Host Fees Are Funded! (Now Let's Be A Giving Family)

This post brought to you by this Friday Miracle:


Our host fee for Victoria- and then some- have been funded. It was funded by family. And friends. And Behn's co-workers. And complete strangers. It was funded by people who shared our story and/or who gave a little or a lot. We also were given clothes, a mattress, gift cards and a suitcase. We are so extremely grateful for every bit.

It's weird and humbling asking for money. We signed up for this, but then we asked others to help. "Hey world! An overwhelmed mom family with 2 boys are going to do something pretty crazy and have a non-English speaking child come stay with us for 5 weeks. Want to give us your mon-ay??" We knew that it was ultimately our responsibility to cover the fees, and some of the funding did come from our personal Orphan Care fund because we wanted to include ourselves in giving to Victoria. But it was a leap of faith and prayer and here we are. God heard and answered- through many of you!

One anecdote, then a life lesson here and I'll be through this post (because we all know those boys won't nap long).

Story: I was at the barn, talking to our 4H club leader, a wonderful mom of 2 kids. I told her our summer plans, and about Victoria. She didn't hesitate one second, but pulled out 2 gift cards out of her pocket (one for Target and one for groceries) and handed them to me, saying, "The Lord laid it on my heart to buy these when I checked out of the store the other day. Now I know why. Use them this summer to help buy what you need."

It's the people like this that help us be brave in going forward. It's families like the one from church that kept checking in (and giving) to make sure our funding was going well. It's the sister-in-law and brother who had a baby but instead of baby gifts, asked their friends (strangers to us) to donate to our host fee. It's the anonymous donations that came in, and the ones from friends and family with cheerful encouragement. It's those who jumped in an purchased jewelry during the Delicate Fortress Fundraiser- and the friend that organized that. Ya'll are God's tools. Our hearts are blessed by you. Keep praying, because it's going to be a fun but probably challenging summer and we need prayers.

Lesson: In the past, I've said- many a time- "everyone can play a part in orphan care! Every bit helps!" But secretly I didn't grasp that. I felt our measly givings to others' adoption costs or fundraisers to help bring clean water to a village weren't enough. We want to be more generous, to give more! Make a BIG splash! But what we learned through this was, every bit DOES help. We saw it when the money came in, in $10's or $100's. We serve an infinite God- why should I doubt that He can take the widow's mite and make it all work together to accomplish His purposes? So, my prayer is that Behn and I and Graham and Patrick will always be generous, as we have been shown generosity. That we be a Giving Family and sacrifice and know that God uses it all. He is more than enough.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Off the Bookshelf

Job loss and bending the knee

Patrick Wilford is Here!