Fundraising and your generous support

As we have previously mentioned, probably more than once, the process for us to adopt our little girl is an expensive one.  Once we made the decision to pursue adoption, we immediately started saving and allocating monthly income to go towards the costs.  But from the very beginning we knew we would have to look for creative ways to help us meet the costs.

As we talked about different ways we could use our skills to raise money, we knew that it had to be more than just a fundraiser; we wanted to get people involved in our story and excited for our little girl.  Well, our recent efforts, and your incredible (and yes, surprising -Adam has been very surprised and humbled- by the amount of money that has come in to support us) generosity have helped us in a huge way.  And we want to say thank you to those that have given or supported us, and explain what that money is allowing us to do in our process.

In case you missed them, here is a quick list of the different ways we worked to raise funds:

• family photo sessions
• Instagram auction 
  
• homemade cake pops and caramel corn at a craft faire 
  
• Mama t-shirts 
  

The out of pocket cost for us has been minimal.  Everything auctioned was donated, the supplies for the homemade goodies were all purchased strategically with coupons.  The t-shirts were given to us at below cost.  So while we put in a little money at the front end, we have been successful at using these opportunities to generate funding for our adoption. All said and done: we raised over $3,800!!  

Furthermore, November 8th was Adoption Sunday and we were given an opportunity to speak briefly in church.  You can watch most of it here. As we finished saying our few words, we were blessed with a special offering that will be used to pay adoption costs on our behalf.  

We have also received notification that we have been approved for one of the 5 grants we have applied for (no word from the other 4 until the end of the year at least)! Add to that a number of checks and envelopes of cash given to us in person or showing up in our mailbox, and the funds just keep growing.  Every time someone gives to our adoption it is humbling and exciting.  Every single time.  Every single dollar.

Overall, we have $25,000 out of  the expected $35,000 total.  We have almost 3/4 of our adoption expenses! Where will your generosity get us?  It will allow us to pay all filing fees for the US government, all filing fees for the Chinese government, all fees for our adoption agency, and all the in-country fees and expenses (like visas, orphanage fee, medical exams, paperwork and more paperwork!)   All that we have left are the travel costs to and in China to pick up our little girl.  We cannot wait to announce that our adoption is fully funded! To even write that statement, I get a little choked up.

This is an incredible feat and we are so thrilled.  So thrilled.  And blessed.  Adam continually reminded Laura to keep her expectations low because he was afraid she would be disappointed.  Shame on him!  She continued to remind him she could pray big. Laura was surprised.  Adam was certainly surprised.  We are blown away by your incredible generosity.  So thank you all so much for supporting us so greatly.  

And the best news is that since we can pay for all the fees, we can process all our paperwork which means we will be matched with our little girl soon!!!  Can you even stand to wait to see her picture?  Or a video?  We are so thankful that right now, money is not a hindrance to us being matched.  Although there is much to be done before that can happen (translation: paperwork and government bureaucracy), as each approval occurs, we are prepared to pay for the next round of fees.  Praise the Lord from whom all blessings come!

He is faithful to provide.  We knew He would, but it has been amazing and humbling to experience it.  Thank you for being a part of God's calling in our lives.  May the Lord bless you each for allowing Him to use you to bless us in this journey!  

Thank you for your support and prayers generosity. 

I-800A Approved

We received notification that our I-800A or the Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country was approved!

This a big step in the right direction.

We are now able to submit all of our dossier paperwork for authentication to the California Secretary of State.  And then to the Chinese Consulate.

Please pray for expediency in these next two rounds of approvals.