Home Free

Thanksgiving this year is especially meaningful to me.  We have so much to thank God for - beginning with the newest addition to our family.  Last night I was in her room picking out things to take when we go to pick her up (even though we have no idea when that will be.)  For the first time in my life, I was trying to match up little outfits that contain PINK and FLOWERS with TIGHTS and HAIRBANDS!  It was crazy how much I enjoyed that little task.  I just cannot believe that I am the mama to a little girl.  God took a dream that I had given up a long time ago and has brought it to fruition in an incredible way.  I am so thankful for the gift of Sena.

I am also more keenly aware of the physical blessings that God has given to us - a comfortable house, vehicles to drive, plenty of food to eat, healthcare, and the list goes on and on.  I am currently reading a book about one of the lost boys of Sudan (God Grew Tired of Us - I highly recommend it) and it is really eye opening.  Sometimes I require a reality check that helps me to put things in perspective and this book is currently providing that for me.  The level of comfort in which most Americans live stands in stark contrast to the rest of the world.  There are approximately 6.5 billion people in the world.  Three billion live on LESS THAN TWO DOLLARS A DAY!  Can you even imagine living on that?  30,000 children die each day due to poverty.  Something is just wrong with that picture.  I used to think that we couldn't make much of difference because the amount of money we can give to help those in need is just a drop in the bucket.  I was wrong.  I have also discovered that when you feel that little nudge to give - even when you don't really "have it" to give - God honors that.  Let's take our adoption, for example.  At various points along the way, we have felt we needed to give money toward some needs that we were made aware of and so we used some of the money that we had earmarked for our adoption expenses and went on about our business.  Have I mentioned that God is faithful?  Ever since we found out we would have to travel to Ethiopia twice, we assumed we would have to borrow the money to pay for our second trip.  We were okay with that because we knew we would be getting a tax credit that we could use to pay that off next year.  A couple of weeks ago, we bought plane tickets for our second trip (yes, they are changeable and that is a good thing since it doesn't look like we will be able to use them for the date we booked them for, but I digress...)  and the bill is due soon.  I figured it was time to go ahead and borrow the money.  However, last night I looked at our accounts and we have just enough to cover the cost of the tickets, as well as Sena's visa.  Now all we have to come up with is money we will need for lodging and food (which are both inexpensive in ET) and we are HOME FREE!!!!!!!!  God totally did that and He used some wonderful people who contributed to our fundraiser and some who just sent money because they wanted to help.  The point of all this rambling is that God wants us to be faithful to Him and to trust in Him and He will work out the details.  When you feel that little nudge to offer help to someone in need, be obedient and see what He will do.