HELP!! :)

As I mentioned in the last post, adoption is expensive, especially an international adoption that requires two overseas trips! But again, we trust that God will provide for what He is calling us to do. We know He is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine, which is a good thing because my mind can't fathom us having $30,000 for this adoption! :)

I want to let you know what we will be doing to raise funds and how you can partner with us to bring our little one home.

1. Pray! Without a doubt, prayer is the best way for you to partner with us. It is already becoming very real that Satan is wholeheartedly opposed to adoption, which makes sense because the foundation of adoption is the Gospel. Pray for our family, pray for our son, and pray that God will receive glory through this process!

2. Before we ask anyone to support and sacrifice for us, please know that we are committed to living sacrificially to make our son a part of our family. We are making cuts in our budget, selling things, and doing all we can to set aside money for our adoption, while still being generous to others as God leads. That said . . . don't be upset if you see us enjoying a snoball . . . we still want to have fun times with Ava and Grayson while looking for creative ways to save!

3. We will be applying for every adoption grant that we can find. We supported Shaohannah's Hope for years and the Southern Baptist Convention just started a fund for pastor's who want to adopt. Hopefully we'll qualify for help through these and others.

4. Fundraising!! I'm not going to lie . . . it scares me a bit, but also gets me a little excited! We want to have some creative ways for our friends, family and even strangers to partner with us to raise funds for this adoption. We also want to take every opportunity to raise awareness about the plight of orphans all around the world so we'll try to make every fundraiser fulfill that purpose.

We have plans for three fundraisers so far:

Adoption T-shirts - Who doesn't love a good t-shirt? Especially once you are out of college and aren't getting one for some event every month! We have a friend designing a shirt for us and hope to have them available in the near future.

Yard Sales - We are planning a yard sale for July 15-16 and may do more later if it is a success. If you are near NOLA and have things in good condition that we could sell, please let me know and I'll pick them up. You can make plans to come shop too!

Raffles - This is the one I'm most excited about, but the one we need the most help with. I would like to do a raffle every so often through the blog and facebook. We'll have an item, hopefully donated, for the raffle. Through Paypal on our blog, people can give a certain amount of money for a certain number of entries in the raffle.

Here is where we need your help . . . items for the raffle!

• If you live around NOLA, do you have a service that you could donate? Maybe you are qualified to give a lesson for something or you could give your service if you have a business. Ex. I asked a photographer friend about donating a photoshoot.

• Do you have a craft or something special that you make that could be a raffle item? I'm not crafty, but I know I have some pretty talented friends that could make some fun raffle items! Ex. My BFF offered to make greeting cards and hair bows for the raffle.

• If you don't fit into either of the above categories, don't worry . . . I don't either! :) But you can still help! Could you donate or purchase an item that would be great for the raffle? Ex. Some SAINTS gear or a fun date night (a 2 hour class at the New Orleans School of Cooking for 2 would be $50). The possibilities are endless!

Please let me know if you have any ideas of how you could participate in donating a raffle item. Of course, you can always enter to win and support us that way too!!

As I said, we're excited about having fun as we raise funds. We know that times are hard for everyone, which is why we are placing our trust in Christ to provide what we need and to grow our faith in the process. We'd love to have you partner with us on this journey! Please let us know how you would like to be involved. You can send me a facebook message or email me at cole2627@hotmail.com.

Thanks!

Cole