Why do you fundraise?
Yep. Many people are afraid to ask us this question directly. But, they ask our friends and family. Occasionally they will ask us. "Why do you fundraise?" is actually one of my favorite questions. This is because it is something we thought a lot about before ever doing it.
First off, the big easy reason for us fundraising is adoption is expensive! Seriously. It will cost between $35000 and $40000 by the time we bring our twins home and they are legally our children. For those who are wondering, no that doesn't include all their "stuff." We will still need clothes, toys, diapers, etc.
Adoption is expensive. But so is buying a car and you don't see people doing fundraisers for that (usually...gofundme has prompted some weird things). Our desire to fundraise was not motivated solely by the expense, but by our desire to share our passion and our story. As we have walked through this process, it has been our desire to share our story, to spread awareness, and maybe inspire someone else to jump in to their own journey to a child waiting for a family.
We have tried to be intentional about this desire as have done each fundraising endeavor. For example - our adoption tshirts.
They say "HOPE It changes everything" We love this. It is not inherently about adoption. It is designed to start conversations. It brings you into our story. A close friend and member of our tribe got to have a conversation just this week while wearing her Hope shirt. She got to share adoption, our story, and God's great provision with someone I may never meet.
Yes, every dollar raised brings us closer to bringing our sweet twins home. However, it is our desire that it also means awareness and advocacy. We strive to be intentional. It would be our greatest joy if some piece of our fundraising efforts not only brought our children home, but led to another child finding a home.
Thank you to all who have partnered with us thus far. You are changing our lives. You are changing our family. You are providing immeasurable hope to sweet little twins whose hope was dwindling.
A quick update on all things adoption in our world. Our immigration paperwork was sent last week. I received text notification about 30 minutes ago that our file was received (Isn't technology cool?). Once this is approved, we will submit our dossier. We have been working to submit grant applications for the last two weeks. Hopefully this will help provide financially. We have completed baby registries (as many of you requested) with Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, and Target. And we continue to fundraise...because we still need about $20000 to bring our children home. Pray with us as we continue walking this journey.
