Thursday, May 27, 2010

Our booth at the SEHEC


Last Saturday (May 22), we had the opportunity to have an adoption awareness booth at the South Eastern Home Educators Convention. (You can read our first post about it here.)

In addition to sharing info about adoption and showing some orphan awareness videos, we had hoped that it would be a big fundraiser for our adoption fund, but there weren’t many “funds” raised. We had a nice-looking booth, a great location, and lots of “stuff” to offer people, but it just didn’t turn into dollars. I was disappointed at first, but God has been teaching me another “lesson” (as usual).

Even though I had prayed we would receive a “miraculous” amount in sales and donations, we netted only a little over $125. This means we must continue to trust that God has His own plan for providing for our adoption, and that He will do it in His own time and in His own way.

An outcome that I had not considered was how much I would enjoy talking with people about adoption. There were many, many people who said they had always wanted to adopt and who had questions about the process and how our family has come to this point. Some desperately wanted to adopt, but their husbands were not on board with the whole idea yet, and they needed some encouragement to just keep praying and to let God handle the “heart work” in their husbands if adoption was His plan for their family. And to a few the whole notion of adopting internationally, especially when we already “have kids”, was a unique and foreign (and possibly a little crazy) idea.

I now see that “my” goal for our day was so much less than “God’s” goal for our day. (Surprise, surprise!) Our purpose in being there was not merely to “sell some stuff”, it was a grander purpose, designed by God, to promote His plan of adoption. My prayer all along should have been more centered on God using us in big ways to make a difference in the lives of orphans. Instead, I got bogged down in asking for financial provision.  But even though my focus was misdirected, God gave me what I needed rather than what I “thought” I wanted. I am honored that God would teach me and use me in even a small way. (What a “slow learner” I am! Thank You, God, for your patience with me!)

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