It started on a snowy morning in the middle of January. The girls and I were accompanying Jon on a four-hour drive to see his podiatrist post-op, and we had made this trek many times. For some reason, the county departments had not been able to salt the roads. Within 2 miles of our driveway, we saw three wrecked vehicles. By the time we arrived in the tiny city normally less than 10 minutes from our house, cars were at a stand-still. After an hour of waiting had passed, we learned a semi had jack-knifed and was blocking the entire highway.
Multiple times during our wait, we contemplated turning around and going back home. But coordinating work, school, and caregivers schedules had already been attacked and accomplished. Plus, there was an important errand we needed to run along our way. We decided to persevere, bypass the gridlock, and take a back road. I was driving, and began to fret a bit as we got off the main highway and immediately saw three more wrecked vehicles!
I don't know how many back-road miles I drove, but they were full of wracking nerves and slips and slides. The oldest girls thought it was a delightful little roller coaster. :) Finally, we made it safely to the first major city near our home. What normally takes us 20 minutes had taken TWO hours! While the roads were clear from there, it was impossible to reach the doctor's office in time for Jon's appointment. In addition, the likelihood of getting another appointment on the same day with this "doctor in high demand" was slim. But we called, they were compassionate, and worked us in later in the afternoon.
Everything had seemed against us, yet we arrived in that office at precisely the time God would have us be there. We just didn't know it yet.
I was busy keeping the girls entertained in the waiting room, when I heard another momma ask where Kalli was from. When Jon said "China", her face lit up and she shared a beautiful family photo with us. Turns out, she and her hubby have two biological daughters and two daughters born in China! We struck up a conversation, sharing experiences and talking about future adoptions. Then we discovered we were both members of the same facebook group! (It was the very group where we first saw Samantha's little face.)
After leaving the office, we connected officially on facebook, and had a message from this momma. She read our blog and learned about our fundraising efforts, and her family wanted five of our fundraiser tees. When I saw their Paypal payment for the tees, I was in SHOCK! $500!!!! This sweet family we met 4 hours from our home (they had driven 2+ hours themselves), at a time hours later than we had planned, was part of a beautiful orchestration of God's provision. This is a family who not only chooses to do something amazing with the money He has given them by becoming adoptive parents themselves, but also by BLESSING other families as well!! We are still speechless.
Every step of this adoption journey has been miraculous. From finding our daughter, to seeing God provide EXACTLY what we needed financially. There have been several donations received in the mail - without us even asking - that arrived right before an adoption bill was due. Generous strangers reaching out when they certainly did not have to. Friends met through incredible circumstances sending sacrificial blessings our way. Loyal family, church family, and friends who have been with us in past adoptions, and still stand by our side trying to help in whatever ways they can. New friends seeking out ways to fundraise for us.
Do you see the beauty in the connections that are made? God stirs the heart of someone to pray. The heart of another is then moved to help or give in some manner. It's a continuous circle, connecting us and leading us back to glorifying our God.
All these precious pieces, coming together one-on-one, but most certainly not by chance. It's all by divine appointment.
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