seems to be no way. And may they know that you are still the God of the impossible. We thank you today. We glorify and we honor your name. In Jesus' name. I pray with Thanksgiving. Amen and amen.