The past 2 weeks have been a bit crazy here. Weekend before last, we hosted a yard sale. Thursday a friend and her two big girls came and helped me set up - there was a LOT of little odds and ends! No way would I have been ready for Friday had they not helped. Friday, another friend came and hung out with me while our kids played. Saturday, for the most part, I was on my own (Eman was sleeping since he was on night rotation). My in-laws came and hung out for a bit and gave me a bathroom/food break - SO nice since i was about to pop! Afterwards, I boxed everything up, loaded my truck and took it all down to the Goodwill. Sunday I was supposed to take the boys to my parents house, but left Monday instead. I needed a day to clean the house and recover. ;)
Monday, we drove across the state to my parents to help prepare for another yard sale. From the very beginning, my prayer was that the Lord would provide $1500 to pay our homestudy fee with our agency. Mid week, I received notification that we had been approved for a $1500 grant from a Washington state grant organization (yay!! Thank you, Jesus!!). I was also praying that the yard sale at my mom's would be like the miracle of the loaves and fishes. My parents and I worked hard all week getting regular farm chores done as well as pulling out boxes and setting things (lots of things) aside for the yard sale. This time we were only doing one day, Saturday. This was a community yard sale day that my mom had signed up for in advance to help us raise some funds (and get rid of some of her junk).
We got everything set up and ready Friday. When Saturday came, the clouds had moved in and it looked like it was going to rain. All week we had beautiful, warm, sunny weather. The forecast said the rain was supposed to hold off until Sunday, but I was praying that Jesus would keep that forecast true, but was still skeptical. After all, it is western Washington and it rains a lot over there. It started to sprinkle mid morning, but the clouds blew away and the sun came out! Again, thank you Jesus!
Traffic was really light and we made only a small amount of money at the sale. I was trying to keep a right attitude knowing that it was more than we had started with in the morning. I was also really thankful for the time I got to spend with my mom and the quiet moments where I got to sit and read my book in the sun - rare moments, indeed! I know my mom was disappointed for us, though. My parents had said originally that they wanted to hold onto the cash we made so they could give it in a matching grant if we received one. This, in itself, would be answering my prayer for our sale to be like the miracle of the loaves and fishes. I was able to share this with my mom and tell her that Jesus was continuing to answer my prayers, even if it was in a different way than how we expected (isnt that just like Him?!). She then told me that they, my parents, had decided to give us more than what we made, and like originally planned, hold onto it in case we received the matching grant. I laughed, told her thank you, and said that just in that, Jesus was again answering my prayers! He was moving in their hearts to give us more than what we had earned - He was multiplying our total!
After I received the letter for our $1500 grant, I asked the Lord to help us get current in our payments with our agency. We had finished our dossier and sent it off to China a while ago. I didnt like that we were behind! While we were at my parents, I received another email from a different group letting us know that we qualified to receive another grant - this one for $1000! And again, thank you, Lord! This grant group also would like to hold onto the money in hopes that we receive a matching grant so their gift can also be doubled. (I didnt figure this out until just the other day, but, this gift, combined with what we were given from my parents, plus what we have in our adoption savings, we have enough to pay off our dossier payment! Seriously, Lord?! Again, THANK YOU!!)
Now, this all brings me to the redirection part.. As I mentioned before, having our homestudy paid qualified us to apply for a different grant. I sent off the application, which started a whole chain of events beginning with our agency needing to submit some financial stuff showing that our homestudy had been paid. I received a phone call from my social worker saying that our account showed the homestudy had NOT been paid yet. I was confused - hadnt they received our grant check yet? The social worker checked again - the money was not there. I called the grant company and left a message. I emailed the next day. Did I mention the deadline for this application was today?! Sunday, I went home. Still had heard nothing from the first grant folks. Monday, I talked to my agency, in a panic - could they use the email as proof payment was coming? I finally got a hold of the grant company. She told me they hadnt ever received the invoice from my agency. Oh my goodness! I scrolled through my out box and realized I had even sent it in the first place! Ack!!! Called my agency back, asked if it was possible to get that sent and then have the correct info sent to the grant we were currently working on (you know, the one with today as the deadline?). My social worker said that normally there is a 48hr turn around for the bookkeeper. I almost cried. Still in a complete panic, I started to pray - now, I had been praying, but not truly seeking the Lord. He was so sweet and faithful to remind me of what He had told me from the very beginning - seek MY face and trust in ME! I am not capable of making things work - only the Lord can make all of the details come together in time for this app to make the deadline. Ahh... peace! Thank you, Lord! I emailed my SW (again) and told her how the Lrrd had redirected my thoughts and heart and that if it didnt work to get things done in time, that I had peace that the Lord really did have things under control. (I am such a kook!)
Tuesday (yesterday) I checked my email and had an email from the grant agency - my SW and bookkeeper had gotten their stuff sent in!! Seriously, they ROCK and work so, so hard for their families. This sent the next wheel spinning. I needed to have two personal references done as well as a pastoral reference. My sweet friends worked hard to get theirs done and sent off last night. My pastor, who is super busy, worked with us TONIGHT to get his done. We had until midnight tonight to get everything sent, and we did it!!! Absolutely amazing - all of these pieces were played just as God knew they would be! All of the glory has to go to Him! He created willing hearts to get their parts done in time. Over and over I will say this - THANK YOU, JESUS! Now we wait. Ha! We should hear back by the end of next month whether we will receive a grant from this agency. The next application deadline is August 15, which would have put us to the end of September before hearing back. This date made me nervous.. I dont know when we will be actually traveling, but I am so thankful that we made the current deadline. Only God knows, at this point, whether we will be granted money from this group.
All of this craziness, culminating in God's faithful redirection of my heart, has me really excited to see how everything plays out. I started out this adoption process really stressed about how we would pay everything. The Lord has slowly, and sometimes painfully, given me peace about how it will all come together. I KNOW that He has this under control. I KNOW that He knows where each penny will be coming from and when it will arrive. I KNOW that I can trust Him to carry my family through this process! Seriously, it is so amazing to say that! I cannot imagine how difficult life would be without my Jesus and the hope and peace only He can give!
