“Reckless faith is stunning. It is the stuff stories are told about years later. God is calling us to give to others recklessly because that is his nature. He could have atoned for our sins many other ways, or just kept accepting our livestock on the altar, but he demonstrated the ultimate in reckless giving when he offered his body for us.
The story of Joel is just one among millions of stories about how God responds to someone's cry each day. He is doing more than fetching what we ask; he is orchestrating events that are multipurpose. He is blessing the receiver, the provider, the asker, the observer, the second-hand hearer; he is big and alive and dynamic and involved. He is a God who captivates me. He is wilder than I can contain, and my understanding of him, while growing each day, only allows me to see a fraction of his total existence.” - Beth Guckenberger
Grab a cup of coffee or tea and settle in to read an amazing story that involves many people who want to live a life of reckless faith for their Lord. How the Lord can take something bad that happens in our lives and turn them into good if we allow him.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
What I'm about to share is just one example of how the Lord has provided for our adoption of our boys in Nepal (I will be speaking of boys...plural because that is what we are asking the Lord for). How God moved a Huge mountain! We set out on this adoption journey not having one penny to put towards it. But knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord called us to go to Nepal. After much prayer we said , yes Lord, we will begin to take steps of faith in this direction and as you provide we'll move forward at your pace, and in your timing.
There is a whole lot to the story up to this particular point as to how the Lord provided (15,000.00 plus), but for today I want to focus on the last 2000.00 that was needed.
Nepal only allows 10 families per agency to submit dossiers each year. 2009 is the first year Nepal is accepting dossiers after having their doors closed for a number of years. We prayed that the Lord would allow for our paperwork to be submitted this year (2009). On November 16 we finally had our dossier ready for Nepal but still did not have the 9200.00 needed to send it. So there it sat on our counter for weeks. I guess we kinda assumed it wasn't the Lords will to be part of the 2009 quota and tried to deal with it by just not really talking about it. We figured when it was time we'd know.
On December fourth I was at a friends house decorating an adoption float for the Christmas parade being held on December 5. Mike called me that afternoon and said we had gotten an email from our adoption agency saying that all 10 slots had been filled for the year, but a family withdrew their application and wanted to know if we would like that last slot. They said they would have to have the dossier in Nepal by December 20 in order to have it translated and registered with the ministry by the end of the year. The fourth was a Friday the fifth Saturday, sixth Sunday so we were looking at Monday the seventh before we could talk with anyone from the adoption agency. By the time I got home Friday the agency was closed. I did however email them Friday evening to let them know that we would LOVE to have that slot, but we didn't have any of the money, but if they would “hold” it for us we were going to pray and get others to pray with us and see if it would be the Lords will to provide that money. I prayed that evening and asked the Lord what a reasonable “cut off” date would be to collect the money and still be able get our dossier to Nepal in time. I believe he gave me the fifteenth. A neat side note...we were unable to work with a Christian agency this time so this was going to be a neat way for them to witness the Lord at work!
It was Monday, December 7 at 7 AM that I felt lead to email my entire contact list and tell them of the situation that had come up and ask them to pray with us for a miracle and if they wanted to help here's how. Faith is not a feeling it's a choice and we hung onto Matthew 17:20 as a promise from the Lord. “I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there', and IT would move. NOTHING is impossible with God!” $9,200.00 was our mountain and we were praying and trusting He was going to move it!
Fast forward to Monday, December 14. The Lord had miraculously provided $7,200.00 and we only needed $2,000.00 more by 5:00 PM, December 15. At this point I felt worn out and really tired. Each day was filled by prayer and checking emails and the mail box and phone calls to see how the Lord was moving on hearts to step up and help with the rescue of these orphans that just happened to also be our children. It was hard to focus on anything else. I told Mike we need to pray that the Lord finishes this work TODAY! Let's pray and believe that by the end of the day before we lay our heads on our pillows that every penny needed will be provided!
So we prayed!
I decided to post “updates” on my facebook throughout the day of how the Lord was providing. My first post was at 8 AM...
It’s feeding the hungry Serving the poor It’s telling the orphan You’re not forgotten anymore" Take time and listen to this song! I'll post the lyrics in the comment below.
UPDATE****2000.00******* is all that's left.....by TOMORROW!!! Please pray with us that the Lord provides it all today!
Second post...
Someone we don't know just blessed us with 350.00! That takes it from 2000.00 down to 1650.00! Thank you Jesus!
Third post...
OUR NOON UPDATE ******WE NEED 1450.00!!!********
200.00 just came in the mail!
Thank you Jesus! We're getting there!
Fourth post...
*****UPDATE*****
It is so amazing to see brothers and sisters in the Lord from all over the country, most of whom we don't even know, helping to bring these little guys home! With everyone helping any way they can we're getting close! Right now we are down to 1150.00!!!! What will the Lord do tonight??? Who might He use ...to help rescue an orphan???
If you want to help visit our blog and use the Chip In.
Keep praying!
We don't have a regular answering machine so our phone just blinks and beeps when I go to use it to let me know we have a message or messages. I don't check them often because most of the time there for my teenage daughter. Well I was stick of the blinking and beeping so decided to take a minute and listen to the messages. Well we had 10 messages! I began to listen and they were all from the same person wanting to talk to Robin. When I got to the last message it was from this lady and she had called on Sunday wanting to talk to me. So I called her. That turned out to me the beginning of an amazing story that only the Lord could orchestrate!! Remember this quote from the beginning? He is doing more than fetching what we ask; he is orchestrating events that are multipurpose. He is blessing the receiver, the provider, the asker, the observer, the second-hand hearer; he is big and alive and dynamic and involved. This is where it gets good!
This lady asked me how close we were to meeting our goal. I told her 1150.00. I don't remember her exact words, but got the impression that if she had the money she would have given it to us. She said she believed the Holy Spirit had gently whispered in her ear that she could give us her diamond ring to help bring these boys home. She went on to tell me there was a story behind the ring.
Without going to deep into the details she began to tell me how her dad and mom were married but when she was a teenager she came home to find her mom had been committed to a mental institution. Dad was gone. I believe serving in the Navy in another state. A couple years passed and her dad showed up with divorce papers in one hand and another woman on his other hand and she was wearing a ring. He had come home for a divorce and I'm assuming introduce this new soon to be wife to his children.
Through a series of circumstances later when her dad passed away this step mom let her have this ring he had given her. She took it because it was the only thing she had from her dad....a link to him. She shared with me how it was a love/hate relationship with it. She loved it because it was a link to her dad and it was a beautiful ring, but hated it because it represented the destruction of her family.
She shared how many times when looking at the ring she wanted to throw it in the Atlantic Ocean. Because when she looked at it, it brought pain. She felt like the Holy Spirit whispered something to the effect like you can take something that represents pain and turn it into something that can bring joy! And that's exactly what she did!
We had arranged to meet the next morning and I would bring it to a jewelry store that my friend works at and have it cleaned and then I would be on a mission that day to sell it!
This conversation took place while Mike was walking out the door to go to church for band practice. So he knew nothing about what was going on :)
I had posted all my other update so I thought why wouldn't I post this one so here's the update...
Fifth post @ 6:10 PM
*****Update******
Someone is giving us a half carat diamond ring to sell and put towards
the 1150.00!!!!! Sooo if you're looking for a ring and want to make a
donation let me know! I'm going to sell it tomorrow.
It wasn't a couple minutes and another lady contacted me asking me if I could give her more details about the ring. I couldn't because I hadn't seen it. All I knew was it was a half carat. She emailed me again telling me she knew someone who was looking to purchase a ring that night or the next day. He was going to be at her house at eight and wanted to know if I could get the ring by then.
So I call the lady back with the ring and we decide to meet so I would have the ring to show him.
I pick it up, drive back home and call the other lady and let her know I have the ring. She asked I if I would mind bringing it to her house for him to look at. She felt bad asking me to get out again, but I told her it was no problem...it was for the boys and I was on a mission. I believed the Lord had a plan for this ring and I couldn't wait to see what it was!
Are you with me still?
So I show up at her house with the ring and she begins to share a story behind the man looking to purchase a ring. It involved her son.
Her son was married and his wife left him. He later met a young lady and fell in love and was going to propose to her and of course needed a ring. Well because he had gone through this divorce he really didn't have a lot of money for a diamond. Somehow (the Lord) he connected with another young man who also had gone through a divorce. Same thing happened...his wife left him. When she left he got the ring. Apparently it was a beautiful ring that he had custom built for her. Anyhow he knew this other guy wanted a ring and somehow they connected and he saw this diamond ring and loved it and wanted to buy it for his fiancee.
Well when the man with the ring heard he had gone through the same thing he had gone through he didn't want any money for the ring. He wanted to bless this guy with the diamond. He wanted to take something that brought him pain and turn it into something beautiful.
The guy that was looking to buy a ring that night was they guy who had given his diamond to this other man!
I knew listening to all this that the Holy Spirit was telling me don't set a price on this ring and let him have it for whatever he offers. And that's what I was prepared to do. I was not one bit worried about how much he would offer. At this point I was just really excited that he had met a wonderful young woman who he wanted to be his wife and I wanted him to have this ring if it was what he wanted.
At this point it's about eight o clock and he shows up to the house. I'm sitting there with our friend and some of her family (just listening and taking it all in) and she does all the introductions and quickly fills him in on why I'm there.
This guy was beaming when he came in and heard about all this. So he said, “do you have the ring?” I pass him the ring and he looks it over while smiling and says “this is the one”. At this point I jump in and tell him not to feel obligated or pressured. Not to be sucked into all the emotion and stories. I knew that Lord had given me that ring and I was confident it would sell. So NO pressure. He said I don't feel pressure or obligated. He told me he had been praying for a while and that very day had a conversation with the Lord that went something like....how do I pick a ring from so many...would you please bring me the ring. So there he was sitting in this house holding a diamond ring. He said this was the ring and even if it wasn't the style or size or whatever they had maybe planned on getting he knew his fiancee would be blessed by the stories behind the ring.
At this point no amount of money had been mentioned. He told me he had a set amount of money he had allocated for the ring. I told him whatever he wanted to give towards the adoption was fine. He said he had $800.00!!! I was floored! I didn't know what he would offer but I didn't think it would be $800.00. NOW I'm freaking out in a good way! I at this point begin to tell them the story about praying for the last 2000.00 by the end of the day and that we had two strangers tell us they were going to give us money towards the adoption. One for 100.00 the other 200.00.
So if you take 1150.00 and subtract 300.00 that leaves 850.00! So we were only lacking 50.00!!! To me that was as good as if the whole amount came in! When he heard this he tells me his sister had adopted like 4 times and loves adoption and tells me that he had 852.00 in his checking account and he wanted to give me 850.00! I said no, you don't need to give me any more money and he responds with a smile and says I know I don't need too, I want to!
A M A Z I N G!
Before I leave another person that was present during this whole thing walks by me and puts cash in my hand!
I get in the car and have this special time with just me and my Father!!! I'm screaming, crying, laughing....I just couldn't believe what had just happened. And I was going home to Mike that knew none of this. He didn't even know someone had given a ring! So I tried to compose myself so I could tell him the entire story from the beginning to end. With the Lords help I was able (another miracle :)
After I got through the story we decided to count what we had in our hands not count money from strangers that we didn't have. We were at 1843.00....we were only lacking 157.00.
Sixth post on facebook...
*****UPDATE******
COUNTING THE MONEY IN HAND WE ONLY LACKING 157.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It wasn't probably 30 seconds and someone from our church IM me and said they would be honored to give the last 157.00 and they would give it to me first thing in the morning!
My last post...
CAN'T STOP PRAISING GOD!!!! The mountain HAS BEEN MOVED!!!!!! THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!
Isn't our Father AMAZING! I am still in awe! God has so far used 33 families most of whom we don't know to help us in our mission to rescue our sons from the bondage of being orphans! What an amazing God we serve!
We needed 9200.00 and 9200.00 came in. No more, no less. And again....right on time!
There is even more to this incredible story, but I think I'll end the story here for now.
Would you join us in praising the Lord for providing this miracle!
At this point we are praying for the Lord to set the right people in place in Nepal to get these adoptions moving! Also praying if it's the Lords will that we would be referred two boys! That the Lord will continue to provide all that's needed to bring them home.
Now we wait for our referral and then we travel to bring them home!
