Grace....

Today's sermon at church was about the grace of God.  The meaning of grace was given as this:  God's gift to us that we don't deserve.  It's hard for me not to focus on our baby girl, Grace, when I hear about God's grace.  She is definitely a true picture of God's grace in our lives, as we feel that she is a gift to us that we don't deserve.  We are honored to bring this precious one into our family, and experience God's grace through her life, once again, as we have experienced through the blessing of each of our children! 

Another way that God has shown his grace to us, this week, is through provision!  We received a grant from a local fund raising agency, who raises funds once a year for local Christian families, who are adopting children with special needs.  We received $1750 towards our adoption!!!  The funds raised were split between 9 families to help 13 children come home to their forever families!  I must confess, that I have really struggled the past month, trying to figure out where on earth the funding is going to come from.  I have stacks of paper, as I have sat number crunching and trying to figure out how "we" are gonna get this done!  God has provided through EVERY single step of this process, and yet, when I know more money is due, I start to fret and worry, and yet He provides again.  This is a very humbling place to be in, and I'm so grateful to see His hand guiding us, even when I try to take it back and figure it all out on my own.  We have a huge chunk left to go, and I am commited to quit worrying, and allow God to continue to provide for what He has called us to do.  Thank you, Lord Jesus, for continuing to show up, even when I think we can't possibly be blessed again!  We are so undeserving, yet so grateful!

I know many of you have prayed with us, and given, as God has blessed you, and we just want you to know how much it means to us to be surrounded by people who love us, but more importantly love God, and know how very much the Orphan means to God's heart!  Thank you for helping us bring one of the 143 million orphans home to love and care for.  Gracie is soon to be an Orphan NO MORE!!

So if you know me, and you ever tell me that you could never afford international adoption..... be warned!  :o)  There is NO way that we could ever afford to do this on our own, either.  We are commited to what God has called us to do and I will remind you what a great big God we have, who will do more than we can ever ask or imagine! 

We got SNOW today!! Before I could get outside with the camera, the kids had cleared the grass and made an adorable snowman!  We are hoping for more snow tonight and either a 2 hour delay, or maybe, to the kids' delight, a cancelled day of school tomorrow!