Let’s put on someone else’s shoes for a bit.

So it’s 2 AM, and she still can’t fall asleep, because something about those sad eyes is stuck in her mind. It’s like every time she closes her eyes, she sees his tiny hands and jet black hair.

Is it possible to fall in love with someone you’ve never met?

She gets up and goes to the computer once more. “The last time tonight, I promise,” she thinks.

He’s bookmarked.

Her husband comes out of the bedroom and places his hand on her shoulder.

“You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”

“About him?” She pauses even though she doesn’t need to think about it. “Yeah.”

“What’s his name?” He asks

“Adam.”

“Adam…” he says, testing out the name. “How old is he?”

“20 months, but the picture is maybe four months old”

“hmm…”

They pray. They pray because they know that they can’t stay still any longer. They pray because they have to do something, and they are scared to do it. They pray because they know they can’t do it alone.

“Where will he sleep?”

They pray again.

“Can we afford this?”

They pray again.

I don’t think these types of prayers often end with the heavens opening up and a dove flying down. I don’t think that the ones who pray are interrupted by a call from an anonymous donor who randomly picks seven digits and gives the recipient family whatever they need. Those stories are remarkable, but I think there’s a reason that it doesn’t usually happen that way.

There’s this period of faith, where a family has to say, “Yes, God. We are willing. We can’t do this in our own strength, but we believe that you wouldn’t have given us this fire in our hearts unless you had planned from the very beginning to walk with us through this.” And they cling to this faith when common sense tells them they are too weak and too poor to make it through.

But that’s only half the faith. That’s only half the miracle. I think that in the days of the prophets, we saw prayer answered in miracles. But nowadays, we don’t see a ton of water flowing from rocks and bread falling from the sky. So where do miracles come from today?

I think that they happen when God’s people listen to his calling. The other half of the miracle occurs when someone else hears this story and realizes that they cannot ignore it. When someone is prompted to partner with this family and do whatever it takes to make sure the child and his parents are united.

And then God brings these two halves together. The faith of the family and the faith of the sponsor are radically different, and yet in some crazy way, each one meets the spiritual needs of the other. The family is an example of God’s love, and the sponsor, an example of God’s faithfulness.

I guess it’s just crazy to think that one need can satisfy another. Two negatives shouldn’t add up to a positive, and yet somehow they do. That’s miraculous from where I stand.

I don’t know which part of this beautiful picture you fit into, but I suspect that since you’re here, you belong somewhere in the scene. I urge you to give in to that prompting, because what waits for you on the other end of it all is far more valuable than anything you’ll give up in the process.