Anyway, I have played "phone tag" with a dear friend of mine that lives in another state for a few weeks. Well, really months. The last I talked to her was the day this journey to twin boys really got kicked off. She was an immediate encouragement and prayer partner. We've text and left messages but no actual conversation for a while. I got a text from her two nights ago to call her when I got the kids to bed. Well, I responded that I would but my phone had other plans. It went dead shortly after the girl's bed time. By dead I mean not low battery dead, like dead dead:) It's a game my phone has been playing for a few weeks now. It just decides it wants to rest and doesn't wake up until it wants to. It's really annoying but after this expereince I am again reminded to appreciate the mundane things God uses to work in us...as Francesca Battistelli sings, "This is the stuff You use." Needless to say, we didn't talk that night.
When the Iron Bowl Adoption Fundraiser was launched we didn't have many expectations for it. We've prayed consistently from the beginning that God would use our adoption journey as way to reach people for His glory and to encourage others to adopt. Our prayer has been for exposure...to our adoption, our story, our God. Of course, we do need to raise money, but that is secondary to making His story known. With that said we have now come to a point where we are totally leaning on God for provision. We have used all of our savings to get us to this phase of the adoption process and when our next round of fees are due we will be short about $5000. I had a moment of weakness last week when the enormity of the cost started to weigh on me. I began to question whether we are suppose to adopt two. I discussed it with my mom and sister and they were nothing but encouraging...pointing to all God has done so far to indicate we are doing what He has planned for us. As my mom was getting ready to leave Birmingham she offered to give us the money we needed to make it to the next step of this process. Humbly, I refused it because I knew we hadn't given God a chance to provide.
Fast forward a week to the same day I got a text from my "phone tag" friend...I had a meeting with our agency discussing the next steps for our adoption. She mentioned when we submit everything in the next two weeks we will have to be more specific about which child/children we are desiring to adopt. Namely, are we going to adopt twin boys or are we going to try for just one? After our discussion I began to have doubt again. See, we have enough money in savings to pay this round of fees for one. The additional money we need is because we are hoping to adopt two brothers. Dustin and I both started having the same doubts that night. While the Iron Bowl Adoption website has exceeded our expectations in how many people have seen it, we never really thought it would raise thousands of dollars. (Although we believe God will continue to use it as a tool to provide and who knows what the total amount will end up being come SEC kickoff weekend :) God can really surprise us especially when we don't expect it. )We have a few more fundraisers planned for late summer/early fall but nothing in the near future. So where would we get the additional $5,000 we needed to move forward? The actual prayer was "If Your plan is for us to adopt two, please show us by providing the money for this next step. God, we told You we'd walk until we couldn't walk any further. Is this the end of the journey for us?"
Early the next morning I was cleaning up breakfast dishes and my phone rings. It was my sweet "phone tag" friend. Finally, we've connected:) We talked for a while and then she asks, "What are your needs for the adoption right now?" I casually answered, "Well we will really need between $4000 to $5000 for the next round of fees." And that's when I got to experience the presence of God AGAIN! She and her husband had decided a while back that God wanted them to provide $5000 of our adoption expenses. Overwhelmed with emotion, we finished our conversation. I spent much of the day on my knees in thanks! Do you realize the significance of not only God's gift through these precious friends but the timing of it? If we didn't play constant phone tag and talked earlier in the process or had we accepted the funds from my mother the week prior, we wouldn't have the answer to our prayer we prayed wanting guidance about how many children to adopt. If my phone had not died the night before, we would have never prayed this prayer. It was a faith building exercise totally orchestrated by an amazing God! :) And He showed us once again, continue walking to your TWO boys!
In classic girl fashion, I called my mother immediately to tell her the wonderful news. She was somewhat amazed. I know the gift we were given was HUGE but I was a little surprised by how shocked she was, but it was because there was even more to this story I didn't know. After the conversation I had last week with my mom and sister, Courtney, expressing my concern and doubt about adopting two, my sister spent time in prayer asking God to provide us with a $5000 gift to alleviate our doubts and fears. She told only my mom about her prayer the next day on their long drive back to the coast. God had not only answered our prayer for guidance in our aodption, he answered Courtney's specific prayer for $5000. WOW! I still tear up as I write this. We discount so many acts of God as everyday happenings. I felt compelled to share this very long :) story with you because we so often forget it's the little everyday things that God can be most glorified in IF we let Him. I pray this story is also a reminder for you to see God where we sometimes forget to seek Him...everyday life. "This is the stuff You use."
To contribute through our Iron Bowl Adoption Fundraiser, go to http://www.ironbowladoption.com/ and vote for your favorite team. This is a fun way to make smaller donations to help us out...we need the $5 donation as much as we needed the $5000:) No amount is too small to accomplish the end goal of bringing our two babies home.We thank you for your support and for sharing our blog and/or website with anyone you think may be interested in helping or will join in praying for us through out this process:) We are so blessed by you!
The Iron Bowl Adoption fundraiser is such a cute idea! Love it! I miss seeing your posts! :)
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