But God...

Have you ever been apart of something so driven by God that, even though you were working at it, in reality, God was actually the One accomplishing it all?  As in, unmistakably so?  To experience it is almost indescribable. It’s like I’m just watching it all happen.  We sign our names, fill things out, write a few reams worth of background information, and get things notarized.  But God has been the One raising the money, blessing the people who touch our paperwork with a mind to be efficient, cutting through busyness to have people return emails, and more than promptly.  These things could not possibly be done by us. It’s all Him.

Initially, when we considered adoption the mile-high pile of insurmountables (cost, paperwork that has to be perfect, tons of international red-tape, etc.) was enough to stop us dead in our tracks.  There’s SO MUCH, we thought.   …Which made it so much easier to talk ourselves out of it.  Again and again. However, those thoughts were not filtered through God’s word.  They weren’t considered in light of discipleship. They weren’t paired with faith. Faith, as a matter of fact, had nothing to do with those fearful thoughts, we realized. But God, in His mercy (Some of my favorite words in the whole bible) was patient with us. 

The phrase in scripture… “Behold, I am doing a new thing!” comes to mind. Like He’s excited and wants you to get on board!  Listen, when God has a mind to do something new, and blesses you with the opportunity to be apart of it, 1. Wake up and accept the opportunity!, and 2. He makes it happen!  (I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but God doesn’t need you to accomplish His will… He allows you… us, to be apart of it.) What He requires of you is a desire for faithful obedience.  You’re not going to be awesome at it the whole time, you’re just not. The temptation to doubt will be all around you. But God rewards faith with more faith!  He builds us up.   HE writes our life’s story; we are His workmanship. HE is the author and perfecter of our faith… and this is what that looks like.  It starts with that first, scary, step towards obedience. But here is the great news: There is blessing in obedience! Not only is it going to be “OK”, it’s going to be really good!

 
I LOVE it when God blows my socks off.  LOVE IT. I pray for it.  In fact, if you know me personally, you’ve probably been in the room praying with me when I’ve said it.  And do you know what?  I think He loves it too.  One of the incredible things that has happened through this adoption is that I’ve have had the enormous privilege of watching our boys’ faith grow.  They have seen, with their own eyes (figuratively, of course) God’s hand moving through this whole thing.  We have a running total on our huge white board in our “school room”/family room of where we are with the adoption fundraising. (Let me just tell you, it was an act of faith just in the decision to do this; I was afraid they might not see the numbers change and lose heart. I repented of my unbelief and have since felt so stupid, I wish I could un-think it!)  But God, in His grace, has provided. Incredibly so!  They have watched that number shrink steadily. He has continued to provide, and through some of the most delightfully unexpected sources!  It has nothing to do with the money. I’ll say that again, it has nothing to do with the money.  …And everything to do with watching the Creator of all things direct His attention on tiny us by supplying what we need.  In humble amazement, I am stunned by this thought.  He makes me giddy.  And my kids are starting to understand just how big our merciful, gracious, God really is and it just tickles me to no end.  I wonder if John-Patrick will ever understand all of this?  I hope so.

All for Him,

Meg

p.s.

Our home study is nearly complete! It should be done in 2-3 weeks, and then our final official dossier sent to the Central Lithuanian authority! This means we could be travelling by April or May!!! Praise God!

p.p.s.

Reece's Rainbow, a great Christian organization that provides help for families seeking to adopt special needs children, has approved our request for help! What does this mean for you? There is now a TAX DEDUCTIBLE way for you to donate towards our adoption expenses. While personal donations to us are NOT tax deductible, a donation to Reece's Rainbow (a 501(c)3 corporation) is. Many people have helped us financially, and we are SO grateful for their sacrifice on our (and John-Patrick's) behalf!

View our Reece's Rainbow page HERE.

We pray that you will prayerfully consider donating towards our adoption, not because you can get a tax break, but because God has moved you to do so.