Why fundraise?

       We've had a lot going on this month, which has been great, but also pretty exhausting. Regardless, we're excited about what's been going on. A lot of great things have happened in the last couple of weeks for us. In the last two weekends we've sold concessions at an auction and had a fundraiser yard sale in Orleans. Both took a lot of work, especially the yard sale, but after we finished up we were able to make a big step forward in our adoption fund. Thanks to all of you who stopped by the yard sale this weekend and to those of you who donated things for us to sell. You helped make it a great weekend.

       Talking about our adoption fund this weekend got me thinking though, why are we fundraising in the first place? I don't know that we've ever explained this fully, but I feel like we owe that to you. To clarify, if you said, "to help pay for the adoption costs," then yes, you're technically right. What I'm getting at though is why are we having public fundraisers instead of paying for it ourselves and taking out loans. Although we'd be lying if we said that there weren't at least some financial reasons for it, our reasoning goes a lot deeper than that.

       First of all, we have to acknowledge the financial side of it. We aren't poor by any means. We aren't what I would call rich either, but we're doing ok. That being said, we don't have the ability to go write a $20,000 check with any confidence that it wouldn't bounce. Since that isn't an option, we looked at taking out a loan to help cover the expenses. There are some really great places that do adoption loans, some of them are even interest-free. So loans would be a real option for us if there wasn't someone standing in the way. His name is Dave Ramsey. We're disciples of Dave Ramsey and, as he says on his radio show every day, "Debt is dumb," so we couldn't really see ourselves taking on that much debt. This left us with our current situation, saving and fundraising.

       But our motivation for fundraising isn't purely financial. From the very beginning of this process, we wanted to be very open about everything we were doing. If our goal was simply to get our child, then there are quieter ways to go about raising funds. But we wanted to be very public with our fundraisers because that's how we can raise awareness. We know that we aren't going to be able to talk to thousands of people about adoption through what we're doing, but that doesn't change the fact that we're never going to stop. This has become a life-long issue for us. From now until we can't do it anymore, we will speak about adoption to anyone who will listen, because this issue really is that important. And hang on to your wallet, because we'll keep trying to raise funds too. Whether it's for our adoptions (yes, that was plural) or to help other people adopt, we are committed to doing what we can, when we can, for as long as we can to help kids find homes. Through the small fundraisers we've had so far, we've been able to talk to several people about adoption. Most of them won't adopt, and that's fine, but maybe they'll donate to an adoption charity or mention adoption to someone they know, but the important thing is that we can all do something.

       I hope that you understand why we're so vocal and so passionate about this. It's for our child, of course, but it's just as much for the next child that needs a home. This process has given us a platform, however small it may be, to speak about this and hope that people hear. In my lifetime, I will never see an end to the crisis of orphans in the world, but if enough people are informed and determined, we can see positive change happen. I want to teach my kids how important adoption is so that future generations might be able to bring these children home. Is it a long shot? Absolutely, but real change starts with us. My dream is that someday when we're old and we have whole family over (after 2 generations of adopting, picture the United Nations cafeteria at lunch time), we can talk to our kids and grandkids about what kind of problem this used to be. And we can tell them about how wonderful it is that God chose us to be a family.

       Lastly, we ask a lot of you. We've asked you to buy shirts and bracelets. We've asked you to come to dinners and yard sales. We've even asked you to dump aluminum cans in our yard (that's May 10, by the way). But please, don't ever think that we aren't monumentally appreciative for what you've done for us. We heard a story the other day about a guy who was acting like a real jerk, which isn't a big deal, I suppose, but what irritated me most was that he represents a charity. So on one hand you can ask people for money, but then you can treat them like garbage? That's not right. And it bothers me because I hope that we never make you feel like we don't appreciate all that you've done. Without all of you, this uphill climb that we're on would be a whole lot steeper. You have made this process a joy and for that we can't thank you enough.