It still AMAZES me that we are so close to bringing our sweet son HOME forever!!! Ever since his referral I feel like we've been going non-stop with planning, preparation in various forms, and doing what we can to wrap up "loose ends" so we are ready for his homecoming.
One particular area that has been in the forefront of our minds and a main focus is gathering all that is needed to completely fund our adoption. You see, we have been working as diligently as we possible could to save and raise the money needed for this adoption, but several curve balls were thrown our way during the last 2 years.
1. Curve ball #1- when our adoption from Ethiopia was delayed in Feb we began to pursue other paths at the recommendation of our agency. We ended up spending around $1,500 updating our home study and getting things ready to work with other agencies. Obviously we are thrilled that our ET adoption came back around- just not as thrilled with spending the money when we could sure use it now!
2- MAJOR Curve ball #2- when we began our adoption we were given a fee list of pretty much all the expenses we should expect to pay over the course of our adoption- some of these were agency specific and some were fees we'd pay to the US government and for travel and so on. Then, again in Feb of 2012 we were sent a revision to the fee schedule INCREASING the required fees by over $7,800! You better believe we asked a lot of questions (aka 3 phone calls) to get clarification on the reasoning behind this. After many questions, we could see the need to increase some fees, but it was still so frustrating that we fell under the new fee schedule even though we'd been in the program so long. [We do not suspect any fraud on the side of our agency- if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.]
THE GOOD NEWS is that even in the midst of the crazy curve balls the Lord has been steadily providing for our adoption needs! To date we've held seven yards sales, and had a very successful raffle fundraiser about 1.5 years ago. Other money has come in through generous people, our personal savings, a scholarship, and a few other pretty awesome ways! We feel His hand on us as we've been plugging away over the past 2.5 years.
BUT NOW WE'RE IN THE HOME STRETCH BECAUSE SIMMIE IS GETTING READY TO COME HOME!!!
We've crunched the numbers and have done our best to figure out what exactly is needed to complete this part of his adoption and bring him home. After one last yard sale, and a few others things we already have in the works- it looks like $2,500 should do it! We even got airline ticket quotes, so unless those go up significantly between now and when we book this should be all that we need!
Now, $2,500 is not a super tiny number but it COULD BE if we had a bunch of people rally behind us and get involved. A long time ago we had an idea to do a PUZZLE FUNDRAISER that would earn about $2,500, so that's what we are doing!
HOW IT WORKS:
1- The PayPal button on the top right hand side of our blog is a fast and easy way!
2- We also have an account set up with Helping Hands Ministries, and they offer a tax-deductible receipt for any donations to our adoption account. To donate this way go to Helping Hands Ministries site and under "Project Category" select "Adoption" and then under "Project" select Morgan and Randee Jones (yes, Trace is Morgan =) Once our fundraiser is over a check will be sent directly to our agency with the funds raised through Helping Hands. The important thing to remember if you choose to make a donation this way is to email us letting us know so we can get your address and send the puzzle pieces to you!
Whether you are able to buy any puzzle pieces or not, we ask for your prayers! We are truly in the home stretch of getting everything ready to bring our son home and appreciate your prayers as we move closer and closer to that wonderful day!
One particular area that has been in the forefront of our minds and a main focus is gathering all that is needed to completely fund our adoption. You see, we have been working as diligently as we possible could to save and raise the money needed for this adoption, but several curve balls were thrown our way during the last 2 years.
1. Curve ball #1- when our adoption from Ethiopia was delayed in Feb we began to pursue other paths at the recommendation of our agency. We ended up spending around $1,500 updating our home study and getting things ready to work with other agencies. Obviously we are thrilled that our ET adoption came back around- just not as thrilled with spending the money when we could sure use it now!
2- MAJOR Curve ball #2- when we began our adoption we were given a fee list of pretty much all the expenses we should expect to pay over the course of our adoption- some of these were agency specific and some were fees we'd pay to the US government and for travel and so on. Then, again in Feb of 2012 we were sent a revision to the fee schedule INCREASING the required fees by over $7,800! You better believe we asked a lot of questions (aka 3 phone calls) to get clarification on the reasoning behind this. After many questions, we could see the need to increase some fees, but it was still so frustrating that we fell under the new fee schedule even though we'd been in the program so long. [We do not suspect any fraud on the side of our agency- if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.]
THE GOOD NEWS is that even in the midst of the crazy curve balls the Lord has been steadily providing for our adoption needs! To date we've held seven yards sales, and had a very successful raffle fundraiser about 1.5 years ago. Other money has come in through generous people, our personal savings, a scholarship, and a few other pretty awesome ways! We feel His hand on us as we've been plugging away over the past 2.5 years.
BUT NOW WE'RE IN THE HOME STRETCH BECAUSE SIMMIE IS GETTING READY TO COME HOME!!!
We've crunched the numbers and have done our best to figure out what exactly is needed to complete this part of his adoption and bring him home. After one last yard sale, and a few others things we already have in the works- it looks like $2,500 should do it! We even got airline ticket quotes, so unless those go up significantly between now and when we book this should be all that we need!
Now, $2,500 is not a super tiny number but it COULD BE if we had a bunch of people rally behind us and get involved. A long time ago we had an idea to do a PUZZLE FUNDRAISER that would earn about $2,500, so that's what we are doing!
HOW IT WORKS:
- Each puzzle piece costs $10, and you can choose any number of them to buy. Even 1 is a huge blessing for us!
- There are 252 pieces in this puzzle bringing the total to $2,520 when they all sell!
- We had two identical puzzles made, so the first one will be sent out to those that "bought" a piece. Yes, we are going to mail you the puzzle piece you bought so you can remember that you are really part of bringing Simmie home!
- The second puzzle is going to be put together as the pieces are bought, and we are going to write the name of the person/ family that purchased them on the back so we will always have the memory of who helped be the last pieces of the puzzle to get Simmie here! This puzzle will ultimately be framed and put up in his room.
- We plan on updating our blog every few days with the progress of the puzzle so everyone can see how it's coming together.
1- The PayPal button on the top right hand side of our blog is a fast and easy way!
2- We also have an account set up with Helping Hands Ministries, and they offer a tax-deductible receipt for any donations to our adoption account. To donate this way go to Helping Hands Ministries site and under "Project Category" select "Adoption" and then under "Project" select Morgan and Randee Jones (yes, Trace is Morgan =) Once our fundraiser is over a check will be sent directly to our agency with the funds raised through Helping Hands. The important thing to remember if you choose to make a donation this way is to email us letting us know so we can get your address and send the puzzle pieces to you!
Whether you are able to buy any puzzle pieces or not, we ask for your prayers! We are truly in the home stretch of getting everything ready to bring our son home and appreciate your prayers as we move closer and closer to that wonderful day!
Hi! I saw your blog on Josh Miller's facebook page. I just bought one puzzle piece. Every night my four year old daughter and I pray for all the little girls and boys who don't have mommies and daddies. I'm glad that tonight I can tell her there will be one less orphan in the world. I admire your persistence in adopting! God Bless1
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for helping us bring our son home! Yes, one less orphan and he is coming to a family that feels IMMENSELY BLESSED to have him. God is so good to redeem tragedy and turn it into something beautiful.
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