Check from Heaven

Flipping through the mail my husband handed me, I noticed familiar handwriting on the return address of one of the envelopes. Pulling it out of the mix of bills and advertisements, I recognized the name of a childhood friend. A smile spread across my face as I pulled out a short note and began to read. But before I could finish the note, a check fell into my lap. The amount written on the check took my breath away.

We are a family formed by adoption and have welcomed children into our home from such faraway places as Eastern Europe, Asia, and Central America. We are not rich and sometimes pennies get pinched extra hard in order to make this happen. But, one way or another, it does happen and the miracles have been endless. More than anything, our faith has been pulled and stretched in so many different directions it isn't even recognizable anymore ... which is probably a good thing.

Forming a family by adoption makes us a little different than most. While others are vacationing in exotic places, we are fundraising like crazy and when the funds are raise, waving welcome posters at an airport anticipating the arrival of a teenager we've never met before. Hearts in our throats, stomachs in knots, we wonder, yet again, what we have gotten ourselves into. What we've gotten ourselves into is loving the fatherless. And it costs.

Truthfully, only a handful of our friends really understand what we do and why we do it. They know that to love means to give sacrificially. They realize that we are not crazy, but just trying our best to bless those whom God asks us to care for. These special friends are always the first to pitch in when we get ready to welcome another child. These friends are indeed heaven-sent.

"Use this to help the fatherless..." the note read and my jaw dropped. That they helped out with our current fundraising effort was not what surprised me. The amazement I felt came because these particular friends didn't even know we were raising money to bring over our girl on a student visa. They had no idea that I was exactly $1000 short on our payment due that day. They were clueless to the fact that I had been doubled over in prayer the previous night, pleading with God to provide a miracle to bring our girl home.

"Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear." Isaiah 65:24.

But God knew what we would need. He also knew that I would need to have my faith stretched and strengthened. In a way that only He could orchestrate, God provided both, leaving me in total awe of who He is.

"What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?" Psalm 8:4.

And so, we go forward in bringing our precious girl home. I don't know how we are going to come up with all the money needed, but God does. And I have learned that He can do some pretty amazing things. Here we go again...