review of our first adoption fundraiser

This morning we set out with a goal to raise the entire retainer fee for the adoption attorney, the amount for that is $1,500. And, my 4pm this afternoon we had over $1,600 in donations from this fundraiser today - an amount we thought would take at least two days to raise, or longer. We do feel like this is a huge miracle and great step towards our goal of adopting.

We are so blessed and encouraged by everyone's generosity. We had people give towards this fundraiser today that we don't even know that well, and one person who gave today, we don't even know her! God has provided in such an amazing way for this first step in our adoption journey. We are so very grateful for everything - and for everyone - and even before this day, we already had so many family members and friends step up to help us as we start out. We are so thankful for everything and everyone!

So what's next? We hope to have a large garage sale in mid-September. If you have anything you'd like to donate will you contact us? You can e-mail either myself (Nick) or my wife (Melanie) and we can set something up. (Click on one of our names to contact us.) Getting the retainer fee for the attorney is now accomplished & relocating the birth mom back to Sacramento is also done and we could not have done it without everyones prayers, encouragement & support. Our future fundraisers will help us cover the additional costs of our attorney (and that will be between $2,000-$3,000) and we will need to raise another $4,500 to help cover the cost associated with the state and its fees for adopting a child and being licensed to do so. And there there will several other things we will have to do and pay for during this adoption as we are connected to the birth mother and want to help and her family out as they start fresh in Sacramento again. The adoption could easily end up costing over $15,000 and with my role in ministry, fundraising is going to be our ticket to adoption. So, we still have a ways to go and you will always be able to donate through this blog.

And please keep praying! Specifically - our birth mom and her family need a place to live. We have less than 24 hours to help them find a place. And they have been looking as well, but we need your help - if you have any leads or ideas, please contact myself or Melanie right away (links to our e-mails are in the above paragraph) and please keep praying for this! I would love nothing more than by this time tomorrow to share with you how the Lord continued to work and provide for housing for this birth mom and her family. Please keep praying and again, thank you for your encouragement & support. We are overwhelmed by everyone's love and generosity towards us!