In our country's current state of debt, unemployment, and uncertainty on so many issues, one might ask, "Why adopt under these current domestic conditions?" In the book of Jeremiah, God told his people who had been taken into exile by the Babylonian king what He called them to do. "Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." Jer. 29:4-7 ESV
(our Sarah who was adopted as an embryo. She had been frozen since 1999)
We as Americans have not been taken away into exile, but as Christians, we see things happening in our country that we have never seen before in our lifetime. We see in this passage that God call us to "multiply there, and do not decrease". Well, adoption fulfills that command.
The next question I hear is, "How are we supposed to raise $15,ooo, $25,000, or $40,000 to adopt a child in this economic situation? How did you do it?"
Our first response is that we trust our Lord that He will provide every last dime that we need in His timing alone. I have learned a lot through fundraising. I have grown in my faith and as we saw the quarters, dollars, donations, and gifts trickle in during our last adoption, we as a family, grew in our trust, we learned how wrong it is to be anxious, we learned patience, and we found immense joy in seeing God work through our entire adoption.
Do not be anxious, do not doubt. These are His children He is entrusting into your care to raise to know Him. Trust in that truth. That should excite you to get up, gather your friends and family and see how He will bless your efforts.
Now, not every fundraiser brought "grand" numbers and one fundraiser may bring in a small amount for one, but a generous amount for another. Do not be discouraged if your fundraiser only brings a few dollars. God will honor your efforts! One season during our last adoption, we hosted a garage sale, we made only a couple of hundred dollars I believe. I admit, I was discouraged. Through other fundraising and donations, we had all that we needed in the end, or so we thought. Then, an unexpected adoption expense of $3,000 came up. My husband suggested a garage sale. Might I say, that I was NOT AT ALL excited about this. However, my husband was, our children were, our friends were, and in turn the Lord grew me so much in those few weeks preparing for the sale. The total you ask? In 3 days our garage sale brought in $3,000! So, do not dismay. Do not be afraid to try something again you have tried in the past. Be diligent & be joyful. It is contagious!
Here is a list of fundraisers, in no particular order, we have done in the past, are in the process of doing currently, or plan to do in the near future.
- Garage & Yard Sales
- Homemade Pumpkin Bread Sales & Delivery
- Homemade Cookie Dough Sales & Delivery
- Buying things at garage sales or donations from friends and sell on eBay
- Selling items for others on eBay/Craigslist- fee to me 25% of sales price
- Just Love Coffee eStore
- Pampered Chef online Catalog Show 20-20% of sales donated
- Giveaway Raffle with donated items and gift cards bought with credit card rewards points
- Entering a video to Give1Save1 to be the featured family of the week
- Finding items at garage sales that will sell for a good profit on eBay
Now these are fundraisers that like I said, are things we have tried or will be trying. I know there are many others and we would love for you to share links and comments to share your ideas. Once of my embryo adoption friends hosted a Parents' Night Out with movies, snacks and games. They charged a flat fee per child. It was a great success! I will list many other ideas in a future post.
The final question? "How do I do "x" fundraiser? I want it to be successful as it can be?" I plan on sharing with you how to do just that. I will give you details on making the most of each fundraiser you do in future posts.
If money is the only thing keeping you from moving forward with adopting a child or children, may I encourage you to trust the Lord will provide and find a fundraiser or two that you can get excited about and go for it!
Would you like to see what we are currently doing to raise money to bring our 8 little babies to our clinic for a Frozen Embryo Transfer this spring? Here you go. I look forward to hearing ideas from all of you!
Love,
Shannon
our blog: Room for More
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