JUST SEVEN WEEKS!

Have you ever stood in the middle of what can only be described as a modern day miracle? "God doesn't 'do' miracles anymore," they say. "The Bible can't be true because miracles can't happen," they say. "I've never seen a miracle."

Perhaps, friend, you've never paid any attention.

When I first looked at the email our social worker sent me on October 18, I was half a second away from deleting it. On the one hand, my babies are practically all grown up and starting over again seemed daunting. On the other hand (a much bigger, more pressing hand), I did not have 24K plus legal fees just lying around. (Legal fees are A LOT. Like, $300 dollars an hour of A LOT. And there aren't just one or two lawyers involved here. There are three.) My quick estimation math rounded the total up to $30,000 or more.

We're in ministry. We rent our home. Our insurance premium is nearly $900 a month. Both of our vehicles are older than our firstborn and need their fair share of maintenance. We don't have much wiggle room in our monthly budget. We certainly don't have $30,000 just burning a hole in our pocket. Paying back 30 grand, adding the hungry tummy of another child, sending another kid to camps and prom and college when we're just doing our best to make ends meet now...well, that all seemed just a little reckless.

A little like Jonah heading into Ninevah. He never could have imagined the miracle of repentance that awaited.

A little like Elijah drenching the altar with water before calling on the Lord to ignite the sacrifice. And then watching the fire from Heaven as it consumed everything.

A little like Gideon taking 300 men to fight against 135,000. It would take a miracle.

A little like a shepherd boy taking on a giant. And, in the name of the Lord Almighty, defeating him.

Reckless on our own. Ordained with God.

Eight weeks ago we decided that we were all in. We had absolutely no idea how we'd come up with the money. Seven weeks ago we made a video asking people to help us by contributing just one dollar. I couldn't imagine raising any large amount of money this way but I knew that every dollar donated meant one less that we'd have to come up with on our own.

In the 49 days since we began fundraising, we've had only three days that we didn't receive any donations. We've had days that our grand total was two dollars and we've had days like yesterday when we received $2852. In just seven weeks time, we have received $15045! We're halfway to our ultimate goal in just 49 days! God is using our friends, family members, teachers, children, strangers, friends of friends, and so many more to bring about His plan. More than 150 different donors have partnered with us.

One dollar DOES make a difference. Even if we don't receive so much as one more penny, we know that our God has raised half of our funds for us in JUST SEVEN WEEKS.

Do you believe in miracles? We do.

To those who have donated, we thank you. You are as much a part of this adoption as we are.