Cloudy With A Chance of Rain: Our Blessing

"…I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!” Malachi 3:10 NLT
There have been many challenges that my husband and I have faced during this adoption. The biggest, seemingly insurmountable one, was simply figuring out the way by which we would pay the adoption. We have considered taking out loans, getting second jobs, borrowing from our 401K etc. Most of those options were undesirable for us, since we wish to get out of debt instead of creating more. At the beginning of the year, we asked the Lord to help us do just that, by taking care of our student loans and other debts.
One viable option that we have researched was applying for a grant. After much research, we located some viable options. One grant that really appealed to us was through, JSC Foundation, a Christian adoption foundation. Before we applied for any grants, we had to have our home study approved. We started the home study process in January, with the paperwork etc. It seemed like it took forever to get the home study complete, which occurred in August. Being the person that I am, it is very hard for me to be patient and wait for the things that I want out of life. I am definitely one of those “go-getters,” who is not satisfied until my goals are met. Thus, this adoption has been painstaking at times, since I literally have no control over anything within this process. God truly has had to remind me that He has this whole thing under control and it is not me whose process it belongs too. Even as I am typing, that statement is profound. It truly makes you think about the many workings of God.
We applied for the JSC grant at the beginning of October and just prayed that we would be chosen. Any grant that one may apply for is extremely competitive, but adoption grants are even more so. There are so many people in need of adoption funding, but there are not enough monies available. We prayed daily that these monies would come through, because we did not see how we could raise the amount of money needed to move forward with the adoption, within a short period of time. We were at a standstill.
Though our life and emotions seemed to be in a state of uncertainty, being able to just stand still is just what God instructed us to do. Psalms 46:10 says just that; “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” KJV. Another translation states, “Let go [of your concerns]! Then you will know that I am God. I rule the nations. I rule the earth” God’s Word Translation. These texts are a simple reminder of Who is in control. He truly holds our lives in the palm of His trustworthy hands.
After going through that “mountaintop” experience on last week (see last post), I truly knew that God was about to do something miraculous in our lives. I just didn’t know when or how. Beginning at the church service last week, when the pastor spoke directly about my life experience and to my heart, there were many affirmations, that God was moving in our lives in a big way. I ran into one of my friends on Monday, with whom I used to work and happens to be of the same faith. During the semester, I had the opportunity to share with her, the reasons why we chose adoption and my years of struggling with reproductive dysfunction.
I told her about my experience at church two days prior. Since she belongs to that particular church, she was there that day. She told me she was sitting two rows behind me. As the pastor began preaching and introduced the title, she said to herself “Wow, God is talking about her [me].” I was taken aback by her comment and the waterworks almost began again. It is one thing to know that God is talking to you directly, but it is absolutely amazing when He affirms your personal message by using someone else. That is just how the Holy Spirit works. Being fallible humans means that sometimes the message may get misinterpreted or we may doubt that the Lord is even talking to us at all. So God was like, “In case you missed it…” I was once again speechless.
As the week continued, so many other events occurred that let me know God was doing something behind the scenes. The capstone of the week was on Thursday evening when I checked my email. I had just gotten home after a busy work week and sat at my desk. I opened my email and then to my surprise I saw “Congratulations … You have been awarded $10,000 for your adoption.” I absolutely screamed and my husband dashed in, concerned, thinking something horrible had happened. He asked if someone had died or something else devastating, because my scream was blood curdling. I couldn’t answer, due to sobs. These were tears of overwhelming joy. I could not utter any words for several moments except, “Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus.” There are absolutely no words to explain the joy we both felt. I was left totally speechless, while my husband could not stop dancing and shouting.
It is all about God’s timing and not mine. You see my vision was clouded by doubt and worry because I could not see what God was doing. This journey is truly building our faith. God is awesome and I am still astounded at what He has done. He has truly opened up the storehouse and poured us out a blessing! Can’t wait to see how He works everything else out in our behalf!
(Repost November 17, 2012)