I'm staring at a blank
page because I just don't know where to even start. So much has happened in the
past 4 weeks that I'm not sure if I can write it out, but I know that this is
one of the most important things we can do right now. Write it down so we don't
forget.
The week of our adoption
yard sale was a turning point for us. It was supposed to pour, hail, and
thunderstorm the night before our sale. Derek got called into mandatory
overtime and we had volunteers who just couldn’t make it to help set up. There
were only 3 of us girls available to move over 8 truck loads of donated items
including large furniture. It was looking like a disaster. We considered canceling it, but we had
so much stuff that we couldn’t store it anywhere and so many people said they
were going to attend. I tried calling other locations to move it indoors, but
nothing worked. Everything was falling apart. Friends kept calling us with updated weather conditions
telling us we were crazy to move forward with it, but we both felt like God was
going to do something incredible and we didn’t want to miss it. Rain or shine, God was moving.
Two days before our yard sale, I was babysitting a little guy. The
reception is horrible out there so my phone never works. I heard it ding like it
does when there is a voicemail, so I tried to check it, but couldn’t. I didn’t
recognize the number, but it looked like it was out of the area, so I checked
it against Bethany’s number and it wasn’t a match. Bummer. About an hour later
I heard it ding again like it had service, so I ran to a window for better
reception and listened to the voice mail. All I could understand was, “this is
(static) from Bethany (static) and we need you to call as soon as you get this
message.”
They must need more paper work. They always need more paper work. Maybe
we didn’t sign something or filed a form incorrectly. I knew that I wouldn’t
get service until I was done babysitting several hours later, so I tried
texting Derek to see if he had gotten a call as well. They wouldn’t try calling
both of us if they just wanted paperwork. I ran around the house trying to find
a single bar of service so I could send it and then I had to stand in the same
spot to wait for his reply.
15 minutes later, Derek said they did contact him and he would be
calling on his lunch hour. I knew something was up. I could feel it in my
gut. It was excruciating waiting
to hear what they wanted and all the while running around the house with my
cell phone in the air just trying to get some reception. The little guy I was
watching ran around the house with his play phone. I guess he thought it was a
game!
An hour later I got the text that there was a birth mom who wanted to
meet with us the very next day. We
were told her story and given the opportunity to decide if we wanted to meet
with her or not. It was a match meeting call!
Wait, the yard sale.
We told our agent that we couldn’t meet that next day because Derek had
to work and that was the day we were setting up the massive yard sale. She told us that she would try to work
out another meeting time giving us a few days to pray about it. Our meeting was scheduled for the following Tuesday and the yard sale
kept us busy during those 4 days. It was so hard to not spill the beans to
everyone who asked us for an update during the sale. Derek and I just giggled.
So, all the while that we thought God was going to do something
incredible with our yard sale, we had no idea that He was working on bringing
our little one home to us. He opened our focus from a fundraiser to the reason we were fundraising.
