You Never Know Who's Watching

God spoke to me in a way today that was so totally God that to not write about it would be just an experience lost.

First rewind to last Saturday lunch. Jeff, the kids and I were out and about. We were in a location we don't normally visit. We ended up finding a Subway, with my phone GPS, that was within a reasonable distance for lunch. We had never been to this Subway before, and honestly likely never will again. It's just not in the area of town we are in much.

While we at lunch a father and daughter came in. He was a white guy in his 40s I suspect and the girl was a very dark skinned child around 5 years of age. I didn't think too much about them, until he addressed us. He asked us if Eli was from another country. I never ask this kind of question for fear I am wrong and will offend someone. But of course when others ask this of me, I am thrilled because it opens the opportunity to talk about adoption. So, when I responded that he was in fact from Ethiopia, I then asked if his daughter was also from another country. It turned out that she was adopted from Haiti.

From there I don't remember all details we spoke of in the next few minutes. The conversation couldn't have been any longer than 10 minutes. I know he said they adopted Sophie (the daughter) 4 years ago when she was about 1 year old. They were in the process of adopting a son from Haiti currently and they had started an orphanage in Haiti that had hundreds of children. I was, well impressed isn't quite the right word, but certainly humbled at what their adoption had spurred them on to do in Haiti. I also shared that I taught at a Christian University and was going as a sponsor on a trip to Ethiopia this summer. One thing I do remember voicing was the fact that once you adopt from overseas you are forever connected to this other country. Your love for your child just won't allow you to forget about where they came from and feel compelled to reach back out to that culture. Now, exact words or what else might have been said between us doesn't really call out to me. But this was the gist of the interaction.

Now fast forward to tonight. We went to TGIFridays for dinner. It is not in a convenient location for us at all. In fact it has been 7 months since we have been there for dinner. However, we had a BOGO free dinner, so it was our choice for tonight. It is actually about 45 minutes from out house, but there is also a Jamba Juice nearby and I also had a 2 for $5 smoothie coupon. Having both of these coupons made us decide to make the 45 minute drive and spend the evening in this area of town. Add to this the fact that we got there much later than we normally would have and Jeff was none to happy about my delay in getting home and us getting to dinner. Overall we were in a location we don't normally visit (again) and at a much later time than we normally like to get to dinner on Friday nights.

While we were at dinner, a lady approaches our table. She says she saw us at Subway last weekend and she just wanted to let us know that what we said changed her life. My first reaction was to think "are you sure you have the right people?" I didn't voice this but it crossed my mind. Then I started thinking back on the day she referred to. We were in fact there and I think she must have remembered the right people. I tell her "thank you" and feel humbled at her comments. This conversation could not have been longer than 2 minutes.

So to recap. We ran into the same woman in two different locations that we are literally never at. I don't even remember there being others around when we talked to the father at the Subway. I don't remember specific details of what I said. And yet, God used what I said to speak to someone. Furthermore, He put this woman back in our path a week later and urged her to come talk to us. Whether or not she knew it was God working here, I don't know. But in my mind there is no doubt. God placed both us and her in these locations at these times for this purpose.

In reflecting on these interactions, I am unsure what part of the conversation she meant. I don't know what I said that had such an impact. And I find this all very interesting. I feel God telling me "You never know who's watching. You never know the impact your words will have." WOW!! Now if that isn't convicting I don't know what is! I feel God pointing out to me the importance of how I live my life, of how I interact with others, and most importantly of how I show His Love through my life. I am not sure I can even put into words how I feel about this all. But my heart is very tender right now to what God is showing me here.

My life has to be a testimony to God's love. In particular to how He has led us (into adoption that is) it has to be a testimony of God's love for orphans and our responsibility to those that remain behind. What a great responsibility He has given to me. Thankfully He has not left me to the task alone, but is with me as I carry this blessing to others. Our words and our action must testify to His love because...

You never know who's watching.

An Answer to Prayer!

This is taken from the blog of a friend of ours who is currently adopting from Ethiopia...

"God answer a big prayer today with all that's going on with Ethiopian adoptions. Our adoption agency sent out an email to let us know that the Ethiopian government is processing 40 adoption cases each day. Praise Jesus! That is such great news! "

Remember the initial proposal was cutting back to 5 cases per day. This is a great day for the children of Ethiopia and for those waiting to adopt them. Take a moment to praise Jesus for this miracle!

HELP!!!!

The Ethiopian Ministry of Women's Affaris announced it's plans to stop 90% of adoptions out of Ethiopia. This will cost the lives of millions of orphans and delay the adoption of others. The Joint Council has a petition at the following link. PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION!!!!!! And forward this information to everyone you know. They will meet tomorrow (but they are 9 hours time ahead of us) to present the petition. This must be signed TODAY!!!!

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43714.html

It May be Good News

Well, we have been trying everything we can think of to get rid of our house in Ohio. We even called asking questions to our bank about a short sale. But since we don't have an offer on the house, short sale is not on the table. However, they did tell us about another option, called a Deed in Lieu. In short, the bank does an appraisal of the house. Then we turn the house back over to them. They can forgive us for the difference between what we owe and the appraised amount or ask us to pay the difference. We basically just give them the keys and we are done.

Okay so the bank called yesterday. They are requesting some additional paperwork, but indicated that the Deed in Lieu has been approved. So I submitted the paperwork they requested today. I am still not confident in this enough that I am ready to call it done. When I get the forms that they tell me are coming then I will call it done. They are estimating 30-45 days until the process is finalized. So we should have only our house payment in April along with the bills, water, sanitation, electric and gas. Then we are done.

I am holding my breathe now... pray all the papers go through soon so I don't pass out!

Note: Deed in Lieu is something that will hurt your credit score, in the same way that a Short Sale on a house does. We are also on Dave's Plan and will not be borrowing any more money. As such we are not concerned about the negative impact this has our credit score.