Thanks. Again.

Thank you to my dear friends who attended yesterdays fundraiser;
Susannah Pipkin, Virginia Ensign, Mindy Simpson, Rebecca Perez, Sarah & Kevin Jensen, Barry Williams, Natasha Duncan, Tabitha Underwood, Leigh Jones,Leslie Bensing, Laraine Rodrigues, Susana Baig, Jason & Vickie France, Shawna Read, Tammy Christensen, Dacia & John Boston, WHO did I forget?

Oh yes... how could I forget Erin Galbraith. The steady, silent firm and constant Erin. I thank you too. XO

THANKS for bidding on the auction items, for buying BBQ, for enduring the heat and chaos, for showing your kindness through personal sacrifice.

THANKS to the STRANGERS who came off the street to buy Lemonade, and BBQ, and those few who bought Raffle tickets!

Thanks are NOT enough for my tireless SOLDIERS who have worked SO HARD for this and the other events to help iron out the wrinkles,
Susana Baig, I could NEVER have made it past the initial request for HELP if it were not for you...and your BOUNDLESS ENERGY,
For Rebecca Perez, who would listent o me whine and complain and continue to encourage me even when I am SURE she was SICK AND TIRED of listening to it!
For Sarah Jensen who stepped in (WITH A VERY BUSY LIFE) and helped give wind to the sails in a tired ship.
For Laraine Rodrigues for her peddling, selling, creating, giving, and never running out of ideas of ways to help
For Leslie Bensing, who only knew of us through home school connections, and who has become such a dear friend and HUGE supporter!
For Leigh Jones who made items, and carried items all over the USA selling and sharing the message to her friends and family, never leaving the cause alone, and always bringing wads of cash back to add to the jar.
For Barry Williams who has opened his kitchen and put in TONS of ALOHA into the foods prepared all without complaining.
For Susannah Pipkin, who makes pie after pie and carves time and money to show that her HEART is HUGE and her desire to help even BIGGER!

I may haven to named each and every person  who has sacrificed for Peter's benefit. little by little every bit counts, every "SHARE" of the video, every penny in the donation jar, every email sent out to your entire contact list, every baked item that was donated, every overpriced cookie that was purchased, every "LIKE" on our comments, every prayer, every kind word, every single deed.

I may not be organized enough to list them, I may not be quick enough to send out the thank you cards promptly, I may not have a clear enough memory to recall EACH item individually, BUT IT HAS NOT BEEN OVERLOOKED.

YOUR LOVE HAS BEEN FELT.

YOUR COMPASSION HAS BEEN NOTICED.

YOUR EFFORTS have NOT GONE UNNOTICED!

You are forever carved into our hearts.

THANK YOU

THANK YOU

THANK YOU!!

AUCTION TODAY!

For any one who is distanced and unable to participate in person, we will accept phone bids for any item Silent or LIVE

Call 816-632-6146 to place a bid on any Silent auction item, at anytime.

we will be testing out the live bidding via ovoo a conference calling video program, so please download the program and find our username Dee Gordon try to jump in on the action!

2 days left!

The final fundraiser is two days away!

The final preparations are under way.  Yesterday my crew of wonderful helpers arrived at 10 a.m. (promptly) and we assembled the items for auction, and set up the room in PARTY STYLE.

We will be serving Huli Huli Chicken (smoked on the grill, marinaded in a delicious flavor)
Pulled Pork sandwiches with home made BBQ sauce.
Bear's World Famous Potato/Mac Salad.....if you've never had it.....come and try it! (I HATE potato salad, and this stuff is amazing)
We will be making HOT & FRESH Funnel Cakes (topical style)
and last but not least

SHAVE ICE in the house! It will be a scorcher....so we will help you COOL OFF!!

Here is the best part, if you are far far away, and you can NOT make the trip to Cameron MO. We will be doing something extra special!!!

We will be sharing the party with you via Ovoo!! Never seen it? never heard of it? It is the PARTY version of SKYPE.

You log on, and you can view and interact with everyone at the party.

(IF ANY TECHIES have a BETTER version, feel free to let us know)

we will be taking PHONE BIDS at the following number;
-Bear's Aloha Grill -816-632-6146
We will be taking Ovoo Bids on any items and if you want to make a bid for any silent auction item feel free to contact me.

Of course the FINALE of the NIGHT is the RAFFLE for the iPad2!!!!

ARE YOU AL SO EXCITED!!!

I can NOT wait to see who gets this......I can not wait to see their faces !!!

If you still have not bought your raffle tickets, email me with your information and we will get YOU SOME!

A COOL way to cook this summer....AND....

Peter's adoption gets a kick-back from each item sold!

take a look at this unique and ingenious way to cook outdoors.

Here is the offer!

www.epsflamechef.com

Flame Chef includes:

·         14 Gauge Heavy steel 6” x 30” x 30” four sided fire box

·         11 Gauge Heavy steel Grill

·         11 Gauge Heavy Steel Griddle

·         Rotisserie with DC motor that runs on 2- D sized Batteries, comes with a nice storage bag.

In a compact Heavy duty box – weighs 45 lbs.

Regular Price is $180.00 plus S & H

Delivered to a residential up to 900 miles from MO is $45.00

Our Offer is $119.99                        

plus S & H $44.99 total delivered within a 900 mile radius $164.98-

We take Visa and Master Card

Happy Father's Day, From and amazing Daddy.

Wesley wrote today on being a Father. Enjoy.

We all have a father who loves us, and we are his children. 

The Father which I speak of is our father in heaven. The apostle Paul preaching on mars hill said. " That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device." Acts 17:27-29.

 And in Romans he taught." The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

Every day we worship and honor this Father, but today I wish to talk about our earthly fathers, their responsibilities and blessings that come to them by fulfilling their roles and callings as a father to their children and the children who stand in need.

 Personally, for me, it is my Father in heaven whom I love and wish to serve, and keep his commandments. My greatest joy has come when I have done so.

For instance, I was told I should find a marry a fine women, which I did, which the world would say limits my freedom, and my happiness, and places a burden upon me, and I should wait and postpone it as long as possible.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. If I could change anything, I would have gotten married sooner, for it has been one of the greatest blessings in my life, and has brought me the most joy. So in keeping this commandment I have been truly blessed.

 One of the blessings of my marriage has been my six children. I will admit, at first I was frightened by the idea of being a father, and the responsibility that accompanies the calling. But, it like my marriage has been one of the greatest joys in my life, and has been most rewarding and fulfilling, and I expect as I get older these blessings and rewards will continue to multiply, and I will truly be a rich man.

Now on to the topic of Peter, the little boy from Africa, whom my wife and I are trying to legally adopt into our family. Some may ask, what is it that has compelled me to adopt him? I admit, I felt no special connection to him at first, other than he was a child of my Father in heaven, in great need of a father and a mother and of brothers and sisters on this earth, who was hungry, sick and lonely, without love and affection, without someone to teach and nurture him into becoming a man.

James said " 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27.

 If I, a man professing to love God, could let this little boy starve and be lonely all his life, and go without the love of a father and a mother, what would that say about my faith in God? James continued to say " What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

I know I cannot feed the world or care for all its needy, but for this one I can,  who's name is Peter. When I had five children and the sixth was born, I did not all of a sudden become financially destitute. So it will be with the seventh, as we move forward to adopt Peter.

 I am one man and can only do so much on my own, but, if my fellow men and brothers in Christ would ban together, we, together could help many of the orphans and the needy in this world and could make a great difference in their lives and in the lives of our families.

For surely the Lord will bless us with the strength and means necessary to care for and serve his children, who stand in need. Perhaps our sons will follow our examples, and one day there will be no more children crying in the dark and lonely night for a father to love and teach them.

During the short amount of time Peter has been in our home I have been truly blessed with an enormous amount of love and compassion for him, and it is I who have been blessed by his presence.

He has brought me great joy and love. I would encourage all men everywhere to experience this joy and love, by serving those who are in need of a father.

 It doesn't. have to be a child from Africa, it could be your neighbor, a niece or a grand child who is fatherless or in need. There are opportunities all around us. Choose one.

Happy Father’s Day.

The Busy-ness of life.

The Busy-ness of life has taken me away from one of the best ways to keep me grounded. Scripture study!

I was forced to study this afternoon after ALL the work was done at the Car-Wash & Bake sale.

Forced because I was asked to speak in church tomorrow.

I have been touched once again on the importance of what we are doing, and the lessons I needed to learn through all the challenges of this adoption.

Let me make one thing clear, *I* am the one being blessed by Peter's presence in our home. HE IS teaching me, and I AM HONORED to follow this path of learning.

Each one of my kids have refined me, and helped me to succumb to the LORD'S will for my life.

I am now signing off, so that I can enjoy/relish/bask in His love.

Gratitude and Faith are what I am going on ......

Fun song, Thanks for Sharing Susana!

COUNTING

I was trying to count how many donors had come forward . I was working on exasperating  separating the PayPal donations from the checks in the mail.....

I only got so far as to see I have 401 Emails with the word "donations" in the body.

Yep. 401 kind people, mostly strangers that have dug deep into their hearts (and checkbooks) and given freely to this sweet boy they have yet to meet.

Thank you 401. thank you

Amazing.

People are Amazing, They are loving, and supportive and helpful and kind. I am in awe at how many have come together, touched our experience with their unique gifts and blessed us on this journey.

I have many friends that I have yet to meet.

Melissa Jones is one of these friends. She saw my posts on Peter. She read the blog and watched the video, then she went into action. She and her daughters made these adorable Granola Jars as gifts and sold them. She started around Mother's day and continued on until they SOLD OUT.

I got a check in the mail today from all her efforts. $102.00

I am so humbled that she would be willing to go through so many steps and follow through with her intentions. What an angel she has been.

I don't think she realizes how SPECIAL her efforts are to me. To know what it takes to MAKE something, Advertise, and SELL and then write out the check and mail it. To a complete stranger.



I hope this does not embarrass her. I don't want her to feel uncomfortable. I want her to know how SPECIAL she is!

THANK YOU MELISSA !!

80/20 Rule

We as a collective whole have been working VERY HARD!


The 20% of my contacts have done 80% of the work.
I can not BEGIN to name and list the busy work that goes on behind the scenes to make all the progress we have seen possible!

Some moments I am CONSUMED with all the support, and I feel overwhelmed at the Lord's tender mercies.

 I am REALLY curious how many have read the blog, facebook posts, or watched the videos and casually moved onto their next task?



This is when I am drawn back to the list of donors and supporters.
Most of my friends are not in a position to help financially,  most of them struggle to pay the bills on time, and have many mouths to feed.

and yet, the majority of the BIGGEST helpers have struggled the MOST with finances. They are EMPATHETIC and understand how frustrating it is to hit short of the mark.

I can not thank them enough for ALL the tireless work, the sleepless nights, the hours and hours of calling, emailing, crafting, baking, and run around they perform on Peter's behalf.

I hope one day the karma will come smack dab back at'ya and you have those windows of heaven pouring blessings on to your families.

The second half of this post is a public challenge.

If the equation is correct then 20% of our efforts have resulted in 80% of our success.

So what HAVE we done that has made the BIGGEST impact on our goal?


On the days of the HIGHEST donations we have had one or two things happen. in a GROUP EFFORT we have SHARED the VIDEO or Shared a personal connection to Peter's story.

When Sarah Jensen posted her thoughtful words about Peter, it spurred many 'shared' posts on FB and in turn we had a HUGE donation day!

that Coupled with the encouraging words from "Life Manifesto's" creator Stephen Palmer, who wrote a group email to ALL his contacts and shared the story and video of Peter.

OUR BIGGEST day YET!

So what can you DO? Even if you don't have the financial means to send a donation.....

SHARE the story,  spread the word, adding in YOUR PERSONAL connection to the story.(How you know me, how you heard about our story and how YOU are working WITH us to make a miracle)

When we talk about the POWER OF ONE.....we are talking ONE person, ONE WORD, ONE Penny and ONE Orphan.

ONE and ONE and ONE together CAN bring miracles.

So I challenge you, WHO do you know? WHO Can YOU Share the VIDEO with....again.....Who can YOU Challenge to donate $10?

A sweet Story. . . .

Here is yet another story about the kindness and generosity of strangers.  This is my favorite part of fundraising, it is very exhausting, but stories like this trickle in with the donations and it makes it all so worth it. 

"Hi Dee,

Maybe it's silly for me to tell you a story about a $5 donation, but I was so touched when it happened.  I was emptying the can at Dungy's and talking about Peter to the cashier.  The young people who work at Casey's and Dungy's are genuinely interested in his story and always ask me for updates when I come in to empty the jar: "How much do they have now? How much more do they need? How much time do they have?"  It is very touching, because you can hear that the concern is genuine.  So I was emptying the jars and talking to the cashier and I guess a family overheard me, because all of a sudden a little girl comes up to me with a $5 bill in her hand and says, "This is for you."  I was so stunned because usually we get nickels and pennies, not bills.  I told her I would tell your family.  :-)  It was so sweet.  I looked around for her family and across the store there was a dad who winked at her.  I caught his eye and mouthed "Thank you."  

Something about it was so sweet; it made my eyes tear up.

There are good people in the world and that gives me strength to go on during the hard days.

Love and blessings,

~D"

What is Next?!

What now?

The Battle of the Bands is over. (phew)

the Penny Jars are starting to dwindle, in the beginning we were getting $100-$200 per week, now we have had to remove the majority of them from the gas stations (they only allowed us to keep them for less than 4 weeks)

The Yard Sale is done.

The Etsy Store  has not seen allot of action.

Now What?

Now we are gearing up for a HUGE PARTY! I mean EPIC, we are **working on getting Polynesian Dancers to perform, a Pro ball player to sign Autographs, TONS of PRIZES, TONES of Auction Items, and a few BIG RAFFLE ITEMS!! 

the iPad2 will be Raffled off, the AWESOME QUILT by the Immensely talented Susana Baig will be up for Raffle (this is the quilt that will match Peter's own quilt that come-what-may, will stay with him where ever he goes)

MUSIC    FOOD    BAKED Goods   DANCING   Craft Sales

For those of you who would LOVE TO HELP! Please give me a jingle. We need LOTS OF HELP

Passing out fliers (FEEL FREE TO PRINT THIS Flyer and SPREAD THE WORD!)

Setting up

Selling FOOD

Cleaning up

SELLING raffle tickets

Making Baked Goods

Making CRAFT ITEMS

Organize and follow up with performers. 

what can you do to save the life of a little child?

ACT NOW!