Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Fundraising Fever

It's safe to say that we are behind the masses when it comes to fundraising.


In fact...with the exception of Journey of Love.....(which has been amazing--thank you all so much!)


we...um...well....


We haven't exactly done. anything. really.


With graduate school and keeping up with Journey of Love and working full-time and..and..and...


We just didn't have the time to plan or organize anything.


That, however, didn't mean we had all the funds we needed to complete this adoption just sitting in our savings account.


Nope, not even close.




Rabbit trail: Some people have a really hard time asking for help when it comes to building our own families. I would EASILY fit in that category. I understand that typically, for people to build their families, it doesn't require fundraising efforts, donations, or anything close to a village. It took me a long time to realize that this was SO MUCH more than just our family growing (although we DO get the immediate blessing of parenting this child). This was about so many different people standing up and doing something about the orphan epidemic in our world. There are millions and millions of children. They NEED the love of a family. And if you aren't in a position to bring them in to yours, please help somebody else...This is a global crisis. No child deserves to spend even one day in an orphanage and I had to realize, that WE may not like to ask for help..but this journey was never about us. This has always been about God's pursuit of his child and in that.....we know God will use as many of his children as possible in that journey because only then do they get the blessing of being involved in something so much bigger than themselves.




So, here were are--looking down the barrel of a referral (we hope) coming any day now...


Knowing that the REAL expenses (anyone priced flights to Ethiopia x's 2 for two/three people lately???) are about to hit us head-on.


And all of the sudden, I was hit with the fundraising fever! Imagine that?


First and foremost, we have a HUGE yardsale extravaganza coming up April 30th!!


To say that we've been blessed by friends, family, and even strangers would be a MASSIVE understatement!!


We are believing God for $4000.  We know that's big, but so is our God!






Second {and that which I am most excited about today} is our puzzle piece fundraiser and raffle which will run from May 1st to May 30th. Our full 7th month on the waiting list.


Ya'll wouldn't believe some of the beautiful prizes I have been given (and if you have something you are willing to donate--we are still asking for prize donations, so email me please!!!)


I can't wait til we unveil the prize list, but here's a sneak peek at the puzzle we will be putting together, one puzzle piece at a time!! This will be framed in glass and hung in our home as a constant reminder of all the people who were instrumental in bringing our family home together!






We are heading off for Florida this weekend and are heading straight to NWA when we return for the big extravaganza! If you don't hear from me before we get back, please keep us in your prayers!! We know God wants to do big things through this fundraiser and we can only hope that people answer His call!




Til I return tan and exhausted,

*Ashley Lou*

0 comments:

Post a Comment