Online Silent Auction Update

For all those who have been waiting to hear the final results of our silent auction, here are the highlights:
* We had a total of 112 items listed!
* We had 39 businesses or friends donate at least one item!
* We averaged about 2,250 website views per day!
* 90 items sold!
* I shipped items to 16 different states!
* Although we had quite a few winning bidders who did not pay for their items, I had several individuals who had been outbid still purchase the items at their starting bid.  This was very helpful!
* We ended up raising $1,894.57!

Thank you to everyone who helped by either donating items, purchasing items, or even advertising for us!  We really appreciate it!

Visit our Silent Auction Website

I just wanted to make sure to remind all of you to visit our Online Silent Auction this week.  We are excited that it is underway and we had over 1,200 hits on our website the first 24 hours.  We have over 100 items to bid on so I'm sure there is something for everyone!

Online Silent Auction

If you’ve been following our blog for a while you know that I have been working and working (and working some more) preparing for our upcoming Online Adoption Silent Auction!  With just one week until the auction goes live I wanted make sure everyone was fully aware of it’s purpose and how each of you can help!

Who can participate?  Anyone is welcome to check out our silent auction.  The more the merrier! There are stipulations on a few items that cannot be shipped.  In addition, donors are only obligated to ship items to locations within the 48 Contiguous States.

What is available to bid on?  There are all sorts of things to bid on including:

*  Handmade items (jewelry, artwork, blankets, purses, stationary, etc.) 

*  Services (babysitting, lawn care, photo shoots, house cleaning, etc.)

*  Baked Goods

*  Gift Cards to restaurants and stores

*  Gift baskets and gift sets

*  Other misc. products

Also, if you are interested in donating to the auction, we will continue accepting donations through November 9th.  Please let us know asap if you have anything you would like to contribute!

When is the auction?  Bidding begins at midnight on November 11, 2013 and will continue until 11:59 p.m. on November 17^th.

Where is the auction?  Everything takes place online on our Silent Auction website. 

Why are we doing an online silent auction?  Because we are convinced that God has called us to adoption of a little girl from China!  We are hoping this will be our largest fundraiser to help with adoption costs. 

How can I participate?    It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1.   Visit our Silent Auction website.  Scroll through the items to see what interests you (don’t forget to click the phrase “Older Posts” to see more items).  You can also use the list of categories on the right side of the screen to narrow which items appeal to you more.

List of item categories.

2.  When you find an item that you would like to bid on, click the orange button “BID NOW.”  This will take you to the electronic bidding form.  Fill this out completely.  At the end of each day I plan to update the “Current Bid” for each item and I will include the initials of the person who currently is winning with the highest bid.

The Electronic Bidding Form

3.   When the auction ends, if you had the highest bid on an item, I will notify you so you can make the payment with paypal or any major credit card.  Once payment has been received we will communicate with you how you will receive your item.

And, although I have this printed on our auction website and the bidding forms I will go ahead and include the Auction Terms and Conditions here so there are no surprises.

Terms and Conditions 

By bidding in our online auction, you agree to the following terms. 

*Bidders must be at least 18 years old. *The highest bid at 11:59 p.m. on November 17, 2013 will win the item. *Within 24 hours of the close of the auction, the highest bidder will be notified. Upon notification bidders will have 48 hours to make payment. If payment has not been made within 48 hours that bid is nullified and the next highest bidder will be contacted as the winner of the bid.
*Payments must be made using paypal or any major credit card on the primary Adoption Website www.fromorphantoheir.blogspot.com.
*All sales are final - no refunds.
*All items are sold "as is" without warranties of any kind. 

*Inclusion of items in the auction does not imply endorsement by our family.
*Please note any special limitations, terms, or expiration dates prior to bidding. All items must be used by their expiration date.
*Lost tickets, certificates, or letters will not be replaced.
*Shipping and handling costs are covered by the individual who donated the item unless otherwise stated.
*For items in which shipping is included; donors are only obligated to ship items to locations within the 48 Contiguous States.
*We may correct typographical errors and make clarifications or corrections in listings, including the item description or current bid.
*We may update these rules at any time and a bidder's continued participation will constitute acceptance.
*If you have any questions, please contact amandakelly17@gmail.com.

Finally, if you have any questions or concerns please let me know and I will be more than happy to help in any way that I can.  Thank you in advance for your support!

Our Yard Sale -The Sequel

Call me crazy, but I thought (as if we didn’t have enough going on), that we could try to do one more yard sale with all the stuff left over from the last sale before winter crept up on us.  Back in August I mentioned the idea to Josh and he thought it was a good idea so we started searching our calendar for a weekend we had free.  Between his work schedule, traveling to go out of town, birthdays, baby showers, and other commitments we had already made, we only had one weekend available between the end of August and end of November.

We had several families drop off donations the week prior.  My grandmother, who is the Yard Sale Queen, came up to help us price items, run the check out table, and help watch the kids.  One of the guys from our community group helped Josh pull out all the boxes from under our house that were left over from the last yard sale.

We live along a busy street so this time we were hoping to get additional traffic at our sale by setting up Friday morning and being prepared for the after school shoppers and all those driving by when they got off of work.  However, I hadn’t done my research and had not taken into consideration that it was Fall Break and the first full day of the NC State fair- whoops.  Needless to say, we didn’t have near as many people stop by on Friday as I had hoped.  However, I am so thankful for two of our neighbors who helped watch our kids for a bit so my grandmother and I could set everything out.

Saturday, Josh was off work, which made things (especially managing the kids) a lot easier.  That morning we battled the rain for a little while.  I was thankful that the night before we had gone and bought several painters tarps to cover the tables.  I had prayed that the Lord would show us grace and not let it rain on us too hard and he answered my prayer!  When you looked at the radar there was a little circle over Raleigh where there was no rain and I’m pretty sure that was my neighborhood because the most we got was a lots of little sprinkles and even that ended around 10:00am.  I think the rain may have kept a lot of people inside that day so we didn’t have as many people as I had expected but it cleared up and we still sold a LOT of stuff.  We also had many friends come by to shop.  By the end of the two-day sale we made around $800!  In summary, we are so grateful for God’s provision yet again!  To Him be the glory!

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes

I spent hours upon hours sorting through children's clothes left over from our yard sale and also going through our attic weeding out any children's items we could do without.  Over the course of the month I was able to make a little bit at Once Upon A Child (a kids consignment store that pays you up front) and then began tagging items for the Raleigh Kids Exchange.  Once I had everything priced I could sort them into boys/ girls piles and then sort them by size.  The sale went on for four days and there were estimated over 30,000 shoppers each day.  When I went to pick up the items that didn't sell, there was only about a fourth of what I took that was left!  I hope to get a check in a few weeks and deposit it right away into our adoption account!  Here are a few pictures from my fun this month!

Piles of sorted clothes.

Girl's clothes still to be sorted.

Boy's clothes still to be sorted.

My Faith Is Not In Pledge Letters, But In A Faithful God!

In April we met with a family who had adopted and they gave us a helpful piece of advice for fundraising.  They said, other than praying, the very best thing we could do during the beginning stages of the adoption was to ask several close friends and family members to come along side us and help us fundraise.  They encouraged us to recruit 10 special individuals to reach out to their friend and family networks to raise money on our behalf (in the same way runners collect pledges for a race).  After almost two months of prayer, we composed a letter pouring out our hearts and asking for help.  I put the pledge letters in the mailbox, I lifted up the little red flag, I walked back inside the house and then...I sat down at the kitchen table and cried.  This wasn't a sad cry or an anxious cry, it was more of a hopeful cry.  I cried because I could not be confident that God was going to use this particular method to bring the money we needed to proceed, but I was confident that I could trust Him!

What's crazy is that 30 minutes later when the mailman picked up the pledge letters, Satan was already beginning his attack.  Did I put enough postage on the letters?  What if no one wants to help by asking people they know?  Are we just being a burden to our family and friends?  What if we send in the application and then we don't have the money to continue? All the fears and doubts began flooding in.  This was my very first moment of anxiousness in our adoption process. 

But God, in his kindness, kept me from despair. Truth. That's what I have to tell myself.  That's how I can fight fear, doubt, and anxiousness.  So, I asked myself, "What do I know to be TRUE right now, in this very moment?"  I was able to speak the gospel to myself and was reminded not only of God's faithfulness but also was able to reflect on how richly blessed I am already. 

Unfortunately, we didn't hear back from a single person.  After a week or so, we began trying to follow up with these individuals.  We discovered that several of them actually had no interest in helping out for one reason or another.  Some didn't have the time.  Some told us that they think adoption is a great thing (but not for us because we already have children).  Some, we haven't been able to touch base with since we sent out the letters.  This is when it hit me...This is going to be even harder than I had imagined.  I am going to have to completely rely on the Lord during this process.  Not even for a second will I be able to put my hope in others (or myself for that matter).  I have to completely surrender my plans, my will, and my ways.  I have also realized that this is going to be a daily battle.  I am going to have to be on guard and fully armed against Satan's schemes every minute of every day. And, although I know that this is going to be so hard, I am so thankful for this opportunity to grow my faith.

Since then, we had two individuals let us know they were willing to help.  What an encouragement!  We were beyond thrilled!  Even if they are unable to even raise a penny to help us in our adoption, the love we felt from these individuals (because they were simply willing to try) was enough to make this momma's heart leap from her chest!  We are SO grateful!

In addition, I recently was able to finish making our prayer cards, address those, and send some out so others could join in by praying for us.  For those of you reading this, we thank you for being part of our journey and I hope you too can be encouraged by reflecting on how faithful our Father is!

How Can You Put a Price Tag On A Child?

Many people do not realize how very expensive adoption can be. In most cases, when you tell people how expensive it is they rant and rave about how adoption should be free. I disagree.

I think the adoption process, as long and arduous as it is, has a purpose to genuinely protect the child and to ensure they are going to a family who will love them, care for them, and sacrifice what ever it takes to provide for them.

It's true, you CAN NOT put a price tag on a child. One thing you must realize is that as adoptive parents we are NOT buying a child. We are paying for the process to get the child legally! The process costs money in fees to our government, fees to the government of the country we are adopting from, and fees to the agency helping us to dot all the i's and cross all the t's.

Think about it this way, if adoption wasn't so expensive then many individuals who should NOT have children in their care would obtain them more easily. According to U.S. Today, the U.S. Department of Justice has confirmed that human trafficking has become the second fastest growing criminal industry -just behind drug trafficking- with children accounting for roughly half of all victims. Of the 2,515 cases under investigation in the U.S. in 2010, more than 1,000 involved children. Can you imagine if the adoption process was free how many more children would be taken advantage of!  No, I am thankful that adoption is not free!

Yes, for a family who is definitely not rolling in the dough, this is going to be difficult. Trying to raise money is humbling, very humbling.  But I KNOW it will be worth it.  And one day, my little girl will be confident of how much we love her because of how much we fought to do what was best and that we were willing to pay every penny for the process to be done right!  She will also look back at all of you who were willing to make sacrifices and help us raise money so we could bring her home as quickly as possible.  So, this is my plea, if you have not wanted to contribute financially because you think it's wrong to "pay for a child" then please reconsider and donate to our adoption today!

In addition, for those of you who do not understand the in's and out's of adoption cost;  please keep reading to see a list of typical fees associated with an adoption from China. These are just estimates.  Many agencies can charge more or less than the listed amounts but this seems to be the average. In addition, if you are adopting domestically or even from another country this will look very different. But, for those of you who have never understood why adoption is so expensive I hope this helps.

Pancake Picnic

As we were trying to make final decisions about which agency to partner with, we discovered that both agencies we were interested in would require us to pay a first installment prior to the home study fee.  This is not what we were anticipating since most of the people we had spoken with who had adopted said that they began fundraising and applying for grants after they had completed their home study.  This motivated us to go ahead and get the ball rolling with additional fundraising ideas.  One of the easiest to throw together was our Pancake Picnic.

We invited all our neighbors but not too many were available to come.  I almost cancelled the event in hopes to reschedule for another night, but my sweet husband encouraged me not to.  We had six people come and because of their generosity we raised over $100!  Can you even believe it?!?  We are so thankful for how God continues to show his faithfulness to provide.

The request was made by a few people to have another pancake night, so who knows, maybe you'll be seeing another post like this one in a few weeks (or months) from now.

Spring 2013 Yard Sale

We had just sent in our initial application to receive more information about countries and agencies when we found out our neighborhood was going to hold a neighborhood yard sale. 

Oh, this would be a great opportunity to raise money for the adoption. 

But we don’t even know what country we are adopting from. 

Who cares, we don’t have to tell people it’s for adoption.

But I want to tell people.

Someone might ask me about the agency we are using and we haven’t decided.

Would I be breaking some kind of adoption fundraising etiquette?

This is a brief synopsis of what was rolling around in my head at that moment.

Fortunately, after speaking with a few wise friends we decided to move forward and like a train speeding down a hill I was determined to make our first fundraising efforts a success.  I prayed and prayed and prayed that God would show his favor on us to affirm our decision to adoption only a month prior.

I began advertising almost immediately.  I brainstormed a list of anyone in the area who I thought might either donate items or come shop around at the sale.  I created an invitation for them but before I had actually sent the invitation I was approached by a family from our church.  They told us that they had been saving things for over a year in hopes to donate it to someone who was having a yard sale to raise adoption funds.  They were unsure who to give it to but heard that we might be adopting.  What is most amazing is that at this point, they had no clue we were even planning a yard sale.  I was so excited I went home and immediately sent out the invitations in hopes that others would be as excited to donate as this family.

After that, things started pouring in.  A bag here.  A box there.  I would be out running errands with the kids and we would come back and stuff would be all over our front porch.

Just getting started.