Clear as a bell

I've written about how God DOES give us more than we can handle and that's very much the life that we've chosen to follow him into. But yesterday was also a beautiful reminder of how he is also a kind Father who knows that we are frail.

This week after the trip was not what I expected. I was surprised by how jarringly different the realities that were last week are from the realities of being back at home. Both Matt and I noticed how the first day back we were blown away by how very advanced Reuben was. Our framework for reference for a week had been K in comparison to the other two little boys we were with, and K was the biggest, the strongest, the most socially adept. I will post at some point about some reflections about being with him and being in his country, but I'm still sorting out the words for that.

But with that as a background, I was hit with a wave of uncertainty about all of the plans for this summer - particularly building the house addition. As we came home and reshuffled cash around after the expenses of the trip, I realized afresh that while I had felt like we were "done" paying for adoption related expenses (the home study is all paid for, our final primary agency's fees and the in-country fees were sent the week before we left, we paid for plane tickets, hotels, food, the visa fee, as well as all the related governmental and other incidentals that are needed for dossier prep. And shipping.) and being back here realized that we have to travel again. We have to do a bit more paper-chasing (and notarizing and apostilling) again. And that we are not done. AND, that so far as we know, in seven or eight weeks we're going to start digging a big hole, and once that starts, there's quite a bit that we need before THAT is complete. Yikes!

Thursday night I was brought to a point where I had to pour it all out before God, and ask him to show us if this is indeed where he wants us to be going, reminding him that we are following him here, and expecting that he is going to bring what is needed to finish the work.

It is foolish that I can come to this point, after all of the ways, small and BIG that he has repeatedly over the last 6 months shown us that we are walking in a path that he has chosen and has shown us that he can provide and orchestrate amazing things that we would never come up with on our own. But that's where I was. So I laid it all out for him, and waited for his response.

Loud. And. Clear. That's how he answered. Starting before 9am the next morning, when I picked up the phone, and it was a friend of ours who we haven't seen (besides at Matt's dad's funeral) in just over a year, so BEFORE Easter last year. She and her husband are a couple with a few more years experience in life than we have, and a couple that we greatly respect for their passion for the things of God. Godly role models are not as prevalent as we wish they were, but this couple fits that description. Matt and I had been talking in our last day in K's country about wanting to get together with this couple. We first and foremost just wanted to talk, to share with them where God has been leading us over this last year, and to be encouraged by them as we walk forward on this crazy adventure of trusting God with really big stuff. Secondarily, though, they own a landscaping business, and Matt's been thinking of seeing if they would let us borrow a skid-loader for some of the construction work this summer. But our reason for thinking of them Saturday was not at all connected to the practicalities of the skid loader, but just needing the godly encouragement. So when she called, I even asked her if Matt had tried calling them already this week! Like I thought, he hadn't, but it was incredible to me to be getting a call from HER! So not only did we have 20 minutes to quickly update each other on life and make tentative plans to get together at the end of the month, but also now the awkwardness of asking about the skid loader is greatly reduced since they initiated the contact. Wow. That caught my attention - is God giving me an answer about whether or not to keep working toward building?

After hanging up with her, I had time to finish our I800 application ("Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative") which the kids and I dropped off at the post office after Reuben's therapy session. We need the approval on this to include with our second-stage dossier which is required before the government in K's country can initiate the court proceedings to finalize the adoption. After coming home, an email came in. It was from someone we have gotten to know a bit through email over the last months. She is a native of K's country, but living here with her husband and teaches at a university. She was drawn to K before we even committed to him, but was not able to pursue adopting him, but has a special place in her heart for K. She was emailing to ask if we would accept some of their tax refund as a contribution toward completing the adoption. Wow!! This would be answer number 2 - "Yes, Andrea, you are going in the right direction. Yes, I am more than capable of providing what you will need to do what I have set before you."

Then the [snail] mail came. Two things of significance were in the mail, only one of which I will mention here. Remember how at another point when I was wondering how all this was going to come together, I posted about how sweet friends of ours had offered a small monthly contribution toward adoption costs? In the mail was the second check they've sent us. Again, this is not an amount that is going to pay for plane tickets or anything, but it is enough to cover some of the paperwork side of things. A little here, a little there, all adds up. And God's answer #3 was "I can take care of those little things."

And, if three was not enough, we got a little bit of icing on the cake at supper time when our Bible study friends starting showing up for our Friday night gathering. One of the guys makes bi-weekly runs to a farmer for good eggs from happy hens. He takes everyone's orders and picks up however many everybody will need. We had told him earlier in the week that we didn't need any this time, partly because my brain was too full to think about eggs. But God's not too busy to think about eggs. Chad came into the house with two dozen eggs for us. He had gotten more than he needed. I think he was a little surprised by my reaction.

But look at this. The God who puts us in situations beyond our strength is the same God who was pleased to give me not one, not two, not three, but FOUR clear as a bell answers within 24 hours of asking him.

1a) I can surround you with people who will speak my truth to you, and
1b) I can take care of the THINGS you need to do this.
2) I can take care of the bigger costs associated with this. (We don't know yet the amount of this gift, but it's likely more than the amount of the #3 item on this list)
3) I can take care of the smaller costs associated with all of this.
4) I can even take care of the simple things, like the food you need to eat every day.

Matt and I ended the day more than satisfied that we had heard the answer to the question we had been asking.

I can't help but marvel at the tender mercy our God shows to frail creatures such as us.