WOW: Winners and a HUGE Thank You!!!

I am completely blown away by what God has done with our lil’ ole John 14:18 gear fundraiser.  God gave me this idea a couple of months ago, and I truly thought we *might* be able to sell, at max, 100 items.  I thought we *might*, at max, make $1000 in profit.  I figured the fundraiser would be worth it because even if we only made $50 in profit, it would be $50 more than we would have without doing the fundraiser.  Plus, I really loved all of the John 14:18 gear, so even if the fundraiser flopped, I would still order myself some of the awesome gear, and I’d still come out ahead because I’d end up with some things that I love and couldn’t get anywhere else, plus I’d be raising orphan awareness when wearing the gear, so all around, it would be a win-win endeavor.

While I sit here this morning tallying up totals, I am in total awe of God’s ways.  He had so much more planned through this John 14:18 fundraiser than I had ever fathomed.  I’m always so grateful that God’s ways are better than mine.  He does an excellent job of leading, doesn’t He?

Not only did God abundantly bless this fundraiser, He raised some awesome orphan awareness simply through the sale of the John 14:18 gear!  I loved hearing a variety of stories about adoption in general, loved how so many adoptive families who are currently fundraising themselves still sowed seed into our adoption, loved seeing God move so many people to purchase John 14:18 gear, and really just loved seeing God at work in so many ways, beyond what I'll ever even realize.

One of the stories that blessed me the most was sent to me by a 58-year-old widow, a breast cancer survivor, who was so inspired by Chrissie's story that she committed to helping children however God would allow.  She shared with me that she just finished the required courses for her to become a licensed foster care provider!  And she’s praying for God to allow her to adopt again some day!  Amazing.  (By the way, would you please pray for this sweet grandma?  Recent blood work showed her cancer might have returned.  She had a PET scan yesterday, but doesn't have the results back yet.)

God just did so much with what I thought was a piddly lil’ ole fundraiser.  I am so very pleased to announce that we sold over 300 items and recorded more than $7,000 in gross sales.  We expect that in the end (after all fees are paid, including all of the shipping costs), we will have about $3,500 in profit that will go directly toward the adoption expenses of Vlad and Dima.  Praise God for His work in this fundraiser.  He is mighty to save!  And mighty to provide!

Thank you, ThAnK YoU, THANK YOU for all of your help and support.  We are MOST grateful!!!!!!

Oh, here are the winners of the giveaway:

The winner of the FREE short-sleeved t-shirt is Nance Fritz.  Nance, please contact me at Lorraine (at) ForgottenSawRanch (dot) com to let me know what color/style of short-sleeved shirt you want.  Thank you!

Nance Fritz 11/08/2011 11:27 AM
Also ordered a hoodie. Good Luck!!!!

The winner of the FREE John 14:18 vinyl decal is Tracy S.  Tracy, please contact me at Lorraine (at) ForgottenSawRanch (dot) com to let me know what color decal you prefer.  Thank you!

Tracy S 11/10/2011 09:20 PM
I ordered shirts for my family. Praying for your family and the boys.

Thank you again, everyone, for your amazing support!