This has been a very cool week for our family and will go down as the most memorable one so far. A lot of this has to do with our men's group getting together to provide for some needy families in our area. I will blog about that later after we get all the "God stories" together. But it was in the midst of spending a week focused on providing for others that our heavenly Father has provided something for us that is a VERY big deal.
Over the past 24-hours we have received $3300.00 to be used to bring Mei home. The significance of this is that with what we will be able to put in the bank over the next few weeks we have all the money we need to bring Mei home!!! In 3 months the Lord has provided what would have taken us over a year to get together on our own.
I am simply overwhelmed! I can't wait to blog about providing for these families this week because the Lord has overwhelmed us through this also. I just had to put a quick note in here about having the money for Mei. This is an amazing Christmas in so many ways!
Thank you LORD!!! You are truly AWESOME!!!
The Zoo Kids
Finally Together
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
God is Right on Time - AGAIN!
This past weekend we visited my family in Alabama. I did not plan on going to church Sunday morning, but at the last minute decided to go because a couple in my dad’s Sunday school class wanted to give us a check for Mei. I know this was poor motivation for going, but the Lord quickly dealt with my motive and blessed me tremendously! Here’s what happened…
On my way to church I began reviewing my memory verses. The first verse I reviewed was Hosea 6:6, “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings” (NLT). This hit me right between the eyes! You see…my dad’s Sunday school class was going to a nursing home after church. I had already thought that I would just go to church, get the check, and return home so I could have my Quiet Time for the day. But the Spirit of the Lord within me spoke clearly through His word and told me, “Tracey, as important as your QT is and as much as I want you to read my Word it is more important that you take this opportunity to live my Word. Go to the nursing home and show my love!” So, I asked the Lord to forgive me for my selfishness, decided to go to church, worship my faithful Lord, and then go to the nursing home to show His love.
After church we stopped in my dad’s Sunday school class before heading to the nursing home. I walked in and the lady who was going to do the devotional at the home asked me if I would do it for her. She had been stressing over it all week and was praying for the Lord to bring someone else to do it for her. I saw quickly that I was not here to just show His love, but to have the opportunity to speak it through His Word. How cool!!! Of course I said I would do it and I quickly turned to His Word to the verse that got me there – Hosea 6:6. When I got to the verse I noticed where I had underlined and written notes around 6:1-3, 6. After reading these verses I was quickly reminded how the Lord spoke to me in my QT reading of these just a couple of weeks ago. I shared these verses at the home and shared His love in word and in deed. It was truly an amazing morning.
Here is how this connects to Mei’s story: I got the check from the couple and sharing our gratitude to the class prompted another couple to give us an additional $100. We had our last home study visit this past Thursday and the only things left before she can finish her report are the FBI prints to come back and the letter from our bank saying we have $10,000. We are still waiting on the prints, but the money we brought back from Alabama this weekend put us over the $10,000 mark. We got the bank letter and put it in the mail today. The money did not just put us over the top – it was just enough!!! We have $10,017 in the bank right now! The extra $100 was just what we needed!
If I had not gone to church I would have missed out on so many blessings! The Lord leading me through His Word to go blessed me; the sermon blessed me; the opportunity to show His love blessed me; the chance to speak His faithfulness through His Word blessed me; having just what we need in the bank at just the right time blessed me; seeing the Lord walk faithfully and patiently with me blessed me. I could go on and on, but the end result is – my cup is overflowing! Once again the Lord has proved His faithfulness and has shown His ability to provide what we need at just the right time!
Thank you Lord for EVERYTHING!!!
On my way to church I began reviewing my memory verses. The first verse I reviewed was Hosea 6:6, “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings” (NLT). This hit me right between the eyes! You see…my dad’s Sunday school class was going to a nursing home after church. I had already thought that I would just go to church, get the check, and return home so I could have my Quiet Time for the day. But the Spirit of the Lord within me spoke clearly through His word and told me, “Tracey, as important as your QT is and as much as I want you to read my Word it is more important that you take this opportunity to live my Word. Go to the nursing home and show my love!” So, I asked the Lord to forgive me for my selfishness, decided to go to church, worship my faithful Lord, and then go to the nursing home to show His love.
After church we stopped in my dad’s Sunday school class before heading to the nursing home. I walked in and the lady who was going to do the devotional at the home asked me if I would do it for her. She had been stressing over it all week and was praying for the Lord to bring someone else to do it for her. I saw quickly that I was not here to just show His love, but to have the opportunity to speak it through His Word. How cool!!! Of course I said I would do it and I quickly turned to His Word to the verse that got me there – Hosea 6:6. When I got to the verse I noticed where I had underlined and written notes around 6:1-3, 6. After reading these verses I was quickly reminded how the Lord spoke to me in my QT reading of these just a couple of weeks ago. I shared these verses at the home and shared His love in word and in deed. It was truly an amazing morning.
Here is how this connects to Mei’s story: I got the check from the couple and sharing our gratitude to the class prompted another couple to give us an additional $100. We had our last home study visit this past Thursday and the only things left before she can finish her report are the FBI prints to come back and the letter from our bank saying we have $10,000. We are still waiting on the prints, but the money we brought back from Alabama this weekend put us over the $10,000 mark. We got the bank letter and put it in the mail today. The money did not just put us over the top – it was just enough!!! We have $10,017 in the bank right now! The extra $100 was just what we needed!
If I had not gone to church I would have missed out on so many blessings! The Lord leading me through His Word to go blessed me; the sermon blessed me; the opportunity to show His love blessed me; the chance to speak His faithfulness through His Word blessed me; having just what we need in the bank at just the right time blessed me; seeing the Lord walk faithfully and patiently with me blessed me. I could go on and on, but the end result is – my cup is overflowing! Once again the Lord has proved His faithfulness and has shown His ability to provide what we need at just the right time!
Thank you Lord for EVERYTHING!!!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
WAITING!
Psalm 27:14 - "Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait paitently for the Lord."
This verse summarizes what we are going through right now. The whole adoption process began with a bang as if we were shot out of a cannon being hurled through the process at a high rate of speed. Paperwork was coming at us right and left and we were rushing through to get it all done as quickly as it came. The good news is that we have completed most of the paperwork and everything is going along nicely. The only problem is that it is going along slowly!
Every time we look at Mei's picture we long to have him home even more. Our kids talk about him often. Briena keeps asking us when we are going to bring her baby brother home. A couple of times Caleb has written notes talking about how much he loves his baby brother. The wait is definitely increasing our longing.
The home study may be just about over. The final visit could happen this coming Thursday and after that we will be waiting on all our background checks to come back. After all our checks come back they will begin to put our information into what they call a dosier. After that our dosier will go to the country where Mei is and we will follow shortly after to get Mei and bring him home. After the Christmas break - if all the checks come back without any hitches - the process could pick up speed once again.
Honestly - we are not anxious even though we long to bring Mei home. We are content to wait on the Lord and His timing. He has been providing every step of the way. We began thinking we could raise the $25-30,000 over the course of a year or so and the Lord has been providing far more than we could imagine. We are about $6000.00 short of what we need at this point. We started the process in October and in 2.5 months the Lord has shown us that He can do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine (Eph.3:20). What we thought we needed at least a year to get together He has just about brought together in a small fraction of that time. We are content to continue riding along with Him providing the way in His timing.
Isaiah 40:31 - ...those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
We wait.
He guides and provides.
Our faith grows stronger and we increase in intimacy with our Lord as we wait and watch Him guide and provide.
Worth every minute!!!
This verse summarizes what we are going through right now. The whole adoption process began with a bang as if we were shot out of a cannon being hurled through the process at a high rate of speed. Paperwork was coming at us right and left and we were rushing through to get it all done as quickly as it came. The good news is that we have completed most of the paperwork and everything is going along nicely. The only problem is that it is going along slowly!
Every time we look at Mei's picture we long to have him home even more. Our kids talk about him often. Briena keeps asking us when we are going to bring her baby brother home. A couple of times Caleb has written notes talking about how much he loves his baby brother. The wait is definitely increasing our longing.
The home study may be just about over. The final visit could happen this coming Thursday and after that we will be waiting on all our background checks to come back. After all our checks come back they will begin to put our information into what they call a dosier. After that our dosier will go to the country where Mei is and we will follow shortly after to get Mei and bring him home. After the Christmas break - if all the checks come back without any hitches - the process could pick up speed once again.
Honestly - we are not anxious even though we long to bring Mei home. We are content to wait on the Lord and His timing. He has been providing every step of the way. We began thinking we could raise the $25-30,000 over the course of a year or so and the Lord has been providing far more than we could imagine. We are about $6000.00 short of what we need at this point. We started the process in October and in 2.5 months the Lord has shown us that He can do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine (Eph.3:20). What we thought we needed at least a year to get together He has just about brought together in a small fraction of that time. We are content to continue riding along with Him providing the way in His timing.
Isaiah 40:31 - ...those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
We wait.
He guides and provides.
Our faith grows stronger and we increase in intimacy with our Lord as we wait and watch Him guide and provide.
Worth every minute!!!
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