Holiday Market FUNdraiser

So I have been planning this fundraiser for a while now. I haven't been to one like it or even read about someone doing one like this (what was I thinking...).

I had several friends offer to do sales parties for me as a fundraiser. I had done that before last time for our previous adoption and it was fun. After several people asked me I thought...hey, instead of having to pick which one to host (cause we all know I am not gonna wanna ask people on multiple occasions to come shop), why not have multiple people here on ONE occasion, selling lots of things. And hey, it's getting close to Christmas, why not make it a holiday market? And hey, don't I know someone who sells such and such? And doesn't that person have a friend that sells such and such? And ...on and on it went.

So now, we have a holiday market fundraiser planned for this Saturday (1-4pm at my house for you locals just now learning of this!). We have 14 vendors coming, as well as our family selling our t-shirts and our coffees. My oldest daughter is selling her hair bows, and the little girls are selling Christmas ornaments. Little girls from our lifegroup will be selling pipe-cleaner creatures. It will all happen on my first floor (throughout all the rooms). Oh yeah, and I decided to throw in door prizes, refreshments, Christmas music -- and banks.

Banks??? Yes, I have "piggy-backed" piggy banks as an additional fundraiser. I have made 36 mason jar banks (they are pretty cute if I do say so myself, and no, they aren't really piggies...just felt like calling them that) that will be offered to the first 36 people in the door  anyone who will take them. A little explanation and some candy hugs and kisses are in the jars. Fill the jar with your loose change, bring it to us and dump into our large jug, keep the bank and collect again for another's adoption or to donate to something else. Cool, huh?

I have made a large display-board telling T's story with lots of pictures of her (SOOOOO wish I could share on here but our agency doesn't allow it) and another large display-board to show our coffees and t-shirts. We have bought a few t-shirts  (by the way they are awesome, great quality and super soft) for our family to wear.

I have sent out email invites and Facebook invites, re-invited those who didn't RSVP yet (I know I am driving everyone crazy!), made and distributed flyers, and told people. I have no real clue how many people will step through the door. My prayer is that it will be enough to give all my vendors many new contacts for future party hosting as well as some sales each. I just want there to be a continual flow of people from 1-4, when the open house market is scheduled. I am hoping for holiday cheer, good fellowship, and above all to glorify God through His people helping to give a little girl a home.

Oh and did I mention that the chess tourney I signed Jack up for, which had been pretty much cancelled due to low enrollment is now back on and will go all day rather than just the morning as I thought - meaning he and John will likely be gone all day, missing the market (John was to be my coffee guy)? Did I mention that I have been sicker this week (still not quite right) than I have been in years (I won't even go into it, you would run, but I promise - no contagious germs here anymore) and so have spent most of my time in bed or on the couch moaning about how much I have to do but unable to do it? Have I pointed out that I haven't been able to be at the bus stop to hand out the neighborhood flyers because I have looked so awful from being sick and had no energy to go down there?

AGH!!!! Help!!! I have awesome, wonderful vendors coming in one day. All have been so gracious and wonderful to give of their time as well as offer me cash rather than product rewards for hosting (some will give a percentage of sales). Say a prayer for me. Say a prayer for this event.  I have made a drawing of where all the tables will go and where each vendor will be located but having never done this before, I have no idea if this will work or what?? EEK!

The great news - even for you readers - is that for the vendors with online stores, this fundraiser will be going on for another week!! That's right. Any orders tagged on through next week, online, will count toward the total sales and thus the total of what we will earn toward our adoption!! YEEHA!!

So I will need to get emailing and posting again to my long distance family and friends to alert them to the continued sales going on to benefit our efforts to bring little T home.

Check out our next post for the listing of vendors and websites that are available and get a little Christmas shopping checked off your list! Wouldn't it be nicer to shop in your jammies by the fire, than out on Black Friday at the crack of dawn fighting off the other Target shoppers??


And keep me in your prayers. I have been so sick and so weakened from being sick (the weight loss is an added benefit!). I thank God for the timing and know he's in control of this thing, as He knows what's best and has me improving just in time for this event. I have been very discouraged, overwhelmed, and scared about how this will all come together in light of being sick and unable to get it all done on my own. I have had so many friends come alongside me to encourage me, shop, cook, and even clean my house. I am blessed with my sisters in Christ and God's sweet mercy. Thank you girls!

Up again during the night last night, feeling yucky and unable to sleep. I had my handy Bible app on my phone and the encouraging words of James that lifted my spirits - thank you Lord for your mercy, faithfulness to me, and saying just the right thing to me in the dark of the night...

"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly without a second thought."  James 1:2-7 (The Message)

"Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life." James 1:12 (The Message)

AMAZING NEWS...

I have AMAZING news! An awesome friend and her family (a fellow adoptive family) have offered us a wonderful and generous gift. We are overwhelmed by this family's kindness, generosity, and encouragement to us. They have offered us a matching gift.

They will match all puzzle pieces purchased from today until the end of 2012 - up to $500.00!

If you have given to us already - thank you so much - we are humbled and so very grateful. If you have been wanting to help us out by sponsoring a piece or one for each member of your family, but haven't yet - now is the time!

The puzzle we are putting together is pictured at the bottom of this page (bottom border of the blog) and is a 500 piece, children's puzzle of the world. Each piece of the puzzle costs $10.00 to sponsor. When a piece is sponsored, the sponsor's name is written on the back of the puzzle piece. Once the puzzle is completely sponsored, our family will put the puzzle together, glue it (never tried that before), and frame it between two pieces of glass so that the names are visible on the back. This will be a visual reminder to T in the years to come of all who have shared in our effort to bring her home.

Purchasing a piece can be completed here on the blog - at the right, on the chip-in (it will take you to Paypal and can only be seen when using your computer - not phone), by check, or by cash. If you are interested in paying by check or cash, let me know in the comments here, on Facebook, in a letter, or in an email (juliesnell@picturehealth.net). If you are buying several puzzle pieces, be sure to tell me the names that you want on each of your pieces.

At this time, all our adoption agency fees are paid (the last one should be paid in another week). Now we are saving for plane tickets, hotel stay, travel expenses, visas, dr. appointments in China, adoption fees paid while in China, etc.

I will be regularly reminding you - here, on Facebook, in emails - about this matching gift challenge (hope all my peeps won't get sick and tired of me). We so want to make the most of this gift - to be able to add another $500 in donations toward the puzzle - and thus earn the $500.00 match - will get us $1,000.00 (duh, I know you can add...just wanted to write out the $1,000.00!) closer to our daughter! Please feel free to share this post link with anyone you know who might be interested in playing a part in bringing a little girl home to her forever family.

In the meantime, I am working hard on planning our holiday market open house in November, here in our home. We will be hosting up to 10 vendors here at our house for some comfortable Christmas shopping and fun fellowship. Our vendors have graciously agreed to gift us with money toward our travel expenses rather than with hostess reward products. It is shaping up to be a fun event - which will benefit our adoption fund as well as help all our kind-hearted vendors meet some new customer contacts and sell some of their goods! I'm looking forward to a full house! More details on this event coming soon.

We are constantly working around here to add to our adoption savings account. Just this past weekend we threw together a rather impromptu garage sale - so last minute. But we had lots of clothes, a few pieces of furniture, and a few other items that we decided to part with. We did well for the little that we put into this event and sold nearly everything!

I have finally gone through our basement shelves of homeschool curriculum and books and have advertised and sold nearly all I was willing to part with. A few of my baby items (handsewn baby blankets and knit hats) have been selling in a local friend's store - we received a check from them just yesterday... it all adds up.

We are continuing on with our coffee sales (coffee would make great office or teacher gifts, hint, hint) and we hope to have a t-shirt available sometime closer to  Christmas.

Thank you to you, my growing community of blog readers. I appreciate that anyone takes the time to check out what's happening here - to listen to my ramblings, and brags on my kiddos. Thank you to all who have given something to help us to reach our little girl. I appreciate you all - my friends I know in person, and the friends I know only through "blog-land." You are all special to me!

Update on T

"So what's going on with T??"

We hear this often from friends and family. I so wish I knew what our little girl was doing right this minute...but I don't. I just pray for her little self and her heart and that she is well and safe and being loved on by her foster family. We had our homestudy approved by our placement agency (WACAP) a week or two before we left on vacation and at that time our case worker told us we could now ask for an update on T. She had warned us that many times it takes a while to get an update, that you might not get all the info you want, or you might not even get a reply. Every province and area is different in how they handle these requests. Quite frankly, I figured we wouldn't get much info - and I figured it would take a while.

As we were enroute home from our vacation, we got an email from WACAP saying that an update had come in - along with 8 new pictures of T!!! OH HOW I WISH I COULD SHARE THEM!!! SHE IS ADORABLE!!

These pictures are the first we have seen of her smiling (in all of them!). She is so cute and looks very happy. Her update sounds as tho' she is making good progress, isn't shy, loves to dance and help with family chores, is talking up a storm, and is small for her age. She has been in two foster homes since she was found as a newborn - the current one for several years and she is very attached to her foster mother. This news in wonderful and heartbreaking all at once. To know that she is attached is such good news for the future bonding in our family but will mean there will be lots of grieving (understandably) as her little heart leaves the home and family that she now loves. We have to remind ourselves that her new home with us will be forever. Her current situation as a foster child is not permanent - it doesn't lead to adoption. It doesn't lead to medical help and education always. It doesn't lead to a life free from the stigma of being an "orphan."

T's adoption is considered a special needs adoption. T, like so many of the children who are available for adoption, has a minor special need (in our opinion). When we found T on a waiting child list, she was listed as having mild cerebral palsy which only affected her speech. After having several doctors assess her files, it looks more likely that she had hydrocephalus at some point. Although her CT scans are clear now, she has clearly had hydrocephalus in the past (likely from an infection like meningitis, or an injury) resulting in an increased head circumference. She is speaking in long sentences now and seems to be developing just fine - tho' her speech is unclear at times. Many children wait as "special needs" kids with even milder issues (birthmarks, missing fingers, hernias, repaired cleft palates, etc).  These minor things can be considered bad luck for families. Because of the one-child-rule, these children are often given up in hopes of having a child who is more perfect. So sad...(by the way, is there such thing as a "perfect" child?? Don't they all have special needs of some kind? lol).

So where are we now??

Our dossier documents are currently being stamped and sealed by officials in DC and being held at our placing agency while we await some immigration paperwork and approvals. We are one step closer to that as we have just gotten our fingerprinting done in DC for the immigration process (so they can check that we aren't in the national registry of criminals!). Now it will be a matter of weeks to get our immigration approval. After that, our dossier (the packet of many important pieces of paper that represent our family) will travel to China. Several other steps come after that. Our case worker estimates that we will travel between March-May. It all depends on how fast each of the steps take. Several of the steps can take 2-4 months to complete.  At the moment, the trend is that each step is taking closer to 2 months than 4, but in adoption, things can change so quickly....no certainties in this process.

Fundraising

Now that we have passed the homestudy phase, we can apply for a number of grants (my next big project) and can move on to some more serious fundraising. Look for announcements of some of these coming up. Adoption and travel are so expensive. Although we are approved to be able to AFFORD to raise another child - GETTING her here is another story. The adoption process is SOOO expensive. Like, REALLY expensive. We are trying to meet most of these expenses ourselves - selling lots of our things, using retirement money and savings, saving every penny we can. But we do need help to meet the fees and the travel that lies ahead.

We SO appreciate all who have helped us so far with their generous donations to our puzzle. We are asking again that if you are interested in helping, that you consider purchasing a piece, or pieces of her puzzle. We are only about 1/5 of the way toward finishing the puzzle. Please consider making a $10 donation for a puzzle piece. Our chip-in on the right is only available when viewing our blog on your computer (it doesn't show up on a phone browser).

How else can we help?

Pray...pray...pray. Pray for T - she has some huge changes ahead. She will need to leave the only life she has known and she will grieve. She will need to adapt to a culture, language, environment, and family that are strange to her. Some children handle these changes like champs. Others, not so easily.

Pray for us. That we can save more, sacrifice more, and do more to help raise the funds for this adoption/travel. Pray that we can share our hearts to those who ask - that we can share that it isn't us but the Lord who is so great - that it is He who is "rescuing" a child from a life as an orphan without the love of a forever family - not us being nice people.  We said "yes" and "send us" - the rest is His work, folks. This is what He is all about - rescue, redemption, making beauty from ashes -like His rescue and "adoption" of us into His family.

Believe...

Believe...Not sure if it was with the Polar Express movie popularity, or for what reason, but the term "Believe" seems to have been so popular over the past few years, particularly at Christmas time. I have always been a bit perplexed by it...and sometimes bothered.

What is it that people "believe?" Is it that Christmas will be Merry? Is it that they will score the best gifts and make everyone happy with what they find under the tree? Is it that Santa will come? Is it the belief in Santa? Is it that all will be perfect at Christmas? That family will get along? That there is some sort of "magic" that happens at Christmas?

Seeing the word "Believe" all over in a world that has become increasingly secular, materialistic, and preoccupied with making itself happy and content, has frankly, made me squirm.

I want a happy Christmas with happy children and happy family relations, but that isn't what "believe" is for me.

I have been sick over the last week, tired, overwhelmed with all on my to-do list, having to deal with an issue that at the moment, could threaten to steal away my "believe" if it all hinged on everything being magical and good.

But that is not what I believe...

What I believe is much bigger than that. What I believe never changes, is always true, is always joy and is the same year to year, despite what is happening in my life. I believe in a savior. Jesus came in a humble way, as a little baby, to be with us on earth. He lived a humble life while fulfilling his purpose to show us what God was like and then to die to make it possible for us to be with God.

I believe...