3rd Garage Sale

By Evie

The Lord sure has been strengthening and building our faith lately. Adoption costs a lot of money. And other than Steve working lots of over time, God has been blessing us through others. The picture above shows one of the ways that God has been proving funds to do what he has called us to.

This Garage sale took place one week ago. And through the hard work and donations from the members and friends of Grace Covenant Church  of Fox Valley (Steve's Parent's church in Chicago) they raised $1000 Dollars.We are so grateful and humbled by what they did. We did not ask them to  do a fundraiser for us, but they have a great heart for Adoption and took it upon themselves to do this for us. We were blessed by their love for us and pray the Lord's blessing on them.

Dear Brothers & Sisters of GCC,

THANK YOU TO EACH OF YOU who contributed in any way! Thank you so much! This is an incredible blessing! We are humbled, and blown away by your love through your support! We are in awe at the Lord's provision! Words do not adequately express our gratitude. But may the Lord be glorified through this. Thank you!

God Blesses us through Others

by Evie

Last Friday, we received a card in the Mail from a Special Couple, stating that since the total of our Garage Sale was so close to $1,000 that they had to help push it over the top! 

We had planned on going to Chicago for the day to go to Steve's brother's 8th grade graduation last Sunday. Then, we realized that the garage sale his parents were going to have would be the same weekend. So, Steve got off from work a couple hours early last Friday and we headed to Chicago. We were there Friday evening through Sunday evening. We enjoyed our time with the family and lil' brother's grad.

It was neat being there. There was a woman who saw the signs (which said; "Adoption Fundraising Garage Sale"). So, she came. She talked with my mother in-law and me and shared her story. She too was adopted! It was neat to talk to her and hear her story. She was so excited for us and the child God has for us. She was very encouraging and supportive. She said she didn't really "do" yard sales, but the sign caught her eye and she just needed to stop by and see what it was all about. She asked if she could hug me as she was about to leave. I'm very tactile, so I obliged. Then she pressed some $ into my hand, turned and left with a teary eyes and smile on her face.

There were a couple of others with similar stories that stopped by before we arrived.

Mom and Dad's Garage sale was all day Friday and Saturday. And they gave the proceeds to us! The Total was: $135!
No. After coming home and doing laundry I found $5 in my pocket from that Saturday + a check that we forgot to count! GRAND TOTAL: $145!!! NEAT! God sure does provide!

Another blessing...

At their church prayer meeting, Steve's mom asked for prayer for their garage sale. The ladies of the church said they thought they should have one too.

I thought that was a nice thought... Then, while attending their service Sunday morning, I read it in their bulletin. Like, they're serious! I was blown away and felt incredibly blessed! They really are going to have one to donate towards our Adoption!! Isn't that wonderfully crazy!?

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul,and forget not all his benefits,..." Ps.103:1-2

Garage Sale Total!

The amazing total of this weekend's garage sale was $996.85! God is so amazing!

Thank you all who donated stuff, time, and for all your prayers!

Showers of Blessings

by Steve

God's has blessed us so much during this garage sale! We are still tallying up the total money that was raised, but I do want to praise God for all the grace He has poured out on us...

First we were amazed by all the donations people gave us! They started piling up as soon as we let everyone know about the garage sale. By the day of the sale, our garage was bursting with quality merchandise. Almost 20 families donated items for the sale before we had to stop taking donations and start organizing the store. Thank you all for your things. God blessed us greatly through them.

God blessed us with lots of help to bring this to pass. Some people loaned us vehicles, others helped price items. From setup to clean up, people helped with getting small bills to make change and baking cookies to sell. This was our first time doing a garage sale, and all of your help made it much easier.

Speaking of people, we want to publicly praise God for the Bala family! God's grace to them is evident and we where blessed by His grace flowing through them. They didn't simply allow us to use their home for the sale, they trained us in the art of doing a garage-sale! I cannot list all the ways they helped us. More than all of it, we deeply appreciated the genuine fellowship around Christ and His grace.  Praise God! and thank you, Colin and Dana, from the bottom of our hearts.

We were blown away by all the sales! On Friday the weather was drizzly, chilly, and damp, but God brought people who wanted our stuff! We sold quite a bit that first day.
Saturday, opening time (8:00) found us at the breakfast table relaxing around our coffee. A punctual customer rang the doorbell and asked when we were going to start! The people came steadily the rest of the morning.
We did not sell every single item, but all the big things did sell so that we did not have too much to clean up at the end of the day. God showed his blessings again, bringing the right people at the right time to sell the right item for the right price. He is at peace who serves a sovereign God who is his Father.

It was a blessing to see the familiar faces that came to visit. We thank God for the support of our church family, and we thank each of you that came to show your support.

We were also blessed to meet several new families that were very supportive of our adoption. There were some 8 strangers who shared their personal adoption story. Finally, at the end of today, a friend of the Bala's stopped by who have just finished adopting. Eager to help us, we exchanged contact information and will be building a relationship with some new friends. I was not expecting this level of support from the community, and God blessed us by bringing the greater Body of Christ around us at this time.

So, the money we raised, while it was our main purpose, it was only the beginning of all the blessings God showered on us.  We are exhausted from the work, but we have been built up and greatly encouraged! God used many different means to funnel His grace into our lives, and our hearts are full of praise and gratitude.

Garage Sale Day 1

by Evie

God is good! And I am so grateful for all He is doing!! He hasn't taken the drizzle or light rain away, but He has been bringing LOTS of People! What a blessing!!

And it's been chilly! So that Coffee sure is hitting the spot and warming our hands when they're not busy making change. And the cookies taste great!

May God be glorified today!

Yard Sale INFO

by Evie

Thank you Everyone, for your prayers! Please continue to pray and ask the Lord's blessings and for favorable weather this coming fri/sat.

We just posted our ad on craigslist! We praise the Lord for all He has provided for our Adoption Fundraising  Yard Sale. Now, we are trusting Him to bring people who will purchase the items that were generously donated. We would love for you to stop by or spread the word to your family and friends who like to yard sale. I'm wishing my Grammy A. could come! Back in her glory days as the Yard-Sale-Queen, she would have loved the one we are about to have!
           
Hope you can come!

1075 Elm Street Plymouth, IN 46563

Fundraising Yard Sale Prep.

by Evie

Wow! We have received so many donations! From about 15 families or individuals! We are no longer excepting donations. We are trying to finish up pricing things today and tomorrow. Then, we will need to take everything to where we will hold the sale. This looks like a busy week! We are looking forward to seeing what the Lord will do this week!

Yard Sale Fundraiser

by Evie

We are pleased to announce that our Adoption Fundraising Yard Sale will take place on Friday, June 1st from 8 a.m.--6 p.m.; and Saturday June 2nd from 8 a.m.--5 p. m. at 1075 Elm Street Plymouth, IN 46563

Our good friends will be hosting for us! They live in a more populated area then we do. And their children will have a lemonade stand:-)

We are grateful to all of you have have been donating items for the Yard Sale! That is a huge blessing! We have a van's worth of things to sell in order to raise money towards our adoption!

My sister is sponsoring coffee (that was purchased and mailed to us today) to be sold both mornings. And my sister in-law will be baking cookies for us to sell.

We'll be taking donations up until Memorial Day weekend. And as June draws closer, we will advertise our Yard Sale Fundraiser on Craig's List. We are asking the Lord for a great turn out and are eager to see how He will answer our prayers.

I've never had a yard sale before. It's kind of exciting, but in some ways, all of this seems very overwhelming. My flesh thinks this (adopting and all that it entails) is completely crazy! But the Holy Spirit keeps reminding me that God is big and that He will work out all the details. I need to trust HIM.

Verses that I read this afternoon (Very timely):
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:31-32

Upcoming Home Study and Yard Sale

by Evie

Wow, we've been busy. There seems to be more things to get done than there are hours in which to do them.

We are excited that on Wednesday, the 25th, we will be in Indianapolis for our first Home Study appointment! It will sort of be like a mini orientation. We'll be taking the boys with us. And perhaps we will go do something fun as a family, like going to the Children's Museum:-)

As I was sitting down to write this post, I noticed there was an unread post in our google reader. Our Agency posted a blog post that is very timely as it had to do with Home Studies.

Paper work is coming along. Although I haven't been updating here much, we are accomplishing some things. We already have a pile of papers that could be notarized. I'm finding that as we work down the tracking sheet, the things we need to gather seem more complicated. We suspect that our paper-chasing stage will take longer than the average. In part, because we have been so busy and also because it feels like the home study is going slowly! But we are chipping away at it and already have half a dozen documents crossed off the list! 

We will miss our agency's monthly Conference call while we are in Indy. Thankfully, they record those and email them out. 

We are really looking forward to Steve being done w/ school for the semester, that will REALLY help us in regards to the adoption and our family life. He also has been working lots of over time. And I will be done teaching Scott Kindergarten in a few days!

I'll soon have finalized info on our garage sale. It seems like it will be the first weekend of June instead of in May. Thanks to all of you who have been donating for our Adoption Fundraiser sale!

Thank you also for all of you who have been purchasing coffee and shopping Amazon through our button.

Thank you most of all for your prayers!

Yard Sale Fundraiser

by Evie

Well, for a week or so, I thought we had skipped spring! But the weather this week reminds me that it is still March. So, there is still time (and cool enough weather) to do some spring cleaning! We will have some company in the next month and an ADOPTION HOME-STUDY soon! So, I will be thoroughly cleaning our home soon--not that they will be investigating every nook and crany. But, you know, it gives me motivation to get things clean and organised! Will you be doing some spring cleaning in the next few weeks?

As Steve mentioned in a previous post, we plan on a having a yard sale as another means of fundraising. And we would like you to help! If you are local, and would be willing to donate clothes, furniture, nicknacks or other things (all in good condition), that would be great! All proceeds will go towards our adoption. We would really be appreciative of any "treasures" you could send our way. Or, if you have a larger item and a smaller vehicle, we would be willing to pick it up. Please let us know and we can arrange that.

We're thinking we will have the yard sale in mid May. We will nail that down soon and let you know!