How He Brings the Pieces Together

Several people have commented on the symbolism behind this, our first "official fundraiser."  This is a puzzle fundraiser... Here's how it works:

I painted this piece for our (future) adopted baby.  It expresses a lot of our heart/purpose/passion for adoption.  It is kind of a prophetic art piece in that it is speaking the Father's heart over our adopted baby before he/she is (likely) born, and before we know who he/she is.

I then had the painting turned into a 513 piece puzzle(!!), and, with help from Stan and several friends, put it together over about a week's time:

Had a hard time getting a a good quality pic of the puzzle. :-/

I've seen several other blogs of adopting families who've done fundraisers like this, and I want to do this one similarly to the way that they have, but with one small tweak.  Here goes:

• Individuals, couples, or families can sponsor puzzle pieces for a donation $10 per piece toward our adoption fund.  When you sponsor a piece, we will write your name on the back of the puzzle piece, take a picture of that piece, and email that picture to you.
• You can either mail us a check for however many pieces you want to sponsor (email me at danalynnb@gmail.com and I'll get back to you with our snail mail address), give the money to me in person if you're here in KC, OR use our PayPal "Donate" button at the top of the right side bar on this blog.
• Once all of the pieces are sponsored, we will have the puzzle framed in double-sided glass, and it will be hung on the wall in our adopted child's room.  As they get older, we will be able to take the puzzle down, look at the back (since there will be glass on both sides), and show our child the names of all of the people who God used to make a way for him/her to be adopted into our family.

Here's the one thing that I want to do differently than I've seen done before:  I want this puzzle to be an accurate representation of ALL of the people (or as many as possible, till all the pieces are full) who have partnered with us financially, in ANY amount, toward our adoption. SO:

• If you can only contribute $5, that is SO appreciated, and you can sponsor 1/2 a puzzle piece. :)  (We will write your name on one half of the piece, and someone else's name who also wants to donate $5 on the other half.)
• If you have already donated toward our adoption fund (prior to the launch of this fundraiser), OR... If, during the puzzle fundraiser, you want to donate a larger amount than $100 (or 10 puzzle pieces), we will write your name on the back of 10 puzzle pieces (for the first $100) AND color the back of those pieces silver, as pictured.

I LOVE the idea of a puzzle fundraiser for adoption because it is so very symbolic.  It has already been so FUN and AMAZING to see how God is bringing the "pieces" together, how He is already bringing in the funds that we need in order to bring our future son or daughter home.  Seeing it all begin to come together already has caused such FAITH to rise up in Stan's and my hearts....Faith in the Father's passion for adoption, faith that He really is allowing us (and all of you who are on this journey with us in prayer and/or by contributing financially) to partner with His heart in this way, AND faith that He HAS A CHILD already set apart for our family, and for HIS FAMILY, and is perfectly orchestrating all of the events in our lives, in our child's birth mother's life, and in our child's little life (whether or not he or she has been born yet), to come together at exactly the right time.  He is beautiful, and all He does is beautiful.  We are so blessed to get to participate with the Father in what He is ALREADY doing in the life of our child who we don't know yet.  May He continue to be glorified in this!