A Family Reunion with Show Hope
Back on Memorial Day Weekend, our family had the amazing opportunity to attend a “family reunion,” of sorts, in Franklin, Tennessee. Show Hope celebrated 10 years of changing children’s forevers by inviting anyone who has been impacted by their ministry to come to their stomping grounds for a giant party. As you probably already know, Show Hope is an integral part of our family’s adoption story. I recently stumbled upon this story that was part of a message I had preached just a few short weeks before we brought Mihret home. I want to share it again because it perfectly illustrates the way God uses people connected with Show Hope…
God is on a mission here on earth. And He has chosen to accomplish His will through the obedience of His people. God wants the Gospel to be shared around the world. Although He could have the good news of Jesus Christ proclaimed through a blast of a trumpet or by writing it in the sky or some other supernatural method, He has chosen to use people like you and me to accomplish His will.
One example of God using the combined efforts of His followers to accomplish His will that has really impacted our family recently has been our experience during this whole adoption process. We know that God has commanded His followers to take care of widows and orphans. But it’s no secret that it can be expensive. One night, as I was tucking Aiden into bed a few weeks ago, he asked me about how we were going to be able to pay for the plane tickets. “Well,” I said to him. “God will provide. We know that God has called us to this and we know that He’ll provide.”
“How?” Aiden asked.
Suddenly, Alyson walked into his room and said, “I know! Maybe God will just make money appear in our bank!”
I paused for a second. “Well,” I said, “He could do that. But let’s don’t plan on that. Lots of times, God likes to use the gifts of people who love Him to help others.” Apparently this satisfied them because they both went to bed and didn’t really say anything else about it.
The very next day, we received notification from a ministry that provides financial assistance to families who are adopting internationally. We were awarded a grant that has allowed us to buy the plane tickets to Ethiopia. The primary way this ministry is able to provide financial assistance to families is through the combined efforts of God’s people using God’s resources to God’s glory.
Everyone who participated in Show Hope’s efforts five years ago made a difference. They helped us bring our daughter home. Because Show Hope is woven into our family’s story, we could not pass up this opportunity to meet our extended family – other people who have been directly impacted by Show Hope’s efforts face-to-face.
Show Hope Celebration, a set on Flickr.
We toured the Show Hope office and I was excited to finally get to meet Melissa in real life. We had “known” each other on twitter for several years (which probably counts as two decades in twitter-time) and had several opportunities to meet each other in real life over the years, but we kept missing each other for one reason or another. The timing for this meeting couldn’t have been better, though. Melissa has since moved on to join Amazima Ministries. It was great to finally put a name and face with an actual person and voice. Thank you, Melissa, for all the work you’ve done and continue to do. I’m sorry I didn’t think to take a picture of us together. These were the only ones I happened to get…
Meeting the staff who helped us bring our daughter home was pretty phenomenal. The block party they hosted at Lipsomb the next day? Fantastic! A concert featuring the likes of Laura Story, Andrew Peterson, Audio Adrenaline with both Kevin Max and Mark Stuart, AND Steven Curtis Chapman? Amazing. Walking around campus all weekend without anyone staring at us or doing a double-take because our family doesn’t look like most families?
Priceless.
We were truly celebrating with an extended family that weekend. And it was a beautiful thing.
Congratulations to Show Hope for 10 years of orphan care! They are truly changing the world one child at a time.
**Show Hope has designated August as “Adoption Aid” month. If you would like to partner with Show Hope, even a $5 donation can help change the world of a child who needs a forever family.**
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