More Blessing!

It's been nearly three months since I wrote about God being in control. It's been roughly six weeks since I wrote about the amazing ways God was providing for our family. And boy did that post cause a real stir. The approximate amount of donations that came to us in 2 weeks was $595 plus a toddler bed and mattress. That's an incredible amount of money and we were blown away by what the Lord was doing through our family and friends.

A typical month, if a day in court is involved, runs us about $2500 dollars. This is an insane amount of money for us. I-N-S-A-N-E. If we don't go to court it's about $500 dollars. Yesterday we were at the state fair and I saw an offer for a spa and a beautiful wooden tent structure to go over the gorgeous spa. It was just under 10,000 dollars for the combination. I looked at Troy and said, "Wow. We could have almost three of those for the price of this adoption so far." And while I would never, ever trade my son for three spas and three gazebo thingies--because, honestly, who needs three spas--I was just saying, was all, that this thing has turned into a boatload of money. I used to cry when we got the bills. Now I just say, "Add it to the tab." We are seriously a Mastercard commercial.

Listing fee for adoption organization: $2,500
Homestudy fee for the state of Utah: $2,500
Legal fees for three different lawyers: $22,000
Loving our son every day for the past six and a half months: Priceless
There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Mastercard.

I'm speaking at a retreat in two weeks (AHHHHH!) and one of the passages that I am referencing is from Matthew chapter 6. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

The past six weeks have been PROOF of the promise that the heavenly Father "feeds" us. I kid you not. If you don't believe in a mighty God, come live in my house for a couple days. Come stand with me as I open the mailbox on my sidewalk or the mailbox on my computer. Then see what you think about God. He is our Provider.

1. It started with my friend who defended me as a stay at home mom and then wanted to put her money where her mouth is. She donated 25 dollars through paypal.

2. There was a 50 dollar paypal donation...

3. and another 25 dollar donation.

4. My dad painted part of my grandparents' house or something or other and they insisted on paying him $100 dollars. He gave it to us.

5. An amazing friend of mine sent us $200 in the mail.

6. Another dear friend sent $75.

7. My in laws sent $100

8. An anonymous donor from our church mailed us a money order for $1,000 (no, that's not a typo)!

9. This afternoon I got a phone call from friends of ours from the church. Jeremy said, "Hey, are you going to be around tonight? Christy and I need to talk to you guys." I said yes, hung up the phone and freaked out. What do they need? What's wrong? What are they upset about? Why was he so vague? It must be really bad. They showed up at six and handed me an envelope. As it turns out, our church had a secret yard sale. They'd been planning it for weeks and Troy and I hadn't heard a single word about it. No one slipped. The proceeds would go toward our adoption expenses. The yard sale was held today and they made $711 dollars. A huge thank you to all who donated items and time! I may not have been overwhelmed by the number. I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of people in our church. I'm overwhelmed by the sacrifice of time and goods. I'm humbled that people would love us enough to do that. But I'm not overwhelmed by the number.

Because that's what my God has been doing. This is how he's been providing. In 25 dollar donations. In 1000 dollar donations. In $711 dollars being raised at a yard sale! Money has come in. The amazing donations continue to lift our spirits and remind us that He has called us to fight for Matthew's future. And, of course, as always, nothing has meant more to us than your prayers.

Oh, and one more thing. My parents and I are taking The Rock Star to Disneyland during our stay in San Diego. Garrett and I both saved our birthday money and I was going to use it to buy our tickets. A reader emailed me-without knowing of my plans to head to The Happiest Place on Earth--and offered me two tickets to Disneyland if I wanted to try to go while we were in Southern California. Coincidence? Some would call it that. But I believe that God is working even down to the littlest detail...even down to providing a day of entertainment for my worried three-year-old and me. And now we can use that birthday money when we need new clothes or something else that we might not otherwise be able to afford at the moment.

Total donations in the last six weeks: $2186 plus two tickets to Disneyland. I almost don't believe it when I see it and I've been here watching it all come in. God is good. Amen?

Amen.