Wow!!!!

I know that title is so vague, but it doesn't nearly describe the emotions coursing through me at this time!

The story I'm about to share is very personal and truthfully, at times, embarrassing.  However, it's in this story that you can see God in all His glory.  You can see how He is faithful and loves His children.  I want to make it clear from the beginning this is a story about God!!!

Let's journey to the past a bit.  Several years ago Jim and I bought a house in the town where he teaches.  Even though we had always lived in surrounding areas, now he was actually within walking distance.  We loved this house.  I was a huge old farmhouse with a large yard and friendly neighbors.  Not only did Jim walk to school, but often the kids and I would walk over to see him.  As they got older, I was able to allow them to spread their wings and actually walk over by themselves (as soon as they were out the door, I was calling Jim to be on the lookout.  They thought they were being so big, but I was still watching out).

Anyway, after being in the house for a couple of years, things began to crumble.  Jim's school had to go on furlough for several days.  This took a large chunk out of our paycheck.  And then, as with an old farmhouse, things began to need major repairing.  The house needed shoring up underneath, the roof leaked and had to be fixed multiple times, and plumbing had to be redone.  This depleted our savings and any extra we had, plus we accrued credit card debt.  Soon we were falling behind on our mortgage.

We contacted the bank about helping us.  They said there was nothing they could do until we were way behind.  Well, we didn't want to get way behind so we struggled on.  Finally, it caught up to us.  We were a couple of months behind.  We filled out our expenses so that hopefully they could help us out with refinancing or some sort of alternate payment plan.  After reviewing our file they called us up to discuss our finances.  You see we didn't have cable, or magazine subscriptions, internet, or any extras that could be cut.  The lady then asked me about the category charitable giving.  I told her that was our tithe (just a note: we believe in tithing off of our gross) and that would NOT be cut out.  She then told me there was nothing they could do.

I want to mention here how hard that was to hear.  This meant we would lose our beloved home if we kept tithing (we could have kept up payments without tithing).  We decided that God would handle this and that if we were faithful to Him, He would faithfully provide for us.  I had a peace.

It was tough for me at times.  My pride got in the way, a lot!  People knew we were losing our house and that was embarrassing.  However, I was going to glorify God and continue to follow His command.  The proceedings took months and we didn't start looking for a place to go until we had to.  Many people thought we were crazy, but we knew God would handle that too.  And boy oh boy did He!!  We live in an absolute dream of a house that is more affordable and has allowed us to pay off debt and put us in a better financial situation.

Skip ahead to now.  We are in the process of an adoption that is strictly a process of faith.  Even though we are in a better financial situation, we still don't have the extra cash to fund an adoption.  However, we know God is in it so we obey.  Up until now, God has provided every single cent needed!!!  But, I was beginning to worry.  We are under a bit of a time crunch to get all our papers authenticated and sent to China.  We had everything needed except the nearly $2000 to accomplish this!!!  I was getting very nervous.  How in the world would we raise that amount of money in just a couple of weeks?  And then....

I checked the mail.  It seems that our mortgage company did not handle our foreclosure correctly (as many big companies didn't).  A firm then later filed lawsuit against the company on behalf of the customers.  Yesterday, we received a check from them that will cover the cost of proceeding with our adoption!!!

God took what looked to be a bad situation (and honestly a painful situation) and has rewarded our faithfulness at just the moment we needed it!!  There is nothing more to this story than God is great and He is faithful!!! 

If you are struggling with something right now, it may not be easy to make the right decision.  It may even cause you pain or embarrassment.  Don't despair!!  If you are doing it to bring glory and honor to God, He will redeem the bad.  He will pick you up, dust you off, and set your feet on higher ground because He is a Father who loves His children deeply.  I promise, He is faithful!!!  Be blessed!!