I was nervous to have this garage sale because we don't have a referral yet but it seemed everything was just falling into place. Two of my friends I met in Bible college are flying out to be here for the weekend! I honestly can't wait to have them here.
At the sale I will have a Compassion booth. I have 2 child packs and 2 mom and baby packs that I am hoping to see get sponsored throughout this weekend. I love adoption but I also love adoption prevention. I'm huge on child sponsorship so these children don't have to end up as orphans. Please also pray that these children can find their sponsor homes!
I will also be selling raffle tickets for this:
I started making this quilt earlier this year. The fabric and pattern are Joel Dewberry. I had he quilt professionally long arm quilted and I hand-sewed the binding on! It is reversible also, the back has a panel in the middle with squares of fabric from the front. I will be selling tickets at the sale, 1 for $5 or 5 for $20. If you would like tickets and can't make it to the sale, you can send me a message on face book or email, I will gladly ship to anywhere in Canada!
A while back you may remember a post from when my sister and niece came in March to help me with a fundraiser! Well the beautiful aprons, along with some other crafts, will also be for sale!
I have been preparing for this sale for a while now. When people find out we are adopting, a lot of questions come out: "You can't have your own?" "When do you get your baby?" "Why did you choose Ethiopia?" "Why not adopt form here?" ... I find most of the questions innocent until this one. I was asked a very frank question on face book, so I will just copy and paste my answer. I was warned by Denise that people who come to the sale will ask all kinds of questions, so be prepared. I think after the question that I was recently asked, I should be good and prepared for the weekend! Please pray that I can answer people in a way that brings awareness to adoption, in a way that educated people, and in a way that brings glory to God.
Question: It is illegal to buy children, so what are you fundraising for?
My response: When Arnie and I first started this adoption process, we had to consider the "cost" of this child. We had to pray and ask Jesus where He wanted us to go and from what country he wanted us to adopt from. We chose Ethiopia. In choosing Ethiopia we also agreed to the costs that it would take to bring our child home. We have to pay social workers, homestudy fees, lawyer fees, fingerprint fees, police checks fees, agency fees for working on our file for 4 years, government fees to process the mounds of paperwork it takes to process an adoption, and fees that are paid to teh orphanage for caring for our child for the length of their stay there. None of the fees are for a child but all the fees are for the cost of adopting them. I don't expect people to do their jobs for free. Something that I have often thought of in this whole process is the cost that Jesus paid to ransom our lives. He gave his life to save us. I often mirror adoption to the gospel, that a steep price would be paid to save a life. The children who are in the orphanage have no parents or are not wanted by anyone else. They have social workers who search for relatives and fight on behalf of these children (part of the fees) so that they know this is their only chance at having a family. Honestly, I would give whatever it takes to bring my child home. Suzie is right when she says that the money we raise is going toward the orphanage as a gift for caring for our child for the first years of their live. I wish I could give them everything I have. They took care of MY child. They fed them, clothed them, sang to them, loved them.... when I couldn't be there for them yet and I don't think I could be more grateful to someone for doing that for a child. I want to give them a gift from all the people who have fought for our child to come home. I thought of this fundraiser as a way to include everyone in on the fight for our child. WE have paid for the adoption in full. We owe nothing. In fact we have our own money to give gifts to the orphanage too, but we want the community "in" on it with us. I don't plan on raising this child alone. I plan on having people in it's life that lovehim/her too. If ever you can understand the true fight that adoption is, you will know that having people stand beside you is priceless. IT matters, it is the difference of Arnie and I throwing in the towel or continuing to fight in this process. Sorry for the novel response, I am actually glad you asked the question because there tends to be a lot of misunderstandings when it comes to adoption and I love any chance I get to talk about adoption and to advocate for those sweet little children waiting to find their forever families!! Thanks for your thoughts and donations!
Hi Bekah, it's also worth noting that having bio children is not free -- although our costs [in Canada] were covered by our taxes, the obstetrician, the hospital stay, the ultrasounds, etc were not free. We don't expect these professionals to work for free, and I don't expect adoption professionals to work for free either.
ReplyDeleteEven if we had paid for these services out-of-pocket, I doubt that anyone would say that we had purchased our children.
Hope your sale is a huge success! :)
People who ask "why don't you adopt from here?" have obviously not looked into it them selves. To adopt from the foster system (at least in our province) it takes years to be matched with a child. We were lucky and only waited one year to be matched and that was considered quick. People should realize that there are already lots of couples trying to adopt from here, why not share the love and be ok with those who want to adopt internationally. Sorry, that question has always bugged me and it happened to be you blog that I was reading when I decided to vent.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote such a great response! I can't wait to hear how the garage sale goes. I so wish I could come!! I LOVE that blanket... I would just need another one to match it ;)
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