Give Thanks!

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

 make known among the nations what he has done.

  Sing to him, sing praise to him;

 tell of all his wonderful acts. 

 Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

  Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always." 

1 Chronicles 16:8-11

From the very beginning we knew that what we needed, God would provide.  How He would choose to provide it was a mystery.  For the last 3 years Chris has been in college, receiving tuition assistance through the VA.  In January his payment was unusually late.  Up until this time we had been using the money to pay off debt.  God began stirring in my heart the desire to adopt, so we prayed, for weeks we prayed about where He was leading us.  In God's perfect time the payment came and we had enough for our initial application fees.  A month or so later we refinanced our home, giving us just the amount we needed along with our first Chip-in to cover our Home study.  And so it went.  Through different means and only as we needed it God provided.  One day in the mail I received two checks, the exact amount we needed for our love offering for Reece's Rainbow.  Again and again God has shown his perfect provision.  It has never been more than we needed or early, a daily reminder that all good things come from God!  These are not works for us to boast about, but only to the glory of God!

The VA money was coming to an end and yet we still had $6000+ still to be raised for our travel expenses.  We started a campaign called "Twenty for Taiwan"  in which we raised just over $3000!  It came in a little at a time, a continual reminder that we are held in the palm of God's hand.  During this time racking our brains and just about at whits end emotionally, I get a call from our Pastor asking if the church could sponsor a dinner for us and another church family. 

How could I say no?  When we felt like we had nothing left to offer, no energy, no time, God provided.  He gave us a church family that has stood beside us, prayed, worked and even carried us in this journey!  

Our only responsibility for this dinner was to share our story and even that God provided!  I planned and stressed over what to say, but in the end God provided  just the right words.

Over 250 people came to our dinner!  The gym was packed, tangible evidence of the outpouring of God's love through his people.  All the food was donated from local restaurants.  Not only did our church come together, but our community as well.  More than 50 silent auction items lined the tables.  This is not the kind of event I could have planned.  Many thanks to the church staff and members who put it all together!  In total they raised just over $6000!

When Pastor Allen called the next night to tell us the total it was not hard to believe; it was exactly what we needed!  Had God not already shown us He would provide?  Is His provision not perfect?  It is indeed!

"Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."  Ephesians 5:20