Coin Jewelry Fundraiser

As we've shared with you previously, we're still in need of funding our second trip to Ethiopia to bring E home.  We are still selling our T-shirts (hurry sizes are now limited and when they're gone, they're gone). As you can see from our new thermometer graph (right toolbar) we're just shy of 500 dollars toward our goal.  We need to get moving on this though.

So we introduce to you our new fundraiser.  We are now selling some Ethiopian coin jewelry.  We currently have 4 different items for purchase.  Note that each item has a minimum suggested donation.  Also, if you have donated to our adoption since we've returned from Ethiopia (you know who you are) contact us right away with the item you want and we'll get it out to you.

Before we get to the good stuff we wanted to point out that on each of the coins is the Lion of Judah.  Ethiopia has a long rich history.  Part of that history is Biblical.  The Queen of Sheba goes to King Solomon's court because she heard how wise he is.  He then gives her "all her desire, whatever she asked".  Ethiopian tradition is that the Queen took the Ark of the Covenant back to Ethiopia where it remains to this day.  Also that the Queen fell in love with Solomon and that she had a child by him and thus the royal blood line, the Lion of Judah, was passed down through Ethiopia.

We like the Lion side best, but we've pictured each jewelery piece with the alternate side, should you like that as well.

You should also know that the Ethiopian currency is the Birr.  Currently the Birr is 18.9 to the US dollar.

2 single necklace sets and 2 necklace and earring combos.

We start out with a 1 Birr coin necklace.  Lion of Judah on one side, scales on the other.  (for our Canadian family and friends this is just a tiny bit smaller than a Tooney).  It's a bit larger than a US quarter.   Suggested minimum donation $8

 Next we have a 10 sentum (cent) coin.  Lion on one side, Mountain Nyala on the other side.  A little larger than the size of a US nickel.  Suggested minimum donation $8.

Next we have a package set.  You get a 50 sentum (cent) coin necklace (lion on one side, victory party over emperor in 1974...about the size of a US quarter) AND a pair of 25 sentum ear rings (lion on one side and two workers celebrating....about the size of a US nickel).  Suggested minimum donation $15

Finally we have another package for you.  The necklace is the same necklace we started with...the 1 Birr coin (lion on one side, scales on the other).  The ear rings are 5 sentum coins (about the size of a US penny).  The lion hangs outward with a soldier on the alternate side.  Suggested minimum donation $15.

As with any donations to our adoption, you can use the Paypal Donate button in the left column.  You can also make checks payable to Aaron Reinard  12 Central Ave. Warren PA  16365.


We have plenty of the 1 Birr necklaces.  Everything else is limited quantities and when they're gone, they're gone.  Christmas is coming.  These would look lovely in a stocking. 

Finances: Bring E home

From day one of this adoption journey (and blog) we have said that this is crazy.  We didn't and don't have the money for this adoption....yet we felt clearly that God was saying "go for it, I'm gonna take care of it."  Up to this point that has been 100% true.

We have yet to come to a point in this journey where we didn't have money to pay the next bill.

Last summer we were very worried because funds just weren't coming in....and then it just happened.  Little by little.  Bit by bit (a few bits were pretty big) money came in.

We can only say PRAISE GOD!!!!  and also Thank you for being part as well.

In our attempt to remain transparent with the financing of this adoption we felt like we needed to let you know where we're at.

We had the money to pay for our plane tickets for our first trip to Ethiopia......just.  Because we had to travel in summer prices were up.  Because we had to travel last minute, prices were up.  Because there is conflict throughout the Middle East prices were up...unless we wanted to fly into Cairo right as it erupted.  So we were able to buy our tickets with only a few hundred dollars to spare......which then went to pay for room, board, and transportation to go see our son.

Early on in our adoption, someone close to us set aside some money for "a trip" to Ethiopia.  That money hasn't been touched.  We know that we have that money to pay for part of our flights.  However, we also know that that won't cover the entire trip.

So where does that leave us?
-We're guessing that we need to raise around $2,000 to cover the remaining expenses of bringing E home.

-There are still T-shirts available.  They're "on sale" now for 15 dollars local and 18 dollars shipped in the US and Canada (youth sizes S, M and L;  adult size S, M, and XL....sorry out of L)

-We have another very cool fundraiser that we hope to unveil to you in the next week.  It's going to be sweet.  Christmas is coming and you'll want to pick this up.

-Would you consider helping us bring E home?  As we said early on, a very little bit goes a long way.  If 200 people give only 5 dollars we're half way there.  Would consider a one time donation...however large or small that is?

To do so you can donate online via our paypal donation button in the right column.
You can also send checks to
 Aaron Reinard
12 Central Ave.
Warren PA  16365

 -Please please please continue to keep our whole family in your prayers.  Obviously Marjorie and I are anxious to bring E home, but so are Corban and Tobiah.  The waiting is weighing on our whole family. 

T-shirt SALE

Because of the recent news, we want to kick some things into high gear.

As you probably know we've been selling T-shirts to help fund our adoption.  We still have a bundle of these.  We'd like to have zero.  SO....to not only help fund the adoption, but close out our stock of shirts...we're putting them on SALE.

If you are local we're going to drop the cost of a shirt from 20 dollars down to 15 dollars.

If we need to ship you the shirt, we've said 23 dollars would do it.  We'll now ship you a shirt for 18 (and that's even with the USPS postal price hike).

Currently we have Youth small, Youth medium, Youth Large, Adult small, Adult medium, Adult Large and Adult X-large. 

First come first serve.  These are super comfy shirts.  All the cool kids are wearing them.

The Beard Conclusion

I should've probably posted this two months ago. Better late than never I suppose.

So you will remember that for November and December I put my beard up for auction. There were some pretty specific instructions...which confused a lot of people. Many people believed, that which ever fund had the most in it at the end would win...which was not the case. They were excited because the "Cut It Off" fund was winning by about 2000 dollars for most of the two months.

So here's what happened....with only a few weeks to spare a close friend of ours donated a size-able chunk of money to the "Save It" fund. Not only was this a huge blessing, it also saved a lot of confusion. As you can see as of he end of December when the contest ended, the "Save It" fund had just a slight edge on the "Cut It Off" fund. So for all those confused by the rules and hoping to see my chin....I'm not shaving!!!!!!

Someone jokingly suggested that I personally put in the money to save my facial hairs. Let me put that to rest right now...I didn't....and couldn't have, even if I had wanted to. Did I want to shave? No. But I was prepared to if it had gone that way. I wouldn't have offered it up if I wasn't prepared for that eventuality.

So was it a failure?  Far from it.  We raised more than 4000 dollars!!!!  That is awesome.  That is a nice step toward our goal of funding this adoption.  I would personally like to thank all those who donated.....to BOTH funds.  Thank you for supporting us and walking with us in this journey.  We still have a ways to go, but this really helped us along on our journey.

I hold no grudges to those who wanted to see me clean shaven.  I did feel bad for you though since I won't be bald chinned.  I know this isn't what you were hoping for, but the other day I cut 3 or 4 inches off the bottom.  It's much shorter now.  (actually no one has said one word to me about it....including Marjorie)  So it's not what you wanted, but it's something....


EDIT:  Since I wrote this last week, my youth pastor buddy J, noticed that I had cut my beard.  He's still the only one.

Extra Thoughts from yesterday....

If you haven't already read our One Hurdle Down post from yesterday, you should do that before continuing in this post.  This is kind of an addendum onto that post.

So what I didn't mention yesterday was that one of the big reasons that we were able to get our Homestudy done is because of some of you.  Seriously.

One of the hang-ups we had was that our agency was unclear about our finances.  They wanted to see that we had the money to not only adopt, but live normal lives...even if an emergency happens.  What we were able to show them was that a lot of people have already contributed...and several people have promised money but are waiting until a certain bill comes in.  We were able to say, "look, this is what has happened so far and where we believe we're going". 

We wanted to point that out to say THANK YOU!  Thank you so much for donating to our adoption.  We feel God has called us to this.   It is also clear that God has been calling you as well, to walk along side us in this task.  Thanks for listening to His prompts.  If you had not done so, we would be stuck.  We still have a long way to go, but you definitely helped us get over that hurdle!

Secondly, I just wanted to share an awesome God story.  Even after we got good news yesterday, blessing continued to come.

I went to worship team practice at church last night as always.  Our church has a giant table where people can put Christmas cards to each other, to save on some postage.  So I noticed there was this big jar (of what looked like nuts) on the table.  My thought was "that's awesome that someone gave someone some nuts".  The curious George in me decided to check it out just to see who got lucky.

When I got there, I found two things.  First, it wasn't a can of nuts, it was a pickle jar full of coins and some dollars.  Secondly "REINARD" was written on the top.

When I opened the jar I found two more things.  First, the money smelled like pickles, which was kind of funny and made me sort of hungry.  Secondly I found a small note that said, "Use this toward your adoption.  Merry Christmas.  Pay it Forward when you can."

So today I went to the bank to deposit some adoption money.  I used the awesome free coin machine to cash out the change.  $51+ dollars plus the bills that were in there!!!!!!!

We've been saying this since day one.....small things equal big things.  It was just a small jar full of pocket change....but that pocket changed added up big time.  Would it be awesome if someone showed up and said, we'll cover the rest of your adoption bills?  Sure.  BUT we're convinced that that's not the plan.  We're convinced that we're suppose to get lots of people on board.  We're convinced that individuals, doing little things like our pickle jar full of coins, will get us to our big goal.

THANK YOU pickle jar person.  God is GOOD!

Beard Update 12/16

My mother bugged me about not updating the graph.  I have in fact updated the graph several times, but only in the tool bar.....we've been slacking about blogging.  So I thought I would do what my mother says and update both at the same time.

The graph is as up to date as we know.  We've heard rumor of other money but this is what is in our hands presently (as of 12/16).

There have been a lot of people telling me how my beard is going to get cut off.  Asking me "what are you going to do" or joking and mocking me "it's going!"

Let's be clear about something.  As of right now, I'm keeping my beard.  It's NOT, nor has it ever been which category has the most at the end of December.  The goal was high.  As of now, the goal is not going to be reached unless some people step their game up.

So January 1 is coming.....and my beard will live on!!!!  (insert evil laugh here)

Aaron Will Cut Off His Beard

19 years.  That's the last time I saw what my chin looks like.

I've always thought that at some point I'd cut it off.  I have no desire to do so at the present time.  I kind of like it.  HOWEVER.....if it's going to happen, there's going to be a really good reason for losing it.

How about bringing home our third child?

So here's the deal....I'm willing to sacrifice my beard for our adoption.  I don't WANT to cut it off, so it's not going to be easy.

Rules and Stipulations:

1.  There are two categories that people can donate toward.  As I've told people about the potential of cutting it off several people are excited and others are horrified.  So you can donate money to either
1"Save the Beard" or 2"Cut it Off" .  Because people usually feel pretty strongly one way or the other, and because I'm kind of attached to it, I'm putting the stakes high.

2.  Money that has already been donated or promised does not count toward these goals.  All donations must be new donations.  To be clear, no money previously promised or donated before 12:00am November 1, 2012 will be counted in this contest.

3.  This auction will end only the following ways:

-I will cut my beard if the "Cut it Off" fund instantly raises 5000 dollars to the "Save the Beard funds 0 dollars...Auction will end IMMEDIATELY;
-I will cut my beard if the difference between "Cut it Off" and "Save the Beard" is 4000 (as long as the StB is a minimum of 1000.....so 5000 total raised for our adoption)....Auction will end IMMEDIATELY;
-I will stop the auction and KEEP my beard if the "Save the Beard" fund is 4000 dollars more than the Cut It fund....auction will end IMMEDIATELY; OR
-The auction will end with no results at midnight New Years Day (12:00am EST January 1, 2013)

4.  Money can be donated one of several ways:
-You can directly hand us cash or checks made out to Aaron Reinard;
-You can send us checks made out to Aaron Reinard (please use the memo line to signify which category your money is to be placed in.);
-You can donate using the "Donate Now" button in the right sidebar via Paypal. (make a note of which category money goes to); OR
-You can use the Tax Deductible Giving option in the sidebar as well.  If you use this option, please send us a message telling us what and when you're donating and to which category.  Money will not count until we can verify it with our adoption agency.  However this is a financially responsible option.
NOTE:  While purchases of T-shirts are encouraged and we are supremely grateful, they do not count toward this specific fundraiser.  If you purchase a shirt and include monies above and beyond that of the shirt, you can specify where the extra goes.

5.  Any money that comes in that is not CLEARLY designated for the Cut if Off fund, will automatically go into the "Save the Beard" fund.

6.  I will be weekly updating the graph in the side bar to show all money donated.  Graph will be updated on Sunday afternoons...and probably daily, the final week of the auction if needed.

7.  Should the horrific happen, and I have to shave my beard off....a video and lots of pictures will be taken of the momentous event and posted here for all to see. There may or may not also be an "Event" created via Facebook to physically attend the cutting of said beard.

So for everyone who has desired me to be clean shaven.....it's time to put your money where your mouth is.

For those who think "you won't be Aaron without it".....you better put up or shut up too.

Again, I know I've made it hard to have it cut off.  I'm hoping that it doesn't happen.  I don't mind it.  Marjorie will personally thank all those who donate to Cut if Off though!  (she's not allowed to donate....but she's already plotting with people......so help a brother out.)

So spread the word.  Tell everyone who's ever remotely met me.  Chances are they feel strongly one way or the other about my chin hair.  Direct them here.  At the very least to follow along as we delve into this adventure together.

The Shirt Off Our Back

Well not exactly off our backs....cause that'd be gross.  Now that the garage sale is over, we're on to our next fundraiser.

When we started the whole process of fundraising the first thing that came to our heads was T-shirts.  Everyone wears them (I suppose some people don't....but seriously?).  And if they're well done, people want them.

So we turned to our good friend Katie Sekelsky, who's a professional artist and author (seriously buy her book it's hilarious!).  We told her our idea and she KNOCKED IT out of the park.

We used a chunk of Isaiah 43 that really spoke to Aaron at the beginning of God calling us to adoption again...and Katie put it into the shape of Africa.  Add a heart balloon attached to Ethiopia and this thing is AWESOME!

We then turned to a local business for help.  Great Lakes Custom Graphics is one of the best business I've ever worked with!  I don't know why anyone would want to get shirts done anywhere else.  Paula is the coolest person to work with.  No pressure.  Just help.  AND she threw in the set-up fee for free because she was so excited for us!  I mean who does that?  These guys are awesome.

So here we are.  SHIRTS ARE DONE!!!

Here's the deal with ordering shirts:

Shirt costs are 20 dollars locally and 23 shipped (even to CANADA!!!) 

Sizes are Adult S-XL.  
We also have some limited sizes of youth S-L.   
(If you need other sizes we can do that in the next run...and might cost just a buck or two more.)

Payment:
If you're local, cash and checks are great and you can just pick your shirt up.  Easy.

If you're not local you can pay one of two ways. 
1.  Paypal.  You can use the donate button in the right column and put in 23 dollars and make a note of T-shirt purchase and SIZE.  Your address should be visible to me and we'll get the shirt out ASAP.

2.  You can send a check (we'd highly discourage sending cash through the mail).  A small note of SIZE and number would be helpful too.  Send checks to
Reinard Family T-shirts
12 Central Ave.
Warren PA  16365 USA

(please put Aaron Reinard on check.  THANKS!)

Pretty simple.  Look how good they'll look on you!!!

Garage sale!!

We've talked about fundraisers coming up and ways you can participate.  Well here we go!!!

If you are relatively local to us, mark your calendar for August 4th.  We are having a fundraising garage sale.  Here's the scoop

The area of Warren that our church resides is Pleasant Township.  Pleasant Township has garage sale days on August 4th this year.  So we are using that day to have a hugemungous sale to help fund our adoption.  Our church is on board.  They will also be selling baked good for the church and there will be hot dogs etc.

Our Sale and How you can Help:

1.  DONATE-  We are looking for your stuff.  What exactly?  Most anything.  The sale will be by donation to our adoption so our hope is to unload it all.  Please don't give us your broken couch, or busted TV.  If the item is function or could be, we'll take it.  Please get in touch with us to donate items to the sale.

2.  VOLUNTEER- We're in need of help.  We're gonna need some help on Aug. 3 sorting and setting some stuff up.  Then again on the day of the sale.  We just need some bodies to help sell, set up, haul, organize, etc.  We'll probably need a bunch of help in the morning and then some help through the day but a good crew at the end to clean up.  Can you loan us an hour or two?

3.  BUY- Everyone loves a good sale right?  Come check out what we have.  Already, we have a bunch of great stuff piling up.  This one is going to be HUGE!!!

4.  PROMOTE- Maybe you can't make it.  Maybe you're out of town or have your own sale going on that day.  No problem.  Could you help us out anyway?  Can you share our sale anyway?  We have a Facebook event HERE that you can share with local friends.  Go for it!

The Movie Club: A Goal

So last week I introduced the idea of The Movie Club. 

At first we heard from no one.  Then one.  Then two.

As I type this we're up to 6!  I'm stoked.  But 4 of those have come in the last 24 hours.  Which makes me believe there is more potential than just 6.

When I introduced the Movie Club, I didn't have a goal.  I just put it out there.  X number of people.  Now I want a target to shoot for.  I want to see 20.
 
We have a week and a half until July 1 when I'm
gonna send out the first notice.  Something just tells me that this is an obtainable goal.

To recap (for those who missed the first post) the Movie Club:  We will send you a reminder (via e-mail, text or Facebook) at the beginning of every month for 5 months.  We'll only remind you once.  Payment is on you...we won't hound you.  You can pay via the Donate Button, The Tax Exempt Button, or if you live close enough you can just hand us cash or check.

Our initial thought for the Movie Club was 10 dollars a month....roughly the cost of a movie and some popcorn.  If you wanna vary that, you know that we're flexible.  We already had one person pay all 5 months ahead of time so we don't have to remind them.  Whatever you want.

Already part of the Movie Club? Your new goal is to find someone else to jump on board.

The Movie Club

This is my good friend J.  (and yes we're unintentionally wearing the same shirt) (I yes I really needed a hair cut in this picture)

J is another youth pastor here in town.  He and I partner in ministry in so many different ways.  Beyond that, we're just good buds.

J shared with me that he and his wife would like to partner with us by doing the "movie thing".  He was referring to my post about Small Things and Big Things where I said that if a bundle of people would give 10 dollars a month for 5 months, that would add up to a lot.  J and I just went to see the Avengers together so it kind of seemed relevant to both of our lives.

But then he said, "can you remind me every month?"  At first I laughed him off but the more I thought about it the more I realized he was serious and perhaps others needed that kind of reminder.

So here's what I'm proposing.

The Movie Club.  Pretty simple really.

-You commit to donate 10 dollars a month  (one movie with popcorn a month).  You can contact us via e-mail or Facebook and we will remind you at the beginning of every month.  We're not going to harp on you if we don't get your payment, we'll only remind you once.  When 5 months is over, we'll stop reminding you.  (if you can't do 10 dollars how about 5 dollars....that's like a movie rental and candy)

You can make payment in person with cash or check.  You can send payment to us at our house.  You can use paypal via the DONATE button in the right column.  You can do it anonymously through YWAM for a tax deductible gift....which also now has a button the right.

BONUS CHALLENGE:  What if every adult in your house took THE MOVIE CLUB challenge?

BONUS BONUS CHALLENGE:  Let's be realistic here, it's not like you're not going to go see the summer blockbusters on account of us.  When you do go however, as you're handing your money under that little piece of glass, take a moment and pray for our journey through this adoption.  Maybe even share with those you're watching the movie with what God's doing in our lives too.

Tax Deductible Giving

EDIT 6/9/13:  At this time we're closing the Tax Deductible Option of our fundraising.  It's increasingly hard for us to keep track of the money that YWAM is holding.  Sorry for any inconvenience.


Not long ago, we introduced the Donate button in the right side-bar.  This is an easy way to donate via Paypal.  I have also said a couple times that we would be giving you information if you wish to get a tax deduction for your donation.  This is that information.

If you'd like donate to our adoption and get a tax receipt for it so you can write it off there is an easy way to do that. You CAN NOT use the donate button however. 

One of the joys of this...beyond the tax deduction is that you can also use credit cards if you should choose. 

Checks will be payable to “Adoption Ministry of YWAM” and sent to:

 

Adoption Ministry of YWAM

P.O. Box 512

Puyallup, WA  98371

 

-You CAN NOT put our name anywhere on the check.  You must however send a note along with the check with our name on it designated that it go toward our adoption expenses.

You will get a tax receipt for tax purposes.

 For ease you can save the image below and print it out. 

Small Things Equals Big Things

When sitting on a boat in the middle of the Amazon River, I wasn't thinking about rain drops.  I was thinking about vastness and immensity of water.  Or standing next to Niagara Falls listening to the deafening roar of the water going over the falls....I'm only thinking about how I'd be crushed in that.   In reality little tiny rain drops made up the vastness of the Amazon and the crushing power of the Falls.

When I allow myself to think about the money that we don't have to make this whole process happen, I get panicy.  It's a BIG number....and our salaries aren't going to produce that big number on our own.  But when I pull a dollar bill out of my pocket I realize that it's just a bundle of these little guys that make up that big number.
My good friend Jim Baker, has been a long time worker with and for Youth With A Mission (YWAM).  He and his wife have to fund raise their support.  He shared with me that so many people choose to not give because they can't give large amounts.  When in reality if a bunch of people would just partner with them even with small amounts their support would easily be raised.

So I started thinking about the big number...and the small numbers.

Let's have some fun with math. 
-I currently have 546 "friends" on Facebook.
-If everyone one of those people chose to not go see one summer blockbuster movie and donated that money to our adoption (let's say 10 dollars because they're thrifty and went to a matinee, but really needed popcorn anyway).  Just that one time gift would be $5,460.  That's a big number.
-Let's take that a step farther.  If each one of those people agreed to partner with us and donate 10 dollars a month (or 3 trips to Tim Horton's) for 5 months we would fund the ENTIRE adoption including travel.  That's only over the next 5 months.
-So let's take that to a different level....what if we don't even talk about 10 dollars a month....what if that's too daunting....what if we talk about 5 dollars a month....a MONTH....over 10 months.....same result....complete funding.  5 dollars.  What's that?  A movie rental and some candy.  A value meal at McDonalds (if you get a cheap one). 
That's no fundraising.  That's no big money giving.  That's people giving small amounts.

I'm enough of a realist to know that not all of those 546 people are going to partner with us like that.  Some of those people I never interact with and won't ever read these words.  Some of those people represent multiple members of the same household.  Some of those people will just not choose to be apart. That's fine.  That number also represents people that will probably give more than 10 dollars a month for 5 months.  That number doesn't represent a bunch of friends that don't have Facebook.  That number doesn't represent some family members.  That number doesn't represent people that I don't really know that are still going to be moved to give.  It also doesn't take into account YOUR friends on Facebook who aren't my friends.  It doesn't take into account any grants or scholarships we might receive.

This is do-able.  Small Things Make Big Things.

Action Steps:
1.  You're expecting this first step to be us asking you to give us money....it's not.  The first thing we'd like you to do is pray.  Pray for us and the process we're in.  Talk about the small things and the big things. 

2.  BUT also pray to see if God is leading you to partner with us financially.  After you've prayed about it (maybe more than once)...would you consider partnering with us?  Maybe with a one time gift, or like I just talked about with small gifts over a period of time.  Would you take this journey with us (maybe not physically)?  I promise a Tax Deductible way of giving is coming soon....in the mean time the Donate button is on the right for paypal giving.  Or contact us directly for other ways to partner with us.

3.  Continue to talk and share what we're doing with others.  I know we keep bringing this back up, but we're convinced that people we know and don't know need to be part of this process...to see what it is we're doing.  Would you share our blog on your blog?  on facebook?  with your friends and people at your church, work, gym, school, whatever?


(Picture is where the Rio Negro meets the Rio Salimoes to form the Amazon River.  Each river is different temperatures and different colors...so for about two miles it looks like coffee is mixing with tea.  Very cool.)

Money and Obedience

We mentioned in our first post that one of the main reason we didn't think we were going to adopt again was money.  Costs have risen since we adopted C and T.  There are new policies that require us to travel twice as much.  There are extra expenses. We just don't have the money.

We already told you that we clearly heard God telling us we had to adopt again.

What we didn't say is that even though we heard his voice and leading direction, he has yet to drop the money into our lap.  We heard him say that we needed to trust Him.  We heard Him ask us to trust Him.

So we fully acknowledge that this doesn't make any logical human sense.  We're attempting to do something that is way beyond our means.  We don't have the money, and we're not going to have the money on our own.  It's craziness.

We're just trying to be obedient.

God has the money.  We feel like He's going to show up in a big way.  We're not totally sure what that's going to look like.  We're going to do some fundraising, and talk to as many people as we can about what we're doing and what God's doing through us.  We're waiting in expectancy to see what's going to happen.

We'll obviously be updating this blog with fundraising information.  We have some ideas of ways people can partner with us.  Again, those are things you'll be hearing about in the next little bit.

ACTION STEPS FOR YOU

1.  Is God speaking to you?  Have you been asked to do something?  What has been your response?  Are you seeking to be obedient even when it doesn't make sense? 

2.  If you haven't done so already, follow this blog.  You can use the RSS feed option (if you don't know what that is, then you probably shouldn't be using it) OR just put your e-mail address into the top field and you'll get notified every time we update this blog.

3.  Tell others.  We are so convinced that other people are supposed to be part of our journey.  It doesn't even matter if we know them or not, we want to connect with as many people as possible.  Feel free to share this blog with anyone you feel lead to.  Encourage them to sign up to follow us as well.

4.  There is now a DONATE button in the right hand column.  We're not begging.  We're not even really asking at this point.  We're just giving you the option.  If you'd like to make a tax deductible donation, there is a way to do that to....just NOT with the button.  More info to come on tax deductible giving in the near future.