Our Small Group Rocks!

I hope everyone will indulge me for today……I have to brag on my precious friends in our small group.  This weekend, we put on a fundraiser for Bill and Sara.  Totally done, idea-to-event, in under three weeks.

Now, when I say “we,” I mean the collective we of our small group….I can’t take credit for much of anything, because, well, I didn’t really do much.

In contrast, Tess O’Day is my new heroine.  Not that she wasn’t before, but over the past couple of weeks, I’ve remembered that impossible is simply not in this girl’s vocabulary.  She rises to a challenge.  She gets stuff done.  She inspires others to help her get stuff done.

When Sara and Bill shared with us that they had been chosen by a birth mother who was due the end of October, we were all happy and rejoiced with them and prayed with them….  But when they asked for prayer about the fees that were coming due, Tess immediately launched into Fundraiser Event Planner mode.

In three weeks, Tess and the rest of our small group arranged:

• a great venue to donate space
• an amazingly popular local band to play free-of-charge and invite all their followers
• almost forty pieces of art for silent auction
• raffle donations and art valued at over $1,000

Everyone in the small group really pitched in to help arrange, solicit donations, and run the fundraiser.  Because of their efforts and Tess’ leadership, Bill and Sara have raised $1,500 toward their adoption.  Further, Bill and Sara received a matching grant, so everything raised for them will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Pathway Community Church, through our program with Lifesong for Orphans.

The event was amazing, and Bill and Sara ended the night with $3,000 more toward their adoption costs than they had that morning.  They still have more to go….but God is a big God, and He always provides for that which is in His plan.

So my Monday thought is to find inspiration through the people around you.  If the people around you don’t inspire you, try to look at them in a new light and find their strengths.  If that doesn’t work, get around new people. Seriously….life is too short to be weighed down.

Also, please join me in praying for Bill and Sara as they get close to their baby’s due date?