"And the people were restrained from bringing"

Exodus 25: 1-8 “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.’”

Exodus 36: 2-7 “Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work. And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, and they spoke to Moses, saying, ‘The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.’ So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, ‘Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.’ And the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too much.

I have always loved this piece of scripture. Out of love for God the people brought their offerings for the building of the tabernacle…and they brought…and they brought. So much so that the scriptures say the people had to be restrained from bringing! What a beautiful scene! However this morning this bit of scripture means something more to us. “From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering” means something more to us. “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do” means something more to us. Why?

VALENTIN’S ADOPTION IS FULLY FUNDED!!!!

We could not be more elated, grateful, or blessed! Valentin’s ransom has been paid!

You might be wondering “but Reece’s Rainbow shows that your adoption grant is $15,710, didn’t you need $24,000". Yes, we need $24,000, at least, probably even more because the stay in country is growing and it is looking like hubby is going to have to make 2-3 trips, which means more airline tickets. But Valentin has a separate grant of $3711 that will also go towards his adoption. Plus we have received checks written directly to us which puts us just over $24,000!

I want to scream it from the rooftops! I want to sing God’s glory! I want to give all of you a huge hug and kiss…ok, the kiss might be weird, but you understand the sentiment.

How about I take all those kisses and give them to Valentin :)

Soon, Valentin, very soon