Yesterday we were notified by ABBA Fund that we were not approved for the no-interest loan. There are just too many people needing financial assistance and they can't help everyone. Their e-mail was very encouraging and I understand that they can't loan money to everyone who asks. I have to admit, though, I was surprised that we were not approved.
A loan makes so much sense to me because we should get a tax credit and we have a grant that won't be sent until the child is in our home. Both of these are cases where we need the money up front and then will be reimbursed - sounds to me like a loan would work. I honestly thought that was how God was going to provide the last of the money we need before we can be matched. I really thought I'd soon be able to tell the agency, "We're ready to be matched!" I thought this organization was ideal because we wouldn't have to pay any interest. God MAY still provide a loan, but this is a definite reminder that God does NOT work like I work and He does NOT think like I think. Isaiah 55:9 states it clearly - "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Funny (actually it's sad) that I as a human try to figure out how God will work and even base much of my confidence and my plans on the way I think it's best for Him to work.
As I was going to sleep last night I decided to listen to a sermon titled "How to Live for God's Glory." The main point was "We glorify God by trusting Him." What a timely message for me. The preacher used Abraham and Sarah (and the birth of Isaac) as an example of this point.
"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." Romans 4:18-21 (NIV)
I don't know how many times God has used the story of Abraham and Sarah to encourage and challenge me through this adoption journey. We have not waited any time compared to them and yet Abraham believed. The situation seemed impossible and yet Abraham believed. God has also used their story to warn me not to run ahead and try to accomplish things in my way or in my time. If I try to "help" God, I will just make a mess of the situation. And, so, I'm trying to wait and believe.
Please pray that we will sense God's guidance as to what other steps we need to take. We do hope to do the Both Hands fundraiser soon. http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/bothHands.html
We have had a wonderful weekend. We were blessed to spend Friday night in Cincinnati and spend Saturday at Coney Island. (Someone paid all our expenses. It was a special time for our family -- a mini-vacation.) It was extra special that we were able to spend time with Brad's mom & stepdad. We made great memories and of course we took lots of pictures. I hope to upload some soon but can't with dial-up.
Have a blessed sabbath - REST in HIM!!!
Lilypie Waiting to Adopt tickers
Showing posts with label uncertainty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label uncertainty. Show all posts
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
So glad we waited on God!
God has been working behind the scenes as we've been waiting on Him. It has been amazing to sit back and let Him work. Now I don't mean we've been completely idle. We felt clear to do our homestudy with Adoption Assistance, Inc so we filled out paperwork and had a homestudy visit. We've looked at some placing agencies, but just haven't felt clear for one reason or another. The ones we've leaned toward either wouldn't work with us for some reason (like we already have children or we don't make enough money) or had a very negative evaluation from someone we trust. So, we've just waited. We are so glad we did.
As we shared in our last blog, God's Grace Adoption Ministries gave us a matching grant of up to $2500. Generous friends donated $1129.85 so it will become $2259.70. PRAISE THE LORD and THANK YOU to the friends who gave!!! Unfortunately, GGAM cannot tell us who gave. They will only tell us the total given. This is frustrating because we cannot thank individuals. So, if you gave and you're reading this, thank you. We deeply appreciate your gift!!! One group that gave was the Pro-Life Ministry from Kentucky Mountain Bible College. It was so encouraging to be supported by college students (who don't have much money) and to be reminded that God will provide in ways we don't expect.
Sunday I (Marie) was called and asked to participate in a ministry opportunity in October. I said I'd pray about it and I was to give an answer by Wednesday. I prayed and talked it over with Brad and planned to call between 4 and 6 to say "Yes!" because I could see no good reason to say "No!" Brad told me that if God wanted to close the door, He could make it clear. Well, at 4 o'clock the phone rang. It was a lady from an adoption agency that wouldn't typically work with us because we don't make enough money. They have a required gross income that we don't meet and then they want you to make $10,000 more per child. I had e-mailed the agency briefly explaining our situation and asked if they made any exceptions. Instead of simply replying to my e-mail, she called. We talked for quite some time and she said that Adoption Assistance does such a good job with home studies that if they approve us, she doesn't care how much we make. WOW!! The agency also had been refusing to work with most families who can have biological children, but she told me they changed that policy this week. God is into details!!!! It sounds very hopeful that we may have a baby much sooner than we were expecting. Brad & I felt that the possibility of having a baby by the time of the ministry opportunity and the fact that I received the call at 4 PM (the time I had planned to call to accept the opportunity) was God's way of closing the door and I called to say, "No!"
That night we began filling our paperwork for Graceful Adoptions. We still have some more to do, but it's not too much considering what we've filled out previously. Much of it is similar to what we've done before, so it's not difficult, it just takes time to put it in the format this agency wants. It will cost over $20,000 to work with this agency and we will still have some other expenses. We cannot use the two grants we've been given until we are almost finished with the adoption process. (This is to guarantee the grants given support adoptions that are completed.) We know that God is leading and as someone said, "Where God guides, He provides."
I continue to be encouraged by the quote from George Müller, "The greatness of the sum required affords me a kind of secret joy; for the greater the difficulty to be overcome, the more will it be seen to the glory of God how much can be done by prayer and faith."
As we shared in our last blog, God's Grace Adoption Ministries gave us a matching grant of up to $2500. Generous friends donated $1129.85 so it will become $2259.70. PRAISE THE LORD and THANK YOU to the friends who gave!!! Unfortunately, GGAM cannot tell us who gave. They will only tell us the total given. This is frustrating because we cannot thank individuals. So, if you gave and you're reading this, thank you. We deeply appreciate your gift!!! One group that gave was the Pro-Life Ministry from Kentucky Mountain Bible College. It was so encouraging to be supported by college students (who don't have much money) and to be reminded that God will provide in ways we don't expect.
Sunday I (Marie) was called and asked to participate in a ministry opportunity in October. I said I'd pray about it and I was to give an answer by Wednesday. I prayed and talked it over with Brad and planned to call between 4 and 6 to say "Yes!" because I could see no good reason to say "No!" Brad told me that if God wanted to close the door, He could make it clear. Well, at 4 o'clock the phone rang. It was a lady from an adoption agency that wouldn't typically work with us because we don't make enough money. They have a required gross income that we don't meet and then they want you to make $10,000 more per child. I had e-mailed the agency briefly explaining our situation and asked if they made any exceptions. Instead of simply replying to my e-mail, she called. We talked for quite some time and she said that Adoption Assistance does such a good job with home studies that if they approve us, she doesn't care how much we make. WOW!! The agency also had been refusing to work with most families who can have biological children, but she told me they changed that policy this week. God is into details!!!! It sounds very hopeful that we may have a baby much sooner than we were expecting. Brad & I felt that the possibility of having a baby by the time of the ministry opportunity and the fact that I received the call at 4 PM (the time I had planned to call to accept the opportunity) was God's way of closing the door and I called to say, "No!"
That night we began filling our paperwork for Graceful Adoptions. We still have some more to do, but it's not too much considering what we've filled out previously. Much of it is similar to what we've done before, so it's not difficult, it just takes time to put it in the format this agency wants. It will cost over $20,000 to work with this agency and we will still have some other expenses. We cannot use the two grants we've been given until we are almost finished with the adoption process. (This is to guarantee the grants given support adoptions that are completed.) We know that God is leading and as someone said, "Where God guides, He provides."
I continue to be encouraged by the quote from George Müller, "The greatness of the sum required affords me a kind of secret joy; for the greater the difficulty to be overcome, the more will it be seen to the glory of God how much can be done by prayer and faith."
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Apparent Uncertainty
Can You Bear Uncertainty?
Wow! A friend posted a link to this on Facebook and I clicked on it since "uncertainty" describes our adoption situation almost perfectly right now.
It's a blog by Jon Bloom on April 5, 2010. There's a whole lot more to it than I'm quoting, but in case you're short on time, here's the part that really struck me!
"When an adoring fan announced his desire to follow him anywhere, Jesus deglamorized things a bit by replying, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).
God doesn’t tell us how that person responded because what’s important is the implied question: can you bear uncertainty? Can you bear not knowing how God is going to provide for your most urgent needs and still trust that he will?
It is a question that Jesus wants all of his disciples to wrestle with. There are simply going to be times when we don’t know where the provision is going to come from. Circumstances will look precarious, sometimes foreboding and threatening. Plans are going to fall through. People are going to disappoint us. They may reject or misunderstand our mission. If these things happened to Jesus, we should not be surprised when they happen to us.
Jesus does not want us to be governed by fear at such times. He wants us governed by faith. The reason is that the uncertainty is only apparent uncertainty. Our future and our provision and our ultimate triumph are certain to God. He has all the foreknowledge, power, resources, and desire to turn everything for good for those who love him and are called by him (Romans 8:28).
Apparently uncertain seasons are usually the most powerful God moments we experience. They often put God on display more than other seasons, demonstrating that God exists and rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6).
So if you are in one of those seasons, take heart. You are likely experiencing what it means to have a God 'who acts for those who wait for him' (Isaiah 64:4).
*If you want to read the entire blog by Jon Bloom, click here Can You Bear Uncertainty?
Wow! A friend posted a link to this on Facebook and I clicked on it since "uncertainty" describes our adoption situation almost perfectly right now.
It's a blog by Jon Bloom on April 5, 2010. There's a whole lot more to it than I'm quoting, but in case you're short on time, here's the part that really struck me!
"When an adoring fan announced his desire to follow him anywhere, Jesus deglamorized things a bit by replying, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).
God doesn’t tell us how that person responded because what’s important is the implied question: can you bear uncertainty? Can you bear not knowing how God is going to provide for your most urgent needs and still trust that he will?
It is a question that Jesus wants all of his disciples to wrestle with. There are simply going to be times when we don’t know where the provision is going to come from. Circumstances will look precarious, sometimes foreboding and threatening. Plans are going to fall through. People are going to disappoint us. They may reject or misunderstand our mission. If these things happened to Jesus, we should not be surprised when they happen to us.
Jesus does not want us to be governed by fear at such times. He wants us governed by faith. The reason is that the uncertainty is only apparent uncertainty. Our future and our provision and our ultimate triumph are certain to God. He has all the foreknowledge, power, resources, and desire to turn everything for good for those who love him and are called by him (Romans 8:28).
Apparently uncertain seasons are usually the most powerful God moments we experience. They often put God on display more than other seasons, demonstrating that God exists and rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6).
So if you are in one of those seasons, take heart. You are likely experiencing what it means to have a God 'who acts for those who wait for him' (Isaiah 64:4).
*If you want to read the entire blog by Jon Bloom, click here Can You Bear Uncertainty?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)