I teach a class at our home school group called Life Stories. Life Stories is a class that i LOVE and will teach as long as i possibly can. I LOVE biographies and so this class fits perfectly with my passions.... missions, adoption, and in general...people coming in and sharing their LIFE STORY!
Well, every time for the first class of the semester, i tell a part of MY life story. Obviously, our Ethan's story has kind of been pretty up front in importance and so the students have learned about Ethan's country, orphanage life, and such. I tried to teach the kids in the class that we can ALL do something. I again did this with this year's spring class quite a few weeks ago. (i forgot to let you know that the kids in the class are aged 12-16).
This time the kids in the class actually got to see pictures of children in orphanages AND children who have come home AND the changes that happened. They also got to see pictures of our trip to finally meet our Ethan. The kids in the class LOVED Ethan...more than i even realized!
I have just wanted to plant a seed into these kids' lives. I have wanted to stretch their minds into realizing that there are children out in this world who just want a mom and dad to love them. There are kids in this world who are starving. There are kids in this world who are being treated poorly and that WE CAN ALL DO SOMETHING!!! Well, this past Monday, i was blown away by just how amazingly the kids GOT it!!!
I came into class and it was so sweet in that the kids asked me about Ethan! They wanted updates! They wanted to know when he was coming home. It was such a joy to have people that CARED about our son in such a passionate way....but that was just the beginning. The eldest in the class is a young man named, Ty. Ty has Cerebral Palsy and is a dear! This is his second time taking my class as he LOVES hearing the stories of different people and i bring in different people each semester so it is like a new class each time. He quietly handed me some money telling me to count it because he thought that it was around $30. I started to count it....money that he made by making and selling Angel Food Cake just for Ethan's adoption fund....it was over $135!!! This was the SECOND time that Ty has done this!!! He just blew me away! He wants Ethan HOME SOON!!! He was so full of joy!!!
We had class and then i was about to go onto the next class when i saw that one of my students was staying in the room. I remember something about knitting being talked about for the next class....but i went on my way to the next class. I went by the front desk where i saw a grocery bag with my name written in big letters across it. The lady at the desk nonchalantly said that there was something for me. I was so confused because i knew that i had all of my Shotsibaby fundraiser items. I went to the next class where it took a LONG time to undo the ribbons but i finally opened it (with a couple of the children gathering around) and sucked in my breath. There in the bag was a huge and beautiful prayer shawl and i knew IMMEDIATELY who did it (there was no signature...just a note that said it was for my prayers for Ethan)! I told the teacher that i had to go and that i would be back and i walked right back to where my last class had been.
Let me back up. A few weeks ago, i received a card in the mail with an address that i didn't know. It was a card from one of the girls in my first class. She wrote me a sweet note letting me know that she is praying for our Ethan and that she appreciates my class. It was a good length note and a cute card and it made me happy! Her mother is the teacher in the second class that was teaching how to make a prayer shawl!!! It all came together!
I went into that classroom and had my eyes locked onto that girl's eyes the whole way across the big youth room. She knew by the look in my face that she couldn't talk her way out of it...i KNEW it had been her! She is a young teenager. She has hand made a prayer shawl for me so i could have it to pray for Ethan!!! I lifted her out of her chair and went to hold her and started to quietly weep as i heard her mother say behind me...."Oh Phoebe, so THAT is who you made that for!" Her mother then prayed for our adoption process, for our family, and for Ethan (whom i shared that my heart is yearning so hard for).
These two young teens showed my world that giving can be given from anyone. It made me think of the widow's mite from the Bible. It then made me think of the first time when we were able to give to something when my hubby was out of work for eighteen months...... there is SUCH JOY in giving when you have so little!!! It is such a BLESSING when it is a sacrifice!!! Do you know someone who has given from their very little....doesn't it mean SO MUCH more than if it was given from an abundance? A sacrificial gift is priceless and will never be forgotten! Ty and Phoebe have taught me once again how incredible it is to give and to do so sacrificially and with FAITH!!! SO proud of how they are learning this at a young age and i pray that it will continue through their whole lives....where they will DO WHAT THEY CAN!!!
ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie for the crew
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