finding a way to help

So, I have been wondering how in the world to write this post. 

You see, I'm a people pleaser.  {Gulp}  Yes, it's true.  I hate hurting people's feelings, and I probably care way more than I should about what people think.  I am getting better, but I'm still not quite there with this stuff yet.  I am one big work in progress. 

Since so many of you helped me to raise the $20,000.00 ransom for Julia's adoption, my inbox has been ridiculously flooded.  It seems that some people think that I have some kind of gift in raising money.  Which I absolutely do not.  Please know that.  I am the worst when it comes to asking for money.  It literally makes me break out in a sweat.  My heart starts racing and my hands get sweaty.  Asking for anything is definitely not my thing. 

Truth be told--I actually did very little to fundraise for Julia.  The only explanation I can give you as to how that huge amount of money was raised in five days is, well, GOD!  He chose to do it for His glory--it's just as simple as that.  It had nothing to do with me.  I was merely the one who had met sweet Julia and knew the urgency of her situation.

Literally more than a hundred people have written to me asking for help.  Can I host a fundraiser for their adoption/ministry or whatever the need is?  Can I mention their blog on my blog to send my readers there?   

Oh my goodness, friends.  I have agonized over what to do for the last few weeks. I have received so very many requests for help.  Everything in me longs to help every person who has emailed me for fundraising assistance.  I wish there was an easy solution to raising money to bring children home.  But unfortunately there is not.  God chooses to bring funds in for families in different ways.  What I do know from experience is that it takes hard work and perseverance.  We laughed when the money came flooding in for Julia.  All of our own adoptions took months and months to fundraise what we needed.  God just chose to do it differently for Julia...not because of anything I did or said.

I have prayed about what the right thing is to do on my blog.  Because this is my family blog, not just a place to share about adoption, I have really sought God on what to do about the tons of requests I have received for help in the area of fundraising.  I know that if all I ever did was ask for money, or talk about families raising money, well, I would simply have no readers.  No one wants to constantly be asked for money.  I know I don't. People come here for different reasons--some for adoption, some to read about our children, some are interested in special needs, some just lurk, and others are just curious...I guess. Truthfully, I have no idea why in the world anyone would want to keep coming back here.  It blows my mind because I am so not a good writer or a good photographer.

Truthfully, I have struggled to find the balance in all of this.  My heart longs to help everyone who has reached out to me for help.  But I am just a mom with a blog.  There is only so much that I am capable of doing in the small amount of time that I have.  If I had more hours in my day I would start a whole new blog dedicated specifically to fundraising.  But I can't do that in this season.  My calling right now is to be mommy to my seven and wife to my hubby.  Everything else must come second.  Of that I am absolutely positive.

I think that I have come up with some kind of a solution though.  I am busy compiling a stand alone page that will be on my sidebar.  It will say "Fundraising Families."  On that page I will list all the families I know who are in the process of raising the ransom for their children to come home.  It will be a page that I update regularly.  It will be easy for readers to find. The stand alone page on the sidebar will contain families' information with a link to their blogs.  That way people interested in helping a family raise money can just go the sidebar page and scroll through the different families I have listed.  I will highlight camera giveaways, iPad giveaways...or whatever big things families are currently hosting.  Does that make sense?

I am praying that it will be a good solution to help many of you out.  Trust me, I know how great the need is.  I know how hard the fundraising journey can be. Most of the time it is not fun at all. Been there, done that...four times.  We raised every dollar we needed to bring our children home.  It took many hours of hard work.  But together with the Lord, it is so absolutely possible. 

If you are a family who is in the process of fundraising, and you would like me to include you on my sidebar, please send me an email with your details.  Please type "FUNDRAISING FAMILY" in the subject so that I know to look out for your email.  Be sure to include your blog and a short bio that I can include.  I hope to have the link up and running in a few days.  You can email me at [email protected]

Please know that the Lord Jesus is MORE than able to provide for your adoptions.  I have seen it more times than I can remember. 

He IS faithful to provide.