Adoption Fundraiser Spotlight – The Thayer Family

We are Shawn & Amanda Thayer. We began the process to adopt our first child in March of last year. Our home study has been approved, and we are currently in the process of preparing a nursery and our hearts for the little one that God has planned to be a part of our home. We are expecting to adopt an infant domestically, but are willing to allow God to redirect as He sees fit.

We’ve been married for over eight years and have not had any children. It’s always been our desire to have a family and to raise children to serve the Lord.  Now we believe that it’s God plan for us to accomplish this through the miracle of adoption. It took a long time for us to let go of our own “perfect” plan, give everything over to God, and allow Him to mold and prepare our hearts for the ministry of parenting; which we now realize is far more than simply “having a baby” and much more an opportunity to love, nurture, and provide for a precious little life that God loves and wants to see brought back to Himself. It took a while for us to accept God’s will for us, but we now have great peace about the steps we are taking and look forward to seeing Him work in ways that only He can.

Since our decision to adopt, we’ve seen God address one of our greatest fears originally holding us back from beginning the process; the cost. Our adoption costs will total $21,500, plus lawyer fees.  We desired to fund the adoption without going into debt, and we believe God will help us to accomplish that feat.  We’ve held various fundraisers and experienced great results.

Our first fundraiser was a huge yard sale in which dozens of volunteers, friends and strangers donated scores of items and hours of time. In the end we raised over $4,000!  We’ve also hosted a couple online fundraisers, featuring Premier Designs jewelry and Scentsy products and raised another $700.  A generous friend offered to auction off an original painting, which raised over $200. We also have designed an original t-shirt that has allowed us to raise over $1,500 and that we continue to offer through our blog. Our most current fundraiser is an online sale of Jamberry Nails.  We are excited to see how once again our God will provide.

We have come to accept that we are not in control of this process. We learned well before signing the original paperwork for adoption that we never really have been in control, that no person truly controls the creation of a life and that children are a gift from God, which He in His sovereignty allows to be born and raised in ways that He sees fit. We are thrilled to simply allow Him to work through us in preparation and provision for the moment when we will meet the perfect little baby He has made for us to love.  We pray that God will be glorified through it all.

If you would like to keep up with what God is doing through our adoption journey, please visit our blog.

Each Friday I’ll feature a different fundraising adoptive family. My hope is that we can support each other and also learn from each other. For submission guidelines, go here.