Current Provisions

It's amazing how quick you can forget God's past faithfulness when you start mulling over the concerns of today.  We have gone into a bit of "sticker shock" with our two little dumplings.  Medical bills from blood work, immunizations, and office visits are starting to come in and are winding up being way more than we anticipated. Going from a two income family with no kids to a one income family with two has been a real adjustment financially and a new test of faith for us.  God has often been reminding me that He who brought these children miraculously into our arms will not drop us from His hand now!  He will continue to sustain, to provide,and to be all that we need Him to be every day of our lives because we have put our trust in Him. God is so faithful to have provided everything we need financially to bring these kids home, and His provision just keeps on keeping on through the ways that He is taking care of us now.  Here are a few of those ways.


Clothes:
Over the past few months we have received several bags of clothes for the kids.  I had been collecting consigned items along with a huge box of clothes that I had bought for nearly nothing from my friend Heather about a year ago.  With the changing of seasons and their bodies quickly growing there were a lot of clothes that they had outgrown or I wound up not needing for Hosanna and Asher.  I thought about storing these away or consigning them but felt God prompt me on a number of occasions to give them away to other adoptive moms.  It seemed like every time I gave a bag of clothes away, literally within a week I had received a bag of "new" clothes for the kids from someone else.  Two large bags which were given to us recently were from ladies whom I have never even met.  How awesome is God to provide when we open our hands to give?!

Diapers:

We have alot of earth-loving friends.  We love the earth too.  I really, really did consider using cloth diapers not only to save us some cash but to cut down on land-fill consumption.  I researched all the cloth brands.  I did the math in water consumption, laundry detergent usage, and time it would take to clean diapers for two little ones.  I spoke with several mothers of multiples who had tried cloth who after a few months decided to go to disposables because of the time and gross-factor of rinsing out the diapers. I also spoke with mommies who love cloth and who tried lovingly to convince me it's the way to go.  In the end... we decided to go with disposables because of the expense of buying cloth diapers, the water and electricity usage, laundry detergent expenses, serious gross factor of our kids diapers (they both came home with parasites), and the time it would take to keep them clean was to much to handle on top of all the other responsibilities of caring for the home and kids right now.  Justin and I have been extremely relieved and happy with this decision.

We have been home for 2.5 months so far and we have not had to buy a single disposable diaper (except for overnights).  Praise God!!!  We received a good 2 month supply of diapers from gifts given to us.  On top of that, a very generous friend with a huge heart for adoption said she wanted to give us a large box of diapers from Sams every month until December this year.  Our friend said "I'm not called to adopt, but as a Christian I'm called to care for orphans and this is one way that I can do so."  WOW!  God provides.

Therapy:

We have been so encouraged at the opportunities the Lord has opened up to meet the needs of our kids in practical ways.  A friend of mine from college, Darcy Walworth, has been coming to the house once a week to do music therapy with the kiddos for the past 2 months.  It is AMAZING how much they have learned just from her one hour interactions with them each week.  Darcy has been somewhat of a coach to me and has given me some fantastic ideas and tools to work with the kids to increase their language and aid in their development.  I've been so thankful for these classes.

In addition, Kentucky has an early intervention program that we have the kids signed up for that has been a huge blessing.  The kids are currently signed up for a 6 month plan for Occupational and Speech therapy.  We love their therapists, and they too have been like coaches for me in giving me ideas of activities to work on with the kids.  Asher and Hosanna are both doing great in learning how to mimic words, and I'm enjoying the opportunity to ask these professionals for personal advice on areas of concern.  All of these therapy services have been free for us and paid by the state.  What a blessing!!!

Aunt Di Di:

Justin and I have lived away from our immediate families for many years now.  It stinks.  I didn't realize how much it would really stink once we had kids.  We're grateful that right now we are on the same continent and only within a few hours of my family and a days drive from Justin's... but we still really miss them.  God has been gracious to give me a really wonderful mentor-friend here named Dei.  She has stood beside me for the past 4 years and been an amazing example of godly motherhood.  Dei spills forth love and wisdom and the kids and I love being around her.  She has kindly provided some much needed breaks for me through babysitting from time to time and has even blessed us by coming over to cook dinner.  It's so awesome how God provides family from us when we are far away from our own.

When I recall all the ways He has provided in the past and how He is providing right now- that stack of bills on the kitchen table seems so miniscule. We are grateful for insurance which hopefully will wind up covering much of these expenses and for the countless unexpected gifts He's given us along the way. We know that He will be faithful to provide in our future just as He has for our past.  "I was young, and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread." Psalm 37:24-26