Thursday, June 27, 2013

Locks of Love

So, the other day, Audriana and I decided to cut off our hair and donate it to Locks of Love.

What is Locks of Love?

It is a non-profit organization that "provides hair pieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis."

The mission of Locks of Love is, "to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children."

So, here are the pictures:
Look how long her hair was; (other than her bangs) she had never had a hair cut!










BEFORE

AFTER :)

I think Audriana looks absolutely adorable with her new hair cut, and she is so happy that she could help a child in need!  

Oh, and did I mention that ULTA in Mayfaire Shopping Center gives you your HAIR CUT FOR FREE if you are donating it to Locks of Love!

(quotes about Locks of Love were taken directly off their website today. If you are interested in learning more about Locks of Love or about how you too can make a donation please visit www.LocksOfLove.org )

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Thirty-One Fundraiser...Complete

Our Thirty-One fundraiser is complete!

Total sales for the party is: $907.82!!

THAT'S FABULOUS!

We get the full commission on that as our Thirty-One consultant, Susie Townsend, has graciously donated it. So, that is $226.92 that goes towards bringing our kids home!

Thank you to everyone that made a purchase on our Thirty-One party. We have another shopping fundraiser coming up, so check back frequently for details.

We are always looking for new and fun ways to raise funds for our adoption, so please let us know if you have any more ideas for us! 

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. 

Friday, June 21, 2013

Updated on Finances

I just received the most current financial report from our adoption agency.

Since we started this journey in December,  $18,135.04 has been raised towards bringing home our sibling set of seven from the Philippines! Praise the Lord! God has worked in the hearts of so many people, some people we do not even know, and we are so grateful to everyone who has joined us in our journey to bring these children home.

We are still $23,768.96 short of our goal. (if you would like to see the breakdown of what these costs include please read my previous post): Adoption Fee Breakdown for Sibling Set of Seven

A Sea of Hope Orphan Ministry has organized another yard sale for us at Grace 210 in Hampstead next Friday, June 28th. If you have anything to donate please message me for a drop off location. Also, we hope you will stop in and see if there are any treasures you can find at the yard sale.

Ultra Moms on a Mission have also started organizing a 5K benefit in the Hampstead/Sneads Ferry area this fall, so stay tuned for details on how to get involved with that!

We have also applied for some grants, and we will continue to apply for more grants. We are open to some other fund raiser suggestions, so please let us know if you have an idea. If you are not in the area, and you would still like to get involved in organizing a fundraiser, let us know what you are doing, so that we can highlight it on our blog and on Facebook!

"And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" Philippines 4:19

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Why Not Domestic?

Why adopt international? Why not adopt domestically?

Sometimes, I have people question why we would adopt internationally instead of adopting domestically. There are really several answers to this for our family, but the main reason for our personal choice is this:

We LOVE the United States of America. Both Dustin and I have served honorably in the United States Marine Corps, and, of course, the option to adopt domestically is one that we have considered and prayed about in the past.

Having served in the military and traveled for mission trips, we have witnessed children in third world countries living on the streets with little to no hope of finding a home or loving family. These children do not have access to clean water or to food, they don't even have access to medical care or an education. Their poverty and desolation are beyond anything we have witnessed within the US.

While we know that a foster home isn't every child's best option, the children in US foster homes do have access to food, clean water, medical care, public education, and even a home and foster family rather than being in orphanages and on the street.

However, in many third world countries, these necessities are not available to orphans and street children. Many times these orphans end up starving to death or involved in human trafficking. Seeing the children first hand in third world countries living on the streets in such atrocious conditions absolutely broke our hearts. For us, it was clear that God had placed these other countries on our hearts.

If someone feels very strongly that domestic adoption is "better" or what we "should" have done, I would definitely urge those individuals to follow that calling and begin the process to adopt or foster within the US! There is definitely a need here too.

We know that EVERY child deserves a family! While our children came to us from a different country, perhaps yours will be from the US!


Here are some alarming statistics:

"Every 3.6 seconds one person dies of starvation. Usually it is a child under the age of 5." (UNICEF.org)

"Every year, an estimated 9.7 million children under the age of five die from largely preventable causes. The world knows what it takes to improve child health and survival but millions still die because they lack access to these basic services." (UNICEF.org)

"Worldwide, almost 20% of all trafficking victims are children." (UNODC.org)

"Over 1 billion children suffer from at least one form of severe deprivation of basic needs like water, food, and sanitation."(SOS-USA.org)

"We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes." David Platt "Radical"

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Thirty-One Fundraiser

A good friend of ours, Susie Townsend, is a consultant for Thirty-One. She has graciously offered to donate ALL of her commission from our fundraiser's sales to our adoption. Thank you Susie! You are too kind!

If you are unfamiliar with Thirty-One, they offer a variety of bags, purses, totes, organizers,...etc in all kinds of different patterns and fabrics you can choose from; AND, you can personalize any of the stuff for a small fee!


This is a wonderful opportunity because you can buy great products and help us bring our kids home. What a great time to pick up a birthday or christmas gift for your special someone (or for yourself ;), and when you do, know that 25% of the purchase cost goes directly towards helping bring our kids home from the Philippines!

What if you live out of town? No problem! You can still shop, but just make sure when you place your order online you don't ship the order to the hostess. Instead, choose "Direct Shipping," and it will come right to your door!

Plus, for every $35 you spend during the month of June, you may purchase a Large Utility Tote for just $10! (This tote is one of Thirty-One's most popular items!)



So have fun shopping, and invite your friends to shop too! Share on Facebook and by email too.

To shop our fundraiser:

SHOP BESTUL THIRTY-ONE FUNDRAISER HERE

We will be closing the party June 20th. Happy shopping & thanks for your support!