Garage Sale Gratefulness

When we started this adoption, we honestly had no idea how we were going to come up with the $35,000 to bring this little girl home in a very short amount of time.  Our family agreed that we would do whatever it took to provide Nora with a loving family.  We are so grateful that so many wonderful people have come alongside us in this journey!

The results of our garage sale fundraiser are truly an amazing story of God's provision...

• Sheridan Wesleyan Church shared their space for our fundraiser.  They were welcoming and extremely accommodating.  A HUGE thank you goes out to the Pastors, staff, and members of this congregation.
• Over 60 families donated their unwanted items from around their house to create one of the largest garage sales I have ever seen!  Not only was our family blessed abundantly by their donations, but the "shoppers" were also blessed.  They could not believe that all we wanted was a donation.
• Approximately 50 volunteers helped us: gather items, advertise our fundraiser, sort the items, work during the sale, clean-up, etc.  We could not have done it without them!
• Hundreds of people came and SHOPPED.  The bigger items were priced the first day, but then the second day all price tags came off.  Most items at the garage sale were not priced and just offered to whoever needed them -- at whatever donation they wanted to give.  I was amazed at the generosity of most of the shoppers.
• Friends and even people we didn't know - stopped by the sale to offer encouragement, tell us that they are praying for us and Nora, and make a donation. 
• Two anonymous families generously pledged matching funds of $500 and $4,000.  I am excited to share that we exceeded our goal of fully earning these matching funds! 
• Plus, a group of sweet little girls raised enough to purchase a few animals for families living in poverty.  They sat at their bake sale for close to 10 hours!!  Something as simple as a goat, can make a huge impact on a family.  It can provide nutrition, money for school (selling the milk), and also the ability to pay it forward by giving away their goat's offspring. 

When I look back over the planning and the actual event, I kind of have to chuckle.  I was stressed.  I was worried.  Was it all going to come together?!  Would we raise the funds needed?!  God, like usual, was completely in control of the details.  Every. single. detail. came together better than I even could have imagined.  This fundraiser taught me so much.  My faith has been deepened tremendously.  God has really showed Himself to us through this whole process.  I cannot wait to see what he has in store for this little girl. 

Thank you to each and every person who was a part of our fundraiser!

Garage Sale Fundraiser

I haven't posted for awhile so thought I would update everyone on how things are going!!

Paperwork Update ~
We received our final homestudy on February 28th.  Our fingerprinting appointment with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is March 31st in Casper.  This is the final step of our paperwork that is needed for our dossier, which will be sent over to Uganda hopefully by end of April.  Then, we just will have to wait for them to tell us we can come meet Nora.  It could be as early as June, but realistically it will probably be August.  Chuck and I will make the first trip together and be there for 1-2 weeks.  Then, I will go back about a month later to bring Nora home. 

Garage Sale Update ~
All I have to say is -- WOW!!  We have had over 30 families donate items to our fundraiser.  There is so much stuff - it is just unbelievable.  Wesleyan Church has been amazing - we are so grateful for how welcoming they have been to us.  The best part is that when we are done with our fundraiser - everything donated that does not sell will go to another local family who is also adopting and they will have a garage sale this summer.   

If you are reading this & you live in Sheridan, please help us spread the word:

PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND & SHOP TO SUPPORT A GREAT CAUSE -
Adoption Fundraiser: Indoor Garage Sale at Sheridan Wesleyan Church (up by the airport - 404 W Brundage).
Friday, March 28th from 2pm-7pm
Saturday, March 29th from 8am-2pm
http://burgessadoptionjourney.blogspot.com

God Bless!  Nicki

Fundraising Efforts

The total cost of our adoption will be right around $35,000. This includes a homestudy by a licensed social worker, adoption training, immigration approval, medical tests, agency fees, international lawyers, orphanage costs, and travel – all necessary to bring this little one into our family. There is a $13,000 tax credit available upon completion of the adoption. Our goal is to fundraise and apply for grants to bridge the gap between what we have saved and still need to financially make this adoption possible.

We have struggled with asking others to help support our adoption. Once we have Nora home with us, we are able to love and provide for her. We strongly feel that the initial costs are not a reason to deny an orphan a home. 

We ask that you consider investing in our adoption journey.  Please help us spread the word by visiting our blog and sharing our story on social media.




GARAGE SALE ~

We are planning on holding an indoor garage March 28 & 29th. As you are doing your Spring Cleaning, please keep us in mind – we will take any and all donations from now until the big sale. Volunteers are needed to help sort items and clean up.

Picture Source

PUZZLE FUNDRAISER ~







For every $20 you donate, your family’s name will be written on the back of a puzzle piece. Giraffe, First Kiss (shown below) puzzle will be framed and put in our daughter’s room. Some day when Nora is older, she will be able to see the names of all the people who played a role in bringing her into our family.









TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS OPTIONS

• Mail a check payable to Lifesong for Orphans.  In the MEMO line, please note:  Burgess/#4402 to ensure it goes to the correct account.  Send to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, IL  61744.  Lifesong has been blessed with a partner that underwrites all US administrative and fundraising costs, therefore 100% of your donation will go towards our adoption.

• Donate online at www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate.  Select "Give to an Adoptive Family."  Complete the online form and fill in "Family Account Number - 4402" and "Family Name - Burgess" fields.  Note that Paypal charges an administrative fee (2.9% + $0.30 USD per transaction).  Your donation will be decreased by this fee.

In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization.  This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor's suggested use.

Individual donations $250 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt.  Receipts for donations under $250 will gladly be sent upon request.  Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization.


T-SHIRT FUNDRAISER ~

Purchase one of our adoption shirts designed by Melanie Araas for $25 (shown below). Contact us to place your order! Please specify the design and size you would like to order. Shirts are men's sizes.  Kids sizes available also.  Checks payable to us for t-shirt orders.

Chevron Africa -
printed on grey short sleeve shirt

















Africa to Wyoming -
printed on white short sleeve shirt









Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being willing to help us bring Nora into our family!



Some Things to Know

Wow.  We have received so many wonderful messages from friends!  Thank you for your support. 

It is important to point out... that our family is not amazing or inspirational.  The loss orphans experience and hardships they endure are unfathomable.  Yet, many of them still have such deep faith and hope for a better future.  They are the inspiring ones!  As the case with each one of our children, I have a feeling we will be more blessed by Nora than she is by us.

We appreciate your support because right now we need more support than we ever have - this process simply is not easy.  In fact, it is one of the hardest things we have ever done and this is just the beginning.  I am not complaining, we chose to answer what we felt like we were being called to do.  And believe me we are joyful about doing so, but it has been a hard few months! 

I love this blog post that I stumbled upon a few months ago - Dear friends of waiting adoptive moms: some things to know.  I could try to re-write it in my own words, but she said it SO perfectly.  I've included the three points below that she wrote about that I can relate to the most...

Excerpts from post on Wonderment, etc...

#1. Your friend is not crazy. (She is adopting.)
There is, I will admit, a fine line between those two but still it’s good to remember. The international adoption of a child requires enough paperwork to kill a small forest. And more governmental red tape than you can believe. Imagine your longest, most frustrating trip to the DMV. Now quadruple that, add in twelve more governmental agencies in two countries, and remember it’s not a driver’s license you’re waiting for but the final piece of paper that says this family you’re creating can finally, finally be together. Yeah. Not crazy. But close.

#2. She loves a child she’s never met.
It’s possible. So possible. It’s irrational and crazy but it’s reality. Does she love them like she will once she gets to know them? No. But she loves them. She wakes up loving them and goes to sleep loving them. She drives to the grocery story and aches to have them safe and snug in the carseat waiting for them. She pushes her cart around the store and hears a child cry and her heart pounds wondering if her child is crying? Alone? Hungry? She might even have to leave an entire grocery cart full of food in the yogurt aisle to go home and cry because it just is too hard. Way too hard.

#12. She looks brave on the outside, she’s brave on the inside too. But she’s also a mess.
Which, I think is what mothering and loving is all about. Being a mess. Throwing your love out there and not knowing if you’re ever going to get it back. It’s scary. It’s vulnerable. It feels like you can’t breathe and when you can it hurts to do it. And you don’t want to complain about that because you picked it. So you pick up the pieces of your heart and you keep going. You keep going because at the end of the day what you go through as an adoptive mother is nothing compared to what children go through when they live their life without family. And that’s what this journey is all about.

Be sure to checkout her blog for the full post - Dear friends of waiting adoptive moms: some things to know. 

In other news, we have had some really wonderful people step forward & offer to organize some fundraisers.  More information coming next week...

Adoption Announcement

Picture Source

Our family is excited to share that we are in the process of adopting a 4 year old little girl from Uganda!   We hope to have her home with us sometime this summer.  We have created this blog to share our journey with you and to also provide information to those who are interested in learning more about international adoption and other ways you can provide care for orphans. 

First things first.  We have 3 beautiful biological children.  Why are we going across the world to adopt a child from Africa that we have never even met?!  This is probably the question I have been asked the most since sharing out news with family and friends, so I would like to share our "why" with our "announcement."

It started with a deep love for our biological children.  We would do absolutely anything for Adeline, Christian, and Paxton.  Chuck and I get such great joy from being their parents.  Parenting is hard work, but oh so rewarding.  Nothing compares to teaching and watching them grow up.

In the past few years, our family has been involved in an amazing pro-life ministry in our community.  We wholeheartedly believe that each and every life is created in the image of God.  Every single child is wanted and worthy of being loved.  With that said, being pro-life extends beyond protecting the unborn.  As a family, we started looking outside our wealthy country and realized that there are many children in our world who are dying simply because their basic needs are not being met.  By no fault of their own, they don't have access to food, shelter, medical care, or sometimes even a family.  With all we have been blessed with, we could not sit by and do nothing. 

We strongly believe that children belong with families.  Preferably with their biological families, but when that is not possible - they belong with a family who will love and provide for them.  Our family is blessed to have the opportunity to provide for a another child.  Please take the time to watch the 8 minute video posted below.  I hope that it has the impact on you that it did on us.  Not all families are called to adopt, but every single one of us is called to care for the orphans worldwide.  See the Orphan Care section of our blog for ideas on how you get involved.

"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do.  God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know, and holds us responsible to act."  ~Proverbs 24: 11-12