God Provides

Okay, so the most amazing thing happened yesterday! But before I tell you that, I have to give some background. As most of you probably know, Michael & I are a one-income family. He's an RN on a cardiac surgical unit, & I - though once an elementary school teacher - am now a housewife. (Much to both of our satisfaction, I might add, though that's probably another post!) In our desire to add "parent" to our job descriptions, we've embarked upon a journey to adopt 2 children from Ethiopia. Being a one-income family, & not having a spare $27,000 laying around - shocking, I know - we're sometimes unsure how we are ever going to afford this adoption. Two days ago, we were reminded of how truly daunting this venture may be. You see, we had our first home study meeting with our fabulous social worker, Claire, who proceeded to lay out the next few steps that we will need to fund. We've paid around $2,000 into the process up to this point, and our next few steps will cost almost $2,400. Wow! Never mind not having $27,000 laying around; we don't even have this much! Here's where God steps in. He knows our need. He's placed this desire in our hearts & this call on our lives. We've both reminded each other a few times already - & will no doubt do so many more times in this journey - that because He's given us this desire & call, that He will provide the way for us to fulfill it. We know this to the bottom of our souls, & He has proven faithful. You see, on the way home from our meeting, we discussed our new dilemma. How are we going to come up with this amount of money? We are definitely going to have to sacrifice; that's part of being a parent, after all, not to mention being a Christian. (Although, it doesn't really feel like we're sacrificing anything when the end result in both instances is so rewarding!) Extra shifts at Michael's work are scarce, almost nonexistent. I can sew & sell some things, but probably not $2,400 worth. The money from our paychecks mostly goes toward bills & necessities with some left over to put back in savings. So, where are we going to get the money? Turns out, from God. We just got our paycheck & somehow, in some truly inexplicable way, NONE of that money is needed for bills. Seriously -- NONE! Amazingly, the large bulk of this paycheck can go into savings toward our adoption! So, whereas we were a couple thousand dollars short of paying for these next few steps, now we only lack a couple hundred!

*God, You are so faithful to us, & we are so grateful to You!  Thank You for giving us this desire to rescue orphans & give them an everlasting family who will love, nurture, protect, & disciple them. Thank You for giving us this opportunity to reflect Your love for us & to reflect Your adoption of us as Your children, by loving & adopting these children. And, thank You for providing the way to fulfill Your calling. We love You! In Christ's holy name, Amen.