We had a fundraiser at church this last Sunday. It consisted of Dan and I talking about adoption during the sermon and then we had a free will offering and an ice cream social afterwards. It was very exciting especially for me because I never talk in church, Dan however does it regularly. Dan did a small sermon about how God has ordained adoption and that we are all adopted by God and then I talked about our upcoming adoption, how adoption works etc. I was a little nervous and there were a few things I forgot and so you get to here them now.
First of all i love our church family and have from the first day we came there nearly three years ago, when they loved us from the second we walked in the door and made us feel so comfortable and welcome. Secondly: One reason (among many) we are adopting is due to the high risk pregnancy i had with our first daughter. For a long time I was very bitter that I didn't get the wonderful pregnancy everyone had always told me about. But then i realized that God knew we were meant to adopt, that it was what was in outr hearts and he also knew that I would never have had the courage to do it if "having babies" was so easy for me. So this is how God went about giving me courage. The last thing I forgot to say was what we would like you to pray for. I made little prayer cards and handed them out but I forgot to talk about them. If you could please pray for these three things: 1) For the birth mother: that she finds peace in this extremely difficult decision and that she finds us. 2) That we raise the remaining money needed for the adoption in a timely manner. 3) that we do not get discouraged in this long period of fundraising and waiting for a baby.
This brings us back to our church fundraiser. Everyone said we did a great talk and enjoyed hearing about adoption. We raised a little over $1,800 on Sunday. That brings the total the church has raised for us up to a little over $3,500. I find this incredible for our small little church and am overwhelmed by the love they have always shown us and continue to show us. I can not wait to pay that amount to our adoption agency.
I am hopeful that we can get the remaining amount of money we need through grants and special adoption loans. I have a cousin who wants to make our adoption her senior project for high school, pray that that goes good as well. Have anymore fundraising ideas? I am open to them!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
$20,000 to go
I just made a payment to our adoption agency (Bethany Christian Services) of $2,828. That puts our total amount of money we need left to $20,172. I know that's a lot but it is very uplifting to me it seems like we are almost over the hump and it all downhill after $20,000. We will see. This was a combination of two garage sales, a jewelery party, a personal donation and our own saved money. My next task is to start applying for all the grants and loans there are out there for adoption. The paperwork is so overwhelming it makes mi head hurt just thinking about it. But it has to be done and it will be.
On Juli 29th, our church is having us talk about adoption during the sermon time. A free will offering for the adoption and an ice cream social will follow. Everyone is welcome to come to church that day (and always) to here about our adoption story.
Our adoption story recent developments. I'm not sure I should be sharing this but it's an honest blog so here goes. A couple weeks ago we got an email from our agency saying they had a potential birth mom for us and was it ok if she looked at our book. Normally they don't tell you when people look at your book because they don't want to overly worry or excite you. However if there is a medical condition (in this case with the birth mother herself) involved they have to ask permission first. At first the medical condition seemed rather trivial so we were excited to have her look at our book. About a week latter we go another email that said the medical condition was more complicated then first known. This and another factor gave us pause but after thinking it through we decided we still want her to look at our book and IF she wants to meet us we will address the issues then. NOW DON"T GET EXCITED. (I have to tell myself that too) this just means someones looking at our book, it doesn't mean she wants to meet us or will pick us to be parents. If she does want to meet us we may find this is not a good fit for us and have to keep waiting. But it is something for us all to pray about please.
On Juli 29th, our church is having us talk about adoption during the sermon time. A free will offering for the adoption and an ice cream social will follow. Everyone is welcome to come to church that day (and always) to here about our adoption story.
Our adoption story recent developments. I'm not sure I should be sharing this but it's an honest blog so here goes. A couple weeks ago we got an email from our agency saying they had a potential birth mom for us and was it ok if she looked at our book. Normally they don't tell you when people look at your book because they don't want to overly worry or excite you. However if there is a medical condition (in this case with the birth mother herself) involved they have to ask permission first. At first the medical condition seemed rather trivial so we were excited to have her look at our book. About a week latter we go another email that said the medical condition was more complicated then first known. This and another factor gave us pause but after thinking it through we decided we still want her to look at our book and IF she wants to meet us we will address the issues then. NOW DON"T GET EXCITED. (I have to tell myself that too) this just means someones looking at our book, it doesn't mean she wants to meet us or will pick us to be parents. If she does want to meet us we may find this is not a good fit for us and have to keep waiting. But it is something for us all to pray about please.
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