Saturday, June 18, 2011

Lifesong, James Fund, YOU & Christian Family Stores

I've been wanting to write this post for months but just haven't been able to formulate all of my thoughts appropriately. Now that I've had a little time and multiple conversations with some of the precious people closely related to these ministries I'm about 50% sure I can accurately describe the magnitude of impact they've had in our lives and in the life of our precious daughter.

When we adopted Silas fund raising wasn't really even on our radar. Yeah we'd have a few garage sales, sell some stuff on ebay or craigslist but we wouldn't fund raise per say. We did apply for a Show Hope grant but withdrew when God provided the funds in a lump sum another way. We knew sacrifice but we didn't know sacrifice and humility in the same way that I feel we know it now. Its been a bit more up close and personal.

When God called us to adopt for the second time we knew going in we'd have to fund raise nearly all of the funds needed to complete our adoption. We didn't have another option. Yes, we sacrificed in HUGE ways in our lives. We gave up as much as we possibly could to save for our adoption. We sold all sorts of stuff and then we just flat out fund raised. I knew some people would think we were crazy, I was prepared to lose friends, I was prepared for people to not agree with us either on the adoption front or the fund raising front. I was okay with that. It hurt when it hit but I knew this wasn't about anyone else, it wasn't even about us. It was about what God has asked of us and it was about obedience. The friends lost weren't really friends to begin with if fund raising to bring a child home was a problem for them.

I will never forget when I told a particular friend that we were adopting again. We hadn't really told anyone yet, she was thrilled, I had shared we'd have to fund raise and she was so sweet and encouraging. This friend was already precious to me and we'd walked our first adoptions together, to hear her encouragement was a God send. Later on she wrote me that her Dad worked in management for Family Christian Stores and they had a grant program for friends and family. They wanted to recommend us for the grant. I was blown away, it made me all teary, at a time where fund raising seemed daunting this was a reminder from the Lord that He was in charge and He would provide. We really had no idea what an amazing gift this would be, it was far more then a matching grant, it was a long term relationship with several amazing organizations.

We completed our home study and submitted what was needed for the James Fund Grant. The James Fund matching grant was managed by Lifesong For Orphans, I still remember the day we got the call that we were approved for the grant, it was the same week that our dossier was sent to DC for authentication and days before we anticipated being officially on the wait list. Gods timing is incredible! (we may or may not have been told by a little birdie that we were approved but we were still THRILLED to get the official word)

Lifesong is a ministry I already loved but would grow to love even more on a personal level over the course of our adoption. Every single person we came in contact with was incredible. They were genuine and loving, they followed our journey, let us know they were praying for us, and encouraged us all along the way. What an amazing gift!!!

We are so incredibly blessed by who God brought into our path as we navigated adoption and fund raising. THANK YOU to each one of you that donated, prayed, reposted our story, and supported us. THANK YOU Family Christian Stores, THANK YOU James Fund, and THANK YOU Lifesong for Orphans. You all are forever part of our story and our journey to bringing Zahra home.


Below is the video we put together for Zahra's dedication - I'm still working on the full version so this is a sneak peek. :)



7 comments:

Unknown said...

I love the video my friend...it's wonderful!!!!!!

Gretchen Magruder said...

Beautiful!!! Ugh, the pictures....the song.....I'm a wreck!!

AGoodKindOfCrazy said...

We are excited and nervous to apply to Lifesong and Show Hope next week when our homestudy is all written up!

Kelly said...

Our stories are similar as far as the fundraising. I am thankful (most days) to be on this fundraising journey. The Lord has taught us so much of His character and His love through so many.

The Soucys said...

I think can type through tears....just beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

Jaclyn M said...

That video is amazing! Thank You for sharing :)

Michelle said...

Congratulations on the grant! Loved the video. So, so sweet.