There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
-Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

There is indeed a season for everything. Since we’ve been married, we’ve gone through several of the seasons listed in the verses above – some more than once!

Eleven weeks ago, another new season of uprooting (from the comfort zone) and planting somewhere new began at our house as I left my job at HSU and went back to the classroom. During this transition, I’ve often felt like I have been shot out of a cannon, but I’ve also felt several times that I am right where God wants me. I’ve got some great kids, and I am finally starting to feel like I’ve got my legs under me again. It is time to plant, build up, laugh and dance!

The beginning of a school year is a busy time when both of us work at schools, and Nathan is taking classes too. Needless to say, we haven’t had much time to do adoption updates or fundraising.

However, God has been at work, even when we couldn’t.

One such instance of God working happened right about the time school started. We got one of the sweetest gifts ever. As I walked into church, I saw the Whislers standing outside of our classroom door. I didn’t think much of it because their son’s Sunday School class is near ours. I was about to walk into our class when Kara told me to get Nathan to come out there.

Gavin, her son, then held out a bag to me. She told him he needed to wait until Nathan got there. It dawned on me at that point that something was up!

As soon as Nathan got out there, almost 8-year old Gavin, held out that bag again and smiled the biggest grin. His mother then told us the following story.

Earlier in the summer, Gavin had been praying and asking God to use him. One Sunday at church, he felt like God told him he needed to raise money for a family, but he didn’t know who. After talking to his parents, they did an internet search, and adoption fundraisers came up. Kara told him that there was a family in the church who was trying to raise money to adopt a baby. Gavin decided that we were the family he needed to help. He went to the store and got a bunch of baby bottles. He then went around his neighborhood and to people at church, and told them what he was doing and asked them to fill the bottles with change. He also recruited his mom to make cupcakes that he could sell to help raise funds. He worked this project for several weeks, and he raised $403.86 for our adoption fund.

At that moment, I was so floored and emotionally overwhelmed. I could barely come up with words to say, and Nathan, well, he was speechless!

This little boy, who wasn’t even 8 yet, was not only sensitive to God’s leading, but he was faithful and obedient to the call!

At that moment, I truly understood for the first time the passage in Mark 10:13-16, where Jesus talked about the faith of a child and the kingdom of heaven.

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

What an example Gavin set, and what a challenge he gives. What would happen if all of us would take the time to ask God what He wants us to do, and then be faithful to do what we were told? We could change the world!

As we prepare to bring a new member of our family home, we hope and pray that we will raise a child that has a heart like Gavin’s. He blessed our socks off (and those of many others), and I know God had to have smiled!

The process of adoption is very different than growing a family the traditional way, and there have been times when we’ve grieved over not being able to experience growing our family in the “normal” way. However, we’ve also celebrated because someday, we will be able to tell our child how much he or she was loved and prayed for by so many, before they were even born. Today’s story about a faithful little boy named Gavin will be one of our favorites to tell!