End of the line...

Hosting sign-ups for Summer 2012 are over.

I have mixed feelings about this.

On one hand, Rick can stop joking about having my cell phone surgically attached to my ear.
Yes, I've been on the phone A LOT the last few months-- ESPECIALLY this last 6 weeks.
In fact,  I alone used up all the minutes on our family plan. And not only did I use them all up.... I went OVER our allotted minutes. Yeah... the checkbook isn't going to be happy about that one.

So, sure, I'm glad this part of "hosting" is over and done with.

But on the other hand, I see the faces of the children that weren't hosted... that weren't chosen.
Most of them I met.... many of them I played UNO with....
and it just makes me sad.
I am so burdened for them.

I had a neat thing happen last night though. It would take way too long to explain in detail; but at the last minute we got 2 more hosted. A brother/sister duo from my favorite orphanage in UKR. YAY!
And when I say last minute... I really mean LAST MINUTE. The deadline for hosting was 10pm last night. The host family called at 9:51.... gave me a "yes" and I texted our lead hosting coordinator at 9:59 with their decision.
There are several more tangents to this story, ones I'm not going to cover. But with the way it all came together... all the people involved... the timing... the specifics... the fact that none of the parties involved were even supposed to talk to me (they're not in my "region")... no human could have orchestrated this.

But that leads me back to why I'm NOT ready for this part of hosting to be over. I have witnessed so many acts of God... miracles... in this hosting process.

Families who are called to host but ABSOLUTELY cannot afford it... step out on faith and BAM-- they get the money when they need it. (And in some cases, even more than they need!) YES-- we serve a God who does stuff like that!

Families where the mom wanted to host, but the dad was TOTALLY against it. And then-- out of the blue-- the dad would have a change of heart and be completely on board.

Families with housing problems... job instability... family issues... serious scheduling conflicts... ALL RESOLVED in order that they could host.

Families who were already hosting, but felt led to offer a SUBSTANTIAL scholarship so another family could host.

A confirmed host family where the mom had a serious and sudden life threatening condition come to light. A condition in which only 2% of the people affected survive an attack. She was found... not breathing... no pulse on the floor of her home earlier this week. A woman in her early 30's with a husband and 2 young children.
People-- she is alive and well and prepping for surgery to have a defibrillator placed in her chest.
She is expected to go HOME today or tomorrow, with no apparent lasting side effects from the lack of oxygen to her brain. PRAISE GOD!

God has a plan.
He has a plan for these host families.
He has a plan for the children who were hosted.
He has a plan for the children who were not hosted.

All we have to do is wait... watch to see where He is working and moving... and then join Him there.