The Beginning of the End

 The past 6 months have grown us in so many ways I could fill a book. Maybe one day I will. When we started on this journey, it was completely in faith, and every step we took each month, every court visit, every phone call, every lawyer bill was done in faith that the Lord would provide. Jehovah Jirah. 

From the first phone call I had with a lawyer in the area, Trey Ingram, who made adoption law reform, I was told: God will provide. I thought, “Easy for him to say. He’s got money, and he’s not in our boat.” I dismissed it, but knew he wasn’t wrong. I booked our consultation with the top lawyers in the area, recommended by Trey. I always say, if we’re going to do something, we’re going to do it right–especially, in this situation! $500 for the consultation, and they said our chances were good. They were confident. We just needed our retainer by Tuesday, and today was Friday. Five days to secure $6,500. I texted Trey. He replied, again, “God will provide.”

I had been praying for days, leading up to the consult, “If we just have enough for the retainer, we can get the ball rolling. Lord, just provide enough for the retainer.” Within two hours of our consultation, we received a call from a friend saying they’d like to loan us the retainer. We were blown away. Right there, God said yes. I upped the ante now: “I’d feel better if we had the trust fund ($5,000) by Tuesday.” We had $7,000 donated by Monday. 

The Father kept that ball rolling. T-Shirt fundraiser: $1,582.35. Cookie sales: $412. Our church helped with some bills so that we could reallocate money towards the lawyers. And, donations continued. $25, $250, $5,000. Every time we had a bill come from the lawyers, the money was there to pay it. 

In October, we walked out of our first court hearing hopeful, but the final hearing would be in 2 months, which meant we needed 20k by early December. We applied for a HELOC, only for the bank to drag their feet and never finish it. We waited to reapply until Dan secured his job with the home inspection company that planned to hire him as soon as he was licensed. Thankfully, we were also informed the date needed to be changed. As impossible as securing 20k by early December felt, the relief of our date being suspended to March matched the intensity.

On the second try, Dan passed his home inspection licensing exam, only to be met with, “It’s the slow season. We’re not hiring.” Christmas came and went. We relaxed and rested from high stress and an emotional past 4 months. Back to the routine of life brought the stress of still needing the 20k by early March. Dan applied for other jobs in various positions, called companies, met with people with connections, only to never hear back. Discouraged. Nervous. But still holding onto faith. 

On multiple occasions, both Dan and I had thought about contacting a couple from church, who lead a group we were a part of several years ago. We no longer had their contact info, and they weren’t even on Facebook. Another friend also told us we should contact them, but he also didn’t have their information. On Jan. 31st, Dan met with one of our pastors, who reiterated the same advice: “You need to talk to them. They could help!” Except this time, he had their email. Dan emailed him Thursday morning, and had a meeting scheduled with him for the next day.

They talked for about two hours. I was eagerly–and anxiously!--waiting to hear how it went. When their meeting was over, Dan texted me: “When I was praying this morning, and I’ve never had this happen before, ever… And I asked the Lord what he wanted me to do today, it was like He was right next to me, and clearer than I’ve ever heard him speak before, He told me, ‘Rescue this child.’ So, no matter what happens, this will be taken care of, and you will have those funds.” I immediately called me, and we both sat on the phone in shock, relief, disbelief. It didn’t feel real. They are going to take care of the full amount, no matter what it is.

When Dan got home, he told me how God spoke to him the rest of the drive home. God told him, “I said I was going to do this. Not you. Me.” If the bank had finished the HELOC either time we started the process or if any of the jobs would have hired him, allowing for other options to open up, we would have been able to take even some credit. God said, “Nope, this one's on me, guys.” The funniest part: For months, I’ve been casually praying that God would lay it on someone's heart to just hand us a check for $20,000. It wasn’t a lay on my face and cry out to God prayer. It was a driving down the road talking to God in between songs and street lights prayer. Whether on our face or in our car, God sees (El Roi) and He provides (Jehovah Jirah).