Sevenly + Reece’s Rainbow = Supporting Adoptive Families

What a surprise today! As we near the end of this journey we have been amazed again and again at the way God has provided. We are convinced that God truly delights in providing a way for the orphans of this word to come home to their forever families. He has proved his faithfulness again and again throughout this process. If you are on the fence about adoption, especially if you are holding off because of financial concerns, we say…jump down off that fence and go for it!

Photo by: Madey Edlin

Today we found out that Sevenly is partnering for a third time with Reece’s Rainbow (the grant organization where we found Aubrey and Micah). If you are not familiar with Sevenly, they chose a new “cause” each week, design t-shirts to support that cause, and sell them for a limited amount of time to help raise money for that cause. This time around, Sevenly has decided to specifically support the Reece’s Rainbow families who are adopting a child with Down syndrome and are traveling within the next twelve weeks to pick up that child and bring him/her home. We are happy to say that we meet that criteria, and we will be one of several families who will benefit from the sale of the Sevenly products! To see all the Reece’s Rainbow families who will benefit and/or to support this cause go here: http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=s14.

Please consider purchasing one of these great t-shirts this week to support the families who are in the final push to the end of their adoptions! Also, there are lots of other items on Sevenly as well, not just t-shirts! We are so thankful for this blessing as we near the end of our own adoption journey.

We are also still in the midst of our shoe fundraiser. So far we have raised about 2,000 lbs. of the 15,000 lbs. needed. Today we received a huge pile of shoes from a generous donor…1,307 shoes in all! For those who are local, we will be at Dairy Queen in Meadville from 1-4 this Saturday collecting used shoes. They can be any kind, and as long as they are still “wearable” we’ll take them! Every little bit helps us get closer to our goal. If you could clean out your closet and bring us your old shoes, we would be so appreciative!  J

Sawyer climbing the shoe mountain!

Shoe Drive

Old shoes wanted!!!!

We are asking for your help to raise the last needed funds to help bring Micah and Aubrey home to us. This Friday, if all goes well, there will be a court hearing to officially make us the parents of this precious boy and girl. By early January, we should be on our way to get them and bring them home forever! We are so excited!

We are still about $4,700 short of the needed funds to make that happen. Compared to what was originally needed, that is just a drop in the bucket! God has met us at every turn with the necessary funds we needed for every step of the process, and so many of you have been a part of that provision. Thank you for giving as God prompted…we are forever grateful!

So, during our final fundraiser we are hoping to raise the money to complete our adoption, as well as provide a few items for Micah to d Aubrey’s orphanage that they are in need of. We would like to be able to purchase a wheelchair for a little guy who needs one in order to be able to go to school and we would also like to buy some baby food for the orphanage because that is a need of theirs as well.

We are happy to say that we will be partnering with the Kelliher family for this shoe drive. I know David and Julie from my time working at the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School. They are a beautiful family, serving God, and traveling back to Eastern Africa for a second time to bring another young lady into their family. To read more about their adoption journey visit their blog at http://juliekelliher.wordpress.com/. Between the two families, we are hoping to raise about 30,000 pounds worth of shoes in the next several weeks! It is a big goal but we serve a big God!

Would you be willing to clean out your closet and part with your old shoes? Could you hold a mini shoe drive of your own, on our behalf, maybe by passing along our need to your church, your school, your neighbors, your family, or a civic group you are a part of? Could you share our need on Facebook?

We are hoping to wrap up the shoe drive in early /mid January or as soon as we meet our goal. Our shoes will be sent to CA through a company called Angel Bins, where they will be sorted and sent to various third world countries where there is a great need for used shoes. I love that this fundraiser helps two adoptive families but also benefits people in need of shoes around the world. So much better than ending up in a landfill here!

We have created a flyer (below) that can be distributed to anyone who is interested. It can be printed out or we can get copies to you.

We so appreciate all of the help from our family and friends as we enter this last leg of our journey!

 Blessings!

Erin