These were the words we were so ready to hear and we heard (read) them yesterday!
Dear Todd & Dawn ~
Congratulations on your acceptance into the Ethiopia program!
It was strange yesterday because I was feeling anxious all day hoping that we would hear from the agency. I kept checking my email throughout the day and we received their email at 5:30pm! I feel like this is how the whole process will be - get stuff done and then hurry up and WAIT!
So now we have PILES of paperwork to fill out, be assigned a social worker to start our home study, and take some informative classes! We are looking forward to all these steps but also know it will continue to be a "hurry up and wait" experience for the next 18-24 months! Please pray for us that we will have wisdom as we move forward in all things and God will keep us wrapped in his love as we work on our patience (well mostly my patience.. lol)
Lastly I do have a favor from all of you reading.... I really need some feedback from all of you. We have been praying about doing some fundraising for our adoption. Our adoption is estimated to be about $25,000 from start to finish. We are aware of some tax write offs at the end of the process (about $10,000) and will be able to get some help from Todd's work since they are adoption advocates ($5,000 per adoption). Which leaves us $10,000 to come up with. I don't know about you all but $10,000 is a lot for us! Plus we hope that this will be one of several adoptions we complete. We know that God will provide which is why we have stepped out in the process without an extra $10,000 in the bank, but with all that said - we are considering fundraising with the idea that our Christian brother's and sisters will come together with us in prayer and support to bring orphans to a loving family. BUT - we worry that this could be "sticky" that while we have heard from many adoptive parents that their fundraising experiences were received well, we have also hear from a few that it was not received so well :( So what all do you think? Our fundraising ideas include:
* A t shirt sale that will not just be specific to our adoption but to raise adoption awareness in general
* A 5k and/or a golf tournament. We have thought that these events could be where a portion of the proceeds go to our adoption and a portion to an orphanage.
So that's what on our heart - excitement - and planning for the next steps!! We look forward to hearing your thoughts as well as going through this journey with all of you!!!!!
"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you" John 14:18
Prayers and Blessings - Dawn
3 comments:
I think fundraisers are great. No one has to buy anything or participate, just if they are led. You may want to see if your agency will allow people to make tax deductible donations to your adoption. If they don't there are organizations that do that. Some people are more inclined to give if they get to write it off.
Fundraising is a great idea. One family I know had a family fun day where they offered kids games, face painting, food, and a silent auction for goods and services around the community. I don't know how much they made, but every little bit will count! I am so happy and excited for your family!!
-Laurie
You know my thoughts. My sister and her husband have been on this road for 5 years. They do fundraising - have had 5 garage sales and ask people to donate some things, as well as selling some of their stuff. Granted, she used to live in California (the state, not our lovely town), but she made $1000-ish at her sales. And of course they are Amazon affiliates. So everytime I buy something through Amazon, which is all the time, Amazon donates a portion of what I spend and puts it into her adoption fund account. That has some upfront for you - getting signed up - then you just give out your link and when people order through Amazon using your link it goes to your account. You know I love the tshirt idea because it allows me to help you. The 5k I would miss and well the golf...
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