Copycat Blessings

Back in 2007, as an independent consultant, I started selling a product line called Blessings Unlimited, a subsidiary of DaySpring and Hallmark.  The products are scripture-based and simply amazing.  In fact, I still display and use some of the pieces in my home.  I gave up selling the products and just last week threw out ALL of my catalogs and order forms.  Although Tony and I have been brainstorming about ways to increase our income to support our adoption, I totally dismissed Blessings Unlimited as an opportunity because the commission is 25% and I was thinking...hmm...25% for the sale of a box of $10 greeting cards...no, I don't think so -- I need something a lot bigger. 

Well, out of the clear blue yesterday, I got a call from the corporate office because a woman in Washington, DC wanted to place an order.  (To tell the truth, I was waiting for Ms. D from our corporate office to stop talking because I wanted to interject and tell her I've been meaning to call them to cancel my status as a consultant.  For some reason, I just couldn't do so.)  I politely told Ms. D, okay, I'll call her.  When I called this mystery customer, she was the sweetest elderly woman who said she'd been trying to reach the woman who gave her the catalog back in August but the woman wouldn't follow back up with her. Because of this, she called the home office.  We spent some time on the phone as she shared some wisdom with me about life and I later prayed with her about some situations in her own life.  When it was all said and done, this mystery customer was such a breath of fresh air in my day.  The icing on the cake was that she didn't want to place a small order.  In fact, her order totaled a little over $100.  She decided to purchase these two items:

Hope Framed Print for her granddaughter 

and a desktop compass for her grandson-to-be

I was totally blown away.  Throughout this process, I've been talking to other families about what 'they' have done to finance their adoption.  I wanted to know what worked well and what didn't so that I could try to duplicate much of it.  What I took to heart yesterday is that the way that God works out our adoption journey will sometimes be different than the way He works it out for amazing families like the Dubois', the Boyd's, the Wages', the Davis', the Kidd's, or the Bottomley's.  God is sovereign and an out-of-the-box creative kind of thinker.  Sometimes there will be delays but all the while I know that He is writing our child's love story.  He loves her and us so much that our story and testimony won't be cookie cutter.  He's created our story and testimony for a specific purpose.  I think so often we look at the lives of others and the ways they have been blessed and we want God to replicate that for us in some capacity.  Of course, we want Him to do it RIGHT NOW!  We try to put God in a box that He was never meant to occupy.  It's not that we should stop asking God for what we want and even desire because He tells us to do so; however, let's be open to the billion ways that God can work out your situation.

The funny thing about this call from Ms. D from our corporate office was that when I talked to her after I completed this sale, I was transparent with her and shared with her my thoughts about continuing with Blessings Unlimited and how I had just thrown out all of my sales aids.  I further shared with her how much I appreciated the way God used her to teach me such a valuable lesson.  What Ms. D responded with was that just earlier, she had prayed, "Lord, use me."  She wasn't specific about 'how' He should use her.  She just simply said, "Use ME" and He did.

Oh...and just in case you were wondering about Blessings Unlimited, yep, I've decided to definitely continue selling the products.  Click here to preview the products at  www.michellemckinney.blessingsdirect.com.

100% of my profits go towards the adoption.  AND YES, I've learned that even the $10 greeting card purchases are a HUGE WIN in our adoption journey.  If you'd like to support us in this way, you can choose to make a purchase now or wait until our home study is completed; it's all up to you.  Please don't forget to share the link with your family and friends.

Chew on this -- Joyce Meyer says this in her book Simple Prayer:

So we have to trust God enough to say, "You know, God, I have the confidence to ask You for anything.  But I don't want anything that is not Your will for me.  And I trust You, God.  If I don't get it I will know that the timing is  not right or that You have something better for me and I simply have not thought to ask for it yet.  But I am not going to get a bad attitude or go pout because You are not giving me everything I want."

So tell me, What about you?  What has God done in your life that has just blown you away because it's not what you were expecting at all?