A couple of weeks ago, we were talking to the kids about the amount of money left before we could get Oliver. We told them about our Fill the Plane fundraiser, and they decided that was okay, but that we would make more money with a lemonade stand.
As per our other lemonade stand experiences, the kids were super excited beforehand; loved making signs; and then proceeded to enjoy the first ten minutes. Then they were pretty much over it. Our dear friends the Tates stood alongside us and somehow we managed to keep all six kids from going in the fountain, and semi- engaged with the fundraiser. The 7 year olds spent a good while shouting “LEMONADE AND COOKIES” at the top of their lungs and the 5 year -olds played with sticks. The 3 year-olds did their own thing. A good amount of lemonade and cookies were consumed by the kids in the process, but we managed to have just enough to hand out.
Saturday afternoon with weather in the 60s proved to be pretty perfect weather for bringing out a lot of people. All of them commented on how cute our low resolution pictures of Oliver are (He is so cute!) Many of them shared about someone in their family, or someone they’ve known, who is adopted. A lot of different neighbors stopped and gave $5 and $10 donations, which was wonderful, and said that they would be looking for us around the neighborhood in a few months. Sometimes I feel so focused on bringing him home that I forget that future life will be full of moments where we are playing outside in the yard, or going on a walk around the neighborhood, or bike riding to Target as a family of 6.
Two really special moments stand out from the people who stopped by. First was a teenage boy, who stopped once and asked if we’d be around in an hour because he needed to get some cash. An hour later, he cruises up, hands us $20 through the window of his car, and grinning from ear to ear, tells us that he’s adopted and he’s excited to see us out there. The second was a woman who stopped by once, and then came by a second time, telling us “I went home to get some money I’ve been saving for something I want, not something I need, and I want you all to have it.” She then handed us $100 cash. It truly felt like a holy moment, one of those times when you connect with a complete stranger. Our last customer of the day was one of Elliott’s preschool teachers from last year who made a special trip out to support us.
12 more airplane seats purchased, thanks to our lemonade stand. To God be the glory!
Team Grooms 