Happy T-Shirt Tuesday! (And Other Fun Things)

It’s the first Tuesday of June, which means it is officially T-Shirt Tuesday and there is a new shirt at rebrand.ly/therst-shirt! There were some requests for long sleeves, so this one is available short or long.

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If you’re not familiar, we’re running a T-Shirt Of The Month for 21 days every month, because my husband is an amazing artist and they don’t cost us anything if they bomb. So they’re a kind of constant, secondary, behind-the-scenes fundraising effort. The latest will always be at rebrand.ly/therst-shirt, so save that URL and check on it when your wardrobe starts looking shabby. More details are here.

Fundraiser: Cards for a Cause

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Our Usborne friend hit me up about this awesome fundraiser that they do: Cards for a Cause. These are four different boxed sets of high-quality, hand-crafted, and individually wrapped greeting cards for birthdays, congrats, engagements, weddings, thanks, and more. There are 30 cards in each box, and each box sells for just $30. 

Frens. At the risk of insulting your intelligence … that’s $1 per card. That’s a steal.

I hesitated to do this at first ’cause I don’t use a lot of greeting cards, and I wondered if people really do anymore. (Update: They do. Day 1 of this fundraiser, I was quickly proven wrong.) BUT even if it takes me a couple years to go through a box of 30 cards, I’d still prefer to:

• Have a card on-hand when I need it. No one likes making an extra stop just to pick up a card.
• Have nice cards. I know the skeptics are wondering how nice they can be for $1, but if I know Usborne, you will be pleasantly surprised. You know those fancy cards you see with the little embellishments, that are wrapped in plastic? These are those cards.
• Spend $1 on a card instead of $4.

These will be available June 1 through June 22. The easiest way to get all the info is to check out the Facebook event that Kyle set up. The order form is here.

About these cards (yes, the pic above is the actual boxes):

• Box 1: All Occasion Box #1 — This box gives you a variety of cards. It’s about half birthday cards, but there are also cards for congrats, thank you, engagement, wedding, etc., and some blanks. See the cards here.
• Box 2: All Occasion Box #2 — Same deal, different cards. See these cards here.
• Box 3: Birthday Box — This is called the “Kids’ Birthday Box,” but I’m looking at the cards in the preview like, “IDK … I’d send these to the adults in my life.” Who doesn’t want a “Donut ever stop having fun” card on their birthday? See the cards here.
• Box 4: Thanks and Blanks — So far I’ve heard very enthusiastic responses from small business owners, realtors (kind of small business owners, themselves), and teachers about these. If you’re sending out lots of thank you cards, you’re probably looking for $1 cards anyway … but nice $1 cards? You’re welcome. See the cards here.

Normally, our Usborne rep friend makes a small commission from the sale of each box, but she’s said that she wants to donate her commission to our adoption fund as well. That means that more than half of each sale will go to our adoption fund!

Paperwork Updates

Still waiting on that Letter of Acceptance from China.

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I think this is the longest we’ve waited on anything. I realize that fact in and of itself is a huge blessing and nothing at all to take for granted, but … I still suck at waiting. We sent our last paperwork at the end of March, and were told 1.5 to 3 months, though, so it has to come this month.

I actually emailed our Family Coordinator last week just to ask if we were worried that it hasn’t come yet … even though there’s really no reason that it should have. (Mindy’s going to get to heaven someday and there’s going to be an extra jewel in her crown that just says, “Lex’s emails.”) Of course she said no, she’s not worried at all. (I don’t know if she’d really tell me if she was worried.) She expects it soon and is looking forward to calling me to tell me its here …

Funding Updates

Funny story. When we sent in that most recent batch of paperwork, we took a step that kicked off some new requirements (and payments). There were a few more little training things to do, and one was the first part of a training intended to prepare us for our trip to China.

At one point in that training, the speaker mentioned the large sum of cash that we would have with us, and Husband and I looked at each other like, “Oh?”

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Not put-it-on-the-credit-card-and-pay-it-off-ASAP. Not the-grant-money-will-cover-that. Cash. On hand. In (at that time) three to six months.

So I emailed our travel coordinator to ask for a rough estimate of the total sum of cash we should be planning to take—between paperwork and processing fees, “donations,” and just being in China for two weeks. She gave me a nicely itemized list of estimates that totaled up to just a little more than what we’d heard on the recording.

Cue financial strategy overhaul and family budget meeting.

Then, about a week ago, I got an opportunity to pick up some extra work. We took a whole weekend to talk and pray and run a few numbers and shift some responsibilities at home, etc., because it requires a bit of a commitment. In the end we decided that it’s not going to be easy, but it’s too good an opportunity to pass up. It’s only for two months, and in that time we will almost, or completely, close the gap on the cash we need for China.

So June and July are going to be a little bit crazy. If we decline some invitations, please don’t be offended. If you stop by and see my house in chaos or notice that we—especially me—seem to be shut up inside a lot, don’t worry. We are well. We still love you. We just gotta make this work for a couple months.

Prayer Requests

I know we have so much prayer support behind us, and I wish I could adequately thank you. It’s so obviously helping. If you remember us in your prayers:

• Jude — Please keep our little man in prayer. Pray for protection, but also for peace and comfort in the coming storm. His whole world is about to get turned up-side-down and it will not be easy.
• The paperwork in China — I know like I’ve never known before that God has the timing of this whole thing in his hands, but please do keep our dossier and Letter of Intent paperwork covered in prayer. It’s all under review in China, and we have no reason to think that anything at all might be wrong, but we’re praying it gets reviewed and approved quickly and that the LOA finds us safely.
• Our summer — June and July are going to be a bit of a stretch for us, so we covet prayers for peace and patience and supernatural energy and endurance (for Husband and me … Man Cub does not need prayers for supernatural energy, please).