Are you all ready for a story only God could write?
We’ve been extremely blessed on this adoption journey, as we
have every time we adopt. I have
mentioned some of these blessings in past posts. However, I wanted to pass along the ones
experienced in these final days before travel because they are BIG!
When it comes to control, I struggle the most with
finances. This isn’t the usual struggle
of wanting more money (though I could adopt more kiddos then)… When I embark on an adoption, I like to know
that I have the money to do so and won’t have to worry about where the funds
will come from. We have been blessed to
have had adoption loans for Kaitlyn and Meilynn that covered all of the
expenses. Adoption tax credits helped to
pay those off. When it came to Ryan’s and
Addisyn’s adoptions, I had an inheritance and tax credit to cover those
expenses.
So, when we started
on this journey, I was relieved to have a healthy amount from a home equity
loan. I could rest and enjoy the
process, knowing that the money would be there.
However, I quickly learned that if this was the area I would struggle
in, then this was the area the Lord would test me in. Unexpected expenses came up and I watched our
funds begin to deplete faster than I was comfortable with.
I knew that I had experienced God taking care of us all along.
Life with six children is pretty expensive! I am thankful for good medical insurance,
since we have some costly special needs.
Though dental insurance doesn’t come close to covering the bills we
incur. Feeding this crew can be a costly
venture also. Our Meijer bill is pretty
eye-popping. However, as we discuss
often with our family, God ALWAYS provides.
In fact, He doesn’t just meet our needs, he exceeds our needs! We eat well and there are times when we get
to go out. We go on vacations. God takes care of us. I had to believe that he would continue. So, I prayed and had peace.
Then, we were blessed to be able to pursue a beautiful
little girl as well. This added expense
onto the already strained funds. Again,
I was calm. I recounted that God has
always provided. So again, I prayed.
Honestly, I thought I knew God’s plan. Unfortunately, this happens too often. I try to write the story and think I have it
figured out. (God’s story has ALWAYS
turned out FAR BETTER than the version I created.) I applied for a grant. I had heard lots of pastors are awarded this particular grant and the average is $6000.
It was a LONG application, but I filled it out with confidence that we
would be eligible. I decided to fill out
a form for a matching grant as well, just as a safety net (again, confident we wouldn’t
need it). Then it happened, I received
the letter that let us know we were not chosen for the first grant. I felt deflated. This is the story as I saw it. How could this not be the way God chose? I began to pray for the second grant and
panic a little. We talked about doing a
puzzle fundraiser. Should we wait until
we hear about the second grant? Would there be time to fundraise? Would we receive a matching grant? At what felt like the last possible moment,
we found out that we were awarded the matching grant! And, it was more than we had expected!
GOD KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING!
I know you don’t have to be told this, but I need reminding! If we had been awarded the original grant, I
would have been appreciative. However, I
would not have been close to as blessed as I have been with this
fundraiser! EVERY puzzle piece is a
celebration! I smile, pray for the
families as I write their names on the pieces, and love sharing the progress
with our children. It’s so exciting to
have a visual of God meeting your need!
I can’t explain how amazing an experience it has been! We have completed the entire puzzle!! We have EXCEEDED $8000!!!! Praise God!!!
During the last couple of weeks, my attention turned to the
travel costs that were coming up. These
are the big ticket items. I had
spreadsheets full of possible scenarios, flights, hotel costs. I used Addisyn’s and Ryan’s costs and tried to
“beef them up” as best I could to account for our 4 kiddos joining us. I ran and re-ran the numbers. We would be about $8000 short, even with the
grant. We would cover most of the
expenses. However, what I didn’t account
for is the spending money it will take to make sure we have enough for a family
of 6, 7, and 8 for 3 weeks in China.
That was okay. Mark and I knew
how important this was for our kiddos and we just realized we would work to pay
this off when we returned home. I kept
listening to my favorite songs on the way to work. I love the lyrics of Unspoken, “You brought me this far, so why would I
question You now? You have provided, so
why would I start to doubt? I've never
been stranded, abandoned or left here to fight alone. So I'm giving You control.”
I kept watching plane tickets fluctuate. This appeared to be the one place I might be
able to save. However, these prices are
crazy. They change by the hour. Mark and I tried to figure out if we should
use a travel agent and if so, which one.
Do we try it ourselves? We asked
for advice from fellow adoptive parents.
We finally decided to use the same agent we did last time. I won’t retell the whole story, but it
involved an airline doing us a favor and a credit card that got flagged for
spending out of our usual habits. At one
point, I was on the phone with our travel agent, Mark was on with our credit
card company and our agent was on with the airline. There were about 100 levels of security to
get through with the credit card (which I am thankful for, just not so much in
the moment) and an agent who had been hung up on by the airline. I was in tears, Mark was at a loss for what
to tell the credit card company, and we had only half our tickets. Well, fast-forward 1.5 nail biting hours and
we found out GOD EXCEEDED our expectations again! Our agent was able to talk
his way back into the deal. Not only was
it a DIRECT flight to Beijing and DIRECT out of Shanghai (our choice, even with
a layover), but the times are wonderful and the seats are all together!! BUT WAIT… THAT’S NOT THE BEST PART… We booked a flight three days earlier than we
thought we would leave and saved $8000 over what I had budgeted!!! Did you catch that?!?! God provided through the puzzle and now on
plane costs!!
We ended up getting our final travel costs from our
agency. I was only $1000 off! It was $1000 more than we expected. A fellow adoptive mama laughed and said, “Only
in adoptions do you hear $1000 isn’t too bad!”
We very likely may have this leftover when we return home, we don’t usually spend all of the
cash we bring. But, we like to make sure
we are prepared when half-way around the world (especially with 4-6
kiddos)!
God is even in the smaller details! We needed to wire our funds (and quickly, not
long before we leave). Our agency was
nice enough to do this for us, since there is a specific way and it makes me
nervous. However, I needed to get a BIG
check to Alabama ASAP! I found out about
the final number at 6:30 and the post office closed at 7:30. I took off and got there just before
7:00. I went in and filled out my
packing slip and stepped up to the counter.
The man made a disappointed face and said, “It’s going to Alabama?” “Yes, we are adopting a son and daughter from
China and I need to get this to my agency as soon as possible.” His eyes lit up and he said, “Well, we are
doing a system override. You were here
before 7:00!” What I didn’t know is that
packages logged in after 7 don’t go until the following day. This man allowed our money to get to our
agency today!! I let him know he had
just played an important role in getting our two kiddos home. He had the biggest smile and so did I!
God is so amazing!
Thanks for showing His love to us through your support and sharing in
His amazing story!
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