Christmas Shopping & Supporting Our Adoption

Looking for a unique way to help with our adoption?  Simply click on the Amazon link in the right-hand column of our blog.  Do your regular Amazon shopping.  That's it, super easy! For every sale, Amazon gives a % of the total to our adoption fund.  The more orders, the more they give.  Would you consider doing your Christmas shopping on Amazon this year and help us bring our child home?  Thank you!   MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Saturday Sale

Come out this Saturday to shop and help us raise money for our adoption!!

A HUGE INDOOR sale to raise money for our adoption!
There will be tons of stuff:
clothes
furniture
electronics
DVDs
home decor
antiques
handmade items
holiday decor
vintage Tupperware
Longaberger Baskets
vintage jewelry

Saturday November 15th 8-1

We will be accepting CASH and CREDIT CARDS! $5 minimum purchase to use your card!

Inside One Community Church
1415 Kemper St, Lynchburg, VA 24502

Come out and help us raise some money for our adoption!

Giving This Week

This week, through Give1Save1, we have raised $110 so far!  With the matching grant we are at $220!  It's not too late to give $1 to help bring Mahesh home!  It's simple:  Give $1 and then ask all of your friends to do the same!  Click HERE to view a new video!

Give1Save1

Excited to announce that this week we are the featured family on the Give1Save1 blog!  The idea behind G1S1 is to have a lot of people giving $1 to the featured family.  Then, share the family story with your friends and ask all of them to give $1 as well.  So excited to be featured this week!  Click on the donate tab and give your $1 today!  Then, head over to G1S1 and check them out!

Vote & Help Bring Mahesh Home

As you may have noticed, I (Tobey) never really cut my hair. Todd likes it long and plain and  it is super easy to manage. Brush it & pull it into a ponytail. Takes me like 5 minutes to get ready in the morning.
So, what if we let YOU decide on a style change. GULP! What a unique scary FUN way to help bring Mahesh home.

Here's how it works:
Starting at 3pm on Sunday, October 5th, you can click HERE to vote for one of the styles shown below. 
$5 to vote for a style
$6 to vote for a style with highlights
Simply make a donation (of $5 or more) and put A,B, C or D in the comments section with your donation.
The style with the most votes at 8pm on Sunday, October 12th wins!
That week, Sarah Kline will cut Tobey's hair into the winning style.  Tobey will take the cut hair and donate it to Locks of Love.

So.... get voting and help us BRING MAHESH HOME!

 

Yes, option A is to keep Tobey's hair the same!

 

 

Paperwork EVERYWHERE!

A few weeks ago, we officially registered with a placing agency.  And this week we signed with an agency to do our home-study.  That means we have been up to our eyeballs in paperwork!  We have spent hours filling out forms and making copies.  It seems overwhelming at times (hey, just keeping it real!) but we are making our way through it.  Just a few of the many steps we need to take to bring our son home.

Now that we have signed with our agencies, we have a more accurate breakdown of our expenses.  From the beginning we thought we would need to raise around $20,000.  Today we tallied it all up from both agencies.  What do we actually need to raise?  Approximately $32,000!  We were a little discouraged (again, just being honest!).  We are currently at $16000 raised towards our expenses.  We thought we were almost to our $20k goal,  We wanted to look on the positive side of things.  So, the good news is...  WE ARE HALFWAY THERE!!

Wonder why it cost so much to adopt?  Yeah, me too!  Click on the tab at the top of our page to see the adoption expenses breakdown.

Thank you for the prayers and support during our journey to bring Mahesh home!

I have been reading "Adopt Without Debt" by Julie Gumm.  There is a quote in the book that I really love: "There is not one example in the Bible of God calling someone to do something and then using debt as a tool to accomplish it!"  God has been with us EVERY step of the way and I know He will provide the rest of the funds we need!

Now.... on to planning the next fundraiser!

Our Hearts Are Full!

We started the adoption process just over 7 months ago.  Since then, we have been blessed with $13,050!!!!  We are almost 75% to our goal!
We are so thankful to each of you for your love and support. This whole process has been so peaceful for us.  We know that is because of all of the prayers we receive everyday.  THANK YOU!

Frequent Flier Miles - Got 'Em? We Need 'Em!

Looking for a unique way to support our adoption? Donate your frequent flier miles! Click HERE to donate. And, until June 30th, if you give miles, USAirways is giving bonus miles (For example, Share 50,000 miles & we will get the 50,000 miles + 25,000 bonus miles (75,000 total miles) and you get 25,000 bonus miles in return!). We can use the miles on our flights to bring Mahesh home!

Sale Update

Yesterday, we did a joint fundraiser with another couple that is adopting.  It was a HUGE sale.  We were blown away by God's blessings on the day!
Thank you so much to everyone that made our day so awesome. Some gave items to sell or auction. Some prayed. Some shared. Some shopped. Some volunteered. ALL blessed us in a mighty way! The total amount raised was $4673.28! That is $2336.64 per couple towards our adoptions!! God is so amazing and we are grateful beyond words. Thank you for loving and supporting us! 
We are now 64.7% to our fundraising goal!

Teaming Up For A HUGE Sale

We are partnering up with another couple going through the adoption process for a HUGE sale to benefit both of our adoptions!   We are asking for your help! Cleaning out the garage? Playroom? Closet? Why not donate the stuff you no longer want to our adoption fundraiser! Sellable items can be dropped off at two locations or we will arrange a pickup. If you have furniture or other large items we will be able to pick those up! We will be accepting donated items until June 15th. And the sale will be June 21st.  Message us to arrange drop off or pick up.  THANKS!!

Freezer GIVEAWAY

Ready for our next fundraiser?!  This one is AWESOME!  The winner will receive a brand new freezer.  Inside the freezer is a month's worth of dinners!  Hello... no cooking for 30 days!

So here's how this giveaway works. On the right side of the blog, at the top, is an "enter to win" tab. Click on that and you will have several options to enter - you can give a donation of $5 or more, and/or like our Facebook page "Journey With The Thurstons." Already like our page? You can still get an entry for that. You can donate every day for additional entries! The drawing will take place on April 30th at 11:59 pm.  We will DELIVER the freezer full of food to the winner (within 25 miles of Lynchburg,VA). This giveaway starts tonight at midnight and lasts for 10 days, so..... get ready, get set, and GO! 

All money raised will go towards our adoption expenses. We need to raise $20,000 to being Mahesh home. We are currently 42% of the way there!

May the best man (or woman) win!

Newspaper Article

Look who made the FRONT page of today's paper!  We were so excited when we were contacted about being interviewed.  What a great way to get people involved in our journey to bringing Mahesh home!  You can read the whole article here.

Hope: One Drop Changes Everything

We invite you to join us on our journey to becoming parents. Over the last 8 years, we have longed to start a family, but because of our infertility we have been unsuccessful. After a ton of praying, the Lord placed the desire in our hearts to begin the adoption process. During a return trip to India, we felt led to adopt Mahesh. He is a sweet, kind 10 year old boy that we got to spend time with over the last few years. How awesome that God would place it on our hearts 2 years after meeting Mahesh to adopt him! We have partnered with Chrome Buffalo to sell this great t-shirt! We will receive $11.00 for every shirt that is purchased in the next 10 days and each dollar earned will go towards bringing Mahesh home. Also, we would LOVE to receive a picture of you wearing the t-shirt you purchased! It would give us such joy to one day show Mahesh pictures of those who loved him and helped us bring him home!

Go to http://chromebuffalo.com/a/cb?drive=411 to order your shirt today!

Who Doesn't Love A Good Kitchen Gadget?!

Cooking is fun, right?  At least with all of the right tools! 
We are pleased to announce our current fundraiser to help BRING MAHESH HOME!
Now through April 15th, go to

http://new.pamperedchef.com/pws/charitywaldron/guest-landing/8867389815963..

and order some amazing products.  The more that is ordered, the more that is given to our adoption fund.  The best part.... you do not have to be in Lynchburg to participate!  

Share with your friends too!

Thanks for helping us get closer to bringing Mahesh home!

 

Adoption Prints

My friend Shelby over at  Honeysuckle {Blog + Shop} designed these awesome prints for us to sell. They are $10 each (frames not included).  Message me on our Facebook page  if you want to order one!  These would make a great gift for a nursery!

Thank You!

A HUGE thank you to everyone that helped make Girls Night Out a huge success!  We were able to raise $1000 to help bring Mahesh home!

Special thanks to:
Debby Ruffin @ the James River Conference Center
Katie @ The Burnt Orange
Shelby Goodman @ Honeysuckle Design & Things
Shawna Ireson @ Thirty-One
Freedom 4/24
Joy Johnson @ Stella & Dot
Tamara Walston @ Trades of Hope
Megan Ringi @ Premier Designs
Dayna Shesko @ Arbonne
Lin Thurston
Deb Dalrymple
Aimee Blanks
Jess Sanders
Amanda Farrell
Amber Gray
Brittany Harris

We could not have done it without you!

Girls Night Out

In the Lynchburg area?  Come out for a night of fun with your girlfriends!

I Got Mine, Did You?

Look what came in the mail yesterday! It's not too late to order one for yourself! $11 from each shirt ordered goes towards bringing Mahesh home!
http://chromebuffalo.com/a/cb?drive=379

Live Love

Everyone loves a good tee shirt.  How about a cool looking shirt AND a good cause?!  For the next 10 days, we are partnering with Buffalo Chrome.  $11 from every t-shirt sold goes towards helping us bring Mahesh home.  Please share this page and get everyone you know to order a shirt. This is just one small way we can Live out Love!

Order your shirt today!                                        http://www.chromebuffalo.com/a/cb?drive=379

Shop Amazon.com And Help Us Raise Money

Looking for a way to support our adoption but not sure how?  Ever shop on Amazon.com?  Well, now you can shop on Amazon WHILE helping us raise funds for our adoption.  Yep, simply go to:


www.amazon.com?_encoding=UTF8&tag=jouwitthethu-20 


OR, click on the link on the side of our blog.  You will be taken to "our portal" for Amazon.  You do your normal Amazon shopping and they give us a % of the sale towards our adoption costs.  How awesome is that?!

Please pass this link along to your friends EVERYONE you know and help us bring Mahesh home!