Keeping up with a crew of 4 (soon to be 5, SQUEEEE!!!) is hard work. So, when we have invited guests over, I clean like mad all day long, vacuum the carpets 30 minutes before they are due to arrive then fill the house with yummy aromas of something sweet baking in the oven. And when they walk in the door, I bet you can guess what I say, because I bet you say it too: "Please pardon the mess!" I have recently been trying not to do that because I cam to the realization that A) the friends we have over the most see the house at its worst and its best and they forgive the worst because they love us, and B) it really isn't being kind to myself to say that because I should have pride in my home and my work and give myself credit for the work I have done, rather than put myself down for the work I couldn't get done. (I think I need one of those doormats that says "The house was clean yesterday, I'm sorry you missed it!" HA!)
And I have gotten a similar response from the generous people who have given to us the past couple of months to help raise the ransom for our newest addition. They give what they can and then say to me, "It's not much.." I just want to hug them (and often do) and say "It's enough!"
Let's look at the cold hard cash numbers for a minute:
$1 USD = 8.15 Ukrainian hryvnia
1 loaf of fresh white bread is 4.07 UAH, or $0.50...for a whole loaf of bread!!
2 pounds of potatoes are 4.00 UAH, or about $0.50...!!!!
2 pounds of chicken is 39 UAH, or $4.79 (it's twice that here!!)
1.5 L of bottled water is 6 UAH, or about $0.75
See where I'm going here?
Beyond the facilitator fee and the airline tickets, we are going to have living expenses while there, including groceries and apartment rent. I have been told it will be about $50/day for the apartment. We will have to eat, too ;) We are planning on taking some food with us, but we can't take 3 weeks worth, and we want to try out this new food!
So when you give from a cheerful and generous heart to help a family who is adopting THERE IS NO GIFT TOO SMALL!! I was talking to the pastor's wife today and sharing the process we are going through and of course, the cost is always a curiosity with everyone. I don't mind those questions -- I want to teach people about all of the process, and the cost is a major concern for many people. She ran off for just a moment and came back and stuffed a wad into my hand. "It's all I have on me." she said. It's not much...nothing to get excited about." I looked down at the three crumpled $1 bills in my hand and tears welled up in my eyes. I told her, "You don't understand. This will buy at least a day's worth of groceries in the country!"
We need to raise $10,000 in just a couple of weeks. We should receive our invitation to travel next week!! We should be traveling in July!!! It seems insurmountable, but I am leaving this in God's hands. I don't have time to put together another fundraiser. We have tried so many different fundraisers with little to no interest. It has been very stressful and disheartening for me. I sat outside for hours in the hot Texas sun with piles and piles of little girl clothes in our neighborhood wide garage sale and got less than $100 out of that (and someone actually tried to steal from us!!), I have tried the Chick-fil-A spirit night and only got $80, I have done a Flower Power fundraiser, our most successful one to date, and got $550. I called several people to ask for help doing several different kinds of fundraisers that needed venues bigger than I could handle on my own and got shot down every time. Every one of those fundraisers is being split with my dearest friend Shelly Burman in an effort to help her out getting her kiddos home, too! But guess what? That money, that $400-ish, will cover our groceries for quite a long time...
So when you give to an adopting family, give knowing that your "not much" is HUGE for them! Even $5 buys a lot more here than it does there. When we say "Every little bit counts" we really mean it. And give yourself and God some credit for that gift your giving. HE will make it go a long long way for that family.
Besides, I'm pretty sure that widow in Mark chapter 12 didn't say "It's not much..."
