Eternal Significance

One of the best feelings in the world is when a friend says to you, "You are not the only one." I have had some struggles in the last couple of weeks. I find myself yelling at Ben and Nate, losing my patience, wanting things that are expensive that I don't need, and I catch myself saying things like "If I had ____, I would be so much happier." I'm not sure why I get this way from time to time.
Two close families Mark and I know are currently adopting children from Haiti. Vonda Hogle and Sammy & Ashley Adebiyi are both on their journeys to bring their kids home. Their stories on how all this came about is amazing and I can clearly see how God orchestrated the whole thing from the beginning. Sammy has been in Haiti for about a week now trying to get all the documents in place and spending time with their little girl, Bebe, while Ashley has been here in Toledo getting their home ready. She just flew out yesterday evening to Haiti to bring Bebe home with Sammy. I am so excited for their adventure and that they are being a part of God's remarkable story of love. And I must add that this little girl has a BEAUTIFUL voice! Sammy and Ashley's adventure is just beginning! I can't wait to meet Bebe and watch their family grow with God's hand in place.
Vonda will be flying out on March 1st to try to adopt 2 kids she fell in love with. When I listen to her stories and see her eyes fill with tears, I can't help but admire her so much. Her kids' names are Christilove which translates to "the love of Christ" and Dubon translates to "God is good." Vonda is a single mom who just does what God calls her to. Who can not admire her?!?!?
Both are trying to raise money to complete the adoptions. This is where I found myself struggling, which is very hard for me to admit but I'm doing it anyway because I need to learn to humble myself before others. I was talking to Mark about this and without a doubt we wanted to contribute financially for their adoptions. When Mark told me the dollar amount that popped in his head while praying I said, "Ok, let's do it!" However, after a few hours went by, I realized how much that really is and I started thinking about our screen door that recently broke, our dishwasher that decided to stop working, our carpet that needs to be professionally cleaned, a camera I've had my eye on, etc...I completely lost sight of what is really important, which is bringing home 3 orphans who our friends love. I confessed this to Mark saying, "Wow, that's a lot of money now that I think about it. I'm pretty nervous about it since we could really use it right now." His reply was (and the reason I married this man and love him so much), "What is more important than the orphans? This is the only life we have, so why waste it on 'things' when we can do more? We have to think about the eternal significance and do what we can to be a part of what God is doing." WOW. And he is completely right.
Nothing is more important than being a part of God's story. To do what we can to love others and show God's love. To put God's love ahead of our own wants and desires. "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4- This is one of Mark's favorite verses. He shared it with me when we were dating back in the day. It played a huge part into our relationship back then and it is playing a huge significance with us right now. My heart doesn't desire a fixed dishwasher so that I don't have to wash them by hand. My heart doesn't desire a fancy camera. My heart doesn't desire a fixed screen door. What my heart does desire is to be closer to my Maker, to follow Him and allow Him to work through me. It's tough, but the eternal significance is what's keeping me in place. And there's no other place I would rather be. All that other stuff can wait.
Please pray for my friends who are on this amazing journey and if you feel like God is leading you to help support them you can e-mail me at susuhappyapple@yahoo.com and I will give you their information. Thanks so much! God bless :)