You Invited Me In

Six months ago, our eyes were opened to the plight of special needs orphans in Eastern Europe. We knew without a doubt that we were being called to do something. At that point I had no idea what exactly that something might be. God had prepared us for adoption before we had any idea what he was preparing us for. He answered every "but" that we could come up with before we came up with them. The only thing He left unclear was the how. How could we financially complete this calling? He called us to step out in faith and trust Him. I am not going to lie, I had a hard time with this. Panicking comes so easy to me, and this was panic worthy! I would look at the thermometer on each blog post and break out in a cold sweat. I trusted God enough to move forward, but it was so hard not to buy into the fear that Satan knew could be a serious problem for me. I asked some amazing prayer warriors to cover me in this specific area and then I cried out, "I believe, Help my unbelief." And then, I watched a miracle unfold before me. We shared our hearts with our church family. And then we watched the body of Christ, both here at home and all over the world, work and give in ways we never expected. We watched as the thermometer rose. We watched as the body of Christ embraced our future sons in a way that I had only dreamed. We have seen our church stand up and follow God's Word to care for the orphan in a very personal way. We have been enveloped by prayer, love, encouragement, and the most generous giving. We have watched the body of Christ work the way it has been called to work.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ "

It seems so little to say thank you to a group of people that have worked so hard, sacrificed so much, and given much more than we would have ever dared to ask. I know that as much as it means to us and to our boys right here and now, it means even more to the Creator. It has been incredibly humbling to be on this side of the giving. It has allowed us to get to the boys that we love, and it has taught me much about faith in God's promises.

We are so close to our goal. Although it is not completely met, I no longer have panic attacks about it. There is no doubt that God has began this good work and He will be faithful to complete it.