Jehovah Jireh....

A couple of months ago, we had a little budget crisis of our own.

  So, we sat down and hashed out a very tight budget in order to pay off some debt.  We read some Dave Ramsey stuff and we were both excited at the possibility of paying off this debt, we were on the same page, committed, ready to do what it takes to be good stewards of what God has given us.  Well, October came and we tracked all of our spending, trying to stay under budget or at least not go over, and well, we did very well in some areas, but very bad in others.  It was only month one and I was starting to get discouraged.  We had that flat tire I told you about and all of Dylan's extra soccer games that were hours away made us go way over on gas and 'entertainment.'  {Grrr...what were we supposed to do, not go to his games?  Umm, no, we decided that 20 years from now it will not be important to him that we stayed home and saved $200, but he will remember that we were there for him and celebrating in his excitement.} But anyhow, I digress...

We had the flat tire, and we were in desperate need of 4 new tires, the flat sped up that process.  We were hoping to wait a couple months until we had our emergency fund built up...but no.  So, I started out this month thinking we were going to be in the hole already, but I decided to pray that God would somehow provide for the tires. We picked up our vehicle from the shop after they had closed on Thursday, I had no idea how we were going to pay for it, but kept telling the Lord about it.  Today, Ryan and I walked out to the mail box.  He started going through the mail and said "Lutheran Social Services?  Looks like a check."  I said, "It's probably a bill."  mind you, we've never worked with LSS.
{they are an adoption agency}  Then I thought "maybe it's one of those things like, if you adopt through them they will pay your registration fee or something like that..."  I was about to tell him to rip it up, no need for more adopting just yet... lol!  But then he said it was a $1,000.00 check written out to us and it dawned on me, our agency had just merged with them and this was the refund for completing all of our post placement reports!!!!

"TIRE MONEY!!"  I said!  I told Ryan that I had been praying for money to cover the tires and here it is!!!  So excited to see God provide.  Later we went to church for a prayer service and Ryan happened to talk to the guy from the shop and asked him if he had our bill ready...to which he replied, "what bill?  It's been covered, so don't worry about it."...OH. MY. WORD.  I  was seriously jumping up and down, it was so exciting to share this with the kids, I love when they get to see how amazing our God is.  Jehovah Jireh!!  The Lord will provide. We are studying about Abraham and his descendants right now in school and tonight we sang "Give us Clean Hands" I got the goosebumps and all choked up when I thought about the fact that my God is the same God of Jacob and Isaac and Abraham and how he provided for them way back when and he is still in the business of providing for us today!  Amazing.

Here are some of the lyrics of that song, it is a good reminder to seek HIM as we head into election day....
"Give us Clean Hands"
We bow our hearts
We bend our knees
Oh Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes
From evil things
Oh Lord we cast down our idols

So give us clean hands
and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Oh give us clean hands
and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Oh God let this be
a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, Oh God of Jacob
Oh God let us be
a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, Oh God of Jacob

the ride...

and what an *AMAZING* ride this has been!  I feel like we keep getting invited by God on these wild adventures, and while I don't always go with the right attitude, I am always so glad that I went!  We have been reminded time and again, this isn't about us, it is all about HIM, and what HE is doing, we are just blessed to be a part of it!  Something AMAZING happened this week, something only God could orchestrate.

A fellow blogger has a name for God that I just love.

They call Him: the Miracle-Working, Mountain-Moving, Awe-Inspiring, Gasp-Giving God!! Yippee Jesus!!  


And I just have to say...That is what we are calling Him too!!!

When we started this adoption process we sat the kids down and told them there were several things we needed to pray for.  In fact, I blogged about it here.


Well, we have been praying for over a year now that God would provide the money for the adoption and an 8 passenger vehicle.  Jayden was specifically praying for money to just fall from the sky.  And truly, that has been happening.  {OK, so it's not from the sky, but you get the picture!}  


We have received several grants from organizations, gifts from loved ones and complete strangers, and of course money from our fundraisers.  God is providing the money we need for this adoption, and we are so incredibly grateful!  We just shake our heads and praise the Lord every time a need is met!


This weekend, we got an 8 passenger vehicle.  It is exciting and wonderful to know that we will all be able to ride in the same vehicle together once we get little Lucy home.  But, what is even more amazing is that the vehicle was GIVEN to us.  GIVEN.  Now, we were praying for a vehicle, and I imagined that God would provide a vehicle, perhaps someone would donate an old church van, I even settled in my mind that we could paint it black and that I was going to be happy with whatever he provided.... 

BUT GOD.


God provided us with an AMAZING vehicle.  Like, if I were able to pick any vehicle in the whole wide world, I would pick THIS vehicle. {In all honesty, when I first saw THIS vehicle a few years back I thought..."man, I would really love to have one of those!"}  Only God.  Only my Miracle-Working, Mountain-Moving, Awe-Inspiring, Gasp-Giving God!! Yippee Jesus!!  God would do this.

MISSION 1:27 donated this vehicle to our family.  God moved on our behalf and used this wonderful organization to graciously deliver a miracle to our family!  They knew of our need, and God laid it on their hearts to respond to that need.  I can't say Thank you enough to them for their faithfulness to God!  There are no words that could convey how elated we are with this gift.  Saturday I just shook my head and kept saying "I can't believe this."  I think I was in shock.  Sunday the tears came, "so undeserving."  And today, well, every time I walk past the door and see this vehicle outside I think someone is here!!!  Then I say a prayer of thanks, offer my praise and ask a blessing on Mission 1:27.


It was so much fun for the kids to see how BIG our God is.  They were just as giddy as Ryan and I to know that God answered our prayers in such an amazing way.  They were with when Ryan picked it up and they kept saying that they felt like they were stealing it!  The God of the universe who made all things cares enough about us to listen to our prayers and then go on to answer in a BIG, AMAZING, EXTRAVAGANT way. God is Jehovah Jireh, our provider.  The one who takes care of every single need that we have.  We are so thankful for the way he takes care of our family.  And that he used our friends from Mission 1:27 is even more special.  We now get to sit back and watch how God will bless them for blessing us!  How awesome is that? 

^{2 Corinthians 9:8-11}God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,

   He throws caution to the winds,
      giving to the needy in reckless abandon.
   His right-living, right-giving ways
      never run out, never wear out.
This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God. (The Message)