Monday, September 7, 2009

I can see God's mighty hand working already

One of our hesitations for finally taking that leap of faith and starting the adoption process has been finances. Let's be honest, it costs a LOT. And not many families have large amounts of cash stashed between the mattresses. I thought that I had it all figured out that we could use our extra money from our last home sale to help begin the financial part of the adoption process. Well, let's recap. Like everyone else in the country, we took a huge hit when we sold that house. We did not walk away with our adoption "nest egg" like I had hoped we would have.

God continued to call our family to step out in faith, not resting on our own ideas of how we could fund an adoption, but completely trusting Him. We recently started filling out paperwork and getting more specific quotes on what different stages of the process would cost. I knew the first large sum of money would be spent on the homestudy. We would have to complete that first before we could really do any other paper chasing.

Now to get to back to the mighty hand of God working part...

Somehow when we closed on selling our last home, we failed to cancel our homeowners insurance. We had recently discovered this mistake and canceled it and then we were notified that we would be getting a refund for the extra that had been paid and not used. When our refund check came in the mail it was for the same amount of the cost of a homestudy. A beautiful, gentle reminder to trust my Maker. Just a few days later we filled out our application (after MUCH investigating of different agencies) for the Ethiopian program with an international agency.

I was so blessed and amazed at how God provided our need. How could I doubt that He would provide in His way, not mine? I surrender to doing life God's way, not mine. He never shows up late. His timing is always perfectly on time. May God receive the glory !!!

Proverbs 16:9
A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very cool. I love it when God moves in a clearly visable way. So proud of you all for making the sacrifices necessary to grow your family. We'll be praying for you. I'm curious to learn about the future steps you'll need to take. If you feel led to share in a post, we will pray alongside you for each step in the process.

Crista said...

Beautiful. That is awesome! I always love a good reminder that this is God's plan, and we're on a "need to know" basis :). I will be praying for you on your journey.

Elle J said...

Beautiful.

crispy said...

Since you asked Science Geek, we are going tomorrow for our first homestudy visit (first of 4 visits). And we will get a big packet of things we need to go through and things we will need to check off the list.

This week we will also be doing some orientation Thursday on a conference call. The first few weeks and months are up to us for trying to get all the needed paperwork done.

Sean and Lisa said...

:) Just wait, you will have many, many more of these stories as you walk this adoption road. Can't wait to hear all of them!!
Praying friend....

K-Sue said...

What a great confirmation. If you had had that money in hand that was paid in, it almost certainly would have found a place to be spent, right?

Crystal B. said...

Hi, I live in Tavares, FL and just brought home my 7 yr old daughter from Ethiopia in Feb. It has been an incredible experience. I will be praying for your journey...it will be miracle, after miracle, after miracle...and blessings galore.
Crystal

Anonymous said...

I always assumed that a homestudy would take place in your home. Do you instead go visit the home of another adoptive family? My ignorance is showing.

Julie said...

AMAZING!!

Karen said...

God is good ALL THE TIME!!

Tim and Susan said...

Praise God for His provision AND for His leading along the way. As we continually submit to Him, He leads and guides us along His perfect way!!

AMEN!!

carrie said...

How neat to see God working in your life! I can't wait to see how He continues to lead and provide!

Lea Whittaker said...

So excited for all of you and look forward to sharing with you through the journey. God will provide!!

Rachael said...

Wow. Ethiopia! How very exciting!

Melissa said...

Great post! Very exciting news!

Lee and Bev said...

How assuring to know and trust a God who does know our way. May He be the author, provider and sustainer of this step of faith for you! It will be exciting to see how HE provides the resources needed.

Sandee said...

Awesome. I love this. If you don't know this lady or have followed her blog, I think you will be blessed, on your adoption journey, to read a bit of what she posts.

She has a great post about how to finance your adoption by trusting in God. http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/2009/09/single-married-how-to-pay-for-adoption.html

blessings.

Cristy said...

God's faithfulness to us is unending. Thank you for the reminder.

Sonya said...

WooHoo! God is soooo Good!

Anonymous said...

YEEEHAWWWW!!!!!

I am SO excited for you.

Hey - check out this site. I bet you could raise money through them!

http://www.storinguptreasures.com/2009/09/help-support-adoption.html

You can sell t-shirts and the profit would go to your adoption.

Unknown said...

Sounds familiar! Praise the Lord for the way that He unexpectedly supplies. Recently we helped someone in need and it was a higher price than we expected.
The next day through a bank error of four years ago....He gave us back the amount nearly to the penny. God is so very awesome!

Salzwedel Family said...

God is so cool like that! I am so excited you are starting your journey.