Wednesday, October 22, 2014

3 Months and Counting Down...

We are waiting excitedly, preparing for, and looking forward to meeting our little boy in late January.  We plan to make a trip in November to meet our baby's birth mother.  Please pray for a good time of getting to know each other and of bonding.  

We found out we were matched with our little boy on September 29th.  Less than a month later, we are only $3,200 away from our fundraising goal of $20,000!  We have two grants coming in that total $11,000, we already had $4,000 from fundraising and our own funds, and over the last few weeks we have had friends and family donate $1,800.  So we are almost there, and we are so grateful for everyone who has gotten us to this point!  Our goal is to have the rest of the funds raised and turned into our adoption agency by December 1st, before the Christmas holidays hit and everything gets busy. 

We have several ways to give if you would like to contribute towards bringing home our little guy:

1. T-shirt fundraiser--Our t-shirts are $20 each, and we receive 50%. The Graphic Cow has been wonderful about helping us with this fundraiser. We are thankful for businesses like theirs who support adoption and assist couples in raising money to adopt. We have a link on this blog that will give instructions on how to purchase a T-shirt. The end date for this fundraiser is November 30th. We will receive the T-shirts the first week of December and get them to everyone who orders one. 
 
2. Lifesong for Orphans--If you would like to donate and receive a tax deduction for your donation, then you can go to the Lifesong for Orphans website or send a check to them with our account information on it (Goldsmith #4762). We get 100% of what is donated through this organization, which is wonderful! Normally an organization will take a percentage for administrative costs. We have a link on this blog that will give instructions on how to donate through Lifesong for Orphans.

3. Give directly to us--If you would like to donate directly to us, you can make a check out to Joey or Jennifer Goldsmith.

We will continue adding puzzle pieces to our adoption puzzle until all of the pieces have names on them.  We don't have too many left.  For every $10 donated, your name goes on a puzzle piece.  When it's completed, we will have it framed between two pieces of glass and hang it in our little guy's room.  It will be a wonderful way for him to see how many people helped to bring him home to us. :) 

If you have any questions about our adoption, please don't hesitate to ask.  We are careful with what we are sharing out of respect for our little boy's birth mother, but we will be glad to talk with you about the process, fundraising, or whatever else you might want to talk about. 

Please pray for us as we move forward these next few months.  We have had a great experience overall through this adoption process, but we have had one difficult situation that continues to sadden us and break our hearts.  We have one family member who opposes our adoption.  We pray that this person's heart will change, but as of today, we see only a hardened heart.  Please pray for God to soften this person's heart and show this person the beauty of adoption and how it portrays our adoption into God's family through Jesus Christ.  Please pray for us to be gracious and loving. 

Thank you again for your support through praying and giving.  It is an exciting time!  We will continue to keep everyone posted over the next few months. 

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Adoption Puzzle

 
 
Above is a photo of what our adoption puzzle looks like as of today.  Thank you to those who have recently donated.  You now have puzzle pieces with your names on them.  It has been fun to see our puzzle take shape over the last 6 months.  We will share a photo of the finished product when it is complete. 
 
 


Thursday, October 2, 2014

Wonderful News!

We have a placement!  We aren't going to give a lot of details out of respect for the birth mom and for privacy reasons, but our baby boy is due on January 23, 2015.  We have a name picked out, but we are not going to share it until the little guy is born and we know for sure that he is going home with us.   

Our adoption will cost a total of $20,000.  We have about $15,000 raised at this point so we still need to raise $5,000 more before our little guy is born.  Our goal is to have the remaining $5,000 raised by December 1st.  We have several ways to give toward our adoption for those who would like to.

1.  T-shirt fundraiser--We are bringing back our T-shirt fundraiser.  They are $20 each, and we receive 50%.  The Graphic Cow has been wonderful about helping us with this fundraiser.  We are thankful for businesses like theirs who support adoption and assist couples in raising money to adopt.  We have a link on this blog that will give instructions on how to purchase a T-shirt.  The end date for this fundraiser is November 30th.  We will receive the T-shirts the first week of December and get them to everyone who orders one. 

2.  Lifesong for Orphans--If you would like to donate and receive a tax deduction for your donation, then you can go to the Lifesong for Orphans website or send a check to them with our account information on it (Goldsmith #4762).  We get 100% of what is donated through this organization, which is wonderful!  Normally, an organization will take a percentage for administrative costs.  We have a link on this blog that will give instructions on how to donate through Lifesong for Orphans.

3.  Give directly to us--If you would like to donate directly to us, you can make a check out to Joey or Jennifer Goldsmith. 

Any donations made will be given puzzle pieces on our adoption puzzle.  Each piece is $10 so if a donation of $100 is made, then your name will be written on 10 pieces, $1000 donation would be 100 pieces, etc...  We want our little boy to know how many people helped get him home to us, and we think this puzzle is the perfect way to do that.  Once it is completed, we will have it framed between two pieces of glass and hang it in his bedroom. 

If you have any questions about our adoption and/or the process, we would be glad to talk with you one on one. 

We have been so amazed at how God has provided financially for our adoption.  We have had family and friends give generously as well as our church and a group of local businessmen.  We are thankful beyond what our words can express.  Thank you for loving us well!