BBQ & BINGO

     Words cannot express all that I want to say! I am so overwhelmed and speechless that all I can manage to say is Thank you, Thank You, Thank you!  My heart is overflowing with love and gratitude and I feel so unworthy to have such great people in my life. I am blessed with so much more than I deserve.

    

    Allan and I are so thankful for everyone who helped and contributed to our fundraiser.  We are so grateful and thankful for having true friends; people who love and support and cheer us on every step of the way. We are thankful for our amazing family and friends that really have gone above and beyond to help us.  I am thankful for my loving, generous, gracious, reliable mom and for our  wonderful community, with whom we continue to share every step of this journey with. 

    The fundraiser turned out great! We had a good turnout and had lots of fun! God continues to bless us on our journey and has overwhelmed my heart with gratitude. 

  Food Lion volunteered to cook the meat for us and then had several people donate their time and skills to shred the meat for us. They didn't have to do that, but they chose to and we are so grateful!

 

Nyokia and Maria cooked the meat for us!

 Sara Lee and Flowers donated hamburger buns and Snyder's donated Chips. They didn't have to but they chose to help us.  

Our dear friends donated items to make prizes for the Bingo, donated time and money to make coleslaw, yummy desserts and donated their free time to come help, participate and support us. My mom donated her artistic abilities and time to plan and decorate our event. They didn't have to give up so much just for us, but they chose to help us. They chose to help us get one step closer to bringing home our child. We are so blessed and so thankful and we love our friends so much! God has put some pretty awesome people in our lives! Here are some pictures from our BBQ & BINGO fundraiser!!

Leaves and Pumpkins that my mom cut out

Bingo prizes

More Bingo Prizes

Money table and Bingo Cards

The food tables!

Dessert table before it was filled up with tasty treats

Erica ready to take money!

Allan and I ready to serve food!

Krystal, her Nanny and Tommy. This pic was taken before the prizes started piling up

Fun for all ages!

Hanging out and enjoying yummy food

Annette and Bob, also adopting, came out to support us. They racked up lots of prizes!

Erica and sweet Nyla, who knows our baby is in Africa, really far away, and apparently is going to be put in a shopping cart! :) She is precious!

My mom playing BINGO!

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Again, I know I sound like a broken record, but through this fundraiser God has just completely overwhelmed me with the presence of love and support from our dear friends.  

It is just pretty neat that with each fundraiser, God reveals more to me. I totally get more out of the fundraiser than just another step closer to bringing home our baby! I grow so impatient waiting for our baby, but I have to say it is totally worth the wait with all that God is doing along the way! :)

Thanks to everyone who is standing by our side and waiting to share in the joy when we bring our baby home! :) It means more to us than you will ever know!  

Worries

     As you know, we have a big fundraiser coming up on the 26th. We have been super busy planning and organizing this event and are blessed with great friends who continue to help us! We have thankfully had some items donated but the rest has come out of our pocket. This BBQ is costing a lot more than we thought it would! I have been praying that God will bless our efforts and that we can at least make back what we have spent so it's not a complete loss.
     Well, as I've been praying about this fundraiser, God spoke to me through His Word. In Proverbs 19:21, it says "Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails."  I'd been so busy praying that God would bless this fundraiser the way I want Him to bless it when I should be praying His will be done because it is always best! God might have something totally different to offer us at this event! He might put someone there who needs the Lord that we can witness to, He might bring someone who is adopting who needs our help, the possibilities of what He is up to are endless! He has done great things at past fundraisers, so we shouldn't expect anything less at this one. So, like it says in Philippians 4:6 "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." I am going to stop worrying about the "what if's" and just Trust God. I know He will provide the way to bring home our child, if not from this event then by some other way. He has provided so far and I know He will continue! Not by our efforts, but because of who He is!
Sometimes the journey is just as important as the destination! :)