Christmas miracle!!!

My friends I come to you with such joy and gratitude in my heart! I keep hearing the song,

                                 “Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
                                           Morning by morning new mercies I see;
                                        All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
                                        “Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

As you read last night I was in a hard place. All day just struggling. On the spin bike, driving down the road, at a friends house.. Lord where are you? Please help us? I know your there.. I know you've called us! We believe!!! It was a dreary day here, and so was my heart. Crying out to the Lord, but also standing on his promises and clinging to those. We went about our day, and this afternoon was helping a friend who recently suffered a loss. I was literally sucking up a spider with the vacuum when the phone rang. My dear neighbor said it was from Alabama ,and I said oh the agency, I'll take it. On the other end was my sweet social worker Emily. Emily is just about the most dear, soft spoken person you've ever talked to. 

"Hey Brittan, it's Emily. Did you have a good Thanksgiving, I'm so glad to be back in the office. I'm so glad to hear that you had a good Holiday. Listen I have some really good news for your family. ( at this point I'm fully expecting her to just say that we are DTC as we are expecting our paperwork to be back any minute now). Brittan I'm so excited for your family I'm grinning from ear to ear! ( at this point I'm thinking it's a little better then just news of DTC but still had NO idea) Brittan, a family called today and made an anonymous donation to your family. ( wow I thought! Maybe it was for the payment of $2900 that we didn't have! Wow this is awesome!) Brittan, I'm thrilled to tell you that it was for $20,000.00!!!!! Your adoption on the agency side of things outside of travel expenses is likely paid in FULL!"

 Wow, blown away doesn't even to begin to describe what we have been going through this evening. I love so much about this and I'll list the reasons below. 

1.God gets the glory! I was begging him and telling him Lord, YOU, it's you and I want folks to see you through this. 

2. God hears our prayers. 

3. God will never leave us or forsake us..

4. What God calls you to he will fulfil. Folks thought we were crazy for stepping out again and adopting Wills. The beginning of our process was hard and we had some serious bumps in the road. There was a lot of time to ask, "Lord are you sure this is what we are suppose to do?" We prayed and continued to stand on his promises even when it seemed less then hopeful. 

5. Folks watching us receive this amazing gift brings them the HOPE that God can do it for them also. We believe that so many more would step out if cost was not an issue. Friends, the Lord is faithful and he will provide for you to adopt if you feel led. We are proof!

Tonight as I prayed with our 4 children here and finished our advent readings I was so taken by the words used to describe our Lord in Isiah 9:6 " For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Prince of peace.. just what we needed.. 

 This Advent season as we wait for Wills just as we waited for Molly last year we give THANKS for the gift of you all who have donated to us this go around and last. Listening to Molly exclaim "Baby Jesus!! While we were reading her book and Hartley asking if we could call God to ask him who gave us this money and Thomas saying, maybe it was God mommy.. and West pledging his tooth fairy money once again for the fund, makes me realize this adoption stuff is so much more far reaching then just bringing a child home. You ALL are making an eternal investment in the life of not just Wills, but also my family. This has once again been an incredible journey to take with you all and we are so thankful for each of you and especially the extreme generosity of the family who gave today. What a wonderful example you are to us all. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you again.. 

 Where do we go from here. We'll we have a little bit more work to do but not much! One things most grants won't pay for is travel. The matching grant now through Lifesong will pay for our in country money that we'll need but we still need about $10-12k to make up what the flights will be and also there may be a teeny amount still needed to Lifeline depending on what our in country cost will be. With Molly is was $13k and I'm guessing $15K since the whole family is going this time. We have several things going on, soaps, tshirts and donations for the matching grant. We had also planned an event here with a fab silent auction, live music and food in February called "A night of Hope" I hope with all of these things we'll get pretty close to being funded. Maybe we'll throw a garage sale in there or a birthday party for Wills turning 3 in January? One thing I do know though is that we have not one reason to worry. Our God is more then able to do immeasurably more then we could ask or ever imagine!

 Tonight we give THANKS!!!

My tantrum!!

Excuse me I'd like to have a tantrum.. Can mommy have a turn? How about a time out after? Sounds wonderful!
 Much like a rough pregnancy you think mid way through, I'll never do this again!! We said it with Molly and I want to say it again.. I will never do this again!! Before you get too concerned no I'm not having second thoughts or reservations. I feel fully capable and equipped to handle 5 kiddos and Wills' needs. That part doesn't worry me. What does bother me is the fundraising. I know I've said, It's so great to be dependant on the Lord. It's great to wait in his presence for the blessing to come and most of the time it is, but other times it just plain stinks and I want to throw a hissy fit.. It's not even the process that gets me it's the money! Some would say, "Well, why would you say yes to a child and not have the money up front?" Well besides the fact the Lord has called us to adopt, folks say yes to things all the time and then have to pay for them. A car? A house? A college tuition? Let me also say I trust the Lord is 100% faithful. I have seen with my own eyes what he did through Molly's process and even now in her life, we have witnessed modern day miracles! I know God can and will finish this strong, it's just hard. Let me lay it out there. We have several grant applications out there now that I hope will make up the end of the adoption costs that we'll have, Our last agency fee and our in country cost. We'll need to have money for travel, our current matching grant can pay for that and around $11K for the flights. The  is what we need to pay for  this week, $700 dossier fee ( soap money will cover that) and another agency payment which is $2900.00. Guess what? We have not 1 dime towards that...not one penny.. This faith walk just got much more real huh? Couple that with the $2500 we need to raise for the matching grant and your looking at $5400.00, $2900.00 due now and $2500 due by January 13th 2015. Have friends been faithful to give? You bet, and we are so thankful!! We truly are. There is so much more to do though. I know God is faithful. I know God funds what he favors. I know God won't leave Wills now. I know he is able to do immeasurably more then we could ask or imagine. I've seen it!!! But in the waiting.. It's hard and I want to roll on the floor and have a toddler tantrum in an adult body. So if you see me in target on the floor crying please don't be alarmed. I'll get some self control soon and regain composure. In the meantime I'll rest on these promises the Lord has given us and continue to sell, tshirts, soaps and ask for donations. Would you help today? Could you give $10, $50, $100 or more? I'll close with the letter from Lifesong for orphans. They really say it much better then I do..

 November 18, 2014 

Dear church, family, and friends of Tom and Elizabeth Gotbeter, 

God desires orphans of all nations to be adopted into Christ-honoring families so they can hear the Word of God and ultimately be adopted into God’s eternal family through faith in Jesus Christ. While God calls us to fulfill James 1:27 and “visit the fatherless” not all are called to adopt. Some are called to pray, some to give financially, some to go on mission trips, and some to adopt. 

Lifesong for Orphans is a non-profit Christian ministry dedicated to help meet the needs of orphan children around the world, and to obey God’s call to “visit the fatherless…in their affliction” (James 1:27). With over 147 million orphans worldwide, Lifesong seeks to mobilize the Body of Christ to love and care for orphans. Lifesong serves families, churches and orphans through adoption funding. Additionally, Lifesong brings joy and purpose to orphans globally in seven countries and domestically through foster care initiatives. Please visit our website (www.lifesongfororphans.org) for more information. 

Tom and Elizabeth have sensed God’s call to care for the fatherless and have joyfully stepped out in faith and obedience to adopt a little boy from China. As you may already know, adoption can cost $30,000-$35,000, and this financial burden prevents many godly families from adopting. Lifesong believes God has called this family to adoption and has committed an Adoption Matching Grant of $2,500 to help bring this child home. 

Funds donated to Lifesong for Orphans will be given to help cover adoption expenses. Lifesong is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and your gift is tax deductible. 100% of all funds raised will go directly to cover adoption costs--nothing will be taken out for Lifesong for Orphans administrative costs. 

Will you invest financially in the life of this child? It will be an investment with eternal return. God bless you.