More than just a Quilt Raffle

I don't know why I am still surprised by the awesomeness of our God.  I mean sometimes it just hits me like a 2x4 in the head...  How can the God of the universe use EVERY aspect of my being to work together for MY good?  I mean it says that in the bible!  

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  ~Romans 8:28

How can He care so much about ME to work within EVERY detail of my life?  Who am I?  What have I done?

But then I am hit by that pesky proverbial 2x4 (is proverbial right here?  I am not sure)... It doesn't matter what I have done or who I am... God's goodness, love, faithfulness, holiness, righteousness (I could keep going on here) is because of who HE is and what HE has done.  I fall flat on my face in awe of this awesome awesome God who continues to use so many things in our adoption journey to show Mike and I all of these things about Him.  He continually draws us closer to Him and I praise Him for the many things he is, and continues, to do in our lives.

With that being said, I would like to bring up this little quilt raffle that I posted about last week. (You can read more about it in my previous blog post)

So, as many of you know, a wonderful, dear friend, Mrs. Barbara Gaddy, donated a quilt for Mike and I to use in an adoption fundraiser.  Seems simple, right?  I post it on my blog, people buy tickets to help us with our adoption expenses, and then we go on our happy way!  But, God took things a whole different direction for us.  Yes, we are raising money and, yes, people are purchasing tickets, but this quilt raffle has created quite a stir!  How you say?  I have had strangers emailing me with sweet words of encouragement, people I don't know are sharing my blog to encourage their followers to purchase tickets, my friends are sharing my blog in their status updates on Facebook, and I have even had people offer to donate other gifts for runner ups in the raffle!

I mean, seriously God?  I fall flat on my face in awe of Your goodness.  The funny thing is I didn't want to do any adoption fundraisers.  Honestly I was scared.  Scared no one would want to donate, or purchase raffle tickets, or... I could go on.  Why?  Why do I short change myself when I know WITHOUT A DOUBT that God has lead us to this place, this moment and has blessed our adoption journey over and abundantly?  All I can do is sing praises to the Lord God Almighty!