All Wrapped Up

Yesterday during my nightly devotions with Chase, the lesson was about worry.  Why do we worry when God created us and cares for us and meets all our needs?  During the reading (while I was trying to keep Chase from turning the pages), it gave a little trick about what to do when you are worried.

The trick was to imagine what you are worried about, placing it inside a box.  put a bow on it and send it up to God, releasing that worry from your mind and trusting God to deal with it.  I don't know if Chase was listening, but I sure was.  I don't worry often, but there are things that do weigh on my mind.  Most of the time these things seems to weigh on my mind for a while.  I do the right thing and say things like "God's got this" and move on.

Lately, however the final cost for our adoption has been weighing on my mind.  I know I can trust God to provide all that we need, but we need approximately $18,000 before we travel to China. Yesterday we got word from our agency that we are out of review and are not awaiting LOA.  This is a big step towards being able to travel.  It has brought the worry about finances to the forefront as it makes you realize just how little time we have until we may be heading to China.

So this morning, during my personal prayer time.  I took my worry about our adoption finances, imagined putting them in a box, putting a bow on it, and sending it up to God.  I was released of this worry and it was in Gods hands now.

You would think at this point I would have predicted the outcome, as God has been nothing but faithful through every step of our adoption.  But when Amanda called me this afternoon, I was speechless.  

"Did you know we were getting a grant from Families Outreach?" 

I am big enough to realize when God is moving.  He took a devotion with my 3 year old to remind me that He has got this, and that I don't need to worry.  Seriously, how many times do I need to learn this lesson?

While the check for $3,000 isn't enough to cover the balance of our fees, it is enough to remind me that He is ALWAYS faithful, even when I am not.  I love the little winks that the Lord gives us along the way reminding us of His faithfulness. 

Puzzle Fundraiser

It is time to launch our puzzle fundraiser.  Instructions for giving are at the bottom of this message. There are many different parts to this puzzle, in total we are hoping to raise $6000.  We are selling the puzzle in pieces and each piece that is purchased will get your name written across the back of the puzzle pieces so our kids can see who helped bring them home.  There are pieces available in everyone's budget so everyone can be involved.

Dragon
The focal point of this puzzle is the Dragon.  The Dragon is a great symbol of Chinese culture and I will go more into that in an upcoming blog.  Because of the amount of space in this puzzle devoted to the dragon we decided to break him up unto 3 sections.  The head, body and tail can all be purchased separately.  I understand some of these pieces are more expensive, but I also know that I have friends that can easily give these amounts and are hoping they step forward in support, or team up with each other to purchase these pieces together.

Dragon Support
The Dragon in the puzzle is just a puppet however, during a Chinese parade the dragon is actually controlled by a number of support characters.  There are 6 support characters represented in this puzzle.  Maybe you can't afford the dragon, but you can be support.  Much like adoption we need a number of support characters to carry the load.

Small Dragons
Maybe you want a dragon all too yourself.  Well you have that option as well.  There are three small dragons following the large dragon.  If you like the symbolism of the dragon maybe you should consider stepping up to one of these small dragons.  They come in three different colors so you can choose one of your favorite colors.  The small dragons are a great way to support adoption in a big way!

Stiltmen
Also following the dragon are the stiltmen.  These 3 characters are up on stilts for a good reason, with the small dragons up front, you wouldn't be able to see them very well if they were on the ground. You can choose to support us by having a stiltman of your own. To me the stiltmen represent people that are willing to watch over our adoption and pray for us through the process.  They keep an eye from a distance and make sure we are staying on the right path.

Palaces
Who wouldn't love to own a palace of their own?  These two palaces are representative of architecture in ancient China. We saw many buildings like this while in China and I was delighted to see these two buildings on the puzzle.  Depending on the style of palace you want you could be the first on your block to own your very own Chinese palace.

Filler Pieces
The filler pieces make up the bulk of the puzzle.  Much like adoption there are many big fees that people associate, but the ones that people don't realize are a large number of small fees along the way.  These can include things like visa applications, postage fees for paperwork, etc.  These nickel and dime fees really add up in the overall cost.  he filler pieces to me represent these costs.  They are the small pieces that hold the bulk of the puzzle together, the puzzle could not be complete without them.

How to Donate
To donate, go to the link at the bottom of this post to go to Village to Village's website.  There you will be able to enter the amount of the donation you wish to give.  100% of the donation will go to our adoption as Village to Village does not take anything for administration fees.  The donations are also tax deductible.   After donating you will get a receipt in the email.  Forward that e-mail to me at matthewvmeer@gmail.com with the piece that you purchased and I will add your name to the puzzle.

Thanks so much for your participation in our adoption.  We are so grateful to have friends that support us so generously.

Purchase your pieces here

http://www.villagetovillageintl.com/the-vandermeer-family-family-112.php

Puzzle Fundraiser - An Introduction

April is here and with it comes our next fundraiser.  We have been working with Village to Village International and will soon be approved as one of the adoptive families that they support, meaning donations given to our adoption will be tax deductible when donate through Village to Village.  I love Village to Village because their concept is simple, they have a goal of having 1,000 people donate $10 a month towards adoptive families costs.  When the reach that goal they will have $10,000 a month to support adoptive families.  How awesome would that be?  Its something I know they will reach after chatting with them a few times this week I can tell they are passionate about what they do.

Our next fundraiser is going to be a puzzle fundraiser w/ a little twist.  Our goal with this fundraiser is to raise $6000.  The cost of the orphanage donation for one of our kids.  The puzzle shown below is a $1000 piece puzzle, so it would make sense that each piece would be $6 right... not this time.  Keep reading for the details.

The problem historically with puzzle fundraisers is that people that are able to give more than $6 might buy 10 pieces which is great, but they could likely buy 20 or more pieces if they were invited too.  So to solve this we will be selling chunks of the puzzle that surround different sections.  So for example you will be able to buy the dragon boat in the upper left corner, one of the smaller dragons in the lower right corner, different parts of the large dragon, etc.  What is left of the "filler" pieces we will also be selling in the traditional style of a puzzle fundraiser where each piece has a set dollar value.

When a chunk or piece is sold your name will be written on the back, once the puzzle is completed we will frame or display it somehow so our kids will be able to see who helped bring them home.

I will be blogging occasionally introducing new pieces of the puzzle.  This puzzle is rich in symbolism and I will be sharing the symbolism of each of the different sections.  We would love to have this puzzle filled before the end of April so please consider supporting us with this fundraiser. Once we get the go ahead from Village to Village you will be able to donate directly to them online or you can send in a check.

As Always thank you for supporting our adoption.

To my BEAUTIFUL slant-eyed siblings...

It has taken me very long to be able to work up the nerve to type this. Most of the time I would sit at my laptop and stare at the screen, expecting everything to come out easily and I wouldn't give it a second thought. But this topic is never easy for anyone to talk about. It keeps me up late at night, making it hard to shut down my brain and fall asleep. This may not come easily, but you are so, so worth it.

I love you. Even though you may not believe me at times, I always have and I always will. I wasn't around for the beginning of your lives, I didn't hold you in my arms while you were a baby or get to visit you in the hospital after you were born. But the moment I laid eyes of you, physically or just in pictures, I would have fought to the death for you. You were meant to be my siblings, and even though we aren't blood related, nothing will ever ever ever be able to rip you from my heart.

Here is where I am going with this. Everyone is different, no one is exactly like someone else. That being said, we are all beautiful in our own way. You guys are beautiful, just like everyone else. But, and yes, I am about to break the ice, you don't look like us. You are Chinese, we are American with different family backgrounds. Your skin is darker than ours sometimes, your noses are more flat, and your beautiful eyes are slanted. Like I said before, you are beautiful in your own way. There could never be a more beautiful you, it is simply impossible. Your skin can give you a really nice tan, which you may or may not like :), your noses are more easy to be kissed when they are flatter, and I absolutely love when your eyeballs disappear when you laugh!!!

But listen to me. Like I said, I would fight to the death for you, as I would for Chloe also. It's because I love you. So when I hear people say... awful, terrible things about you or your race, it takes a host of angles to keep me from exploding all over them. Seriously. They don't know you. They don't understand. They make fun of you to be cool, which is STUPID in caps lock.

Without giving away any information, you each have your own medical circumstances. Oh, the things people say because they don't understand! People at my school... The nasty things they say... This is how mad I am right now, my hands are shaking as I try to type. The things all kinds of people say, the looks you may get sometimes... This is all enough to put me over the edge. I have lost count of the nights I will cry myself to sleep knowing that I can't save you from the cruel world we live in. Knowing that I can't protect you, knowing I can't fight every battle for you. Some you just have no choice but to fight on your own.

This is what I am getting at: You are brave. You are strong. You are a VanderMeer. You have the God of the whole universe on your side. You are going to grow up and have one of the best testimonies and inspire all kinds of people. You already have. I know I can't shield you from everything, but I want you to know that you will always have someone fighting for you. No matter what the worlds says. You have me, but you also have God. I am human, sometimes I may fail, but God can't fail. He will never leave you or forsake you. That's a promise. Go and be the things the world needs. You have it... I see it every time I look into your beautiful slanted eyes.

I love you to infinity and beyond!

Love,

Jai Jai Abby

How we can Fundraise and go on Vacation?

There have been many blogs that I have written that have been hard to write, trying to type just the right thing without stepping on toes.  This is not one of them.

The VanderMeer's are going on vacation!!! The last real vacation we have been on was in 2012, so this trip is long overdue.  We will be sitting on the beach soaking up some sun, probably visiting some touristy shops, eating out occasionally and decompressing and we are soooooo looking forward to it.

We don't do it without understanding the paradox.  How can we go on vacation when we are trying to raise money to bring our kids home from China.  Shouldn't that money be spent towards your adoption instead of asking other people to support you?

Let me recap what has happened since out last vacation.  In 2013 we went to China to bring home Chase.  While you see the pictures on Facebook constantly of happy Chase, what you don't see are the hours, days, weeks, months of intentional parenting, dealing with attachment issues, emotional breakdowns, and outright defiance while he tries to find the boundaries.  We love him dearly and would do anything for him, but it is exhausting.  And that is just Chase.

We have done all we can with the girls to make sure they are getting what they need from us always too.  While Chase has caused us to exert a lot of our energy, the girls have been champions in dealing with it.  They understood going into adoption that is wasn't always going to be easy and they have been great at helping and loving and are the best big sisters that I could have imagined Chase having. They have been great examples of grace to us, but we know deep in our hearts that they have sacrificed more than they should have.

Yet despite some of the trials our last adoption brought we would do it all over again.  And we are!  This summer hope to travel to bring home our two newest VanderMeer's from China.  This time we do not do it through the eyes on naive adoptive parents, but knowing full well the struggles we are going to face.  The battles will be daily for a while as we adjust to a family of 7.  We understand that Chase may struggle to understand his place in the family and that we will not be able to lose focus on the foundation that we have built with him.  The girls understand that we will be going back into post adoption mode and we know that while they will perform beautifully that sacrifices will need to be made.

So with all that being said, we are going on vacation.  To us this is not just an escape from regular life for a while, it is a chance to unwind and reconnect as a family and get ready for the times coming up that will NOT be decompressed but that will be difficult.  This is exactly what is needed for our family, we set the money aside from personal funds after our tax return, not from any money raised for the adoption.  We have done a good job of finding ways to enjoy ourselves without breaking the bank, and we are going ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

So you didn't really address the fact that you are fundraising at the same time... don't you feel we need an explanation if you are going to ask us to give to your adoption?  NOPE.

The truth is that most people that have donated to us or that will donate to us either understand the struggles we have gone through and will go through again.  They understand that a vacation right now is exactly what is needed and they won't judge us.  They will likely encourage us.  The people that choose to sit back and judge our decisions are not supporting us anyway.  So I'm not worried about them.

On a last note I wanted to add after reading through this that we are excited about our upcoming adoption.  I don't want anyone thinking that we are not.  We are excited that we are becoming a family of 7, we are excited that we are done with our dossier and that it is in the hands of the Chinese government.  We are excited about picking up our kids and showing them the love of a family.  But because we have done this before we know what to expect.  We are excited to move to the next step but we knew it was coming.

Right now we are most excited about going on vacation, decompressing, reconnecting and spending time together, and hopefully seeing some dolphins.

A Social Experiment - The Hypothesis

Anyone that has been following my Facebook page yet should know two things.  First we are adopting and doing some kind of fundraiser or planning some kind of fundraiser.  Second we recently started using a nutritional cleansing product called Isagenix.  Besides being the best nutritional cleansing product in the world, Isagenix also has a generous compensation plan.  A number of adoptive parents and others before have used it to generate a great residual income for their family. One of our goals was to use Isagenix to raise money for our adoption, and then continue to use that additional income to help pay for medical needs when our kids get home as well as pay off some debt.

I decided over the last couple of weeks that presenting Isagenix which has numerous ways to help millions of people, is much easier than fundraising.  I presented this idea to some of my adoptive friends as a way to help them raise funds for their adoptions, but I got no response.  I was not surprised because it is hard to rewire your brain when you are saving every penny you have to adopt, to instead spend money on a product for yourself that has potential to make money.  I GET IT.  So I decided to do a "Social Experiment".

We recently finished a 10 X 10 Challenge to fill a $3500 match grant.  It was awesome seeing people give and give generously to help us reach this goal.  You might think that we had a ton of people that stepped up to support us in order to reach this goal in 10 days.  But the fact is 20 people supported us. The bulk of the support was from one person who had promised a donation months ago and I asked her to wait to help us with a matching grant.  I'm not complaining, in fact I am very grateful, the point I am trying to make is that fundraising is hard and does not always work out like you might hope.

The Social Experiment

So here is my so called Social Experiment.  We have been informed that we are soon going to be listed on Village to Village, as one of their Adoptive Families.  This is great news and Village to Village is a great organization and allows donors to make tax deductible donations to their site.  The next step in our adoption fees is going to be the orphanage fees.  These fees are to pay the orphanage for caring for our children until we adopt them.  Since we are adopting two we need to pay two fees. To keep it simple we will round each fee to $6000 (it will probably be a little less but without knowing the exchange rate and each orphanage is a little different so we just round).  We will soon be announcing a fundraiser to try to reach one of the orphanage donations. Here are the subjects in my experiment:

Fundraisers

I am going to start a puzzle fundraiser.  In this fundraisers, potential donors can purchase a piece or pieces of a puzzle.  Their name will be recorded on the back of the puzzle piece so we know who has supported our adoption.  The puzzle will be framed when its completed and the total number of pieces will equate the $6000 goal.

Isagenix

In order to maintain an active account with Isagenix we need to continue to order the product.  Which we would want to do anyways. From the day the puzzle fundraiser starts we will also track any income we receive from Isagenix.  We will only record income when it has surpassed the amount we have spent to get our products.

A Few Ground Rules

Whichever subject is able to reach the $6000 goal first will be the win the experiment.  

If a matching grant is given during the experiment, only the donated amount will count towards the experiment.

Totals will be updated at the discretion of the blogger, based on the amount of free time available.

Both the Fundraiser and the Isagenix business will be pursued in the normal operating manner. Neither one will be shown any favor during the experiment. 

This is how the results will be displayed.

A few words from the Blogger

This experiment is for entertainment purposes only.  I really could care less which one wins.  I just want to get my kids home.  My guess is there are some people that don't like this, I don't care.  Again I just want to get my kids home.  Hope you enjoy following along.  Feel free to share this with your friends or try it yourself if you like the results.

Lifesong for Orphans - Made To Love Matching Grant

We just received news from Lifesong for Orphans that we were approved for a $500 matching grant. The grant is issued through our churches orphan ministry called Made to Love.

This is amazing news as our agency fees will be due in just a few short weeks.  While $500 is just a little way towards the money that we need, all funds that come in excess of the $500 matching grant will still be able to be used for our adoption.  Some grants will cap us at the term of the grant.

So Lifesong for Orphans is making it possible for supporters to make a tax deductible donation to our adoption where 100% of the donation benefits our adoption directly.

We are so grateful that the Lord continues to open doors for us to be able to finish this adoption.  If we have any friends reading this considering adoption but scared of the financial portion of this, I want to tell you one thing I have learned over and over again.  The Lord may not show up early, but when you are in His will He always shows up.

If you would like to donate towards this matching grant here are the details Lifesong gave us:

• Checks should be payable to “Lifesong for Orphans. In the memo, note “family name” and “family account number” (Vandermeer/#5064) to assure it goes to the correct account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744. Lifesong has been blessed with a partner that underwrites all U.S. administrative and fundraising costs (TMG Foundation and other partners). That means 100% of your donation will go directly to the adoption.
• To pay online go to www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate. Select “Give to an Adoptive Family.” Complete the online form and fill in “Family Account Number” and “Family Name” fields. Note PayPal charges an administrative fee (2.9% + $.30 USD per transaction). Your donation will be decreased by the amount of this fee.