Charles Dickens said
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
Over the last couple
of months, Cam and I have had our fair share of burdens to carry, but we have
not carried them alone. One lesson that I continually learn is that I do not
need to carry my burdens all by myself. I want to, but I don’t need to and
usually, they, quite quickly, turn from being just my burden but rather a
shared experience of encouragement with others. Other lives open up and serve
as a reminder that some have been where you are and even if they haven’t there
are some that are willing to walk alongside you and help carry a specific
burden.
Even when the road is
hard there are moments of overwhelming joy and gratitude for how far you are
one the road. It’s times like these when all you can do is sit down on the side
of the road – in silence. Tears begin to fall and make their mark in the dirt.
Overwhelmed with gratitude.
On Saturday, June 14,
around forty of our friends came together to work on a widow’s house. We had
prepared for this day. There were team meetings, lists and letters. Our plan
was to work on a widow’s house for the entire day and raise money so that two
orphans would no longer be orphans. And what a day it was – simply amazing. If
you haven’t watched the video yet, you need to. When I watch it, not only am I
reminded of how hard everyone worked, how much fun we had but also that I
really, really do have an Australian accent J. Recently, we learned the final total of the
funds that came in from all over the United States AND Australia. We raised a
total of $14,094.74. Yes! Really - $14,094.74!! And we also learned that we can
use $3,000 of that toward one of our matching grants which means the Both Hands
project will have raised $17,094.74. Oh man! You see, when the burden is heavy
and news like this comes, I sit – in silence – in tears and am overwhelmed by
God’s provision for us and two orphans whom we are yet to meet.
Back in October of
last year we began the journey of adoption. As we were packing our bags with
everything we needed at that time we also slipped the price tag into one of the
pockets. A $48,290 price tag. We are not sure when this particular journey will
end or how many more hills we need to climb but as we sit down for a bit we can
now pull out the price tag and find that as of today it reads $5,000!!!! Now,
that is much lighter than what it was in October. Cam and I just look at each
other in amazement because so many people have joined us and helped us to raise
$44,223 so far!
Our journey continues
to humble us and remind us that it is not about us. The story is about the one
who has adopted us and makes us His own.
Thanks for reading.
Taryn (& Cam)
Make a donation to our
adoption fund here: http://smallworldadoption.com/
Check out our Both
Hands video here:
