It Just Got Real

Well, Mommy didn't get up to spank my butt, HOWEVER, we did get that sitter we were praying about.  Last night she called us to say she was interested.  Bonus-she's one of the ONLY two teenagers we even know in this town and she's aweosme.  And we babysat her when she was GraceAnne's age.  Too cool!  That means we are on track for starting foster classes on Tuesday. 

AAAAND, this morning we got GraceAnne's physical done, finished our fingerprinting and realized that after Tuesday (the littles' physicals) our homestudy book will be complete.  So I wrote to our homestudy lady to set up an appointment to give her our packet and she reminded me that the homestudy fee is $1200 + our travel fee ($40) and due immediately when I turn in the books.

...yeah.  It just got real.

So we do not, in fact, have until October 12th because there are time-sensitive materials in our packet that need to be turned in pronto.  We actually have until October 1.  Which is 11 days from now.  Let's break it on down.

Our paypal account shows a balance of 237.66 (if you're wondering about the uneven number, PP takes a fee from every transaction) NOTE:  A friend just told me if, when you go to donate, you check the "gift for family/friend" button, PP does not charge, meaning your FULL donation comes to us! 
A wonderful man in our homegroup donated $20
Our total fees are 1231.80
We have 974.14 left to raise.

I will be raiding our change jar (which we set aside for the adoption costs anyhow) and praying like crazy that this blog will spread and people's hearts will be touched.  For background info to anyone who is new, check out THIS post.

The Dreaded "F" Word

We're hoping for 194 more people to donate $5.  If God so moves you, please share this post on your facebook page, tweet about it, send it out to your email peeps.  Every person you send it to is another potential $5.  Help us in spreading this word so far!

I post this picture to illustrate a point.  Sometimes we, as Christians, become so overwhelmed by Jesus' mandate to care for the widows and orphans.  What can we do?  Sometimes we can become bogged down and feel guilty about what little we think we can do, but look at those numbers up there!  God knows numbers.  He knows the number of hairs on your head.  The number of grains of sand on the ocean shore.  He cares enough to use numbers time and time again in His word.  He knows the number of dollars we need to raise in the next 11 days.

Don't make any mistake-God is in those numbers above.  He does NOT call all of us to be missionaries in the Congo or to adopt orphans.  But He does call all of us to HELP.  Maybe His will for you is not that you would bring orphaned children into your own home, but instead to help those of us who *are* called.  I'm not saying this to lay another guilt trip or to get you to donate to us, I'm saying this to bring you HOPE.  You can live out James 1:27 by aiding those who are the hands and feet of God to the least of these.

Making a donation is easy!  Just click on the ChipIn button below and make your donation via PP.  Remember, if you click on "gift to family/friend" there is no fee taken from the donation.  And don't forget to SHARE the post!

Thanks for reading our story, thanks for your support, thanks for sharing and thanks SO much for your donations.  God is so faithful to us!