Through the incredibly generous gifts from friends, family, and those contributing to the half marathon fundraiser led by Claire and Liz, combined with the money Kyle and I have saved and will save from my teaching paycheck each month, we are actually going to have enough money for the first part of the adoption journey!! When it comes time to pay the roughly $13,000 that will be due upon completion of the home study and dossier, we will actually have the money!! God is so generous and when we crunched the numbers and discovered that he had blessed us in this way, we couldn't believe it!!
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!! We feel so humbled by your gifts. I wish I had a more creative way to say it!! Thank you, so very much.
Now we are trembling in our boots as we consider the mountain that lies ahead. During the second half of our journey, we will need at least twice as much money as we need during this first stretch. We do not doubt that God will provide what we need, just as he has always provided. We wait on the Lord with a feeling of expectancy, knowing that He will provide in the way He chooses. I am a control freak, though, and it is difficult for me to look at our bank account and know that there is an impossible task ahead. I also KNOW God will provide. But HOW??? My controlling side just wants to know!! Anytime I begin to feel that the God of the universe, creator of ALL THINGS owes me an explanation, the Holy Spirit directs my heart to these verses in Isaiah 55:8-9
8
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are my ways your ways,"
declares the LORD
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts..."
And so we wait on Him, trembling, to see how He will provide.
In other news, we are in Virginia for Christmas this year. We went to Birmingham last weekend to watch my youngest sis-in-law get married to a fabulous guy and celebrated Christmas with both sides of the family that same weekend.
We have the house decorated and the stockings hung. The Christmas gifts are beneath the tree. This has been such a wonderful Christmas Eve. A sweet family from our church took Matthew for a few hours to play. Kyle is finishing wrapping all of Matthew's gifts. Earlier today I finally made it to the Post Office to apply for a passport (yay!!). A friendly lady helped me though the process. She was wearing a santa hat that said "nice." I was very excited to see some snow flurries as I left the Post Office to head home. In a few minutes we will load up and head to Spotswood to enjoy the Christmas Eve service and to focus in on the miracle of Christmas. But for now I am sitting at the kitchen table, sipping my hot cocoa (Thanks Kourtney!) and looking at this sweet sight:
Did you notice? We have four stockings this year. We know that our family is a family of four. One of my dear friends from high school is pregnant right now...I'm sure she understands this feeling, along with many of you. As surely as Sarah knows she has a child in her womb growing each day, I know that I have a child somewhere...even though he or she is not here to open gifts. We will celebrate Christ's first coming as a child tomorrow as we open gifts with sweet Matthew. We will laugh as he see's allll of the fun Thomas things he will receive. We will enjoy food with friends. We will have fun watching movies. We will eat hot chili and snuggle under blankets. We will read the Christmas story and explain the gospel to little Matthew. It will be a fantastic day. However, underneath it all, in the hidden places in our hearts, we will be thinking of another sweet child. We will be wondering who is holding our little one. We will be wondering how long it will be before we can hold both of our babies at once.
Will you say a prayer for our little one tomorrow? And while you are at it, will your pray for my little sister, too? My parents are in the process of adopting an older child from Russia. We don't know her name or face yet either. And, if I can be bold enough to ask for one more, pray for my brother, Jason, in Afghanistan and his wife, Rachel, in Alabama as well. This is their first Christmas together...or rather, apart...as a married couple.
As you go, listen to this song by Third Day. It speaks our hearts this Christmas.
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