Fundraiser #3: The Puzzle

Dun duh.

Are you ready?

Dun duh.

You've probably heard of the puzzle fundraiser (am I hearing crickets?). If not, here's a onceover.

So we bought a puzzle. It's a 500 piece puzzle and are selling (well not really selling) the pieces for a minimum of a $10 donation. So here's what happens.

• You buy a puzzle piece. Or two, or three. Heck, we'll let you buy us a whole puzzle.
• We write your name on the back of the piece.
• When the puzzle is complete, we'll frame it and put it between two pieces of glass so our child can see the names of everyone who helped bring him or her home. Or maybe it will be a normal puzzle that we put together. (Either way, they get see who was part of their journey). 

Pretty cool stuff, right? Below is the puzzle we picked out. Adam (the artsy, creative one) thought it incorporated the different parts of life and family (...or something. Like I said, he's the creative one).

So here's how you go can go about buying a puzzle piece (or two or three, or the entire thing...kidding. Am I though?) I'm really liking bullets today.

• Click on the donate button on the right (over there) to pay securely through PayPal
• Write a check made out to Adam and/or myself and hand deliver or mail it (email me at negrete.stacy@gmail.com for address details)
• Do the same thing as a check, but with cash!
• Send a donation directly to our church (this is tax deductible). For the address, go to the Donation Information tab. 
• Donate to our Go Fund Me page

So let's just say we "sell" all 500 pieces of the puzzle. That's $5,000 right there. Which is pretty darn substantial to our cause. If everyone who buys a piece decides to give $20 instead of $10, that's $10,000.

Isn't it crazy what $20 can do? Now, I don't want to tell you how to live. But what if I challenged you to cut something out of your day, or week, or month. I know this is a common example, but what if you cut out your Starbucks* run once a week (go the other six days, that's cool!), but cut out that $3 once a week. Over the course of, like 3.2454379 weeks, (okay, I'm not a mathematician) that's $10, which would buy you a snazzy puzzle piece! And you can come over sometime and I'll make you a cup o' joe**.

To those who have already donated, thank you. To those that are even considering, thank you.

*or Dunkin', or McDonalds, or DQ...you get the picture
**no pumpkin spice lattes available

High Five for Friday

Well hot dang, it's Friday, ya'll. Can I just say that I am lurving this fall weather? This week has been borderline perfect. I hope heaven is a calm, warm, 72°. Pefection.

I feel like this week has flown by, so here are the top 5 moments of the week:

1. We met with a couple on Sunday, the relationship between us all is a bit weird. Adam went to high school with the Mrs. and I randomly met (and apparently got into deep enough discussion to put together than his knew my husband) the Mr. at the Apple store when I was there for something. They read on Facebook that we were adopting and we started planning on a dinner to talk (and meet the spouses). It was a really good time getting to know them and share our story with them. High five for new friends!

2. Adam's old boss needed some help this week out of town, so Adam left to go to Southern Iowa to help him. While it was no fun being alone for the week, we were very thankful that he was able to get a week of paying work in.

3. Last weekend we went home to go to a football game and attend a memorial walk held every year in honor of my dad, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2008. My aunt works hard all year and partners with the Lustgarten Foundation, as well as different organizations around Cedar Rapids. It was great to see a lot of my family and participate in a great cause.

4. Our church is having their 20 year anniversary this weekend! There are events going on today, tomorrow and Sunday, so we'll be attending those and seeing what God has in store for the next 20 years!

5. We were able to rack up enough cash to finish paying our fee of $4,650, which is awesome! We now need to work on getting the $820 needed to apply for our I600-A. Even though we could be able to submit this now if we had the money to do so, we're confident in God's perfect timing and are not stressing out about it. We'll turn in the paperwork when we're meant to turn in the paperwork.

Please join us in praying for people to support us or even consider it yourself. Remember, It Takes a Village—we can't do it without you, and we're not just talking about financially. We need your prayers, too.

Uganda Updates

Our agency received an alert from the U.S. Embassy in Kampala with regards to security alerts.

Over the past weekend, suspected Islamist al-Shebaab terrorists were arrested in a raid which put a stop to their terror plot and recovered their weapons. The U.S. Embassy reports the threat was countered, though they still remain on alert. 

They're urging all U.S. citizens to exercise all possible caution, remaining at home or in a safe location until the all clear has been made. 

While this doesn't super involve us; it may involve our potential kiddo and other Americans in Uganda. Please pray that they are kept safe and can come home soon! 

Home Study Approval!

You guys! Our home study has been approved!

After having to make a few edits last week, the Bethany Global Offices have approved our home study. So now what?

Do you remember this post about the I-600A? That's next. Well, after we sign the home study to say that we approve (I guess that's important, too!).

Then, the fee. When I log in to our adoption portal (a place for message between our adoption specialists, resources, waiting children, etc.), I see a familiar, red $ at the top of the screen. With an approved home study, comes the fee. So actually, that's next.

We've still got a couple hundred dollars left to save/raise until we can pay the fee, and we know God will work in His perfect timing, per usual.