God is Able

This morning in church we sang the song "God is Able" by Hillsong.  Here are the lyrics:
"God Is Able"

Verse 1

God is able. 

He will never fail. 

He is almighty God.

Greater than all we seek. 

Greater than all we ask.

He has done great things.

Verse 2

God is with us. 

God is on our side. 

He will make a way.

Far above all we know. 

Far above all we hope.

He has done great things.

Chorus

Lifted up, 

He defeated the grave.

Raised to life,

Our God is able.

In His name,

We overcome.

For the Lord o

ur God is able

Bridge

God is with us. 

He will go before.

He will never leave us. 

He will never leave us.

God is for us. 

He has open arms.

He will never fail us. 

He will never fail us.

The words in the first verse really spoke the prayer of my heart "Far above all we know. Far above all we hope. He has done great things." God has awed me. I always knew that he would take care of the finances for our adoption. I never doubted it. When you know you are in the center of God's will, you have that confidence. In fact, money is not usually something I excessively stress over because I have seen God provide for my needs so many times in my life in ways that exceed my comprehension. It is always out of my control. We just try to practice good stewardship and frugal living. I tend to stress on the details that I can control--the logistics of an event, feeding the crew, making sure that everything flows, etc. 

Everything for the concert went off like it was supposed to -- almost like planned. When the offering was received and counted, my world was rocked...and I was humbled. God had done it again. He brought in more than I thought. I was rejoicing. And then come church this morning. People stopped me and handed me more donations. I was filled with gratitude. 

Eric and I came home and put all funds together and got the deposit slip ready for the bank. $525 more dollars came in this morning, This brings our total for this event to $2360.57. We are about $1200 from being fully funded. Amazing. My God did this. My God is able. Thank you, God! Thank you for using your people to minister to this pastor's family--to this mama. Thank YOU for your part in our miracle.

"This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes." (Psalm 118:23)

So, last night was our All For Love Adoption Concert. All I can say is WOW! God used you to do it. The music was amazing, if I don't say so myself (but I don't only have to rely on my biased opinion, as I have heard several positive comments from others in attendance. About 55 people were in attendance. Those 55 people raised $1,835.57. (That 57 cents is very important too. I was told that a little girl placed a bag of change in the basket.) Wow! The Lord showed us that he doesn't need large numbers to do amazing things. We are awed by the way God used all of you to bring us to almost fully funded! We now have $23,241.57 of the needed $25,000!! We are so close! Spence Baby 2 can come anytime now and we would not go into debt...THANK YOU!! We are rejoicing. "This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes." (Psalm 118:23) Some folks gave out of their own limited funds to have a part in our miracle. We are truly humbled. Thank you. Some folks gave out of their abundance for a cause they believed in. We are again humbled. Thank you. Words fail to express the gratitude that is overflowing from our hearts.

Please continue to pray for us as we wait for our little one. Please pray for the birth parents as they make the choice to give life and them to place the child for adoption. All adoptions come from a hard place, so pain is inevitable. Pray for safety and good health for the birth mom and baby. Please pray for us to have patience and to not lose sight of the goal. This time of waiting and wondering can be nerve-racking. We don't have a set "9 months" like a most families do. Our time sometimes seems interminably long. Help us to rest in the strong arms of the Father who loves us and who has the baby and birth family in the palm of his hand. Thank you.

On another note, I am continuing to work with TruBlue part time in order to earn the needed remainder of funds and then to save for the inevitable needed supplies that a new baby requires. I am very thankful for the job the Lord has provided.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for praying. Thank you for praying. Thank you for your part in our miracle.

Bad News or Good News - God is in Control!

3/13/15 (Friday)
I received a letter today. It was one that I had hoped would bear good news for us. It did not. We did not receive one of the grants we applied for back in December. I know that the grant reviewers have really tough decisions to make regarding limited fund disbursement. I know that there are hundreds of applicants for every session. Even though we did not receive the grant, I am surprisingly not discouraged. See, I know that "my God shall supply all your (our) need according to his riches in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:19). I also know that "faithful is he who calls you who also will do it." (I Thess. 5:24). God has lead down this path of adoption. He knew that we would not be able to have biological children and chose to build our family this way. Families are built all sorts of ways. For us, at this point, domestic infant adoption is the way. I know some question our decision to go down this costly road when there are other less expensive ways to adopt, but this is the way that God has led us.Not every adoption route is for every person. We will continue forward down the path the Lord has called us. I refuse to be afraid that the funds won't come in or that people won't understand. We answer to the God who made the heavens and owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He promises to provide.

3/16/15 (Monday) - As I write this I am smiling very brightly, shaking all over, and shedding happy tears. My heart is singing "Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus!" Why, you might ask? Well today we received good news! The Bible tells us in Proverbs 25:25 that good news from a far country is as refreshing as cool water to a weary soul. Well, good news came, and I am refreshed and enlivened! See, today we received word back from another grant agency, Show Hope (/showhope.org/).  They are graciously giving us a $7,000 grant for our adoption! $7,000!! Out of all the applicants, God led them to choose us. I am in awe. I am pumped! My son watched me with wide eyes as I jumped around the house shouting "Jesus! Jesus! Oh my goodness! Thank you, Jesus!" As tears poured down my face and I impatiently tried to get Eric to answer his phone, I kept repeating the same thing-"Jesus! Jesus!" HE DID IT! God reminded me that he is going to take care of bringing in the funds for us to bring home our next child. I am pumped.

Now, all that being said, we still have need of funds. Here are a few ways that you can be part of our miracle. 1) There is a concert on Friday night, March 27 at 7pm at Yorkminster Presbyterian Church in Grafton. Please come.Bring a friend. Bring an enemy (they might come to know Jesus). There will be a love offering taken, but giving will be at your discretion. No dollar amounts set. No limitations on who comes. It would be so encouraging to sing to a church full of people. So come one, come all!! 2) There is also a Pay pal link on the home page of our blog. The link is attached to baby fund, so all donations go directly into an account designated for baby.

THANK YOU-- for reading, for praying, for giving. Your support gives strength as we wait for and anticipate bringing home our child.