COUNTING COSTS

THE FOLLOWING POST IS COPIED FROM http://thelongsgrowingfamily.blogspot.com

I was deeply moved by this blog entry. Here's just a snipit:
"Adoption is not cheap. It comes with a high cost. And the bottom line is that those costs continue to increase once the adoption fees are paid. Bottom-line is that getting them home is not even close to half the financial struggle. My wife has a favorite saying..."Life is expensive!" The reality of adoption..."Adoption is expensive. "... and it is just a part of our life. Bottom-line is that there are 7 kids in our house that need a chance at life...(Not all that life has to offer since so much of what life has to offer is undesirable...) but a chance at life nonetheless. Of ocurse, we are only in the early stages of our adopted kids joining our bio kids at home. It will only get more expensive. School assessments and curriculum (we home school), dental appointments, doctor appointments, gas, groceries, water bills, toilet paper, hair care products (I'm thinking random head shavings could become common practice !!), did I mention bananas by the bunches, the list goes on and on. And the bottom-line is that all of this has to be paid for with actual currency of some sort. I actually get upset every now and again at just how much it does cost to live in this world and raise a family.
But God...I so much love the many passages of Scripture that start out this way...You see, the bigger bottom-line is that God is able. God knows it is not cheap and God knows that it will only get more expensive. There are no secrets with God. God knows that most of us do not have the finances for adoption costs collecting dust in the corner of our dresser. Bottom-line is that I am not able to provide for 7 children...But God! Bottom-line is that (this is real to Kris and I) we had absolutely no way to come up with the upfront costs of adoption...But God! Bottom-line is that I have no idea how we will afford these kids moving forward...But God! Bottom-line is that God has never made a calling on anyone's life without first having made provision for that calling. Who does God borrow from? God owns the cattle on a thousand hills...God knows all of His children by name...God knows and has named the stars that He hung in Heaven. God will use any means He desires to make the provision for the adoption you are considering.
Bottom-line - I was correct and am still correct...I have no way to pay for or afford this adoption and I have no way to continue to meet the financial needs that are coming. But God! Bottom-line ...neither do you, and if you let that stop you, you will fall into the same trap that so many have fallen into that willl leave nothing done in the life of 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 children. God is in the business of growing His children, and generally that means that I need to learn to trust HIm more. And that's the bottom-line!

Wow! Trust him more. That is the lesson He keeps teaching me.