Bringing Home Our Boys

With God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26

Many of you know that we are lucky enough to live in the same town as several other kiddos from the same orphanage as Mylee. We were all within months of bringing our kids home so we have become very close. We get all the kids together once a month to play and us moms also get together once a month to chat. Anyway, when they heard we were still short quite a bit of money, they all rallied around and put together a pasta dinner and silent auction benefit for us. The dinner was held this past Saturday and was a huge success. Let me back up a bit.

When I was first approached about the idea of doing a benefit dinner, I was not at all thrilled. Why? Plain and simple I was not comfortable with the idea of asking people to come to a dinner and donate money. The thought of this was way beyond my comfort level. I shared with the ladies that I wasn't sure about the whole thing and I was pretty much shut down with a "you don't have much of a choice" response. So, I found myself sucking up my pride as I have found myself doing alot with this adoption(s). Within days we pretty much had everything planned and the donations for the silent auction were rolling in. I think we put the whole thing together in about three weeks. We were able to get almost everything we needed donated; food, paper products, desert, silent auction items, and even the building. My neighbor even put together a bake sale with the help of her family who drove about 2 hours to donate their time and baked goods.

At one point during the evening I stopped to look around at all the people that were there. I was able to pick out some familiar faces, family, and friends, but the majority of people in attendance were complete strangers to Matt and I. These were people who heard our story from a friend or family member and were compelled to come out and support us. People that although we may never see again we owe a great deal to. People that because of their generosity we are one step closer to bringing our boys home. People who "get it."

As the evening came to an end, and the money was being counted I couldn't help tearing up as each check, dollar, or coin was being counted. We were completely blown away when the total was announced. I am so happy to report that we are $4,800 closer to bringing our boys home. We still need quite a bit, but we are so much closer, and that is what counts.

Last night was e-mailing on the ladies that helped out to thank them for all their hard work and determination in making this a successful event, and hopefully the first of many. The words thank you just didn't seem like they were enough. I mean how do you really thank someone for something like this (as of last night I still didn't have an answer)? This morning as I was getting the kids off to school, it dawned on me. The one and only way to truly thank everyone is to do exactly what we set out to do, bring our boys home.

We are still short money, and honestly, it terrifies me that we are going to get the okay to travel and we are not going to have enough money. We didn't set out to bring home two boys, but that is what God has laid before us, so who are we to tell Him no. The bottom line is no matter what, we HAVE to bring them home, both of them. What terrifies me the most is that we are Jaxon's last chance at having a family. If we don't make it there in time, or if we can't come up with the money, Jaxon (this is what we are calling him) will never know what it is to have a real family, he may never hear the words "I love, son."

So, with our online fundraiser ending THIS Friday, I am once again asking for help. As of right now we are at 35% which I am ecstatic about however, it is not enough. So, if you have already donated, thank you, thank you, thank you. If you have already blogged about the fundraiser on your blog, can you do it again? If you keep telling yourself, "I will do it later", please don't wait, later may be too late. I know I sound like I am begging, and I guess in a sense I am, but when I think of the alternative, it just isn't an option so I am pulling out the big guns today, I am digging deep and asking you to please help us in bringing two boys home, two boys who both need families, two boys who will no longer be called orphans.