Today I received a call from Laura Valentine, telling me
that I have been awarded a grant in the amount of $5,000.00. This call was an answer to my prayers, a
miracle that allowed me to completely pay off the remaining balance owed to my
agency. I still have the voice mail that
she left on my phone asking me to call her back because she had some good news
to share with me. A voice mail message
that I will keep forever!
One afternoon my daughter Addison and I were surfing the
internet, looking for adoption grants. I
was starting to get frustrated because most of the agencies I called or sent
applications to told me that they only offered grants to married couples. While searching, we found the Laura Valentine
Ministries website. We were immediately
drawn in. Laura Valentine was born in
China, she is a singer and through her ministries, she helps families like us
that are adopting and she is offering a grant!
I completed my application and patiently waited (okay, not
so patiently). I checked the site daily
and to my disappointment, I found that the grant had been awarded to someone
else. I closed my eyes and asked God to
forgive me for being so disappointed and I told Him that I really needed this
grant (which He already knew) and if it was not His intention for me to receive
it, I would be happy for the winning family and the child that they will share
their life with someday.
Well, fast forward a couple of months. Another grant is available, so I immediately
complete my application and send it in.
Again, I check the site daily, and nothing. Nothing, until Monday, February 16th
when I got the call that changed my life forever. The call telling me that I have been awarded
a grant for $5,000.00. With trembling
hands I called Laura Valentine back. I
can honestly tell you that I do not remember what I said to her.
But there is more, so much more to this miracle. While Addison and I looked at Laura
Valentine’s website, and watched several of her videos, something was
happening. God was using Laura Valentine’s
testimony to work on Addison. While listening
to Laura Valentine tell her story about her adoption and how she was adopted
twice, once by her family then by God, Addison started asking questions. Addison was adopted by me at birth, now she
wanted to know how she could be adopted by God.
Together, we prayed and there that day she asked God to come into her
life and asked Him to give her eternal life.
God has plans for us and when we follow those plans things
have a way of working out. He provided
the funds that I needed to help with my adoption and He worked through Laura
Valentine to save my daughter. What an
awesome God we serve!
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future. Jeremiah 29:11
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