The Blessing of Fundraising

So, we've now been at this fundraising for about 6 weeks. I've learned a few things and I wanted to share them with you.

Fundraising, although a bit intimidating, is a blessing. Why? Because it gives me the opportunity to teach others about adoption. If we could just pull $40K out of our back pockets and pay for it, we might not be as verbal as we are about our process. As it is though, we need help. We need the people of God to come alongside us and partake in the story. We need your prayers and your encouragement. Our adoption becomes a gift to not just our family and our future kids, but also to those who choose to involve themselves in it. They have great joy as they see our thermometer rise. Can you imagine the joy they will share when they see us in the same photograph with our newly ransomed children? Oh! It makes my heart race with excitement!

Adoption is expensive. Okay, we ALL knew that before I ever wrote it. To many, it might be viewed as a road block...but to others, it's simply a sign that God is in it. If YOU are considering adoption but are intimidated by the cost...don't be. Not because the cost isn't great, but because it's God's heart to place the lonely in families. (Psalm 68:5&6) His heart is FOR the orphans. They are His beloved children. He will see to it that the money is provided. Many times, He wants you to take the step of faith first. Will you trust Him?

The money that is needed to pay for the agency, fingerprints, documents, home study, training, visas and passports, flights over and back,  court and lawyer fees is WORTH IT. You know it's true: if your child was kidnapped, you'd pay anything to get them back. This is ransom. In adoption, we are ransoming our children from poverty and disease and a life as an orphan. We imitate God Himself in this act because Jesus gave His life as a ransom--bringing us back not from the arms of a kidnapper or from the grip of poverty but from sin itself!

A few people have asked me if our adoption agency was encouraging us to fundraise. The answer is yes. They made some recommendations of other groups to partner with (one being Just Love Coffee--click the coffee beans in the side bar to check it out.) Our agency is one of the lower priced agencies...trying to make adoption the most affordable possible. They are incredibly helpful and insightful to us in this process. They understand the state that families are in when they apply to adopt.

Maybe the coolest thing about all of this is that as I obey, I end up encouraging other people. Others watch us do this and realize that if we can do it, so can they. Wow! What a joy it has been to receive letters from people who say, "You may not realize it, but you are influencing us. Because you have taken this step of faith, we have seen your obedience and realized that we can too." Amazing. Fundraising forces us to be in the open with this...and who knows how many other orphans will be given homes because of it!

So at this writing, we have raised less than $4,000 of our needed $40,000. I have no doubt that God will show up in big ways and provide it. I know that I will need to sacrifice, cut back and do my part...but that in that process He will continue to draw me to Himself and help me learn to rely on Him for EVERYTHING. That's really what it's about anyway.

"Stay joined to Me, and I will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to Me."                      
                                                                                                                                  John 15:4

Do you "Just LOVE Coffee?"

There's something really neat that happens when you embark on the journey of adoption. A lot really! But one thing that has delighted my heart is interacting with the amazing community of fellow adoptive families. I have been so blessed and enriched by them! I feel like I am just beginning to dip my toes in the waters of adoption and and already I am just so blessed!

One such blessing I have come across is a family by the name of Rob and Emily Webb. They have adopted daughters from Ethiopia and while doing their preparation research, they discovered that COFFEE was born in Ethiopia. (I didn't know that! Did you?) This was interesting information to him in particular, not just because they loved coffee, but because Rob and family owned and operated a coffee roasting house in Tennessee. He was brokenhearted by the way coffee farmers often were unfairly compensated for their work and decided to make a difference. He now runs Just Love Coffee that roasts FAIR TRADE coffee and donates a portion of the proceeds from each bag ($5 each!) to the orphanage where his daughters once lived. This alone would be really cool, but Rob has gone further. He has opened up this coffee loving venture to any family who is in the process of adopting as well!

Coffee in your favorite mug is always the best!

So you coffee enthusiasts, you can order your next bag of beans from Rob and support our adoption at the same time! I love things like this! You can make a slight change in your routine and by that slight change, make a big impact! (Picture the image of a pebble making big ripples in the lake!) If you were to order your coffee online from Rob instead of picking up your next bag at the supermarket, you will help us get a step closer to reducing the orphan population by two. And that is a big thing when you are those two orphans.

You can click on the link above (the name in white) in this post or you can use the widget on the side of the blog to be directed to our Just Love Coffee account. I thank you in advance for your java-drinking-orphan-loving support! Hey! It's time to brew!