Thursday, October 14, 2010

adoption is God's plan for us

ryan and i have known for several years now that adoption was God's plan for our family. although until this past year, i really don't think we really had a clue what an important role adoption and orphan care would have in our family. through navigating our first crazy and confusing year of fostering, and also beginning our international adoption from ethiopia, i think He's finally beginning to pull back the curtain a bit and reveal His plans for our future as an adoptive family and as advocates of orphans. and i must say, that we're liking what we see so far!!


with each step of this adoption process, there have been little confirmations from God that we are meant to be pursuing this adoption. it has been a real treat all along to see how He was revealing His plans to us! however, i think we've just recently gotten the HUGEST confirmation so far...

from the very beginning ryan and i both felt that finances were the biggest thing standing in our way of adopting. when we looked at all the fees that were due, plus the expenses of traveling to ethiopia twice, we had no clue how we would ever come up with all the money {short of robbing a bank!}. but, all along something that susan, the director of our adoption agency, said at our very first meeting with the arise has stuck with us. i believe she said something to the effect that they've never had a family that was unable to complete their adoption because of the money. when it was right, God always provided!! hearing that was a huge encouragement to us, and all along this journey we've tried to remember that. we know how our God has provided for us in other times of need, and knew that adoption would be no different if it was His will.

well, today i am so very excited to announce that i believe ryan and i can say with confidence that this adoption must be His will!! as you may know, our last day for fundraising through lifesong for orphans was last friday. we knew that our fundraising had been progressing pretty steadily, but just a few weeks ago, we were still about $3500 short of our original goal of $14,000. after reviewing our final fundraising update yesterday and adding in our $4000 matching grant, and a few other financial gifts made to us personally, we are so excited to report that during our grant period, we raised a total of: $16,640!!!!!!

we were absolutely blown away when we saw that! not only have we exceeded our original goal, but we are figuring that we have exactly what we need to complete our adoption and pay for all our travel expenses!! praise the Lord. y'all, this could not have been done without the Lord willing it to happen. we have had our socks blessed off! i cannot tell you how many generous strangers, friends, and family members have gone out of their way to support us, our little guy waiting in ethiopia, and God's plan A for our family.

if you're a part of this, seriously, we just want to say thank you!! we hope that one day we can try to repay you with the sweet smiles and wet kisses from our little guy :)

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act." -Psalm 37:4-5

6 comments:

Lisa said...

Oh so incredibly excited for you! What an amazing blessing!!! :)

Unknown said...

that's amazing Lesli!! I am so excited, happy, and joyous for your family!!! Can't wait to meet sweet Greer!!!!

Meliski said...

what a freaking awesome post! God is phenomenal. why do we continue to be shocked and amazed when He comes through? I sure wish we lived closer so baby boy and baby girl could get to know each other!

lesli said...

thanks, y'all! melissa, if you all ever make it to the east coast, we'll need to get the kiddos together. i'm thinking a possible arranged marriage?? :)

Matt and Jess said...

so amazing Lesli! i am so glad i stopped by your blog to read this! we received our referral wednesday and are soooo excited! but of course, a little nervous about the money. the Lord reminded me during my quiet time yesterday that He owns it all and will provide and it was confirmation of that reading your blog today! i love to see how the Lord works and provides! so excited to be in this journey with y'all!

Ginny said...

AWESOME!!!!!! Praise God, he is so good.