Updates

Well, we just ended our t-shirt fundraiser and our Give1Save1 fundraiser and I'm excited to say that we raised $860 combined from the two!  We sold 33 t-shirts and had a fantastic amount of Give1Save1 supporters.  We feel SO blessed by everyone's support for us and for Asher!

I am really excited about our next fundraiser!  We will be selling bracelets through the Apparent Project.  These bracelets are made by Haitian women who need help feeding their families.  We will be getting 150 of these beautiful handmade, paper bead bracelets to sell.  They will be $8 + $2 shipping.  For every bracelet sold, half goes back to the women in the project and we get to keep half toward our adoption.  It's such a great way to support us as well as supporting these amazing women who are working to keep their families together.  Here is the link to their website if anyone would like to check it out and I will write another blog post when the bracelets are here! http://www.apparentproject.org/fundraisers/4572681975

I also thought I'd give another puzzle update since we've added another 30 + pieces!  That puts us at 220 pieces sponsored!  How incredible is that?!  Only 116 more pieces and this puzzle will be whole.  This is an ongoing fundraiser so keep praying the remainder of the pieces get sponsored.  (Those who donated $25 or more during our Give1Save1 fundraiser also got their name on the back of a puzzle piece. )

God bless!

Where we are

Just want to update everyone on where we are in this process.  We have our last homestudy visit next Wednesday.  We had to have an extra visit because we found out our first social worker would no longer be working there and her boss had to take over our file.  After his visit, he said it should take him 2-3 weeks to type up his report and send it to our agency.  It will then take them around 2 weeks to go over it and hopefully give us approval.  At that time, we will finally be able to start applying for grants.  Grants will become my life.

At this point, we have roughly $18,000-$19,000 to raise to complete the adoption.  This includes the $7,500 grant that Asher already has with Reece's Rainbow.  Thank the Lord for that grant. 
We have had two garage sales, a puzzle fundraiser (ongoing), a Thirty-One Fundraiser, an Usborne Book fundraiser, a t-shirt fundraiser, and we are currently doing a Give1Save1 fundraiser.    We are just at a loss right now and I am fighting overwhelming discouragement on a daily basis.  I have to have faith that God will provide if this is His will for us.  We are just pushing against deadlines and huge fees.  I am starting to worry about having our dossier to China by the end of April.  That date is quickly approaching and we still have much to wait on.  We have all of our paperwork, but we have to get it all notarized, then we have to travel to Indy to get it all certified, and then we have to travel to Chicago to get it all authenticated.  At that point we can send it to our agency to be reviewed.  That review process will take several weeks.  We also need to get our fingerprints for USCIS and file for our I800.  I've been reading that the I800 process is taking around 3 months right now.  That puts us SO close to our deadline that I can't even think about it.

What does this all mean?  It means we need prayer and we need help raising this money.  I still have a lot of hope in getting at least one substantial grant, but there is no guarantee.  Please pray with us.  Pray for Asher.  Pray for these obstacles to be removed so that we can bring our son home.  God bless.

~Carly

T-shirt Fundraiser!

We are so excited to launch our t-shirt fundraiser today!  My brother designed the shirt and I love it!  We used John 14:18 and incorporated red and yellow to represent China.  This fundraiser will run until January 20th.  Our goal in that time is to sell at least 50 shirts.  At 50 shirts sold we will have raised $470 toward bringing Asher home!  We need to sell a minimum of 20 shirts for the order to go to print.  If you purchase a shirt but we don't reach 20, your money will be refunded to you.  If the order goes to print, your shirt should arrive on or around the 3rd of February.  These shirts will not only help us get closer to Asher, but they will help raise awareness for orphans!  We have sizes ranging from Youth XS all the way up to Adult 4XL, so there is something for everyone!  We would be so thankful if you would consider purchasing a t-shirt and also help us spread the word.   Thank you all!

T-shirt link:  https://www.booster.com/bringingasherhome

Amazing news!

I am so excited to say that the week of January 20th we will be Give1Save1's featured family!!  What does that mean and who is Give1Save1?  They are a group who saw the need to help families fundraise.  What they do is feature a new family every week and promote them as much as they can via their social media.  They ask people to donate just $1.  That's it.  Just $1.  If enough people would respond to this small request, the outcome could be amazing! 

So, our week will start on January 20th.  Our story will be told and our video will be shown.  We have two very large agency fees coming up, $2,350 and $1.950, that will have to be paid before we can send our paperwork to China.  This could be such a blessing for us!  What are we asking of you?  We would be blessed if you would consider donating $1 and helping us spread the word.  When our week gets here, I will be sharing a link to our Give1Save1 campaign and if you would share it, we would be SO thankful!  You can also visit, Like, and share their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Give1Save1/260180674008277?ref=br_tf.   You can also visit their blog to learn more: http://giveonesaveone.blogspot.com/

I have been praying like crazy as we approach our next fees.  We've been so blessed by the donations we've received so far and every step we take brings us closer to our son.  I am so anxious to get to him!  I need to have him safe in my arms.  I need to know he is healthy.  I need to hear his voice; hear his laugh.  I ache to kiss his face.  Please consider helping us make this fundraiser as successful as possible!!  Love you all!

~Carly