For nothing is impossible with God

I don't even have a fancy work up into saying this, so I'm just going to throw it out there.  The past two weeks have been an amazing ride that I hope I never forget!  You see...I had kind of given up hope that we would meet out fundraising goal, and so I spent hours, no days, filling out applications for adoption loans and grants.  We were about $8,000 short of our goal, and I had just gotten word that we would be traveling to China in three months, and we needed to pay for that travel before we left of course, which meant I was about two months away from a large bill.

Then out of nowhere, some dear friends decided to knock a whopping $5,000 off that burden!  I was floored.  Literally.  My knees actually buckled and I ended up face planted into the carpet, thanking God for His provision, and asking for forgiveness for my lack of faith.  What a gift.  I was so humbled. It was then that I knew that even if one of those grants or loans came through, I was going to turn it down.  My faith had been restored.

Over the next week, donations were rolling in from friends and family near and far.  What was so apparent to me was the Christian understanding on giving was truly being lived out right before my eyes...not equal giving, but equal sacrifice.  Many gave generously out of their abundance.  For many, it was truly a sacrifice to give out of what little they did have.  It was beautiful.

Over Labor Day weekend, I was again in constant "pick my jaw up off the floor" mode...for four days straight.  It started just before the weekend, when someone who was a stranger (now a friend) to me asked me how much we needed to reach our fundraising goal and then made up the total amount...to the tune of over $1800! I was completely shocked.  Literally I had never met this family.  Who would do such a thing other than someone who had themselves known the love of God and sought to share it with others?  Then ANOTHER stranger donated $100.  "What is going on!" I wondered.  I could do nothing by cry and shake my head and thank God for his provision.  I shut down our PayPal button on our blog, announced that we had reached our goal, and sighed the biggest sigh of relief EVER.

But God wasn't done yet.  Oh no.

Saturday, I was at a family get together at my parent's house.  My Uncle Ed was there with his wife Tammy.  Now, these two have many struggles in life.  My uncle doesn't really work due to his mental and physical impairments.  My aunt works her fingers to the bone at minimum wage.  They are two people who God put together to love each other unconditionally, but let me assure you that there is no extra money in that home.  I never in a million years would have expected to get any donation from them.  I'd much rather they keep what little income they get.  But that day, Tammy walks meekly up to me, hands me an envelope, and tell me that since Christmas they had been saving their change for Ai Lan, and that they love her and can't wait to get her home.  I turned over the envelope.  It was $75.  I was stunned.  I tried not to burst into tears but it was no use.  Truly this was the widow's mite. This was a staggering amount for these two, and I knew it.  Tammy said there were times when they needed to buy something and considered pulling it from this "Ai Lan fund," but she said, "Then your Uncle Ed would say, 'No, this is Ai Lan's money."  Humbled isn't a strong enough word.  I thought about all the times when I said "no" to people asking for just a few dollars and I was ashamed.  I tried to thank them but there were really no words to express my emotions.

But God wasn't done yet.

Fast forward just about three hours...we are now at my in-law's house, swimming and bbq-ing.  My soon to be 11 year old niece, Tatum, walks up to us and says, 'I've been collecting recycling all summer and cashed it in, and I got paid to help my dad sort crawdads.  I want to give the money to you so that you can bring Ai Lan home."  Then, get this...that little sweetheart hands me $95.  Ninety-five dollars!  By now I'm completely overwhelmed.  It's almost more than I can take.  I'm crying and I'm pretty sure I saw the red-eyed look of a man trying to hold it back in Dan as well.  And she was so proud!  And I was so proud!  And her mom looked on and she was beaming with pride as well!

Dear Lord, I get it!  I was a faithless coward when I thought this wasn't going to happen just a few weeks ago!  You are so good.  You use the lowest in this world to show me your power, and they will be the greatest in your kingdom.  I love your economy, Father.

And yet still...He wasn't done.

Three hours later, I arrive home.  There is a card in the mail.  It's from a couple on the East Coast, and at first I don't recognize the last name, I will shamefully admit.  I open it, and no joke I nearly pass out.  My head is dizzy. I can't focus my eyes.  There is a one and three zeroes before the decimal but I keep re-reading it thinking I have it wrong.  Nope.  I don't.  Then it hits me who this person is...an old high school friend who recently got married (hence the delayed recognition on the name...duh).  This is too much.  This is too much, God!  Tears flow as I am once again overwhelmed by the humbled spirit which I am far too often not reflecting.  A few days later my friend sends me a message saying that she knows that we were fully funded by the time this donation arrived (I'm thinking it was just mailed when she found this out?), but that she wanted us to keep this money for whatever we needed it for.  You see, they had been given a gift similar to this, and this was their way of paying it forward.  Wow.

Does all this sound unbelievable?  Believe it.  It happened.  I have witnesses.  I'm writing all this down for several reasons.  First, I hope that anyone who has ever considered adoption but is scared away by the price tag will reconsider.  Gods will, God's bill, people.  Don't be like me.  Have faith.  Second, when my faith is shaken, I can return to this post and remind myself that God is the provider of all that we need.  I know that this will be important as we deal with Ai Lan's possible health struggles when she gets home to us.  And lastly, I can print this page out and put it in Ai Lan's life book, and some day, if she ever doubts her place in this family, which she will naturally likely question at some point, I can read this to her and remind her that God used many, many people, complete strangers, family, and friends to place her in exactly the family where God wants her.

For nothing is impossible with God.

Luke 1:37