More good news!

Sometimes I get so overwhelmed at the magnitude of this adoption... for example, the random acts of kindness from strangers at our fundraising garage sale, donations to our adoption over Christmas 'in honor' of family members, design work on fundraising tees from a friend, extra help and attention from our agency workers...

...or like today, as a $1,000 grant was given to us for our adoption.

Yes. Today we became the recipients of one of the 2014 'L.O.V.E. 5k Run' grants from an amazing non-profit by the name of Laurencia's Victory.

For those of you who don't know much about adoption, you'll be surprised to find out that the majority of international adoptions in 2014 exceeded $35,000. Between fees for our agency, for filing papers with the government, for our lawyer and court hearing in Uganda, for our/our son's travel, etc. we will easily need at least $35,000.

But a $1,000 grant takes a huge weight off our shoulders. I mean HUGE.

We count this grant as part of our fundraising efforts, and our goal was to fundraise about half of the needed money to pay for our adoption (and for Tony and I to work for that other half). Fundraising in itself could be a full-time job, but thanks to grants like this and donations from individuals, Tony and I are having to devote less time to fundraisers than we thought; this frees us up to accomplish our adoption paperwork more quickly, and allows us time to prepare for travel (and get our lives ready for our first child)!

We want to take this time and space to thank Katrina and the rest of the Laurencia's Victory team for selecting us as one of the recipients of the 2014 'L.O.V.E. 5k Run' grants, and to Katie Mrdutt for connecting us with Laurencia's Victory in the first place. We love and appreciate you all!

But the work's not done, friends! We will be posting the next fundraiser very soon, so keep your eyes peeled for my next blog post! You can also donate any time on our Pure Charity site! In the meantime, please join me in praising God for the gift of this grant and for the wonderful work of Laurencia's Victory.

About Laurencia's Victory: Laurencia Rachel Witschen was born and died on August 26, 2013 due to a condition called anencephaly.  She was ultimately victorious, for she lives with Jesus.  Laurencia's family hopes to honor her life and memory by recognizing the unique gift of every life and providing support to those in need, especially orphaned children and adoptive families.  We believe we are all called to help one another and to aid those most vulnerable and in need of care.