Monday, October 18, 2010

20 bucks...


It looks like an ordinary 20 dollar bill doesn't it? To most people there is nothing special about this 20 dollar bill. It may represent a meal out to eat or a few gallons of gas. But for me this 20 dollar bill is the beginning of a journey. For me this 20 dollar bill is inspiring.

This ordinary 20 dollar bill was given to me by a not so ordinary 15 year old young lady.


Briana is anything but your typical teen. While many other teenagers are out thinking of themselves and what makes them happy, Briana spends her time thinking of others. She is kind, thoughtful, so much fun, and has such a heart for children. She is also brave...she babysits my 3 wild and crazy boys all by herself (see I told you...totally brave...I have met some adults who are afraid to have all 3 of mine alone!).

Not long ago Briana babysat our boys while Nathan and I went to work on something for the adoption. As always she did an excellent job with our boys. I paid her $20 for her service and she was on her way.


It was about a week later when Briana came back to me with that same $20. She put it into my hands and said "I want to help bring your little girl home". At first I said "no", she had already helped by keeping the boys that night so we could get things done, I couldn't take the money back from her. But I could see in her eyes how serious she was. So with tears in my eyes I took the precious gift. I was so humbled and blessed by her willingness to give.

The average cost of an adoption from Ethiopia is (hold your breath)
$25,000...yikes...I know. To be honest we have no idea how in the world we will come up with it but we know God has called us to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia so we also know that He will provide.

So with our first $20 donation we will start the Kenzi fund! Thank you Briana for your generosity and for being a part of caring for "the least of these" by helping us to bring home a precious orphan child!

2 comments:

Keri said...

I am reading this with tears in my eyes. Man I love that girl! And she loves your boys.

We are anticipating the arrival of your little girl with you.

JMass said...

Definitely inspiring!