When things happen in our lives that seem random or out of the blue, we so often label these occurrences as "coincidence". Whether or not you are a person that believes in coincidence, the story you will read below, is NO coincidence. This story you will read below, is God revealing Himself through a path unimaginable, and a person we don't even know! Because THAT IS JUST HOW GOD WORKS! I am so in awe of His perfect and intricate ways!
Precursor: this will be long! To really share this story, you have to have some background. I hope you can bare with me, because the end is worth getting to!
From the get-go we have been fully expectant to face a variety of mountainous challenges along the way. But, God has promised us that not only in this situation, but for our lifetime, that He holds the perfect directional plan for each of us. Thus, we trust Him with this piece of this journey and know that as the mountains are before us, He will lead us over, under around or through!
Mountain #1 presented itself almost immediately! Financially, over the course of this process we will pay $30,000+. This is not money that we have just laying around. But, our plans to creatively raise some money seemed doable: garage sale, applying for grants, etc.
Mountain #1: To our surprise, $10,000+ was due for payment - right away! $7,300 to the agency and the remainder towards our Home Study. We anticipated more time! If we did not hit the deadline, we start the process over - and redo the paperwork!!! We were not expecting to owe a full $10,000 immediately! Initially - OVERWHELMED.
How could WE come up with this money?! Initially, I looked to myself to solve this challenge, praying for God's wisdom, as I developed a solution. Apparently, I had already forgotten God's promise to us, just a few short weeks prior. I followed myself for a good solid 2-3 weeks, getting us nowhere beneficial. I did accomplish: increased anxiety, increased stress, and a decrease in sleep! Those all sound great, don't they?!
I think God must have been shaking His head at me in frustration! After 2-3 weeks of self, I finally realized I was putting myself in control. At the point of realization, I finally surrendered the situation fully over to God's perfect direction. That was on a Friday. That is when God revealed Himself, unimaginably.
A Little Background:
To preface the story, I have to tell you about our good friends with whom God utilizes as "middlemen" in this scenario. Our friendship is centered in Christ, and began several years ago. Because we currently live in different states, we now only talk to these friends every few months - not enough! :)
The Story Begins:
After several months since I last spoke with her, my friend (mentioned above) calls and we connect on a Monday. They had heard the news that we were planning to adopt, and were enthused and ready to know more! We talked for over an hour about how God led us to this point, the process, and some of the nitty gritties. This was a Monday.
The Phone Call:
On Friday of that same week - and also the same Friday that I finally surrendered control of the financial situation over to God - my friend called me again! However, she had not called to chit chat. This time, she had called as a messenger - the deliverer of some unbelievable news! As I tried to listen to her on the other end of the phone, I could only pick up bits and pieces of what she was communicating. Her words came out at 90 mph! I listened intently, trying to grab pieces of what she was saying, and she explained, "on tuesday my brother called me".... The rest I did not catch....
Until...
She said, "and he is sending you money toward your adoption." At first I was extremely confused. See, I had not caught much of what she said. I responded with, "what? He is giving you money?" She tells me again - "NO! For YOUR adoption, he is sending money." I was floored. I have never met her brother, never even communicated with him. He had never met us.
How is this God?
You may be saying to yourself at this moment - that is not God - that was a good friend talking to her friends and family about the adoption, and someone was touched and offered some money. Let me continue the story, because that is NOT how this story unfolded.
This IS GOD
As you recall, my friend contacted me and we spoke on Monday. She contacted me because she saw our news via FB and our blog. The very next day, Tuesday, her brother contacted her. He was looking for her help and insight on places that he could make a financial contribution. He had never asked her that question before. He was looking for her suggestions. They did not communicate dollar amounts, only potential options (I think she mentioned 5 or 6 options) to direct donations.
When he called her back, he had made his decision. That choice was our adoption - and the amount was $7,000!
What you might also remember from above, is that we needed exactly $7,300 for our immediate payment to the agency. This is the money that I was attempting to solve for in my own doing. The Home Study was already coverable through personal funds. It was the $7,300, that well - God had under control in ways we never would have imagined!
We are without words, to express our gratitude to the giver. God worked through Him in powerful ways.
God promises us that when we fully trust Him, He will unfold the story in the best way, and it is usually outside of what we could scheme up on our own! He is good, provisional, and true to His word. He is soverign, merciful, and so very loving. We feel humbled that we get to be a part of His plan - we all can - when we trust Him!
Please pray with us, that we will keep the control surrendered to God! In the depths of the details of the adoption process, it can be easy to fall back into grabbing control. But, we have seen and experienced to sweet goodness that comes as God's perfect gift, when we surrender over to Him what is His to lead in the first place! We know His view of the picture is much bigger and better than ours.
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