A little over a month ago, Anthony and I were faced with a decision. A life-changing decision.
One in which we could either say yes…or no.
From the moment we saw her picture that day, I must confess that every journey, every trial, every moment of learning to surrender to Jesus over the past five years, every failure, every bad parenting moment, and every night I have literally fallen into bed out of sheer exhaustion–they all flashed before my eyes.
And in that moment, I wondered. I prayed.
Can we possibly?
Are we able?
Are we even equipped?
How would we do it?
I could, of course, have you all believe that we are these amazing, super-spiritual, always-together kinda parents. But if you have read here for a while, you will know full well that that is just not the truth. Anthony and I fail more times than I care to even count. Without His grace in our lives, in our parenting, in our marriage, and in our everyday existence, we simply could not do what we do. Without the love of God filling us up to overflowing each and every day, there is no way that we could ever walk this road–let alone even contemplate adding another medically fragile, extremely delayed child to our family.
It’s His grace, His unfathomable love, and His mercy which know no bounds to leading us on. It’s looking back and SEEING His faithful hand upon our lives that encourages us and reminds us that we drink from the well of Living Water that never runs dry. With all our hearts we know that we truly can do ALL things through Him who calls us and gives us strength.
We knew that saying yes would be hard and that life as we know it would change. A lot. But we also know that God requires the hard things from His people. You just have to read the Bible to know that’s the truth. I read a quote from David Platt this week that resonated so deeply in my heart. “Mission without sacrifice is like Christianity without the cross.” We promised the Father a very long time ago that we would never choose the easy road if His perfect will was for us to walk the road less traveled.
It’s only because of who He is in our lives (and not because of who we are) that we were able to say with absolute certainty…….
“YES! She is ours!”
Whew…that was the easy part!
Then came the challenge. The finances. We knew this adoption would be faster than usual. We knew that there was not one second to waste in getting to our daughter who is 14 years old, but only weighs 14 pounds, as fast as is humanly possible. We knew that to her, every day that she is even alive is a precious gift.
Having done so many fundraisers for other families and children here on my blog over the years, I knew the hearts of the amazing people who read here. But, doing a fundraiser for OUR adoption, well, that was a whole different story. I agonized for days over whether to bring our need to my own blog. I got close friends and family to pray for me as I wrestled with the pride that lodged itself in my heart. I simply hated asking for money. Doing it for others is a joy, something I absolutely love to do. For us? Oh my!
But sweet Hasya! For her I would truly go to the ends of the earth and back again to save her life.
I swallowed my awful pride and humbly came and asked for your help in raising the RANSOM to rescue our daughter.
Anthony and I sat speechless, praising God, as the Chip-In grew and grew and grew. Within just a few hours we had every penny we needed to rescue sweet Hasya. After hearing from so many people who still wanted to contribute, we decided to leave the Chip-In open for the month as planned and continue to receive funds which would then be used to bless other families stepping out in faith to adopt children from the same orphanage in Bulgaria where our daughter is. As many of you know, it is a darn awful place–a place where children are desperately malnourished and neglected. It’s a place that has recently been compared to a German concentration camp. Oh, God in heaven!
We truly cannot even begin to find the words to express our gratitude. Never in a million years did I ever imagine that the funds would come pouring in so quickly. Never!
Today the Chip-In ended. I hesitated to share with you all just how much has been raised. In the last month some have felt that I have been “insensitive” when I have shared about the goodness of God in rescuing Hasya. Some have felt that I have not thought about those who really struggle to raise funds for their adoptions. Please forgive me if I ever came across that way. That is certainly not what is in my heart and it is NOT the truth! Anthony and I have trusted the Lord for every single penny to adopt our four daughters who are already home. We started every adoption with zero! We know what it means to wonder where the funds for the next bill are coming from. We know how hard it is to sell personal possessions to meet the next deadline and have sleepless nights wondering just how God was going to get us to the other side. Oh, how we know!
Honestly? I wish I would make adoption fundraising easy for everyone. But I’m not God. What I do know is that it was in those tough times–the times when we wondered where in the world the money would come from to adopt our Chinese and Ukrainian girls–that we grew so much nearer to our Father in heaven. It was in those times that God stretched our faith…and showed us His faithfulness.
Looking back and seeing His hand upon our lives at that time, I truly wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. God used those times in our lives to plant in us such a desire to want to come alongside other families and help them bring their children home–which is what we do now. God’s plans and purposes for our lives are always so much bigger and more amazing than what we imagine. He uses everything He allows us to go through.
Ultimately, it’s ALL for His glory!
It would be remiss of me NOT to boast in my Lord and Savior–the One who reached down from heaven and has miraculously provided for us to rescue Hasya. Psalm 34:2 says, “My soul will boast in the Lord.”
And in 1 Corinthians 1:31: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
I will boast in my Jesus. His praise will always be on my lips.
Simply because God mobilized His glorious army, $41, 411.64 has been raised for our adoption and for the orphans of Pleven!
Hallelujah!
Please, I’m begging you, don’t ever think that God is unable to provide for the orphan. He is MORE than able. Yes, He chooses to do it differently for each and every family who trusts Him for the finances, but He is always faithful. Always. I can stand and testify that from the tallest mountain. Don’t ever let finances stop you from stepping out of the comfy little boat you’re in and trusting HIM to meet every need you have to rescue a child. How passionately God loves the orphan and longs to see them all come home! I believe it with all my heart.
Anthony and I sincerely want to thank all 667 of you who contributed and every person who has prayed for Hasya. We are so very grateful for your love poured out to our family and our precious angel waiting for us on the other side of the world. We appreciate you all so much. What a faithful community of believers you are!
From the bottom of our hearts….thank you!
“Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or imagine, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations for ever and ever. Amen.” Eph 3:20-21
*** Giveaway winners will be announced next week.
