First Fundraiser, Very Successful

We had our first fundraiser today. I would like to say thank you to each and every one of you who donated gifts and items to sell in the garage sale. From 7am to 1pm, we haggled with folks over prices on your items under the mostly sunny sky. The items we took filled the back of Teri's new van (all seats folded down), the bed of my truck and an enclosed 5X8 cargo trailer. When we left, we had only a few items remaining and they all fit in the cargo trailer with a little room to spare.

It was a good and fun experience. We met a family there, also selling items, who had adopted a little girl from China and we compared notes regarding the adoption process. We had a sign posted at our spot that said we were adopting a child from Ethiopia and all money earned would help with the costs associated with adoption. What we found is the people actually DO read those signs. People would ask us how much for something, we would tell them "fifty cents" and they would give us two dollars. We had a man shop our spot for a while and when he didn't find anything he really wanted or needed, he just gave us two bucks anyway. I had a few people tell me how excited they were for us in our decision to adopt. The man who adopted a child from China talked with me for a while about God's will and making sure we don't ignore it. It was a refreshing conversation.

The entire event was encouraging to me. I had a good time (despite the absence of any restrooms) during this fundraiser. A friend of Teri's once told her that every time Satan tries to discourage you from this process, God will pull through with an uplifting experience to prove this is His will. Sure enough, while battling to get Application 2 complete and contemplating how much easier it would be to abandon this process and remain status quo, God pulls through by showing a great deal of support from folks we've never met and will not likely meet again.

Our next such garage sale is schedule for Saturday, May 22, 2010 at our house in Rendon. If you have items that you don't want cluttering your garage or rooms anymore, please consider donating those items to the garage sale. I guarantee your gifts will go directly to the adoption fund.

And finally, the grand total of what your gifts and donations contributed to the adoption fund: $465.00. This will cover the fees required for ordering needed documents and for submitting application #2. So once again, a very HUGE thank you to all. Special thank to Teri's sister, Chris, for suffering with us in the sun without toilets. Also, special thanks to Chris' husband Branden and Teri's mom Mary, or"Nono" as the kids call her, for taking care of the kids during this time. God is Great!

JK