Beautiful

29,000 dollars. 

That is how much money we ended up needing to rescue Aaron from a mental institute.

That is a lot of money.

Before anyone panics - it was not the normal amount for Aaron's country.

We are far from rich.  We struggled with how in the world we were going to raise that kind of money.

We had a few thousand in our savings account but that went quickly.  Too quickly.  Where in the world were we ever going to find the rest of what we needed?

We decided that we would sell everything that we had of any value and borrow the rest.

People were shocked when we told them.  How could we sell everything - would that be fair to Ben and Elijah - our sons.

Our answer was simple.  Aaron was our son.  In the same way we would sell everything for Ben and Elijah - we would also sell everything for this son whom we had never seen but whom God had placed on our hearts.

There was absolutely no difference.

Selling everything is a small price to pay for a child.

Small.

But God surprised us.

He provided what we needed.

Not in one big chunk. 

It took time.

Months.

But little by little...

Bit by bit...

The money came in.

In small bills and a few big ones.

From HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE.

That is what completely blew us away.

The amount of people who donated money for a little boy across the ocean.

We wanted Aaron to know.  We wanted him to see with his eyes how treasured and loved he is.

So we wrote - on a 500 piece puzzle  - every single name of every single person who gave to Aaron.

No matter what they gave.


And this week - that puzzle arrived - framed - beautiful.

It was my Dad's gift to Aaron.

Every single name a testimony of love for one little boy.

So many gave that we had to write names around the outside of the puzzle.

No he doesn't understand. 

I know one day he will.

And for all those who helped us bring our son home...

For those whose names are written on Aaron's puzzle...

THANK YOU!

FROM THE VERY BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS!