Fundraising Milestone... and then some.

Sometimes Liz and I sit and wonder why the Lord is so good to us.  We know that his goodness is infinite and it is somehow his delight to care for his children, but we still sit here and wonder, after 4 months in the adoption process, how we have already raised $10,000 of our $23,000 goal.  God is certainly good.  If anything, this milestone shows us that God loves and cares for the orphan and desires that they have a home.  I am consistently drawn to Deuteronomy 10:18, which indicates that God "executes justice for the fatherless."  The execution of justice could mean several different things in this context; legal justice, moral justice, etc.  However, I don't think it is out of the scope of God's execution of justice that financial resources would be pooled together to care for an orphan.  It is just, it is right that God would raise up a group of people (through fundraisers, donations, t-shirt sales, etc.) who are determined to see family-less children have a home.  So, we want you to rejoice with us in God's work in our family and our adoption process.  We ask that you continue to pray for us in or fundraising efforts.  Even though we have passed the $10,000 milestone, we still aren't even halfway there.  We know the Lord will provide for us, and if it is anything like the last 4 months, I can't wait to see what he has in store.  We are humbled, excited, and thankful.

In the midst of our excitement about this fundraising milestone, we know that there is a long way to go.  Here are a few ways you can still help us with this process.

Sojournings Adoption Golf Scramble
August 13th
Shotgun Start at 2:00pm
Jeffersonville, IN Elks Country Club
Registration Deadline is August 6th
www.sojourningsadoptiongolfscramble.weebly.com

Sojournings Shop
We have a sort of online store where you can buy hand-made items.  Most of them right now are afgans that my mamaw made.  We would love for you to see those and if you want any, please let us know.
www.sojourningsshop.weebly.com

T-shirt Sale
We just got our order for T-shirts and they are available for $20 each.  We will cover shipping to you if you don't live in the Louisville area.  There are two different colors you can see in the photo.  The Scripture passage under "Defend" is Deut. 10:18.  We have sizes S-XL.



Rossman's Run for Orphans
One of our good friends Matt Rossman is running in the Bluegrass Half-Marathon in Johnson City, TN on September 25 to help us raise money for our adoption.  You can sponsor Matt for a certain dollar amount per mile or you can make a single donation.  The website below will get you to our Paypal button where you can donate.  This was one of the most creative ways I have seen so far to help us out.  We're very grateful to Matt for partnering with us in this way.  www.run4orphans.weebly.com

Matching Grants
Now that we have gotten our Home Study back (wooohoooo!), we can start applying for grants such as the Lifesong Grant and Show Hope Grant.  A couple of these are matching grants, which means your donation will be doubled up to a certain amount.  These could be huge for our fundraising efforts and we are thankful the Lord has given people like Steven Curtis Chapman a vision to support adoptive families in this way.

There are a few more opportunities still coming we think.  We have some other friends who are trying to organize a "Zumba-thon" at a local Mexican restaurant, and we are potentially going to have a fundraiser night at Chick-fil-a in Clarksville, IN where a portion of the proceeds that night will go toward our adoption efforts.  So, at the end of the day, we have a long way to go, but we are excited to see what the Lord will do.  If you can partner with us in any of these ways, or if you can think of another creative way to defend the fatherless, we would greatly appreciate it.