Paying it Forward

Six months ago, Jeremy and I flew to Russia to meet 

a little girl that we knew was meant to be our daughter.

It was love at first sight.

We let the authorities know that we still wanted to pursue her adoption.  We visited her a few more times that week, then flew back home to wait for our court date to be assigned.

It was shortly after Thanksgiving. We still needed a lot of money in order to pay for the remainder of the adoption expenses. Up to this point, we were hoping the money would fall from the sky. :) Our pride had prevented us from doing any fund raising. But now it was time to get serious. Anya was coming home soon.

So we decided to buy an iPad and use it for a giveaway. We e-mailed and Facebooked everyone we knew to tell them about our fundraiser. We made flyers and delivered them to all our neighbors.  Then we prayed.

And guess what happened?

People cared.  Not just a little bit. Over a hundred people gave of their precious means during the holiday season. Over $13,000 in dollars, sky miles and Marriott points were donated to us to help us accomplish this huge feat.

I can't describe to you in words how this made us feel.  I tried really hard in this post on our adoption blog.  We've never experienced anything like it before. Ever. Thank you again.

So, I've been itching to "pay it forward" since that time. Unfortunately, we can only give so much out of our own pocketbook to other adopting families. I try to help out here and there with other RR families, but I've been wanting to make a little more of a difference, specifically for one of the children that Anya knows personally.

The two busy-bees, Ian and Anya playing during our court trip in February 

So, here goes!

This is Ian, He was kind of like a brother to Anya.  They spent 24 hours a day together in their orphanage.

Because of Reece's Rainbow,  Ian is soon going home to a mom, a dad and a brother. Gretchen Stewart and her family have been working so, so hard jumping through hoops like you wouldn't believe to make this adoption happen. And to top it all off, they found out when they went to meet him in April that he has a heart condition that needs surgery soon. Of course, this made them even more anxious to get him home. Alas, they will return to Russia in a few weeks for court.

Gretchen has raised money and raised money and raised more money, month after month. She has done all that she  can do and she's now down to the wire. They still need about $12,000.

Hangin' out with Gretchen, Ari and Craig in Atlanta
(Craig took the picture.)

Jeremy and I met Gretchen and Craig on our way to Russia for our court trip. We had a nice, long layover in Atlanta and got to spend the day with them. We had an instant connection because, not only were we going through the same experience, but our kids were together. We'll be friends always, we're sure of it.

So when Gretchen posted on Facebook that she needed help with the final stretch of her fund raising, I was all over it. Gretchen sent me a lovely orange package that includes ten puzzle pieces from a 1,000-piece puzzle. I have committed to "sell" or find sponsors for the puzzle pieces, (raise $100) then pass along the envelope to the next person, who  will do the same. The envelope will be passed to ten people this summer, who will each raise $100, totaling $1,000. Gretchen has 10 of these packages going around, so eventually, this will raise $10,000.

Such a great plan! And what a great way to share God's love and the gift of adoption with a whole lot of people.  The only problem is that it's going to take a few months for this fundraiser to bring in $10,000.  They need this money NOW. They should be leaving for court in the next month.


So...Anya and I have set a goal to not only find sponsors for the ten pieces right here in our little hands...we want to pretend that Ian's Mama sent us 100 puzzle pieces to "sell" ourselves (in addition to the ones we're passing along.)

We want to raise $1,000 for Ian this week.

Do you see how excited Anya is about this?  She can hardly wait for Ian to jet out of that gloomy orphanage and come home to a family, just like she did!

Will you help us do this by Monday the 13th?

There's a Chip-in widget on the right side of this post. All you have to do is click on it, and donate through Paypal. The money will go directly to Gretchen's Paypal account and they will use this money to help cover  their travel expenses.

Please share this post on Facebook or your blog or e-mail or whatever you can think of! You can sponsor one piece of the puzzle with a $10 donation, or add more! Whatever you can contribute, we will love you forever and we will be soooo happy if we can accomplish this goal for Anya's best friend. If you're one of the first 10 people to donate, I would LOVE to write your name on one of the puzzle pieces that I'm sending back to Gretchen.

Thank you!! Oh, and if you live along the Wasatch Front and would like to be the extremely lucky person that I will  pass this torch (lovely orange package) on to this week, please let me know! It's a little crazy at the moment because we're moving in a week and a half. That would take one item off of my to-do list. :)  What a great way to serve and make a difference. Thanks again!