For those of you that have never read my blog I am really big on reading the Proverbs for the day! I think everyone on earth should do it! Smart people, not so smart people, people that personally know Jesus and those of you who don’t! I especially do this when I am desperate to hear God speaking to me about a situation I might be going through that is causing me a great deal of stress! So today it is January 31st so go read Proverbs 31, the entire chapter and see if God speaks to you about whatever situation you are facing that is difficult. Try Psalm 31 for that matter! It’s all good!!!
This is a post I wrote many months ago but never published until now. Thought it would be a good thing to share with those of you that are considering adoption. There are many ways you can finance an adoption and God will direct you but here is how we did it.
Adoption and Becoming Brave
I was reading Proverbs 11 today and read one of the verses God gave us regarding how we were to finance the adoption.
At first we were going to take out a loan but shortly after we started the adoption process we began the Dave Ramsey program which is all about not incurring debt. Darin decided to call the radio show and ended up being able to talk with Dave Ramsey. Darin explained our situation and Dave asked Darin if we had anything we could sell. We did have a car, so thats what we did, we decided to sell our Honda Element!
This is the verse God gave me regarding selling our only “cool” car right after Darin talked with Dave Ramsey.
Proverbs 11:26
People curse the man who hoards grain but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell.
I read that verse and it gave me total confidence that that was exactly what we were suppose to do. I loved that car but after I read that verse we could not get rid of it fast enough.
We tried to sell it on craigslist but had no luck. Darin’s sister told us about CarMax and the closest one was in Ohio so we drove down several weeks later and they bought it right there on the spot. Afterwords, we decided to go have lunch at Olive Garden down the street to celebrate. While waiting for our food I said to Darin, “what is the date today?” Guess what day it was? The 11th of February. I was so excited! I kept thinking of that verse in Proverbs 11…blessing crowns him who is willing to sell…I immediately thought to myself in the restaurant, I wonder what blessing God has instore for us! Nothing like a verse at just the right moment!
What we didn’t know at the time was in just a few months we would be getting a phone call from our agency that some birthparents had chosen us and wanted to meet us. It just so happens that the place they picked to meet us, for the very first time, was another Olive Garden only this one was in Michigan, just an hour away from where we live.
God is so wonderful isn’t he. I think about how it was for him watching Darin and I at the Olive Garden in Ohio eating fattening delicious breadsticks and salad, talking about how happy we were that we finally sold that car. He must have been thinking about how he was planning another lunch for us at a different Olive Garden. But this time it wouldn’t just be Darin and I, it would be with our social worker and the brave birthparents that had picked us for their precious baby.
All this makes me wonder what blessings God has waiting for you and your family as you choose to persevere and trust him and do what He, the mighty one and creator of all things is asking you to do.
It is not easy! Even though we sold our car we still had to save more money, a lot more money. We had to live tightly! Other financial needs came up that we were not expecting and it was stressful, especially for me. Darin doesn’t fret about money like I do but we kept plugging away at it, staying focused and God helped us!
God is going to help you as you choose to persevere, obey, and believe in his Word!
Go read the Proverbs for today’s date and see if God speaks to you. If he does speak a verse to you then stand on it and don’t waiver!
Walk out whatever that verse tells you to do. This is what takes real true Faith…walking it out! I’m not going to lie it is not easy! But you have to start doing this!
James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does.
I promise you this:
If you do this
If you walk out what you read in God’s Word
You will see that is works
And it will make you
Very very BRAVE!
I love you guys and we are praying for you!