Results of Auction

Before we tell you how God provided in amazing financial ways, we first want to give you clarity on all the behind the scene miracles that made this possible.

I had a magic number of wanting 100 items for the auction. I almost gave in and thought 50 is enough, I can settle. Then 75 is great God can use that but something kept moving me forward, kept encouraging me to email more and more people. Boy am I glad I did! We were blown away by having over 100 items donated by family, friends and strangers...135 to be exact!

If you are an adopting family, we hope the numbers encourage you to press on. It's a long, time-consuming endeavor but the blessing is far greater than just the monetary blessing. We met many amazing people who wanted to walk this road with us and met many amazing adoptive families. Some of our greatest joy came from connecting with other families who were banding together to bring kids home!

First: The Numbers (Ironically I'm not a numbers person, I hate math, I'm not even sure if I did the percentages correctly but it helps me to quantifiably see the story of our auction)

512 People/Shops were messaged/emailed via websites, blogs, Instagram, Facebook pages but mostly off of Etsy!! Thank you Jesus for Etsy, so many people with such AMAZING talent. I would browse Etsy for hours each night for months drooling over the amazing creations people have the talent of making. Thank you Jesus for your creativity in so many beautiful ways. I began emailing in the spring but really ramped it up the last few weeks of September and through until the end of October. I spent the last week of October and first week of November working on getting the word out and asking people to promote the auction page. We also ran two promotional giveaways for people who shared a photo. We ran these the week before the auction to help drive traffic.

Of 512 People/Shops contacted, 28 people/shops emailed to let us know they could not/would not donate. A little over 5% had let us know they wouldn't help! That was huge, I specifically made sure to let them know they were appreciated for their response. It was so helpful just to have information either way. Many also let us know they were praying for us and wishing our auction huge success. It was so encouraging!

Of 512 people/Shops contacted, 2 people wrote hateful/hurtful messages about why they wouldn't support our adoption. One said we should "leave it to Brad and Angelina." The other let us know she had reported us as "spam" and warned us our Etsy shop would get shut down if we kept emailing people. Both rattled me a bit but I had to keep in mind that 2 of 512 had this response.

Overall of the 512 people/shops contacted 110 responded, leaving 412 who ignored the messages

Here is where the good stuff comes!!!

Of 512 People/Shops Contacted, 82 Committed to Donate. That's 16% of people. Not a huge percentage but getting each and every donation was a huge blessing that kept me eagerly pursuing more! Their notes were extremely encouraging. Many told us they were praying for us a few told us they don't normally donate but God was telling them this was something they couldn't pass up. Some are not Christians but saw the beauty and heartache in adoption and wanted to help in some way. God used the hearts of those who were unaware or closed to Him to still accomplish his work. WOW! Many wrote well wishes for our child/children and many gave some of the most expensive items they sell hoping it would gain us the most amount of money. I would begin and end my days with reading messages from all the donors who committed daily. To say we were humbled would be an understatement. Numerous nights I was in tears with God's provision though people who he used to tangibly bless us.  Our "village" grew by so many! WE ARE SO GRATEFUL!! 

Of the 512 People/Shops Contacted and 82 who committed to donate 77 actually donated That's 15% of all people contacted.  I mention this only to encourage you not to be discouraged if you ever run an auction. We were told to email everyone and anyone and I kept that in mind. Some nights I would email 40 people and get one response but that one response humbled and blessed us greatly! Some of the items were unused things already had, things we had been given at an adoption conference, and things my mom brought home from China this last spring. 

Then the bidding started and we were further blessed. Each bid was a huge encouragement. It was another person stepping forward and saying "we're walking this with you." God used those bids to show us His faithfulness and sovereignty in even the littlest of things. EVERY SINGLE ITEM WAS BID ON!! That's huge!

I closed the auction on Sunday the 16th, had all orders organized by the 17th and everything was shipped by me or I had contacted the shop owner by today..the 22nd. So much time, work and effort but so worth it!!

So here it is....after shipping costs  our total amount raised was:
$2511

All glory and honor and thanks be to God who provided more than we could ever imagine. We watched 135 items multiply in ways only God could orchestrate!! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!! We have so much to be grateful for!