Growing the Giving on Giving Tuesday 2019
Big dreams call for big goals. Our team put heads and hearts together and set a funding goal of $30,000 this Giving Tuesday with one-third going to Sparrow Services grants, one-third going to training, and one-third going to operating costs. But, more important than a funding goal is our goal to reach more, engage more.
Some of our special donors put their hearts together too and decided to open their pockets up wide to help us get there. In order to grow the giving and grow the engagement, these donors have together pledged to give a total of $15,000 if we engage 100 givers on Giving Tuesday. What that means is that no matter what amount you give, by helping us reach that number of 100 people giving on Giving Tuesday, your donation will be multiplied, potentially several times over!
We also want to give to you not because we want to convince you to give to us or pay you back in some way for donating. That negates the meaning of a gift. We just want you to know how grateful we are for you, the people who help us keep helping. And, simply put, we love giving.
Our token of thanks for every Giving Tuesday giver of $50 or more
Your Giving Tuesday donation of $50 or more will help us reach the goal of engaging 100 unique givers and unlock the $15,000 pledged when we do, and we’ll send you a printable set of 44 Scripture Seeds created by our friend Nicole at Color + Kindness. These 4×4 cards with lovely art and sweet words can be used by grownups and little ones alike to memorize verses from the Bible or place strategically as reminders in lunch boxes, coat pockets, and car dashboards. And, since they are printable, you can use them again and again and keep the giving going.
Our token of thanks for every Giving Tuesday giver of $100 or more
Your Giving Tuesday donation of $100 or more will help us reach the goal of engaging 100 unique givers and unlock the $15,000 pledged when we do, and we’ll give you the Scripture Seeds pack and send you one of our favorite things–a custom-printed journal that gives space for reflective journaling and provides a way to see themes in particular seasons of life. Since it comes packaged with instructions, you can use it yourself or give it as a gift to someone you care about.
Giving Tuesday is not until…well, Tuesday…but it’s not too early to get in on the goodness. Eat turkey. Eat leftover turkey. And, give whenever you want to give by clicking HERE and selecting “Giving Tuesday” in the dropdown list.
National Adoption Day
Today is National Adoption Day. It’s a day meant to raise awareness for the 125,000 children in the U.S. foster care system who are waiting to be adopted. It’s also a day when thousands of those children will legally become sons and daughters.
While it’s a special day filled with so many joyful celebrations, I know all too well that it’s also a day born of loss and sadness. Because every one of those 125,000 children, along with millions of others around the world, have a painful and traumatic story that led them to be “available for adoption” in the first place. There’s so much brokenness in our world.
While I won’t pretend to understand why the world is the way it is, I do know this: Adoption may be messy and heartbreaking and downright unfair, but it’s also beautiful and redemptive and healing. It offers new starts as families willingly agree to walk alongside their children in the hard.
No, it’s not the meant-to-be plan for our children. Truly, no one is meant to experience such overwhelming and profound loss. But, it is a plan. It’s one way that our journeys can begin to be redeemed and made new. In a place where our stories collide and become each other’s stories, our Father offers a way for us to love and learn and grow and heal and become all that we can be. Together.
I am so thankful for adoption. Not because it promises to fix everything or erase the past. Or because it’s the way things were meant to be. No, I’m thankful for adoption because it made a way for me to be a mama a third and fourth time to two of the most precious people who I absolutely adore. I’m thankful that I get to be a part of God’s plan for their stories. I’m thankful that they’ve taught me more about life than I thought was possible.
They make me better. They make our family better. And as we figure out what love and grace and mercy and healing look like, we make each other better. Together.
Nicole is a wife and homeschool mom to four children, by birth and adoption. She is a board member of The Sparrow Fund, an Empowered to Connect Parent Trainer, and a Health & Wellness Coach. She enjoys empowering adoptive, foster, and kinship care families to take control of their health and find joy and healing in connected parenting. She writes at Naturally Wholistic about wholistic wellness, connected parenting, and homeschooling.
He’s lovable just as he is {advocating}
“I don’t think anyone can grow unless he’s loved exactly as he is now,
appreciated for what he is rather than what he will be.” ― Fred Rogers
I can’t think of a better tangible example of this truth than the relationship that is easily noted between the ayis and “Fischer.” I look at him and see all that he will be capable of with the support of a family. I see how smart he is and how much he could progress given the right tools.
But his ayis, they see him for who he is now. They recognize what he’s capable of despite his circumstances. It’s easy for them because they’ve seen how far he has come – and they love talking about it.
He doesn’t want modified activities or to be treated differently. He wants to be treated like the older, smart kid that he is. And they do that so well.
He’s so capable, smart, and strong already. Just as he is now. You don’t have to guess what he’ll one day achieve to fall in love with this guy. And we can’t wait to meet the family who will tell him how lovable he is every single day.
Interested in learning more about this little guy whose advocacy name is “Fischer”? He’s currently available for adoption through AWAA. Contact info@sparrowfund.org to learn more about where he is and our experience with him, and contact our friends at AWAA to hear more.
Erin Garrison has been a pediatric physical therapist since 2010 and was first introduced to The Sparrow Fund through serving on an orphanage trip in October of 2016. It was during this trip that her heart was stirred and she was drawn to a big career change in order to serve children living in orphanages, their temporary caregivers, and families who move forward to adopt them. Her passion is to help equip and train the orphanage staff on developmental and handling techniques to assist in reducing delays. She also seeks to be a therapeutic resource for families as they transition children to home and get connected to the services needed. You can contact Erin directly at eringarrison@sparrowfund.org.
Something awesome was happening while you were sleeping
These are the pictures of awesome.
These are women who have the awesome task of caring for little people who need caring for. Through something so simple, so basic, so ordinary, washing their hands and painting their nails, they were shown that they are extraordinary and inspiring and so very awesome.
We think the message was well received.
China Eve
We believe we learn best who we are and how the world works through our experience of relationships. That’s what our orphanage efforts are all about—building relationships and seeking opportunities to magnify those already there.
Tomorrow morning, our team once again will step out of their own comfort zones and go. They’re all a bit crazy today as they cross tasks off to-do lists and hope for something supernatural to happen as they try to fit a few more things into their luggage. They’re going with full bags and full hearts. The team is offering some medical training which the orphanage administrators specifically requested. They’re also offering the workshop we’ve done in other places that our friends at the Fred Rogers Center have equipped us to do, an interactive community experience designed to encourage, enrich, and empower interactions between children and their helpers. But, most important, each member of this team is going ready to serve children in the best way we know how—through loving well those who care for them day in and day out.
The orphanage work we get to do is for every person there. We want to tell each one of them—little one and grownups alike—that they matter, that they are valuable, and that someone outside themselves is for them.
Be watching our social media posts for glimpses of it.
A Mid-Autumn Festival Wish {Advocating}
It’s been formally celebrated in China for over 1,000 years, though some say people celebrated it informally thousands of years before that even. Full of legends and lanterns and big full moons, it’s the second most important holiday in China behind Spring Festival, the holiday we Westerners call Chinese New Year.
As turkeys are to Thanksgiving, so mooncakes are to Mid-Autumn Festival. It’s an essential part of the celebration to make them and give them. And, this orphanage made that happen.
With one Ayi paired up with one child and aprons and chef hats on, the mooncakes were made, complete with some sort of bean paste inside and designs on top.
But, there’s something about them that wasn’t experienced in this place the way it is supposed to be. Many cookies and cakes are round; it’s true. But, there’s more to why mooncakes are round; the Mandarin word for round sounds like the Mandarin word for reunion. And, reunions are the most wonderful part of Mid-Autumn Festival. Families come together.
There were people who came to visit–a local teacher, a retired man who used “his pocket money” to bring the children gifts, others to be kind to the children. It was good. And, giving the visitors the mooncakes he made was good too. Enjoying songs and a big meal later that day with his foster family was also good.
But, it’s not family the way family should be. He’s still waiting for them. And, maybe–just maybe–next Mid-Autumn Festival can be shared in a reunion like none other, a reunion with a family who gives him their name and tells him that with them is where he belongs. That’s the wish he’s making this Mid-Autumn Festival.
Interested in learning more about this little 10-year-old chef? He is a waiting child with congenital heart disease who is currently available for adoption through Madison, a good agency which is offering a $1,000 agency grant to the family who wants to make him their son. Contact info@sparrowfund.org or Sarah at Madison to hear more about him and what is required to bring him home.
Care Kits for Caregivers
When we go, we go with full hands. Giving gifts isn’t all we are about as we care for caregivers in orphanages, but it really does matter because it communicates that they matter…and they really really do. We want our next trip to be no different as our team heads East to a small orphanage in 4 weeks. And, we need your help to do it.
We want to give each nanny there what we’re calling a Care Kit. In a custom designed, expertly handmade fabric bag, each Care Kit comes with a sugar scrub to care for tired hands, a quick-dry nail polish to remind the wearer how beautiful she is, and a sweet smelling lotion to keep her hands soft at the end of a long day. But, what makes the Care Kits most impactful is that the first time they will be used will be with us as we sit across from each nanny with a tub of hot water before us, and we wash her hands.
We are inviting you—asking you—to be a part of this with us by becoming a Care Kit sponsor for $25, covering the cost to care for one who cares for many. We want every single one of the women who give of themselves everyday to receive this gift. Help us make sure that happens.
To become a sponsor, click on Donate select “orphan care efforts” from the drop down menu of options. You can add “Care Kit Sponsorship” in the notes field.
We can’t wait to have you join us in this.
Together Called 2020 {great expectation}
Since the start, God has used our annual marriage retreat Together Called in remarkable ways that only He can do to meet each one of us right where we are. After 8 years of this thing, we are no longer surprised by it; we come with expectation of it.
Together Called may still be 7 months away, but our leadership team is already filled with great expectation for every husband and wife who will join us there as well as for ourselves. Of course we are. We trust you will be too when you hear about who is joining us this time as our keynote speaker and our worship leaders.
We have been longtime fans of our keynote speaker Curt Thompson. Curt Thompson, M.D., is a psychiatrist in private practice in Falls Church, Virginia, and the author of two of our favorite books, The Soul of Shame and Anatomy of the Soul. With an expertise in integrating psychiatry, how we are wired, and spiritual formation, Curt often speaks with the desire to provide opportunities to reflect on, understand, and experience their faith in fresh, trustworthy ways. Leaders in the adoption community have recognized how much he has to offer families with children who have had hard starts and caregivers who may have come from hard starts themselves. He has taught and served as a resource for foster and adoptive families through organizations such as CAFO, Empowered to Connect, Tapestry, Show Hope, and the National Council for Adoption. In addition to all his professional work, Curt serves as an elder at Washington Community Fellowship, a Mennonite church in Washington, DC. He and his wife Phyllis, who we are delighted to have join us with him, are the parents of two grown children.
We’ve also been fans of our worship leaders Ross and Staci King since they joined us at Together Called 2016. Ross and Staci have been married since 1998 and have been making music together even longer than that. They met in 1997 when they were both a part of the Breakaway Ministries worship team at Texas A&M, quickly fell in love, and sealed the deal. In the 20-plus years they’ve been together, they planted a church, adopted 4 kids, traveled the country leading worship and doing concerts, and have had plenty of adventures. They currently live just south of Nashville, TN where Staci homeschools their children and Ross continues his career writing songs, producing music in his studio, and leading worship. They feel together called to help regular people have honest conversations about real things. And, since they still love singing together and do so as often as they can, we are thrilled to have them back for their third Together Called.
Now aren’t you filled with great expectation too?
Registration for Together Called 2020 will open in early October. Make sure you join our mailing list to be reminded of it. But, we need corporate and/or personal sponsors in place to make it happen. If you own a business and are interested in caring for caregivers with us or want to be a part of supporting foster care and adoption by supporting the moms and dads in it, email us. We’d love to tell you more about why we need you and what sponsorship looks like.
Where good things come and go
We like good books. And, there are a lot of them out there for grown ups and for children, books that don’t just educate but books that say in one way or another that we matter to each other and offer ways to practice that mattering.
When we found Meek and Brittany and their shop, Redirected Wood Co., we knew they were the right people to help us help others by designing and building something special so that we could share some of those good books with our people and encourage them to share too.
This week, after a long time of idea sharing and putting heads together, we now a little free library outside our office. We’ve stocked it with books for foster and adoptive families that remind us of the importance of relationship and help us build healthy ones. We’re excited to have our first contributions to the library leave with families. (We may be a little too excited to see who our first taker will be!). And, we look forward to seeing what new titles appear in there as friends add books to share with other families. Sharing is so fun.
Make sure you check out Redirected Wood Co. Brittany and Meek are skilled and creative, using sustainably sourced and reclaimed materials to build remarkable custom pieces like live edge tables and custom cabinets. They have big hearts and dreams to use their business to provide opportunity for kids aging out of foster care to not only learn a trade to be able to successfully earn a living but be redirected in the context of relationship as they learn that they really do matter and can create and do beautiful things.