Bring your vessels, not a few

Okay. Forget everything I said in my last post about taking a break from fundraising! The time for being still is over and the time for action has come!!! We’ve made some decisions, we’re moving forward! Things are seriously in motion and we’re charged and ready to go!!! Steve and I are presently filling out our application to join an adoption agency, America World. We are asking to adopt from Haiti!!! From what we understand, to complete a Haitian adoption will take us about two years. We will complete a home study, which will take four to six months, and then wait for a referral. Sometime after that, we will travel to Haiti where we will spend two weeks being approved again by Haitian social workers and we will meet our child, although I do not know how much interaction we will have with her. After that, we will travel back to the US, without her, and eight months or so later, we will return to Haiti in order to bring her home to her forever family. Every country’s adoption requirements are different. Some require extended travel, others want perfect medical histories (right down to your BMI number), and many restrict the ages of children they are willing to adopt out internationally. Choosing Haiti has been a long and tedious process of researching various countries and discovering how our family aligns with their specifications. It hasn’t generally been a touchy-feely experience, nor did I hear a chorus of angels sing when I clicked on the link to read about Haiti. No chills, no overwhelming warm fuzzies, more of an academic exercise of checking off boxes on forms, determining where we weren’t eligible, and praying a lot that God would guide us. Haiti did not disqualify me for my blindness or medical history. The travel requirements are manageable Steve meets the age requirement and I will by the time the process is over. Haiti is working on changing the law that excludes families with more than two natural children from adopting. (We can request a presidential waiver of that requirement if the law doesn’t officially change.) So, all of that technical stuff behind us, we are very excited (and slightly terrified) to be stepping forward and applying to Haiti!!! Of course, this means that we will immediately begin spending some of the money we have raised. Filing the application will cost $300. Two weeks or so later, assuming we’re approved and all systems are go, we’ll sign a contract to become clients of America World, and along with our signatures, we’ll deposit another $2,250.00 with them. Thus, we are extremely motivated to start bringing in more dollars and on the double! Fortunately, as always, God is way ahead of me here, and He has lined up things nicely for us this fall to get going. Last night I told the boys a story from 2 Kings 4:1-7. A widow of one of the prophets came to Elisha saying that her husband had died and his creditor was going to take her two sons into slavery to repay the debt. That would have left her with no means of support whatsoever. Elisha asked her what she had in the house, and she replied that she had a jar of olive oil. Elisha told her to ask her friends and neighbors for as many vessels and containers as she could muster, and to fill them one after another with the oil from her jar. He specifically instructed her to ask for “not a few.” Her small container of oil filled all the other containers until there were none left. Elisha told her to go, sell the oil, pay her debts, and she and her sons could live on the rest. That story resonates with me profoundly as I think about the remaining $30,000.00 we need to raise. This unnamed widow had the courage to confront her problem by asking for help from God, albeit through a prophet. And we have direct access to the very same God. God took what little she had and multiplied it to supply her need; and He’ll take what we have and supply what is lacking. She asked her friends and neighbors for help, and we’ll be doing the same! This journey involves a lot more than just the Sheltons! The boys have been going door-to-door with Anthony Thomas candy bars, selling them to our neighbors. Tyler sold twenty yesterday, and he headed out with thirty more this afternoon, with Trevor and some neighborhood kids tagging along to help. They even toted them with them to their cousin’s birthday party where they sold thirty nine more! They want to be in on the action! In May, friends from church went to Orphan Summit in Nashville, Tennessee. Steve and I weren’t able to go this year, but our friends came back with resources and passion to assist in our endeavors. One of the things they found there was a jewelry company, Compelled Designs. This company loans out jewelry to fundraise for adoption and mission trips. I pay for shipping, keep half of the money received for the products, and ship back what I can’t sell at no cost to me. So, ladies, I’m going to be doing jewelry parties and I’m looking into craft shows and other venues to sell beautiful jewelry! If you would open your home and invite some friends over for an afternoon or evening, I’d be eternally grateful! Help us widen our circles, please!!! Last year we sold a bunch of my children’s Nativity Books, “Ablaze with Light.” These can still be ordered through Lulu.com, or from us directly. To accompany them this year, we will have collectable Christmas ornaments, again, crafted by someone in our church. He’s taking images directly from the book and printing them onto porcelain ornaments which will be wonderful gifts and a priceless keepsake for us to share with our daughter when she comes home. I get butterflies just imagining hanging that on our tree and showing it to her, telling her, “This is something we did to bring you home.” Chills, really! A friend who makes quilts has offered one to us to raffle off to support our cause – and I’m still working on logistics for that, but I am overwhelmed with her generosity and so grateful for her support. She lives on the other side of the country, and has found a way to join in nonetheless! There are a few more things in the works too, but I’m fairly certain no one wants to read a long list of fundraisers. That’s almost as boring as reading about Haiti’s adoption requirements! LOL!! Just one more… November 3 is Orphan Sunday. That evening, my church will be hosting “Spaghetti Supper with the Sheltons.” Please come out and stay for something tasty, and join us for a worship experience as well. I want to give back with our friends and supporters by putting together a night of music and worship, a little different from anything I’ve ever done before. While there will be a charge for spaghetti and we will have all of the above items for sale, and maybe a couple more, the concert is free of charge. I want it to be an evening where I share from my heart some of what God has taught me during this year, and I am trembling with excitement at just the thought of it even now! Please be in prayer for us this fall. And please, if any of these fundraisers appeal to you, call, text, email, or Facebook message us. You’re all our friends and neighbors, and our oil will go a lot further when you add your vessels to our cause. “Give thanks to the Lord. His love endures forever!”