This past Saturday was our first fundraiser since we got matched with Simon. It's amazing how this process goes so slow and so fast at the same time. After years of waiting everything needs to happen over 4 months to finalize the adoption.
We had already talked about the kind of fundraisers we wanted to do but we hit road blocks as soon as we started putting the wheels in motion. Our very first fundraiser in 2011 was a pancake breakfast at the local Applebee's. It was such an incredible day for us to see all of our friends and family come out and support us. Applebee's went above and beyond and made the day so easy for us. However, this time around there were more qualifications as to who could host a breakfast and we were turned down (they also didn't have any openings until October and we needed to work fast).
After two weeks of phone calls to every church in the area that we had a connection to, I finally got a call from a church that was willing to open their doors to us. However the pastor spoke with such a thick accent that I wasn't really sure which church it was that said yes! LOL.
Our goal was to feed pancakes to at least 200 people (which is a lot of maple syrup!). A huge thanks to my parents who allowed us to fill their freezer with sausage and orange juice as I shopped every sale I could find :).
The afternoon before the breakfast I opened up my YouVersion app and the verse of the day was Acts 1:7-8
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
This verse is Jesus speaking to the disciples right before he ascends to heaven. He is answering their question about when God is going to restore Israel. (the next few verses always make me chuckle if you want to look them up. I think angels have a sense of humor).
However, what I heard God say to me as I looked over the passage was "Lauren, you don't always get to know the details but it doesn't mean I don't have a plan. I am with you on this journey and that is all you need to know in order to accomplish it." It also reminded me again that while this is an adoption, it's not about adding children to our family. It's about God's love for a little boy and how He is going to use that help people see how much He loves everyone.
So I went into Saturday not knowing the details but trusting God that if 1 or 1,000 walked through that door, that it would be exactly as the day was supposed to be.
As it turns out the number was a lot closer to 1 than 1,000. However, even when the room was almost empty, I felt the love of everyone that was there. It also happened to be my birthday and there was no greater gift that watching Simon's grandfathers work perfectly together to make all the food and seeing my extended family pour juice and visit with our friends as they came to the breakfast.
Afterward everyone was anxious to count the money and see how we did. I wasn't. I knew that there was not much there and that it might be a disappointing task. The remainder of the day was hard. Bill and I kept oscillating between being thankful for how smoothly the morning went, to remembering all the people that said they were coming that didn't make it. I'm going to be very transparent here, not to make anyone feel guilty, but to expose how easy it is to take a blessing from God and twist it into something less. There was a point in the day when I was alone in my car traveling from point A to point B and my thoughts went to all the times I had gone out of my way for others. All the times I had put my life on hold to make sure I was there for someone or to be available to serve. All the hours I had logged with individuals caring for them in their time of need or simply mentoring. Thankfully, I was wise enough to stop that spiraling thought pattern. Immediately I checked my heart with what I knew to be true. I don't serve to be served. There are no strings attached. It is not a give and take. I love others because God said "love one another" not because of how they treat me or what I can get out of it. I love others not because they 'earn' it but because it's the only way some of them will ever get to experience God's love, which by the way is UNCONDITIONAL. So why would I even think to put "coming to my pancake breakfast" as a condition for anything. With my heart back in the right place I stopped to think of all the people in that room that had better places to be. There were so many friends and family members, students and colleagues that we know will be a part of Simon's journey beyond bringing him home. I felt so loved.
Still it was awkward when people would ask, "Hey, how did it go?" I tried to be honest but still share the overwhelming sense of love that we felt from the day. The finances would take care of themselves somehow but the message we got was that God was with us and so were the people most important to us :)
As the week went on we continued to be blessed by people who were not able to make it to the fundraiser. We even found out that one particular group that came to the breakfast (who I am sure would want to remain anonymous but they know who they are) intentionally paid double for each person to make sure Simon came home as fast as possible.
It wasn't until I checked the mail on Tuesday that I got the knock out blow that confirmed what I had been hearing all week. "We don't get to know the details but God is with us and that is enough."
I came home to an unexpected package. I recognized the return address as a local church but I wasn't expecting anything from them. It only got weirder. Inside the package was a cardboard envelope like the kind used to send photos. No note. Inside the envelope was a VERY generous anonymous donation. I barely knew what to do with myself. I had sent Cara upstairs to pick out a book to read before nap time and I knew she was waiting for me. I could not process what was in front of me. I called Bill to tell him about it and finished with the naptime routine. I came back downstairs and had to open the envelope again just to make sure. I then called the church to see if the package had in fact come through them and if they would be able to return a thank you note for me (I wanted to respect the extensive efforts this person went through to keep their donation anonymous). The church had no idea what I was talking about and no idea who to direct me toward. I laughed with the woman on the phone. We both knew who the money had ultimately come from...God. I know to some people it might sound ridiculous to say "I got a package in the mail from God." It wasn't glowing or surrounded by a halo or anything. I'm not going crazy. I just know that God is the source of everything we have and He used one (or several) of his children to be his hands and feet (and checkbook) to bless Simon and bring him home a little faster. As of now, we are officially halfway to our fundraising goal :)
I still don't know the details, but it's continued conformation that He is the author of this journey and that He is with us and just like Jesus said to the disciples in Acts chapter 1...that is enough for me to be his witness to the ends of the earth.
:)
No comments:
Post a Comment