$16,940!!!!!!

"Test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."

-Malachi 3:1

Yes! Yes! That number above is correct! A gracious gift. A grant. Given to our family. For Lily. A little girl on the other side of the world. Who had no name. No mommy. No daddy. No family. Not one thing that belongs to her and only her. Yet her Heavenly Father knew her when she was being formed. Knows how many precious little hairs are on her precious little head. He is a Father to the Fatherless. He is our provider!

Our family is in awe! We have such a gracious and loving Father who loves to give good gifts to His children!

(tears of joy and gratitude and Maylie jumping for joy!)

When Lily's file and photo were emailed to us all we knew to do was to pray. We prayed fervently for a loving Christian family to step forward. Then God began to speak to us and stir our hearts to begin the process of adopting her into our family. But we did not even have enough money to even pay the application fee to begin the process. What could we do? We did not feel like we were some of those super hero faith people like many of those other adoptive families out there. (mustard seed faith here) Yet God moved and began to lead us toward stepping forward. We received our first grant of $3000 even before we officially said yes to adopting. God was providing and we took that blind step of faith. He is true to His word. He loves these little ones so much!

I can't wait to share the wonderful story of how God blessed us with this grant! A very dear friend was helping to organize her church's summer VBS. The theme was Panda Mania. As the team was pondering on what ministry to have the kids fundraise for my friend felt led to suggest our family. She knew we wanted to move forward with Lily and did not have any of the funds. This is the same friend whose first adopted daughter is from the same orphanage as Lily! When she was in China a few years back she actually met Lily (who was an infant at the time). She was drawn to her sweet face and stroked her cheek and told her that Jesus loved her and that her family would come get her someday! She shared this story with the team and her pastor and they felt confirmation that we were supposed to be the recipients of their week of VBS fundraising!

Now I have to (next to God) give thanks and praise for what these awesome kids and their parents have done! God stirred their hearts for a little girl that they have never met before. Throughout one week the excitement grew. Apparently there were lemonade stands all over their community selling lemonade for Lily! There was even a drive thru stand and some kids going door to door for collections! How precious is that! God moved these children's hearts and is giving them a heart for the orphan. And by Friday evening these kids had raised the record amount ever for their VBS $6,940! That evening we were to be presented with a check for that amount, but on that last day an anonymous donor from their church graciously added another $10,000!! Tears were flowing from me and the older girls, Maylie was jumping for joy, (literally! As you can see you'd think she just won Wheel of Fortune!) and Steve was so full of awe and thankfulness as we all were!

THANK YOU so much to our brothers and sisters at this sweet church who take God's Word to heart, with all of their heart. Thank you for heeding God's Word to care for the least of these and loving the orphan. Thank for sacrificing. Thank you for giving so joyfully!

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

For years I would pour out my heart to the Lord and ask "why do I have this incredibly heart wrenching desire to adopt again when we don't have the funds and it doesn't seem like we ever will. There are SO many children out there who need families. Lord we want to adopt but we don't have the means. I cried out like Hannah, pleading with the Lord to make a miracle. His timing was everything. He wanted us to wait for the little daughter He chose for our family and then he opened the windows of Heaven. Lily because you have a loving Heavenly Father, and because He stirred the hearts of hundreds of His believers, you will have a father and mother and sisters and cousins, and grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles and a boat load of friends ready to love you!

If God is calling you do adopt He will provide. The road will be difficult to travel much of the time. But it's His road. He will lead. There will be triumphs and trials throughout the journey. But the blessings, oh the blessings, they will be there. Overflowing.

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