We’re getting close. Our home study update is almost done, and it won’t be long before we have all of our dossier together. Then comes the real faith test: to send in the dossier we’ll need to have more than $15,000. Right now we have maybe a couple thousand that we’ve saved. (We’ve already paid for various adoption expenses out of our pockets, such as the home study update, the initial agency fees, etc.) Here’s the way I see it right now…
This adoption is God’s will. The Lord has given us some pretty convincing affirmations of that along the way, and I don’t think most Christians who know our story would deny it. So going on the assumption that God’s will is known in this case, I think we can also assume that God will see it through. Does that mean we have no responsibilities when it comes to making things happen? No, not necessarily. Certainly, our first responsibility is prayer. I remember a pastor once saying that praying was like plugging into the power source – it makes things happen. Our next responsibility is to seek out ways the Lord would have us raise the adoption funds. I’ve been working on the jewelry again, I brought things home from Ethiopia to resell to raise some funds, and we’re trying not to spend money unnecessarily. I put off writing a letter to friends and family because I knew many people had given to our last adoption and I didn’t want them to feel put upon to give again. While I was in Ethiopia, though, I felt the Lord leading me to begin drafting such a letter. The confirmation for me was when some friends indicated that we should send one out because they would love to help again.
Seems to me that when God wants us to do something for Him, He’ll provide a way. No one is forced to participate in that process, but the ones who choose to are always blessed. If not one single person responds to our fund raising letters, God will manage the adoption somehow, but many people will have missed out on a blessing. Now, don’t get me wrong, not everyone is called to give to every good God-willed project. However, I do think that people are missing out on a lot of blessings by not considering and praying about giving in specific areas.
So if I have your address, you may be getting a letter in the near future. 🙂 Please pray for us in any case, that this adoption would happen in God’s timing and that He would give us peace as we wait for the funds to come in.