Represent---- the t-shirts are here!

***Go to the end to see the winner as of July 4, 2010***
I have a box of these in my van (seemed like a safer place than on the floor somewhere in my house with two small kids!)

As you can see it, has a logo on the front left pocket side and the full one on the back. The graphic behind the logo in the back is the word "one" in many different languages. Though we are led to adopt from Ethiopia, there are orphans all around the world. Maybe someday we will be led or one of you may be led to bring them home. We wanted to "represent" them all!








There is a paypal button to the right, just click on your size and I will mail it to you, no shipping! Wear it and spread the word- I'd love to be able to mail them to strangers, that would be such an encouragement! And to that end, I've got a give away!!! I feel like such a blogging pro today with the paypal, the giveaway, WOW! Copy the link to this post on your blog, Facebook status, Twitter, etc. and for each place you "represent" I will enter your name in a drawing for a free t-shirt! The drawing will be held Friday, June 25, 2010. Let's get the word out and see if I can unload this box and put an order in for another one!

***Congrats to Mandy Balevic- your facebook status link to the t-shirts is appreciated! Hope you love your shirt***

Just Love coffee roasters

Now, on to another fundraiser (I promise I'll get info. on the t-shirts out this week, I just have to set up paypal, etc.).

When I was doing my research on Ethiopia I read that they are the home of coffee, and are still the number one coffee bean exporter in Africa! That got my head whirling with ideas for fundraisers. I knew I could not roast coffee....but, I found someone that does! This family has been in the coffee business and upon adopting their children from Ethiopia decided to support the farmers there and the families here trying to adopt. Here's their story, in their own words:

"Rob Webb knows coffee. When Rob was two years old, his father started Webb's Coffee Service, which blossomed into a full-blown refreshment service supplying businesses in Nashville, TN and the surrounding areas, and is now run by Rob.
Rob Webb knows the adoption process. In the summer of 2008, Rob and his wife Emily were called to adopt from Ethiopia. After much prayer and discussion with their first two children they started their adoption journey in August 2008. During the flurry of paperwork and preparation, Rob & Emily read books not only on adoption in general, but specifically on Ethiopia. Learning that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee caught Rob's attention, and after reading about the living conditions and wages of the average coffee farmer, he was compelled to take action. What developed through his reading and his trip to Ethiopia to unite with his daughters was a realization that he could combine his expertise and longstanding desire to roast his own coffees with his desire to help others. Just Love Coffee Roasters was born! Roasting Fair Trade Specialty coffees, Just Love uses proceeds to help an Ethiopian orphanage and families adopting not just from Ethiopia, but from anywhere in the world."

Do you love it or what?!? I recently got my order of "African skies" and it is DELISH! And of course, it is even more tasty knowing that it is not just getting my daughter home, but working towards getting Ethiopian farmers a fair wage! Maybe she comes from a farming family or community. I am totally into multi-tasking, and now my morning cup'o'coffee can do just that! I already got last month's check from them and even though it was only the proceeds from the one bag of coffee I ordered, it was $5!! And it was so easy to order, they can even set you up for monthly orders. Then, someday, when we are done with our fundraising you can continue to order from them in support of other families, adoption agencies, or the Webb family's work.

Without further ado, here' the link: https://www.justlovecoffee.com/thedriggersfamily

Yard Sale

Over ten people/families donated items to sell out our yard sale! Needless to say, we had a ton of stuff! As you can see, we didn't even have tables or time to display it all. And these pictures below are about two hours before a huge truck from Goodwill came to pick up a bunch of stuff- so, about 4 hours into the sale. Yep, we still had a lot to donate. So much that I was convinced to save some for another sale to happen at a later date- a much later date! A huge shout out to some peeps- the many guys that helped Friday night until the wee hours transporting stuff from my house, a friends' garage, and other locations to the building where I work (the location of the actual sale). They worked under high humidity as it had just rained an hour before they started (but it did not rain the day of the sale!!!). Then, they came at 5am to unload from the building onto the lawn!!! LOVE those guys! Some even stayed to "guard the money" and I got to overhear them tell customers that it was for us to bring home our daughter- still getting tears in my eyes! To the two women who came at 6am to help set up and spent a lot of time folding and sorting clothes- you are truly saints! The couple that came at 6am to watch our kids and wouldn't let us pay them- WOW! The people I work with who shared in my excitement and let me invade their space and came by to say Hi and buy things- I love ya! And to my church family, RUF students, and the others that donated items- you could have sold these things yourself and bought yourselves new things and I am eternally grateful because you helped my daughter get home. She will have a legacy of generosity and love.

Oh, so you want to know how much we raised?!? We prayed for a mere $1200 to cover the first home study and the Lord blessed us with almost $2100!!!!! That gets us through the first TWO home studies!!! God is generous, good, and is the only One who can do such amazing things!

Fundraiser #1- yard sale

Come rain, come shine this Saturday, June 5, 2010 we are having a yard sale. And the come rain part is not an invite, though it looks like it may be attending uninvited. Yep, I am STRESSED! But, I refuse to reschedule- for a number of reasons- I cannot live with all the stuff in my house. People have been very generous in their donations, so generous that it's taking up a lot of space in a house with small hands that like to get into everything! Also, I am just dying to get this fundraising underway and send off the money for our home study! Apparently the first weekend of the month is the best time to do a yard sale and not only is July too long to wait but it is a holiday and a wedding of some special peeps here! My heart races every time I hear the special music just before the weather forecast comes on the TV, but I can't look away. I guess I pray they are going to have some sort of a guarantee, some change. We have canopies, we can move indoors, and we can pray that the God who has provided thus far will do what only He can do and change the weather, bring the money, or both!

For those in town, it is not at my house as we don't have a garage or a lawn or decent parking- it is at the Douglas center on 10th Ave- where I work, if you didn't know. We have furniture and the usual stuff, lots of baby/kids' stuff. I will have baked goods and coffee (the coffee from Ethiopia I am also using for fundraising, more on that later), drinks, and hopefully THE t-shirt will be premiering! Pray it is ready by then! Ruby thinks that we are getting sister at the sale.... I continue to try and explain all this to her, but this 4 year old has never been to a yard sale or Ethiopia! I am delighted in her urgency, though. At a church picnic the other day she was playing with a little girl who is expecting a little brother or sister in a few months and I asked this sweet girl what she wanted. She was so endearing and said a sister, because she has 4 older brothers! Ruby chimed right in and said, "I have a sister in Ethiopia, and we have to go and get her!" She continually keeps me motivated and reminded that it is as simple as that!