since i was in my early teens, i have had a multitude of opportunities to watch God provide for my family and others. i have seen Him put food on the table for us when we were growing up and the construction industry was tanking (funny how history repeats itself). i have seen Him provide money for me to live overseas. i have watched Him over and over provide not only what we needed, but abundantly more than that (hello free trip to Hilton Head!)
back in college, one summer on a beach project, we sang this song. (anybody remember?) "give, and it will come back to you. good measure. pressed down, shaken together and running over. give, and it will come back to you. when you give, give to the Lord." i just remember kevin perryman busting out on that song. anyway, the lyrics (scripture, actually) stuck deep. i have seen them played out over and over. we cannot, ever, outgive God.
so when we started looking at adoption, paying for it was laughable. we by no means had the funds that we needed. we were grateful each day to be able to pay our bills and live debt free. however, we were confidant of one thing. if He had called us to adopt, He would provide what we needed in ALL areas to do it. here are some of the fun ways that He did it. (and is still providing!)
anybody ever heard of southernsavers.com? well, unbeknownst to me, this website was hugely popular. i thought it might just be this little old site with money saving tips that was helping me. so, i contacted Jenny via e-mail to see if i could help her teach workshops. she actually e-mailed me back (which is so funny to me now that i know just how huge her site is), and i started working for her doing the walgreens list and then adding the kroger list. all of the money that i made went into the pot for adoption stuff. but let me pause for a moment and tell you just how kind God is. jenny is the absolute BEST boss in the universe. she gets that family comes first and has been so gracious to me. the Lord knew exactly what i could handle, and a job that i can do in my pj's at home a few hours a week to put some money in the pot far exceeded all of the ways i was brainstorming that we could increase our income. He is good.
even with all of my hours of work, we were barely making a dent in what we needed. i was amazed though (and continue to be) at how each time we reached a financial deadline, God provided. a penny saved here, a dollar earned there...and then there is the beautiful body of Christ.
we had three different families in our church that rallied around us. what i absolutely love about each of them is that they used their gifts and passions to help, AND they listened to the Spirit. all of them came to us wanting to help and with ideas of how they specifically could. one gal hosted a jewelry show and gave us the profits. another couple did a huge fundraiser at their gym and raised a ton. and then dear friends just gave out of their extra--wanting to live out the believers having all things in common.
what made these gifts even more fun is that we applied for a matching grant through an organization called promise686 and these gifts were doubled!!
i have had moments of wondering if we were ever going to make it, and i look back at the last two years, and i think, You are good. so good.
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