Giving our bread and fish

We love the story of how Jesus took the meager lunch of a little boy, of 5 small loaves of bread and 2 fish, and miraculously fed the great crowd of hungry people who had been following him.

Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks,a nd distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. HE did the smae witht eh fish. When they had all had enoght to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. John 6:10-13

I've been thinking about this, as we seek to raise funds for Lacie. We truly do not have the money for another adoption. If it is the Lord's will for us to bring her home, He will have to provide the resources and of course, He can. All we can do is offer to Him what we have and can do, and pray for Him to mulitply it. How wonderful that in this account in John that he took what they had and He supplied more than what was needed.

Its been a joy to see our children making crafts to sell...working together (usually!) and using their hands to make bracelets, angels, ornaments for a couple craft fairs the past 2 weekends. They are excited to help Lacie. They are doing what they can, and offering it to God. They are not expensive items that bring in a lot of money, but that is okay because God is able to bless it.

At the craft fairs we did pretty well... I think we made $300...some from sales and others from donations. The kids were excited...though its not much considering how much we have to raise ($24,000) , it is a start. Our bigger goal though was to get the word out to people of what we are seeking to do. We pray God will touch the hearts of people we met....to help Lacie, to think about the plight of special needs orphans, and perhaps get involved in some way (praying, giving to, sharing with others, adopting) caring for the orphans that God loves. We met all kinds of people with differing responses...some interested, some not; some indifferent, some touched and generous. We praise God for the opportunity and pray He will accomplish His purposes and be glorified.

We received in the mail our first check ($10) from someone we don't know personally... mother of a coworker... who gave money and told her mother of our cause. That was exciting. It amazes me that (John figured out) that if only 8 people gave $5 and then told 5 people who gave $5 and so on, it would only take 4 generations to raise the money needed. Its amazing how little each person has to give but so much can be accomplished working together.

We've also been touched that a couple of John's patients at a nursing home wanted to give to help with Lacie's adoption when they found out about us fundraising.....he was not able to keep the money because of job rules, but what a blessing to our family to see God giving them the desire to give from the little they have. We know God can replace & mulitply those gifts.

Thank you for reading our blog and sharing this journey with us.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to HIm be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21