modern day manna

Today I am mailing of what I think is the last of my "match" paperwork.  I say "I think" because I actually thought I did that last week, to find out one of the initialed, signed and notarized forms was to be done in triplicate.  The only thing that exceeds the enormity of the paperwork is the cost of adopting.    I just finished an application for some financial aid to help with our travel expenses that required an itemized list of our expenses.  This was the first time, since accepting the referral for our two boys that I   had totaled up what our costs were and where we were at.  Our estimated adoption costs at this point for both boys is just under $50,000.00.  Yep, that's right, $50k!  But here is where I have to stop.  Here is where I tell any plain old, paycheck to paycheck family like us,  hold on! Don't click shut down or close the window... because this is where it gets good.  You see, it is so like the unattainable requirement that God has placed on us that we have fallen hopelessly short of (Romans 3:23).  Our sin has separated us from a holy God.  He requires that we be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16), and praise be to Him that everything God demands, HE SUPPLIES in Christ Jesus our Lord.  So, with our adoption, God's financial provision has been like manna.  Seriously, like manna!  Going into this, we knew we didn't have the resources to pay for all of this, but knew the Lord would provide.  I remember a dear friend of mine who had recently adopted telling me to just "get ready" to see what God will do.  She was right.  Looking back over the past year, it has been truly amazing.  Every time we have had to write a check, it has been there.  Most of the time, it has been just enough.  I remember writing the check for our dossier and it left me with $1.30 in our adoption account (this has been the rule not the exception).  I remember saying, "ain't no worms gonna feed in THAT account!".  Funds have come in various ways, from us selling things in our house that had no "kingdom" value but good monetary value, all the way to friends and families writing checks both big and small from hearts eager to support us, all desiring to be God's hands and feet.  We had a friend go to pick up a picture of our family at the photographer's to be used in at a fundraising event, and another friend happened to be there and said "I'll pay for that".  When we got the surprise referral for our TWO boys and accepted it, another friend called THE NEXT DAY with a HUGE donation that almost covered the cost of adding the second child.  I'm in awe all over again as I write this.  Is this because of us?  Is this because we have had such great faith?  The answer is a resounding NO.  We have worried and fretted at times, second guessed ourselves, grumbled at the paperwork and the costs, complained about what we sacrifice along the way.  That's not the pretty picture of faith that I like to blog about, but it's the gut honest truth.  Have we doubted the calling? No.  Have we said, should we be doing this? No.  But we've wrestled with our flesh to be obedient all along the way.  It disgusts me as I write it in light of the amazing things our God is doing.  But it's the truth.  Once again, this is HIS TESTIMONY.  This is all about our God.  It is all about an extraordinary God at work in the lives of ordinary, flesh and blood human beings.  It is truly a tale of His undeserved grace in the hearts of people that have earned the opposite.  It is so HE gets the glory, HE is the one who is so amazing! We boast in the greatness of who He is and what He is doing in the Williams' family, both here and across the ocean.  I'm so thankful that He is penning this story in our lives.  I'm excited to turn these pages as the days go by.  I hope you'll continue to read it as He writes...