We got some good news tonight regarding our funding. When we sent our big paperwork to Colombia it was required that we also send $5,000 for translation, attorney fees, etc. Well we switched to the China program because of all of the issues Colombia and our orphanage were having. We thought that $5,000 was gone. Then we were told that our agency would work on getting some of it back for us to use toward our China dossier, translation, etc. Well, today we got word that we will get $4,400 of our $5,000 back! I am thrilled. Now that we know we'll have that money...(here's the really exciting part)...WE ARE FULLY FUNDED!! With the help of so many friends, family, strangers, sales, picking up extra hours at work, etc. We did it!
For those of you who have never considered adoption because of the cost, know that the funds can be raised! It takes a lot of time, a lot of sacrifices, a lot of people a lot of work, and a whole bunch of prayer, BUT it can be done!
I'm going to try to list everything we have done to encourage you if adoption is something you would like to raise some money for, or if you're just curious...
Here we go:
We received a lot of money from our church family, friends from this blog, and facebook friends.
We started a blog, created a chipin account, and sent letters asking (humbling experience, let me tell you!) for help.
Last summer we had 4 yard sales at different peoples' houses. Many people went through their things and gave us items to sell. (We made $2,000, but, man, lots of work.)
We gave soup cans to people asking them to keep their loose change for us.
We had a "spirit night" at Chick Fil' A, raised $150.
One day I was talking about adoption to a lady at Burger King and she handed me $20.
We had an amazing Adoption Benefit (talk about a lot of work and workers! and truly one of the best days ever) that raised $4,000.
We applied to a number of grants and received one for $5,000 from ShowHope. Thank you!
AND most recently a class of high school students heard about our adoption and raised $300 for us!
I am so excited and feel so very very very very blessed.
We are about 3 weeks away from having a 2nd completed Dossier, this time for China.
Thank you so very much for your prayers, encouragement, funding, work, and support. We could not have done it without you!!
