The boys are very conscious of money and how much things cost. On our very first day together, I gave each of them 100 RMB each. Wide eyed, they refused to take it as they have never had that much money, but I insisted and they kept it. 100¥ RMB is $16.33 USD.
Every time we eat, or I buy them something small, they want to use their money, instead of allowing me to pay for them. I assure them that I will be paying for it, showing them that they are now provided for.
Today, we went to Walmart, China style. It is basically an open air market with all kinds of live fish, crabs, and other oddities swimming around. Where most Walmarts have "pallet drops" of high fructose, preservative ridden treats, this Walmart has mounds and mounds of grains, meats, fruits, and Durian fruit. I showed the boys the Durian fruit, had them smell it, and they hated it!
I purchased three drinks, several packs of gum, and several things of candy to take back to Aaron, Rebecca, and JJ. It came to.....116¥. The boys were going crazy that I would spend $18 on that stuff. They wouldn't stop talking about it.
It hit me that this is exactly what Phillippians 4:19 refers to when Paul says, "but my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus".
God does not give out of his riches to us. If that were the case, we would have missed the age out date for both of the adoptions as we just couldn't have had the money in time. But he does not give us out of His riches, does he. He is much more than that. He provides according to His riches. His riches are immense, innumerable, and he says, "see all I have? It is yours. For you are not paid servants, but my adopted children. What is mine is yours."
The boys think that 100¥ is a lot? They have no idea how they are going to be provided for, just as all five of our children.
We have received so very little from what our Father can and wants to provide to us and we stand back with our mouths gaping, and in our minds and in our hearts, limit the powerful provision of God.
If the boys ask, I will tell them how much Home Depot pays me each year, and it has a limit. The funds abound in comparison to what they have known, but use too much and it runs out.
Not so with our Father. His provision is endless. Think what you will, but I am sitting in China right now with two boys God provided to us in a short six months, with two fully funded adoptions. Don't tell me this is not God and this is all He can do. This is nothing for Him. He is that big, that great, that much beyond words. The only appropriate response at this point is on my knees, at his feet, giving honor and praise and glory to the God of it all.
Only at this point have I reported for duty and aligned myself with the will of God.
"It is a safe thing to trust Him to fulfill the desires which He creates”
-Amy Carmichael
But, do not misinterpret what I write. This is not blab it and grab it theology. "Trust God to provide and you get everything you ever wanted". Absolutely not. But everything to Him and for Him forever and always. Just as Watchman Nee said,
“I want nothing for myself;
I want everything for the Lord.”
-Watchman Nee
To serve the God who lives and breathes inside of me (Galatians 2:20) is to now allow what he has always intended, to benefit others through this servant, and He brings Himself the glory.
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