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Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Bringing Yan Rui Home, Part 2

Jan, a women in our congregation, told me that the women of Evergreen Church, our church home, would sponsor a spaghetti dinner for us, in order to help with adoption funds.  I remember being all sorts of giddy that they would want to support our family in bringing our girl home.

Of course, we are a smaller church....

At the most, in the busy months, we have maybe 190 people show up on a Sunday morning.  It was estimated (I can't remember by whom) that the women would raise around $1000.

The day came; and the spaghetti was served.

Friends came.
   
             More friends came.  Church members came....

And more....

The women ran out of spaghetti.

More was brought in, and that was eaten as well.

I believe, if I remember correctly, that there were double the people that were expected.

I left that night, and I remember not being able to sleep....because I was trying to figure out how to make it up to these women....I wrote in my journal about how difficult it is to accept gifts that you feel you don't deserve at all and that you know you cannot pay back.   I realized, as I stressed out about accepting such a giant gift, that I feel like that with God sometimes.....like I wish I deserved what He gave.  But I don't.  And He doesn't care.  And He gives anyway.

And I have to learn to accept it.

And so.....

I went to church the next day, pretty humbled, not really wanting to look the ladies in the eye; knowing they had put so much time and energy into that dinner for our family to bring our Yan Rui home.

For me; a large part of the gift was the obvious support they were giving as we sought to seek out and pursue God's purpose for our family.

I wasn't sure I was prepared to accept the money without crying.

And then....

they told us how much had been raised:

Not $1000, as I had originally assumed, but $11,000+*, and I started crying (and snotting) all over the place.  This small group of women in this small country church raised more money than our adoption agent had ever heard of in a spaghetti dinner.  And I was all sorts of thankful and surprised and humbled before I had ever heard the amount.

I'm still working at accepting the gift with grace without trying to pay it back somehow.   :)


So, Yan Rui will soon come home, and it was this group of women along with all of our family and friends that came to eat those noodles that helped to get us to this point today.....

Just three four days away from meeting our girl and bringing that adorable, "sometimes obstinate**", "active" girl that "likes the color red" and "loves to play hide and seek" home.

* By the way, the total amount raised (more checks just kept coming in) was $15,000.

Another friend of ours raised $360 at his church, and another $5000 came in after that!

We recently withdrew the last of our adoption funds and I am crazy excited and kind of blown away to tell you that our adoption has been paid off in full.  (Yes, I cried and snotted about that too!)

**The words in parentheses are words the orphanage used to describe her.  We can't wait to add to that word list as we get to know her more.