Friday, September 23, 2011

So I'm a loser, so what??

Wow.  June 16th was my last post, and as the title of this one suggests, I feel like a loser.  I swore I wouldn't be one of those people who started a blog then forgot about it (not that I have anything against them, obviously. I could be their QUEEN!), but I am, and I did.  Well, not forget, but got really, really busy.  Summer will do that.  The problem with summer, other than the hundred degree weather, is that we have this idealistic, albeit false, picture in our minds that we get to spend it lounging in the pool sipping lemonade.  There is so much wrong with this notion in my house. First of all, we don't have a pool.  Secondly, lemonade has way too many calories.  I'm a Diet Pepsi girl. 
So I'm sure you've had enough of my justifying my absence, so here's what's going on in our adoption:
Two words...YARD SALE.  Oh yes.  My nemesis if ever I had one.  Let me give you some background.  It all started a few summers ago, when I innocently thought to myself, "I should have a yard sale." I stayed up until 2 in the morning making signs, put an ad in the paper, priced my junk, and waited.  And waited.  And made around a hundred bucks at best.  You see, despite all the effort I put in, I still have the attention span of a three year old on caffeine.  So I got bored around 11 that moring and packed it in, swearing to myself that I would never again subject myself to that kind of boredom.  Plus, I HATE bargaining. Dude, they are $80 jeans. No I will NOT take 50 cents for them.  No offense to those who love the hunt, it's just not my thing.  I would get robbed blind in a country that practices bartaring on a regular basis, because I would just pay how ever much the merchant requested.  What does this have to do with the adoption? Three words...FUNDRAISER YARD SALE.  One ridiculously hot weekend in July, me, mine and Jeremy's family, and several of my friends and high school students tackled the mountains of donated clothes, appliances, baby gear, videos, and odds and ends that had been generously provided to us for our sale.  I spent the night before baking for the bake sale Madelyn thought up (more on that later), and of course, making signs that were so beautiful, they could've been framed.  Not bragging, just showing you how poor my time management is.  Something very unexpected happened amidst the chaos of old shoes and purses, however. God provided us with 1200 dollars for the adoption fund.  We made 1200 hundred dollars in two days selling donations from our family and friends! Who makes that kind of cash on a yard sale??  My best friend's parents live across the state, and when she came to visit, brought a truck full of stuff they added to the cause. My mom and Jeremy's mom went through their houses, and Jeremy's mom donated so much baby gear and clothes it made my head spin.  My sisters put stuff in, along with friends and church family.  It never ceases to amaze me the outpouring of love and service that people show when we need them.  What a strong and tangible reminder of the sort of love Jesus showed to those around him.  The blind man in John chapter 9 needed an outpouring of sight.  The bent woman in Luke chapter 13 needed an outpouring of  healing and acceptance.  On the cross, Jesus poured out his blood in front of the Father so that we may receive forgiveness, the greatest act of service in the history of all the world.  Where can you pour out love, support, or service?  God has graciously allowed me to be the beneficiary of the kind of love that is so great, it is almost embarrassing, and as such, I am telling you there are people who need it!  Where is God asking you to pour out yourself today?

1 comment:

  1. I love that! God does provide so much. Some we see outright and some is given in small doses daily. He is powerful in ways we could never imagine. Whatever your struggles may be with feeling like a loser, remember who created you and he has a plan. He just hasn't clued us in yet :o)

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