A Special Adoption Gift

Dear Mystery Donor,

How do you write a thank-you note to someone who single-handedly made your adoption possible? There are no words that will ever be worthy of such an incredible gift!

Since receiving your donation, we have experienced extreme joy, shock, feelings of unworthiness, and feelings of incredible worth. I wanted this thank-you letter to be worthy of the magnitude of this gift. I wanted the words to sound poetic and moving, so that others might be as encouraged as we have been. Unfortunately, I am not a wordsmith, so I can only say THANK YOU and tell the story of how you changed our lives forever!!

Jonathan and I have been sitting at 17^th on the waiting list for our adoption for almost a full year. We were discouraged (or I was) that it would even still be possible to complete our adoption in Ethiopia. Then on September 10th we got an email that our agency received an influx of new referrals, putting us at #9 on the list! Jonathan, baby Delia, and I walked around Radnor Lake that day thanking God and talking excitedly with newfound hope about what was to come.

Moving up the list got us started thinking about fundraising again as well. If our adoption would be coming sooner, we wanted to be prepared. Last Friday, October 10^th, Jonathan and I sat talking with some dear friends who were in town. We told them we would love to do one more big project with the goal of raising $10,000 to finish up our adoption fundraising. We brainstormed ideas with them, even though I felt a slight uncertainty at starting another large project. It seemed daunting and overwhelming.

Then on Tuesday, just four days later, I got an email from Fellowship that said, “A Special Adoption Gift,” in the subject line. The email read,

“Great News.  I wanted you to know that we received a very generous donation for your adoption expenses in the amount of $10,000.  Wow!!!”

I was shocked!! At first I kept thinking, “Is this a mistake?” There was a feeling of incredible excitement mixed with an immediate sense of unworthiness. Who in the world would do something so incredibly HUGE for us?? “Maybe that was meant for someone else,” I told myself. How could we ever give sufficient thanks? I called Jonathan on a break at work, and we shared the overwhelming feeling of, “Wow!!!” just like the email said.

After sharing the news with my mom as well, she gave me a great metaphor for my feelings of inadequacy:

Think about babies. They want to eat when they are hungry (it doesn’t matter if it is convenient for you). They go to the bathroom and cannot clean themselves (even when it is a blowout and soils their clothes). They cry to have their needs met (even if it is in the middle of the night). They are utterly helpless. They have not done anything of accomplishment in their lives. They have done nothing to earn our affection, only demanded their rights in their own timing. BUT when babies are born, they are immediately adored. We love them deeply, coo over them, are proud of them even when they do the slightest things like smile or giggle or cuddle. We would give up our whole lives for them. They are totally worthy of all our love and devotion and good things, because of who they are. My mom pointed out that this is just how we are in Christ. We are selfish beings who demand our rights and needs and want them on our own timing. We have done nothing to earn love or devotion or good things, but God pours out those things over us, simply because of who we are. We are His precious children. We are His helpless babies that He wants to sing over and delight in.    

As I write this thank-you letter, Mystery Donors, I have an adorable 3 month old baby sitting next to me cooing away and smiling when I take breaks to talk to her and sing to her. The amount of joy she has brought me is exponential! To think that God thinks of me this way, enough to give such an incredible gift to our family through you, is beyond belief. Even though I am not worthy, he loves me enough to pour out good things in order to accomplish His work. You have made it possible to bring this kind of joy to our family again, to have a little child to love as a child of God.  And you have made it possible for us to mirror Christ’s love for a helpless, worthy child of God.

And so, anonymous donor, there will never be sufficient words to communicate our gratitude.  We will never feel worthy of this incredible gift. We will forever thank you for giving a life to our family. You have enriched our lives GREATLY.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Lindsey & Jonathan