Like Manna From Heaven

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
Isaiah 58:9

I sit here  today with aching feet, a sore back and a heart so very full that it threatens to spill out at any moment.

     These last three weeks we have been walking a miracle, one that sprung on us from out of the blue....like a gift far too grand that the Giver cannot wait to give. Why us? We are so not worthy for the blessings that have been poured out again and again all for the sake of one little boy and to bring glory to one really huge God.

     From the very first moment, this adoption has been a step of faith, not just in bringing another child into our lives but in saying 'yes' to an invitation that seems to go against so much of the thinking of this world. To step out and say yes to one little boy with a broken heart, to take the leap knowing full well that we did not have the means to complete it...to say 'yes' to that whisper and plant our feet on the promise that what God calls us to He will complete.

   Oh how I have had such little faith...

  I am here to tell you, God is far bigger than any box that we make and if He whispers, He will make a way.... and sometimes that provision is there simply to build and fortify our faith for what is to come.

    This miracle started in a hot sweaty church doorway, VBS music blaring as hundreds of children waited for their parents to pick them up. There I stood in an oversized "Thailand Trek" shirt worn for 4 days straight catching kids as they tried to run out the doorways without their parents!

   In walked one of my best friends, arms full of flats of blueberries. Her parents are pear orchardists and have a few fields of blueberries that she was selling. As she unloaded her goods to people she turned to me and said, "You should totally sell blueberries for Zeke's adoption..."

    Little did I know what the Lord had just begun. She went her way and I chased kids. Later that night we figured out the details and I of little faith texted some family and friends to see if they wanted a few blueberries.

   I totally assumed we would sell a few hundred pounds of berries. This would be a fun way to get some blueberries to friends and make a little money towards Zeke because who doesn't love blueberries?

    Word started to get out on facebook, email and by phone and we started to get some orders, first selling 150 lbs. I was so thrilled! The deal we had made was that we would sell the berries for $2 a lb. They were no spray and local so people loved the deal they were getting. The workers picking the berries were getting $1 a pound so they were happy too...

    The next day was a 'picking' day and at 7am my friend's dad backed into our driveway...
                  with 1,200 pounds of berries.

    My heart dropped and I whispered a prayer "Oh Lord, there is no way I can sell that many berries...what have we gotten ourselves into?...Lord, I know I cannot sell that many berries but You can."

     That entire day our kitchen was transformed into a packing plant. We bagged bucket after bucket of berries, weighing them on our tiny kitchen scale. 1,200 lbs of berries bagged 4 lbs at a time. The whole time in my mind I kept thinking, "There is no way we can do this all in one day...Lord who is going to buy all of these?" I envisioned buckets of molding berries sitting in our house days later. You see, they were completely not sprayed so they had to be bagged and sold with 48 hours. 

    Oh how small my faith can be...

          ...orders came in, 20lbs here, 100 lbs there facebook lit up with people sharing about our berries for Zeke. Neighborhood kids went door to door filling jogging strollers and small toddler cars with berries for sale.

   Then people started coming, entering our house to get their berries. We got to hug and talk with people we dearly love, people we had never met and even pray with a few. People also started to share..."We have been considering adoption, could we meet with you?" All within the walls of our little house...we were so blessed, how could we have ever imagined?

     That night I sat in our livingroom, Bible in hand just stunned at our empty house. Every berry was sold, how could that possibly have just happened? It was like the loaves and fishes in reverse...God had done the impossible!

  That next day my friend called me saying she had run around the berry fields. The bushes were more loaded than she had ever seen them....she had to stop because she was crying so hard over God's provision.

   Two days later, they picked again...

   As 1,300 lbs of berries backed into our driveway loading the entire truck and every spot in the cab again in my heart I thought, "There is just no way...but Lord you can."

    Word came that the workers who were picking were absolutely thrilled. They were picking so fast they were making $60 an hour! We were thrilled and the owners were thrilled....and the people buying berries were coming back for more! Again we rolled up our sleeves and stepped into the miracle.

    This time, friends came by to help. We bagged and chatted and had time together that is so rare during the summer.Our kid's friends came and little hands all pitched in to fill up those bags...and again word began to spread. The kids made a blueberry stand on the corner orders for 100lb, 200lb and even 500 lb came in. Our dear friends who own a local brewery bought 2,000lb to make a beer with! I think I spent most of the day just stunned at all that was unfolding.

   Again our house filled with people coming to get their berries, friends, friends of friends, co-workers ladies from Bible studies, homeschool groups all there encouraging us in our journey to Zeke....many praying for us or giving far more than what was asked for the berries, again more families wanting to know about adoption....my heart rang with thanks. It was all so beyond what I could even comprehend.

   We visited the fields, met the workers helped and saw the entire operation.

 Let me tell you, this miracle came from some very hard work by some incredibly dear people. 

The owners and my friend getting up at dawn each day to help the workers in the field, buying them lunch, hours and hours of bagging berries alongside us...all the while every time I said thank you their response was, "No no you are the one doing the miracle bringing that boy home, we could not be happier to be a part of it!"

    My word, friends...if you want to see the Gospel in action, if you want to really see the Lord, step into the things He whispers no ,matter how crazy they sound...the promise and the way He catches you are far better than any safety net to which we all cling.

    So here I sit....over 8,000 pounds of berries later. Oh me of little faith, I got to be a part of something miraculous unfolding! The berry season is done and I am in awe. The story of the berries is far from over, our plan is for my friend and I to start a ministry with these amazing berries. Every year to pray, sell berries and give the proceeds away. God's berries there to bless others and I just cannot wait...

       How did I get so lucky to be apart of such an amazing unfolding miracle, I cannot even put words to the gratitude in my heart....

    all because of one little boy and one giant God.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17