Trumped.

I sit here at my desk looking at the "fundraising plan" that I wrote out back in January.  We had just gotten our LOA and I knew it was crunch time!  We started to panic and I wrote out a 3-4 month plan to raise the rest of the money we needed to travel.

Not long after we started the Red Envelope fundraiser which was the first one on the list, The Lord started whispering to me to "stop working".  You can go back and read that post; it's amazing what The Lord did during that.  But what is even more amazing is what He did after that.  Every month we had a fundraiser planned, and a plan for how much we needed to save ourselves to "match" our own fundraising.  And every.single.month. God trumped us!  For January, we had planned for the Red Envelope fundraiser to bring in $1000.  It exceeded that by several hundred dollars.  But it was through a donation that wasn't even related to the fundraiser!  In February we had planned to sell the remainder of our cookbooks (about 100) which would bring in another $1000.  We didn't sell that many cookbooks, we still have over 50 left, but The Lord used some dear friends of ours to start a challenge (the Florida/Alabama challenge) that raised $2200! 

In March we planned a yard sale that we hoped would bring in $2000.  Some dear friends of ours donated $2500 before we even had the yard sale!  But since we already had all that stuff in our barn, we had the yard sale anyway and raised $1800.  We had another dinner fundraiser planned for April, that we hoped would bring $2000.  Our church gave us a grant and matched funds that were donated by our friends and family, totaling $5000!  Whatever we planned, God doubled!  He trumped us every time.

As of this morning, we were only about $800 from being fully funded...and I received a text from a cousin wanting to donate!  We cannot out-give God!  So many times during this process I fought the urge to hold on to our money, not to give to others, whether it be another adoptive family or some other charity.  I mean, we were trying to raise money ourselves, how could I give to others?  But God showed me that you cannot out give Him, and if we don't hold on to it, but give it to others, we learn to trust Him and He can be trusted!  

If you are considering adoption, or some other ministry that The Lord has laid on your heart, I encourage you to trust Him.  Walk in faith, knowing that if He calls to to something, He is able to provide!  But don't stop giving to others, and of course tithing to your local church!  When it comes to giving, we cannot give too much, of ourselves, or of our earthly treasures.  They are not ours anyway!  It all belongs to Him.  He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and everything therein.

Malachi 3:10 "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need."