(hand)made for Glory re-cap + thoughts on online auctions

Well, it's over. Sort of. Payments are rolling in and boxes are being shipped out. Pretty soon I'll have my office and my evenings back. All in all, we made just under $2,000 from the auction! Getting closer!

Several people have asked how we pulled this off. Here are just a few loose tips. If you want specifics please feel free to contact me.

• First, start collecting your items at least 4-6 weeks in advance. 
• Pick a theme that is enjoyable to you. I love handmade goodness so I choose handmade. Maybe you like sports, or food, or something else. It will be more fun if you enjoy it.
• Don't pick a theme. (I know, I know.) I had a couple items offered that just didn't fit handmade. Could I have thrown them in and probably no one would have noticed? Yes. But I'm a first born type A and couldn't do it.
• Share enough of your story to get people interested in helping. When I contacted potential donors I gave one or two lines about our adoption journey and shared the link to our Give1Save1 video. 
• Give them the details on what they need to know - what are you asking for specifically, when is the auction, do they mail the item to you or the donor, what are you offering them in exchange - FB mentions, Tweets, blog profiles, etc.?
• Note: It is against Etsy policy to solicit donations. I did not know this when I started. I must have contacted 200 - 300 shop owners and only ONE person mentioned this policy. I'm a beg-for-forgiveness-rather-than-ask-for-permission kinda girl but Etsy can and will shut down your account for breaking this policy.
• It might also be against policy to hold auctions on Blogger. See begging for forgiveness comment above.
• Some people are not familiar with Blogger and thus don't know how to comment or see older posts. I wouldn't have done anything differently, just something to note.
• Sending out invoices via Paypal seems to be working well. Some people don't have their settings set up to receive  an email if they get an invoice. Those people will be a little confused.
• Having donors mail the item directly to the winning bidder is ideal however, not everyone will want to do this. 

I think we'll be taking a break from fundraising for a while. This one nearly did me in and, unfortunately, we don't need the rest of our money for quite some time. I can write grants in my sleep and I think I'm going to read George Mueller's autobiography and pray for some of that to rub off on us. 

Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him,

He will never fail you.

~ George Mueller 

Nothing is Wasted {National Foster Care Month ::: Guest Post}

Today's post comes from my friend Lauren Caseper at Traded Dreams. Lauren and her husband John are former foster parents and while their foster story is a difficult one, I'm honored to share her heart with you today.

 

Our experience with foster care seems like such a whirlwind in retrospect. We applied to our local social services department and then only two months later there came a call from our case worker. With just two hours notice there they were – twin two year old boys sitting in our living room. In the blink of an eye we became parents to two very neglected little boys at the height of toddlerdom. They were with us for three months and then just as quickly as they blew into our lives they blew back out… but never out of our hearts.

 

The twins were one of life’s greatest surprises, yet greatest blessings. It was a hard transition for everyone. I remember their tears and our tears vividly. I had no idea how to be a mother, let alone to children with such great trauma in their lives. But one thing I did know how to do was love –so that’s where we started and that’s where we remained. In love.

 

One hug at a time I healed little hurts. Each day started with hugs and kisses. Tears were wiped away, boo-boos were mended, tummies were filled, books were read, dandelions were blown, cars were raced, baths were enjoyed, and there was more play time, giggles, snuggles, wrestling, and outside adventures than they had ever experienced in their lives. The days ended with evening walks, songs sung in their room, prayers prayed, and one last “hud and tiss.”

 

As the weeks passed by we settled into family life and it seemed they had been there all along. Loving them began to heal some of the broken places inside my heart, and loving them began to heal some of the broken places inside their hearts. The bruises had faded away and the faces were filling out. Cheeks were becoming rosey and the sunken look had left their eyes. There was joy, peace, and always love.

 

Through a series of grievous errors the boys were ordered to return to their home after only living with us for three months. I sat shocked on the other end of that phone call and I have struggled every day to forgive that judge. We only had a couple hours to pack their little backpacks full of their toys, clothes, and books. Then the social services van pulled up and we wept in the front yard as they took our boys away. We never saw them again.

 

For a long time I wondered what the point of it all was. My heart felt as if it were literally being ripped from my chest. Their situation wasn’t made better. I knew the place they were returned to and I knew it wasn’t safe. I knew they would be hungry and I knew they were hurting… but here I was with empty arms and completely unable to do anything for them. What on earth was the point of those three months?

 

Slowly God began to remind me that nothing is wasted. Even if nothing changes in those boys home life they had three months of love. They had three months of learning what it means to be a family. They heard the name of Jesus every single day for three months. They have two people who will carry them in their hearts for all of eternity… two people who will never cease praying for them. Foster care stories don’t always have happy endings… ours didn’t. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth it.

 

When we buckled the twins into the van that last day he looked up at me with innocent green eyes and said, “Don’t worry mama – Jesus with me when I go bye bye in car.” And he is with them today. I cling to that and the hope of a heavenly reunion. Nothing is wasted. It’s all worth it.

 

 

and now I rest

THANK YOU to everyone who was part of (hand)made for Glory!

 

 

 

It was a lot of fun and, as I mentioned last week, a lot of work. Thankfully, this is my week to sabbath from blogging and social media. I have a social media hangover from this past week so I am really looking forward to unplugging. And mailing out all the handmade goodness:-)

 

Check back on Wednesday for a foster care guest post from Lauren Casper at Traded Dreams. I'll be back on the 20th with a (hand)made for Glory re-cap and will be jumping right back into National Foster Care Month!

(hand)made for Glory /// day five

Happy Friday!

We are moving into day five of (hand)made for Glory!

 

 

 

I must admit, this fundraiser has been a lot of work, (more than I expected:-) BUT

it's also been a LOT of fun!

I hope you guys are having fun checking out all the handmade goodness

and bidding on some of your favs!

 

Since we are down to the final few days we're going to add in a little incentive.

 

ALL of the bids started at at least half the retail value - but beginning today, 

I will be dropping the starting bid price on all items with no bids by $1.

I'll do the same tomorrow and Sunday. (when the auction closes at 11:59pm)

 

Our goal is to raise as much money as possible and

bless your socks off with some handmade goodness!

 

Head on over and see if your favorite item still has your name on it!

 

 

my oneBIGidea from Summit9

William and I were super blessed to be able to attend Summit9 in Nashville last week. Several months back a friend gifted us with some funds to get away by ourselves and we thought this was the perfect opportunity! (Thanks bro!;-)

We focused on the community based orphan care track but also heard speakers on everything from homeschooling to "connecting while correcting" with kids from hard places. I walked away with oneBIGidea...

Relationship is the cornerstone of orphan care because it's the method God used to redeem us. He came as a man who could walk with us, relate to us, speak with us, eat with us, weep with us. He came to us.

How obvious. Jesus' model of redemption is the best practice for reaching those close to the heart of God.

Go to them.
Love them.
Serve them.
Lay down your life for them.

/// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// ///

How will the foster care system ever be able to restore families and birth parents without a meaningful relationship with those birth parents?

How can we as foster/adoptive parents connect with our kids from hard places if relationship is not valued as more important than having a clean house or "normal family" or social media or fill-in-the-blank?

How can we as Christians even consider reintegrating third world street kids with their families if we don't invest the blood, sweat and tears necessary to form relationships with them?

How can we create effective community based orphan care for vulnerable children in poor lawless countries without going and living among them, walking in their shoes and laying down our lives for them?

How can we show the watching world the love of Jesus when we as Christians sling virtual mud at each other, putting aside our relationships as brothers and sisters in Christ, in order to voice our own agendas on how to best care for the least of these?

I'm no expert. No seminary degree here, but it seems embarrassingly obvious that if we are to show these children, these families, that their lives are redeemable, that restoration is possible, that beauty can come from ashes and freedom can be found... then our model must reflect the One who makes all of those things a reality.