Let the FUN Begin!

"FUN" as in the first three letters of FUNdraising! Before you quit reading, let me share a quote with you and ask that you please read this post. And know that more than your financial support, we seek your encouragement, support and prayers. So please pray for us, this process, the finances, our boys, our girls, and even begin praying for our transition once we are all home.

Adoption is indeed expensive, and we are going to need to raise some funds to get our daughters home. Can I be honest? I hate asking for money. I do not like fundraising. It is one of the most pride-swallowing, humbling things we've ever done (Levi's adoption) and find ourselves doing once again. But we feel God saying, "Go!" loud and clear and we know that through our efforts, the generosity and support of others, and especially prayer, the money we lack will come!

We are planning several different events/ways to raise funds, and we want to share what we know so far with you so that you can decide which way(s) you may want to help. Please do not feel obligated to participate in every effort or at all if you are not feeling God calling you to do so. But we do ask you, especially our friends and family, to pray to see if God is leading you to give financially to help these orphans become our daughters.

One of the best ways you can help financially is through a donation directly to us or to Reece's Rainbow as we will receive 100% of your donation (minus PayPal fees). You can use the DONATE button on the top right of this blog or send a check (to avoid PP fees or if you don't have a PP account) to the address below the button with a note on the memo line of your check that your gift is for us. If you chose to give in this way, through check or online using this button, your donation is going straight to Reece's Rainbow and is 100% tax deductible. You will get a statement from them in January 2014. If you chose to give this way, until we request a donor list from RR, unless you let us know about your gift, we will not know of it or be able to acknowledge it until we get this list. We will likely request it near or after the time of travel and will acknowledge your gift at that time. If you'd like to donate to us directly and not give through RR, you can certainly give us a check or ask for our personal PP address, but giving in this way will not be tax deductible.

Listed below are some of the events we are planning. Again, please do not feel obligated to participate in all, more than one or any. We just want to share now so that you might best decide how you'd like to help. Specific dates and info to follow and will be on our FB page also.

June 15 - Garage Sale at our house. We are accepting donations from our local friends for this, and we are happy to pick up anything you'd like to donate between June 10-14! $500 raised

Now through July 5 - Usborne party hosted by my friend Brenda who has offered to host this and give 100% of her commission to us to get our girls home! Usborne has awesome books, flash cards, puzzles and more. We have some of their products, and they do not disappoint! When you consider purchasing, think ahead for baby showers, birthdays, Christmas, home schooling, etc. Thank you, Brenda, for offering us this opportunity! $93 raised

June/July - We are selling bracelets that are made in Haiti. Half of the sale of these bracelets go to Haiti and half is ours to keep for our adoption. They are $8 each, and you can click here to see pics and consider purchasing. I own two, and they are truly beautiful and each is unique as they are handcrafted. This is such a great opportunity because not only are you helping us, but you are helping those in Haiti also! $316 raised

July 18 - From 5-9 our local Sweet Frog will be giving us 20% of the proceeds from sales. You just have to mention the "Adamses' adoption" for us to get the proceeds. Feel free to share!! $22.47 raised

July 17-31 - Thirty-One party! My friend Lauren has generously offered to do this party for us and give us 100% of her commission which is 25% of the sales! So excited about this and grateful for Lauren and her generosity and willingness to help! When the party starts, I'll put up a direct link to the website. $180 raised

August until the girls get home - Selling fantastic reusable totes that I designed! Check them out here.

Late August - Pampered Chef party! My friend Heather, another Reece's Rainbow mama, will be giving us this party and her full commission which will be 20-25% depending on the sales. Thank you, Heather! $150 raised


October 6-12  - Online Auction that will be held on our FB page. We will need shoppers and donors for this.

After shopping an Usborne adoption fundraiser and having my own, I fell so in love with the products, that I signed up to be a consultant! You can purchase from me anytime OR host your own party! I would love to do a party for anyone or do adoption fundraisers for any families in progress. I will give adoptive families 100% of my 25% commission.

This may seem like a lot, and some things may not happen and other may be added. We are definitely willing to work and do what we need to do to get the funds that we will need!

As I end this novel of a post, I'd like to share with you the words of Tina Kacirek, a biological and adoptive mom whose blog can be found here. She wrote this as part of a bigger status on her FB wall a few months ago, and I'm sharing with permission.

We the body of Christ who call God our Father in heaven need to have a spirit check on how we see adoption and caring for orphans. If when you think on orphans you are not moved in spirit, get concerned. If you hear about a child in foster care and you do not feel an ache, hear an alarm! If you know a family who is adopting and you think, 'that's for them to do on their own because that's their call,' you have a messed up idea on how God works. I'm not selling Girl Scout cookies or playing tennis. Human lives are not hobbies and adoption is not sport. Adoption is the ultimate picture of redemption, and its been offered to ALL of us, not a selective few. And in this being the case, it is also for all of us to respond to the heartbeat of God when one of His little ones is suffering. It should not be unique but a daily prayer. We should be willing to come together as a peculiar people to shine on a hill brightly for the lost to see. Pray. Be moved. LOOK. Pray some more. Be broken. Be a blessing and then live the blessed life. Your comfort was not the blessing He came to bestow on you. SALVATION was!

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