Ok, so I made a little oops with our cute little choo choo train :( As we committed to the boys and found out more about them and the orphanages they are in, we learned that the process with Jackson's orphanage is a bit longer than Caleb's. No big deal, we'll just plan ahead and make sure we have enough funds raised to get us through those extra weeks. EXCEPT....while I was filling out some applications for grants & loans I realized that I never recalculated the amount on our choo choo train :( So while we are still VERY excited we hit, and passed, the $11,000 mark in the boys adoption fund, we are not as close to the 1/3 of the total mark. Sigh. So if you look now, the end of the choo choo is no longer $35,000 but $37,500. So for those of you counting, that makes us $1300 away from having 1/3 the total needed for the boys adoption.
Even though it seems like so much, we know God will provide. We thank those of you who have already let God use you to help bring these boys home. And we pray that those who haven't will please consider doing so. We are so encouraged by all the donations, big or small!!
And we have a new fundraiser starting first thing tomorrow!! Stay tuned for details!!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Amazed at the people who have so little that give so much
We received a donation today, a dear brother in Christ who has so little by the worlds standards! This dear brother has been through so much, we've seen his life change before our eyes....he's someone that most people would/or have written off, but his heart amazes me! How is it that the "biggest" donations actually do come from the heart?
I've honestly been struggling lately with facebook post of friends who are eagerly awaiting their income tax refund....bragging on what new toy/car/tv/lawn mower/vacation/car audio equipment/...whatever, they are planning on getting. Many seem somewhat interested and have even asked how they can help....but when it comes to giving up financially....they don't see the needs of these (or any other orphans) as being more important than their need for the next x-box game. Now even a few years ago, I don't know that I would have either; but after Christ changed my life, I don't see how I couldn't give it all to someone that needs it.....especially these little guys who are considered almost less than human in their society and knowing what they face if they are not adopted before they reach the age for the institutions.
I'm sorry if I seem to be ranting, or if I have offended anyone. If this is offending, please, pray about it...maybe it is actually convicting you. We live in such luxury (those here in the US) that we often don't know what it means to "go without" or even being content with what we have. Living within our means is such an odd concept, even being content with eating what we have in the house (we have been convicted of that recently, and through revelation, we are more thankful for what we have). We ask that you give what/if God puts on your heart, we can't tell you that you'll get x-times back or lie and tell you God will love you more, or you'll get a better home in Heaven............But I will guarantee that whatever you give, will be a blessing and that through a giving heart, you will see more of the blessings you have been given!
I leave you with a story of a man we know. We went to a benefit dinner with him, his wife, and about 8 other friends. There were about 600 others in attendance for this charity event and this man was asked to make the official request for donations (everyone knew it was coming as this is a long standing annual event). He got up on stage, said that he had checked his bank account before coming (and asked that someone make sure his wife didn't faint) and simply wrote a check for the entire amount.......which was quite a large amount of money. To my surprise, I looked at his wife and she was in total admiration of her beloved husband! It was at that point in my life, I learned what it meant to give everything for Christ. The amount given that night was amazing, but the hearts that were changed by a true leader will forever impact lives. And though he gave every penny he had, this man has been blessed in more ways than we could ever know....his blessings were in his obedience to what God was prompting him to do and the lives he impacted that day.
Be obedient through prayerful insight and you too, will be amazingly blessed!
Thank you,
Joel Golden
I've honestly been struggling lately with facebook post of friends who are eagerly awaiting their income tax refund....bragging on what new toy/car/tv/lawn mower/vacation/car audio equipment/...whatever, they are planning on getting. Many seem somewhat interested and have even asked how they can help....but when it comes to giving up financially....they don't see the needs of these (or any other orphans) as being more important than their need for the next x-box game. Now even a few years ago, I don't know that I would have either; but after Christ changed my life, I don't see how I couldn't give it all to someone that needs it.....especially these little guys who are considered almost less than human in their society and knowing what they face if they are not adopted before they reach the age for the institutions.
I'm sorry if I seem to be ranting, or if I have offended anyone. If this is offending, please, pray about it...maybe it is actually convicting you. We live in such luxury (those here in the US) that we often don't know what it means to "go without" or even being content with what we have. Living within our means is such an odd concept, even being content with eating what we have in the house (we have been convicted of that recently, and through revelation, we are more thankful for what we have). We ask that you give what/if God puts on your heart, we can't tell you that you'll get x-times back or lie and tell you God will love you more, or you'll get a better home in Heaven............But I will guarantee that whatever you give, will be a blessing and that through a giving heart, you will see more of the blessings you have been given!
I leave you with a story of a man we know. We went to a benefit dinner with him, his wife, and about 8 other friends. There were about 600 others in attendance for this charity event and this man was asked to make the official request for donations (everyone knew it was coming as this is a long standing annual event). He got up on stage, said that he had checked his bank account before coming (and asked that someone make sure his wife didn't faint) and simply wrote a check for the entire amount.......which was quite a large amount of money. To my surprise, I looked at his wife and she was in total admiration of her beloved husband! It was at that point in my life, I learned what it meant to give everything for Christ. The amount given that night was amazing, but the hearts that were changed by a true leader will forever impact lives. And though he gave every penny he had, this man has been blessed in more ways than we could ever know....his blessings were in his obedience to what God was prompting him to do and the lives he impacted that day.
Be obedient through prayerful insight and you too, will be amazingly blessed!
Thank you,
Joel Golden
Friday, February 25, 2011
Raising funds
Fundraising, fundraising, fundraising.....it seems like that's all I say anymore!! I'm sure lots of my friends/family think so too ;) I know some people are getting sick of hearing from me! I would just like to share, though, that while we are asking for help from you, we ourselves are saving every bit we can and adding it to the pot. We've done a yard sale, a couple craft shows, put in all our savings, set aside all our change, and we are working on more fundraisers now. Please know that we appreciate all the funds that have been donated! As well as all the prayers for this whole process! Also know that we are not asking of you anything we are not already doing, and that is sacrificing and giving so these boys won't be orphans any longer.
We also knew going into this that some of our friends and family would not agree with or understand what we are undertaking. That is ok! But we would ask of those that fall into that category to please not hold that against these boys. Orphans, no matter where they were born, deserve a family. So we ask yet again that you would help them come home to their forever family, by donating, praying, and sharing their story with others.
Thank you for all your support!!! I can't wait to share pictures of the boys once they are home!!
We also knew going into this that some of our friends and family would not agree with or understand what we are undertaking. That is ok! But we would ask of those that fall into that category to please not hold that against these boys. Orphans, no matter where they were born, deserve a family. So we ask yet again that you would help them come home to their forever family, by donating, praying, and sharing their story with others.
Thank you for all your support!!! I can't wait to share pictures of the boys once they are home!!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
We are cutting and selling custom vinyl decals for the adoption fund!
We can design and custom cut many colors of interior vinyl or exterior vinyl. Great for word art, advertising your blog or website, local groups, fundraisers or awareness. please email us with any questions or with orders.
Thank you,
Joel
Update
I'm sure some of you are wondering how the process is going, and where we are at in the process. Well, we have our homestudy done, we are just waiting for the final notarized report to be approved and then mailed to us. With this we can send in our USCIS application and apply for some grants and loans. Please pray that the homestudy report gets mailed in the next couple of days and that USCIS approval comes quickly. If it doesn't, we are in danger of some of our documents expiring before they make it over to EE :( As for all the documents we are collecting, we are almost done!!! We have to get a couple medical forms redone, a letter from our accountant, and maybe one other small thing :) This is so exciting!!!! After we get them all collected, and then approved, we take them to the county clerk to have them certified, and then to Nashville to be apostilled. Whew! Makes me tired just thinking of all the running around!
So once we get these last couple of documents and have our USCIS application send off, we begin the waiting game :) And of course, do more fundraising. I can't imagine having everything else done and approved, yet not being able to go get these little guys because the funds are not available. So beware, once we are done chasing paperwork we will be shamelessly fundraising for these boys!!
As a matter of fact, I'll just put a plug in now! You can help bring these boys home to their forever family by donating, tax-deductible, to our family page at www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorgolden. You can also send a check in to Reece's Rainbow, with "for the Golden family" on your check, so RR won't be charged any PayPal fees. The address to send it to is listed on the side of our blog. Thank you!!
So once we get these last couple of documents and have our USCIS application send off, we begin the waiting game :) And of course, do more fundraising. I can't imagine having everything else done and approved, yet not being able to go get these little guys because the funds are not available. So beware, once we are done chasing paperwork we will be shamelessly fundraising for these boys!!
As a matter of fact, I'll just put a plug in now! You can help bring these boys home to their forever family by donating, tax-deductible, to our family page at www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorgolden. You can also send a check in to Reece's Rainbow, with "for the Golden family" on your check, so RR won't be charged any PayPal fees. The address to send it to is listed on the side of our blog. Thank you!!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Could it be you?
Could it be you?....who makes our choo choo train move again? The Lord has blessed the boys with $10,900 so far towards their adoption, could it be you who puts that over $11,000?
Could it be you who prays that the Lord fully funds their adoption soon?
Could it be you who shares their story with friends?
Could it be you who takes up a donation for them?
Could it be you who does a fundraiser for these little blessings?
Could it be you who offers a matching donation?
Could it be you who sacrifices something in order to rescue these boys from a life in an orphanage/institution?
Could it be you?
Could it be you who prays that the Lord fully funds their adoption soon?
Could it be you who shares their story with friends?
Could it be you who takes up a donation for them?
Could it be you who does a fundraiser for these little blessings?
Could it be you who offers a matching donation?
Could it be you who sacrifices something in order to rescue these boys from a life in an orphanage/institution?
Could it be you?
Monday, February 14, 2011
A very happy Valentine's Day!
What a special Valentine's day for the boys! Yes, they are still in the orphanage without their family, but..... $814 was given them from the Valentine's day fundraiser their Aunt Melinda did!!! $814!!! What a wonderful gift, given from many. We are so thankful for all those who chose to order their goodies from Melinda to help these boys instead of just going to the store and picking something ups. And a special thank you to Melinda for doing this for them! She called it a labor of love. What a special love God has already given her for these boys.
If you didn't get a chance to order goodies, you can still give the boys a Valentine's day gift by donating!! The ways you can do that are listed on the side of the blog. Thank you!!!
If you didn't get a chance to order goodies, you can still give the boys a Valentine's day gift by donating!! The ways you can do that are listed on the side of the blog. Thank you!!!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
God provides
Sorry it's been awhile since our last post. We have been busy collecting orders for the Valentine's Day fundraiser and working out the last kinks in our homestudy report. I am happy to report that the kinks are worked out and we should have it in our hands next week :) This means we can submit to USCIS!! Woohoo!! And thanks to a very generous donation we have the funds to do that.
I also want to thank everyone who ordered goodies from our sister-in-law, Melinda, for the Valentine fundraiser. I don't have an exact total yet, but it looks like she raised right around $700 for the boys adoption fund! Thank you Melinda!! And now she is busy making lots of chocolate goodies to deliver/ship all over in the next day or two. And her husband, Mike (Joel's brother), is busy eating lots of "leftover" chocolate :)
Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen God use others to provide for our boys. It is amazing! We had someone donate $2000 through our church, then someone else gave our pastor $200 for us. Then we had someone donate to the boys via Reece's Rainbow and then someone from Switzerland sent a card with a donation for the boys! All this, along with the Valentine fundraiser, has encouraged us so much!! Some might say that in the grand scheme of things, a couple thousand isn't very much. I DISAGREE!!!! We are now under $25,000 needed total. Yes that's quite a bit, but not to God!! And not when we started out needing $35,000!! All the little donations add up. I am so thankful that people are donating what they have to give, even if it doesn't seem like much to them or others. Every donation, big or small, is such an encouragement to us, and such a great blessing. God is providing! In His way and in His time!
I also want to thank everyone who ordered goodies from our sister-in-law, Melinda, for the Valentine fundraiser. I don't have an exact total yet, but it looks like she raised right around $700 for the boys adoption fund! Thank you Melinda!! And now she is busy making lots of chocolate goodies to deliver/ship all over in the next day or two. And her husband, Mike (Joel's brother), is busy eating lots of "leftover" chocolate :)
Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen God use others to provide for our boys. It is amazing! We had someone donate $2000 through our church, then someone else gave our pastor $200 for us. Then we had someone donate to the boys via Reece's Rainbow and then someone from Switzerland sent a card with a donation for the boys! All this, along with the Valentine fundraiser, has encouraged us so much!! Some might say that in the grand scheme of things, a couple thousand isn't very much. I DISAGREE!!!! We are now under $25,000 needed total. Yes that's quite a bit, but not to God!! And not when we started out needing $35,000!! All the little donations add up. I am so thankful that people are donating what they have to give, even if it doesn't seem like much to them or others. Every donation, big or small, is such an encouragement to us, and such a great blessing. God is providing! In His way and in His time!
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