Our Adoption Story: Part 4

Exodus 14:13-14 & 21

And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today.  For the Egyptians you see today, you shall never see again.  The Lord will fight for you, and you only have to be silent...." (21) Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

I keep coming back to this particular miracle in the Bible.  I feel we, like the Israelites, are on a journey that has become a race, and we are standing at the waters edge without all of our needed resources.  Without faith, our journey becomes impossible, but with faith, God has parted the sea,  commanded us to be silent, to have faith and move forward anyway.

Friends, I know I sound like a broken record, but our lives have been flooded with God's miraculous workings even since I last posted.  Last week, we filed a particular document with the USCIS.  It was our last document needed before we could send our dossier to China.  When I inquired about it, the current wait time was 70-90 days.  God got ours processed in 2 days!   Can I get and amen?!

As you know, we had our big event, Operation: Bring Lily Home this past Friday.  We were BLOWN AWAY  by the number of people who came out to support our family.  We felt so loved and honored to be in a place where people would not only come to rejoice the anticipation of our daughter, but they would sacrifice their own financial resources to bring her home! 

We started planning this event at the very end of September.  The first thing to nail down, of course,  was the date.  God's timing could not have been more perfect.  Unbeknownst to us when we started planning, we would need $15,900 this week!   As I type this, we are in the process of getting our last "stamps of approval" on our dossier.  We need to make sure we have everything in place and  ready to go in order for our agency to book our travel.  (We do have a few other little things to accomplish first, but at this point, why would I not believe God will get it done quick?)  Travel cannot be booked until our "China Fee" is paid in full.  I wasn't sure of the exact amount we raised Friday until yesterday, as we were still awaiting a few donations.  Today, I have the privilege of announcing God's faithfulness.  He gives us EXACTLY what we need, when we need it.  

DURING OPERATION: BRING LILY HOME, WE RAISED $15, 887. 34! 
(CORRECTION:  I CHANGED IT DUE TO MY MATHEMATICAL EEROR!  AMAZING!!!)

God is moving and as Clint states all the time, "We are amazed, but we are not surprised."  We are so privileged to walk in His goodness.  Thank you to all of you who have been praying, who have donated and sacrificed your time to help bring our daughter home.  We are almost there, and we will be forever grateful.

We estimate needing about $10,000-$12,000 to be considered fully funded.  The reason our remaining cost is estimated is because the travel rates are always changing.  Our travel dates are still unknown, but we continue to pray for December.  We will keep you posted.  

I was moved to tears yesterday when two children, from two different families, came up to Clint and me and handed us money they earned and saved to help bring our daughter home.  In fact, I'm crying even now as I reminisce...these kids were 4 and 6 years-old.  Their tender hearts, showed us a glimpse of God's heart  in a MAGNIFICENT way!  I cannot tell you how much our faith has grown in the past few months, and it keeps growing as we see God move...What better way to see Jesus' heart than through children?

Keep praying for us, will you?  It's working!