Show Hope

Last night Bill and I had the extraordinary privilege to volunteer at a Steven Curtis Chapman concert. Nope they didn't need anyone to hang lights or speakers (Bill) or boss people around (me). We represented our adoption agency in conjunction with Shaohannah's Hope and collected donations for their Change for Orphans program.

It was amazing, encouraging, and humbling to see little kids who had been saving change for weeks walk up and very excitedly drop it into my bucket. Folks gave everything from $100 bills to pennies and I was honored to be a part of it.

A woman walked up to me and shared that she had been given a ticket so she was donating the money she would have spent to buy her seat. One man arrived with a mason jar full of lots of silver and not many pennies and emptied it into my already very heavy bucket. That was a load I was very happy to carry.

We got to walk around and smile at generous strangers and think about how little ones around the world would come home to their families because of the work of Shaohannah's Hope. We got to spend time with Nick and Phil who sacrifice tremendously following SCC around the country to coordinate the "Change for Orphans" portion of the concerts.

Two highlights -

1. The goal was to raise $4,000. That was surpassed - we collected over $5,100 - and people were still giving as they were walking out the door. I was in awe. We obviously have a heart for orphans and to see others share that passion was...I don't think I have words for it...I was deeply touched as I thought about all the little faces waiting...

2. A young family was invited by Shaohannah's Hope to attend the concert. They are in the process of adopting two little girls from Ethiopia and SCC announced that they were the recipients of a $4,000 grant. To see them standing on the stage, holding pictures of their girls, thanking us all profusely through tears...that was just cool.

You can donate to Shaohannah's Hope online.
You can coordinate your own Change for Orphans fundraiser.
You can run/walk to raise money for orphans by partnering with RunningHope.org
You can pray for orphans.
You can become a foster parent.
You can adopt internationally.
You can make a difference in the life of a child. Really. You can.