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Where do I begin?
Almost 10 years ago I married the man I love. I love that man everyday a little bit more. We have had 3 biological children and we love them more than words could ever express. I told my oldest daughter the other day:
"After I had you, I thought there was no way I could love another child as much as I love Elliana....then God gave me Lenora and my love grew and I thought, 'I love Elliana and Lenora so much, there's no way I could love any more children this much'...then God gave me Louis and I realized that my life is so full and I love each of my children so much."
God has created us in such a way that our love can grow. We can love 3 or 4 or 5 children as abundantly and completely as we love 1! So God showed us in a time that didn't make the most sense that He had a precious soul half way across the world waiting for us and we stepped forward in faith. God has provided in each step of the process for Lance and He continues to prove His faithfulness.
A few weeks ago we watched a video of a little boy in Lance's country and felt a familiar tugging. We talked and talked and talked some more about this little boy.
"Should we consider bringing him home with Lance?"
"Are we ready to commit to TWO children with special needs?"
"Are our other children ready for a commitment this big?"
"What will our family look like?"
"What will our life look like?"
"What kind of support will we have/ not have once they are home?"
"What is God calling our family to?"
We came up with answers and conclusions to question after question and Friday (Feb 8) we made the decision to talk with our social worker to see if she would approve us of a second child.
SHE WOULD!
We made the decision on Saturday (Feb 9) that if we could raise half of the cost to add another child in 2 weeks that we would move forward confident that this was God's plan.
ummm...let me clarify: that means $3500.00 in 2 weeks at the WORST time of year for fundraising.
I started a map fundraiser, and mentioned the challenge on Reece's Rainbows facebook page. I asked other adoptive families to pray and then I watched to see what God would do....
Money started coming in...honestly I don't know the names of every person who donated, but the love poured forth was astounding! We received a $1500.00 grant that was contingent on our committing to a second child....$1500.00 from someone I had never talked to 2 weeks ago!
So fast forward to Friday (Feb 15) that's less than a week....and we had received a total of $3520.00.
DID YOU CATCH THAT???? A week early and $20 OVER what we had asked God for.
What an amazing mighty God we serve! I was brought to tears to see how much God loves this little child. I was encouraged to see all of the people who were so willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I am in AWE!
So, we signed the commitment papers and had them notarized today and are so excited to announce that we will be adopting TWO children!
Will this be hard? yes
Will we struggle sometimes? yes
Will we grow through this? yes
Will we be blessed? yes
Will some people not understand or think we are crazy/foolish? yes
Will God bring us through? YES
Will we be faithful to His calling for our lives? YES!
I leave you with this:
“So you say I have given up everything?” The businessman nodded enthusiastically. Mother Teresa smiled. “Oh, my dear man,” she said, “you are so wrong. It isn’t I who have given up everything; it is you. You have given up the supreme sacred joy of life, the source of all lasting happiness, the joy of giving your life away to other beings, to serve the Divine in them with compassion."
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