A Whole Lotta Nuthin'

I understand how the amounts of that fee schedule could seem imposing to anyone looking on from the outside. I know how unlikely it seems that we will ever be able to raise that much support. Aside from the worldly wisdom of home equity loans, grants, rich relatives, and corporate gifts, we still have something in the back pocket that puts favor on our side.

Have you met my God?

He seems to incline toward creating something out of nothing.

Barren womb? Meet Isaac.

Thirsty desert wanderer? Check out this boulder-turned-water fountain!

Hungry desert wandered? Try the Kellogg's Manna-Flakes!

Impenetrable fortress? No match for the Invisible Army and the Hebrew Jazz Ensemble!

Forgot to pack a lunch? Fish -n- Chips!

Wedding reception faux pas? Try the Vintner's Reserve.

....Got the drift?

As overwhelmed as I feel sometimes at the expense of adopting, I am even more so by the expense of NOT adopting. The wars of kingdoms are often fought against children first. Look at Pharaoh's decree against Hebrew sons. Herod tried the same thing at the time of Jesus' birth. Sons of God threaten the Evil One's kingdom, and he attacks children.

I follow the blog of a family I met through the Nepal program. They were one of the few to get their referral before things shut down. Now they are raising their funds for their trip. In the most recent post, they shared a letter from a long distance family of friends who was making a huge sacrifice on their behalf. The husband had received a retirement cash-out as he was laid off and in search of a new career. The family had accumulated some debt in between the time his last job ended and that check came in. They had planned on paying off that debt with part of the money and making up their monthly deficiency with the rest. After seeing the need of their friends, the adoptive parents, they decided to take out only what they needed to make their ends meet and give the rest toward the adoption.

In their own words, the wife wrote:

M and I agree that if the option is to pay off our credit card or help you get your little boy.....we choose choice B.

We still need to hit our first milestone of $10,000 by September 1 - which is a week away! We are closer to the target than the ChipIn widget indicates, because of local gifts from church friends. But we are still a good 60% or more from the goal. This amount is due to accept our referral. Maybe you have an option A in front of you for some cash you have lying around....not that many people do these days. The family giving the gift didn't really have it lying around either. But as we established earlier, God delights in creating something out of nothing. Sometimes we fill ourselves with so much that we leave no "nothing" for Him to fill.

Well, I got a whole lotta nuthin' just waiting for Him.