Debate

I've been reading a forum for people who are adopting from China, and in the last few days, the debate has arised on whether or not you should fund raise for your adoption. In an effort to stay out of the line of fire on the website, I have decided that I would post my opinion on my blog.

You see, when I was a little kid, God gave me a heart for orphans. I always knew that I would adopt a baby one day and I'm so grateful that he has also put this desire in my husbands heart. After Brady was born, we started talking about adopting. We knew it was something we wanted to do but to also have another biological child. When Kaden was born, we knew for sure that God would have our little girl waiting for us in China. And the great thing about God is that he always fulfills HIS promises! At that time, Tony and I were in debt up to our eyeballs thanks to some really bad decisions on our part. Thanks to the grace of God, we enrolled in Financial Peace University to get back on track and start repaying debt. We set a two and a half year goal to pay off or close to pay off our debt.

As a family, we decided that we would begin the adoption process in January 2010 no matter what. God confirmed this decision and paved the way for us. Before we even began the process, we had the majority of our church praying for us. This was one of the most over whelming things I've ever experienced. People I didn't even know would come up to use and say, "Hey, We're praying for Baby China!" I loved that so many people were already in love with someone they hadn't even seen a picture of yet!

With time, we bagan the paperwork and thus began the need for funds. One of the coolest things that happened in that time was talking with my dear friend, Sarita. I had mentioned that if we took out a home equity loan, and maybe took money out of my 401k, then we would only need to pray for about $5000 from God. I love my friend so much and she's so honest with you about your spiritual life. She asked me why I wasn't asking God for the whole amount. Why should I limit God's plan for my family? This totally changed my perspective on where we would get the money! So, I got busy!! I got busy praying and also putting my talents to work. I signed up for every craft fair I could find and started sewing like a crazy woman. Tony took extra call and even worked as much over time as he could get. Once we became obedient, God started raining money! Between working craft fairs, selling flip flops, and getting over time, God blessed us ten fold. We received numerous gifts from families we knew and even some we didn't know. Each time we needed money, God supplied the exact amount. I couldn't believe it! I mean, I trusted HIM with everything but for some reason, I thought that we'd be on our own with this one! Boy were we wrong!

So, to state my point, I think that the debate of whether or not it's right to fund raise for your adoption will never be settled, I would suggest to those on the forum to agree to disagree! However, what is best for our family is to trust God and know that HE will provide for us beyond anything we could ever imagine. I am so grateful for the many who have helped us and I pray that Lynleigh Ren will see how incredibly blessed she is to have a whole community behind her and praying for her everyday!