$5.29

$5.29 does not seem like a lot of money these days. You may be able to order something at Starbucks and have change. You can get something at McDonalds. You can buy a gallon of milk and something to go with it. It seems far easier to think of things that you can’t do with $5.29. I can’t go to the movies. I can’t fill up my gas tank. I can’t order a pizza. I certainly can’t buy a plane ticket or travel anywhere on $5.29.

I have always heard the bible story about the widow who put her last coins in the offering. In fact, I have heard sermons about it encouraging us to give, not out of our abundance, but to give sacrificially. Because Jesus was not focused on how much the widow gave but how she gave compared to those around her. She gave all that she had while those around her had been giving out of their wealth.

I can think of a few times when I have witnessed sacrificial giving like that of the widow. When I was in Mexico and we were building a house for a family that never had owned a house ever, they made us lunch. I remember students who were on the trip saying how they brought more to Mexico in their suitcases than these people owned. That lunch was a sacrifice, they certainly could not afford to feed our whole group but they did. It is an experience I will never forget.

I just had another one of those moments this past weekend. Back in January we met a couple that had just completed an adoption of a 7-year-old girl from Ethiopia. This past weekend we were able to meet with them again. I was so looking forward to talking with them about their experience and glean wisdom from them. We had just arrived at their house, when their new daughter came up to me and gave me $5.29. She gave it us to help us bring our boys home. This is the second time she has ever met us. Her parents shared that she never had money of her own so was excited to perform chores to earn money. This young 7 year-old-girl gave all the money she had $5.29 to my husband and I to help bring our boys home.

I am still humbled by the experience. A 7 year-old girl out gave me. I have the money sitting on my counter even now because I do not want to spend that money on anything other than the boys. When her mom told her that my husband and I were adopting and bringing boys from Ethiopia to the US she wanted to help.

Her simple act of faith and generosity amaze me. It motivated me to want to give more generously. This experience also reminded me of the faithfulness of God. Only God could move in the heart of a 7 year-old girl to want to help other orphans. Only God could orchestrate that Jeff and I would meet her and our boys would be the orphans she would want to help. It is situations like this that challenge me, how could I not trust God? After experiencing this how can I not trust that God has our whole adoption under His control? I think the key is remembering under His control might mean, not according to my timeline, or in the way I think it should be done, but that is okay because our adoption is under His control.