GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

This great hymn has been in my mind all week.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!  Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed thy hand hath provided, Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Truly we have seen God's great faithfulness as He has worked through our life and the lives of those who have surrounded us in love.  Recently I received an update for our LifeSong account and not only was our goal met, it was exceeded - to God be the glory!

In my devotion and BSF lessons, I have been studying about the power of God.  In the book of Acts, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit following Jesus' resurrection, new believers were filled with joy and united in their faith.  Nobody was in need because the community of believers did what ever was necessary to take care of each other.  That same power of the Holy Spirit has been at work in the lives of those who have given of themselves to help our girls come home.  We have seen wonders and miracles as people with their own financial concerns have given generously from their hearts.  Here are a few examples that I am aware of:

• A small church (whose leadership has never met us) gave generously from their church operating budget to our account.  Since the church does not have their own building and shares with another church,  I see this as a big sacrifice on their part.

• Members of this same church rallied together to bring in their "spare change" after our friend showed a powerpoint presentation to them that she created on our girls and Ethiopian culture.  Somehow I don't think the amount of funds that were collected were exactly spare change!

• This same friend's family also had a lemonade stand to raise funds.  In addition, their children matched the money they raised selling lemonade with money from their personal funds.  What also makes this a sacrifice of love is the time this family has spent on both fund raisers when so much of their time has recently been taken up with two new toddler foster children and birth parental visitations required of foster parents.

• A family who has had numerous medical bills due to the mom's bout with Stage III cancer gave to our account and used their ingenuity to organize a baking contest to raise even additional funds.  This was at a time when the mom was suffering from fatigue and pain due to her radiation treatments.  What love!

• Another family who has been making do for some time with one car due to major repairs needed on their 2nd car, gave from their heart.

• A family who recently returned from Ethiopia with their own son and had their own adoption expenses also gave generously.

• Finally, a family who is self-insured and has also had some significant medical expenses blessed us with their gift.

I'm sure the list could go on but these are a few examples of the Holy Spirit at work.  It has been so exciting to watch and I can't tell you how much we have been blessed by all those who have joined with us in the journey to bring these precious girls home.  Your names have been written in their adoption story journal. Thank you and God bless you!

"All that we needed His hand hath provided."  Last fall when we answered God's call to adopt, He began His initial provision for us to adopt with a family gift that each of my siblings and I received last fall and a new job for David, enabling us to save more.  Now He has completed His provision of the estimated amount we need to complete the adoption through the LifeSong fund and an additional grant we recently received from a local Christian organization.

Matthew 6:33 - But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you.


Phillipians 4:19 - And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.

What is cool is that it is not just our lives in which was have seen God's faithfulness.  We have had the pleasure of watching His provision and the power of His Holy Spirit in the lives of others we have come to know on the same journey.  It is exciting and uplifting to read their blogs and their own testimonies.

When we began the process, we were told by so many people who had completed their own adoption journeys that God provides the resources to those who are obedient to His call and they were certainly right!

Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

What is the next step?  Painting the girls room a pretty light yellow and waiting for court to reopen in 15 days so we can get our court date.  The countdown is on......

SHALOM

Does the unknown hold fear or anxiety for you?  Sometimes when I think about bringing our little girls home, my thoughts turn from sweet ones to anxious ones.  Questions arise like "Will they bond with us?" or "Will we be able to help them through the grief they will inevitably experience?" or "How will the boys take to more sisters and sharing my time?" or "What is this going to do to our family?" or "Will they even like us?" or "How will I homeschool two more children?" or "I'm tired, where will my strength come from?" and "How will I know where to start with their schooling?"  My Bible study lesson in the first book of Acts really spoke to me in regards to these fears.  Jesus had just left the disciples.  He told them to wait and pray for the gift He would send them.  They had to wait just like we have had to wait in this long process.  It most likely did not make sense to them either.  Jesus asked them to trust Him and He asks the same of us.  His timing is perfect.  During the time of waiting, I imagine all sorts of questions ran through their mind.  Questions like  "What will happen to us; we saw what they did to Jesus?" or "What will it cost us to be His witness to the ends of the world?" or "What is this gift that He has promised us?" or "How will we ever be able to fill His shoes how that He has left us?"  Not only is God's timing perfect, His power is sufficient.  One only has to read another chapter to discover that the gift was the Holy Spirit and He gave them everything they needed to fulfill what Jesus called them to do.  When I think upon these things, then peace comes once more to my mind making room for those sweet thoughts to continue.  And so we continue in prayer.......

THE MIRACULOUS JAR

It has been nothing short of amazing watching God work in our lives this year.  It has been a tough year in many respects but I would not trade this year for anything in the world.  God has worked in our lives in so many ways and through so many wonderful people: family, old friends, new friends and even people we have never met both through my bout with cancer and our adoption.  He is truly faithful.  He brought to my mind a story from the Bible of what He is doing to provide for our little girls to come home.  Perhaps you remember it; the story of Elijah and the miraculous jar of oil.  When our story is complete, I will go into more detail of how our jar has been miraculously filled as we have almost completely emptied it out for our girls.  All glory goes to Him.  But for now, here is the kids' version of the story from holyspiritinteractive.net posted below:


God said to Elijah, “Pack up your things and go to the land of Sidon. There is a widow there, and I have commanded that she will provide you with food.”

And so Elijah did exactly what God told him to do (that’s always a good idea!). He packed up his things and made the hot dusty walk to Sidon.

You should know that Sidon was not part of the kingdom of Israel. The people who lived there were not Elijah’s people. They were not Jews, they were Gentiles. They weren’t descendants of Abraham, they didn’t follow God’s laws, and, many times they were enemies of Elijah’s people. Still, that’s where God told Elijah to go, so that’s where he went.

Under the blistering sun, Elijah walked off to the town of Zarephath.

When Elijah came to the town gate, he found a widow there. She was gathering up a few dry, dusty sticks.

Elijah said to her, “Please, would you bring me some water in a jar to drink?” As she was going to get some water for this complete stranger, Elijah called out to her, “And please, bring me some bread!”

Well, that did it! This guy must be crazy! Didn’t he know it hadn't rained for months?! There was barely any water, and hardly a scrap of food left. 

“Sir,” the woman said to Elijah, “As sure as the Lord your God lives, I don’t have any bread!” At least the poor widow seemed to know there WAS a God in heaven, she just wasn’t sure who he was, or why he was making life so difficult.

The widow said, “All I have left in this world is a handful of flour and a little jar of oil. I am gathering up these sticks so that I can make one last meal for my son and me. And then we will die.”

Things looked pretty bad.

But, no matter how bad things might have seemed, God was still there.

Elijah said to the widow, “Do not worry. Go home and do just what you planned to do. But before you do, make a small loaf of bread for me. And then, from what you have left, make a loaf of bread for you and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel has promised, ‘The flour will not be used up and the jar of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’ ”

What a simple plan for life!

Don't worry. Follow God's plan for your life and give to God first, and God will take care of the rest.

And so, that is exactly what the widow did.

And day after day there was water to drink and food to eat. The flour was not used up, and the jar of oil did not run dry - just as God had promised!

One day at a time, God provided for Elijah and the widow.

Now, the thing is, God didn’t deliver 20 giant stone jars of oil to the widow’s door the next morning. She couldn’t open her pantry, and find it filled with jars of oil. 

Elijah and the widow couldn’t see where the oil was going to come from. They just had to trust that each day somehow there would be enough.

They didn’t put their trust in what they could see - that would be easy! Instead they learned to put their trust in what they couldn’t see.

And they learned a wonderful thing - trust in God, and God will provide!

They didn’t say, “Everything will be okay because, look! we have lots of oil and bread!” Instead they learned to say, “Everything will be okay - because God will take care of us!”

They didn't put their trust in their own riches, like King Ahab had, because, no matter how much they had - even if they had great store houses full of oil and bread - one day it would come to an end. 

But there is no end to God and his love for us.

And that is worth more than all the treasures in the world.