Fundraising Galore!

Since my last post, we have been so blessed to have more people come to us, wanting to be part of "Little Man's" homecoming story.  We have received a few more donations, but we have also been approached by friends who want to WORK to help us out.  God's many blessings continue to pile up as we get closer and closer to traveling to China to scoop him up.

Where Things Stand Currently
So right now we are still waiting for our official approval from China's Child Welfare system.  We are on day 33 of that wait.  I have seen them range from 36 days to 57 days in the last couple of weeks.  So in reality, we could get that most wonderful news ANY DAY NOW!!!  Once we have that, we go to work on securing our travel visas, booking our travel, and scheduling all the various appointments we will have while in China.  Thank the Good Lord that our agency will handle most of that for us.  We are still hoping for a late October travel date, but it's looking more likely that it will be November.  And in light of starting this process just 5 1/2 short months ago, we are thrilled with November!

The Financials
Financially speaking, we are now only $6800 away from our need.  This is totally doable, and we are not concerned in the least.  Our God is SO Big, SO Strong, and SO Mighty... you finish it!  :)

Like I said, we have had an outpouring of love and support for our adoption, some in the form of financial gifts.  But we have also had people approaching us about opportunities to WORK for us.  What do I mean?  Well, we currently have 3 fundraising opportunities where a friend has called us and offered to use the gifts and talents with which God has blessed them to help us raise funds for our journey.  Here are the details:

T-Shirts.

Keitha Johnson, of Corday Designs, is a friend from ours church.  She has a small business where she makes crafty things for people - from monogrammed stuff, to crocheted items, to screen printed or vinyl ironed on T-shirts.  She made some shirts for our family to wear to our Fundraiser at Manning's, and we got so many responses to them, that we have decided to offer you guys the chance to purchase one for yourself!  Keitha will be donating the supplies and time to screen print the shirts for us.  Shirts are selling for $10 each, and to order, click here and fill out the form.  We will be taking orders and payments for the shirts through August 31.  At that point I will order the shirts from a wholesaler, get them to Keitha for printing and send them to you!  If you are family, your shirt will be green.  If you are a friend, your shirt will be blue!  Ours are yellow, his is red!  It's going to be great!!!

Family Photo Mini Photo Shoot

This one is exciting too!  My super fabulous friend, Tiffany Palomba, of Bella Vie Photography, has also offered her time and talents to our mission.  Tiffany will be in Clayton on September 26th to host a day of mini photo sessions for all of you local to the Raleigh area - or even those of you not local if you're willing to travel.  She will be donating 50% of all that she brings in that day.  So cool, right?  I know that many of you will want to have family portraits done this fall, so why not check that "To-Do" off your list and be part of this journey all at the same time!  And let me tell you, you will not be disappointed!  Tiffany is extremely talented and does a phenomenal job.  Not only that, but you will be so blessed by her eternal positivity and super fun spirit!  So join us!  To make an appointment, call her at (704) 956-3373 or email her and she will hook you up with a time and let you know where to meet us.  I am so super excited about this day.  I now it's going to be great!!!

Get Fit with Simply Fit Mama

Who isn't looking for a good reason to get healthy and fit this fall?  Well, now is your chance to help yourself meet those fitness goals and help us out at the same time!  Brandy Forward is a great friend of mine.  We have known each other for 9 years or so now, and even though she doesn't love local anymore, she continues to be one of my most cherished friends and prayer partners.  Brandy called me last week and threw this idea out for us to consider.  She is a Coach for Beachbody.com, and she is hosting a September Challenge Group in honor of our journey to China.  The group will officially start 9/1/15 and ends 9/30/15, and all commissions that Brandy earns for the purchases form Beachbody for the Joyful Obedience Challenge Group will be donated to our fund.  That's right  - ALL - 100%!!!  So check that out, accept the challenge, get fit, get healthy, and help us BRING HIM HOME!!!

These are the details of all that we have going on right now.  I will update if more opportunities arise, but until then, keep praying for our little Chinaman, buy a T-shirt if you want to, smile for the camera, and get moving!!!

Love you all!