God's on the Move!

Wow, what an outpouring of love and support from family, friends, and strangers! (who are now part of our family!) Thank you all soooo much!! The ticker on our page is not accurate as people have sent checks as well as used Tiffany's paypal address which does not show up. We have about $1575 left with what has come in and what we know is coming in. We are doing an open house this weekend and our friend is taking Christmas photos for people and giving us the profit!! So hopefully we shall be closer after this weekend! Praise God!! Support has come in some pretty cool ways, from unexpected God-ordained contacts. We are so overwhelmed by how people have been touched by adoption and willing to give of their time, money, resources, and prayer for this little four year old boy who lives on the other side of the world and is in need of a family. Part of me is not surprised; the part of me that sees people bend over backwards for animal shelters, cancer awareness and feeding the homeless-why wouldn't they want to help a little orphan boy? Then there is the part of me that gets why people don't get it. I was one of them. I didn't realize that adoption was a mission, a calling (for most people anyways)! I didn't understand how just because YOU are feeling the need to adopt, how that is MY concern... Thank you Jesus for enlightenment. Thank you for teaching me everyday more and more about you. Thank you for showing me that adoption is the gospel! That we are one family, but many members. That we aren't all called to adopt, we aren't all called to be pastors, or missionaries, or teachers, prophets... But, we ARE part of the same family that supports all of those things. We are called to be a part of that family, if we believe in God and what Jesus did on the cross. With that perspective and with the knowledge that God had CALLED us to adopt which was something we didn't have the means to do on our own, we then realized what the family of God working together was capable of. We heard a great sermon this weekend on being "Traders"- it definitely spoke to both of us. We are trading in our comfortable little family life to bring in a child who needs a family - it won't be easy but we are being obedient. We have a great family now, three kids we love with all our hearts. A comfortable new house. So, of course it would be easier to ignore the call and NOT listen to what God has called us to do. Of course it would be easier to NOT ask for help and be completely transparent for the whole world to see. Of course it would be less scary than opening our family up to a potentially hard situation as this little boy will need a LOT of love from us all to really see that he belongs.... But, that is not what we are supposed to do. And one really big lesson we have learned is to put our trust in God, lean not on our own understanding, and that the BODY of Christ is every believer - and we are all supposed to stand together and support each others calling! Never again will we doubt the importance of ones calling. Never again will we underestimate the power of prayer. Never again will we underestimate how God can multiply even the smallest gift! WE are a blessed family. We are so excited to get this little guy home and show him hopefully just a touch of Gods love for him! Please continue to pray for us and support us. It has made ALL of the difference!