Update: 11/13/12 – I’ve had a lot of people ask how we did w/ this event and what the final number was. I’m happy to report that according to our estimates we are somewhere in the neighborhood of $21,000.00. God Bless Everyone that Took Part!!!
A while back Donna and I asked Mike & Melisa Ortner to be Spencer’s Godparents it came after much prayer and devotion towards the matter, because honestly if something happened to us I needed to know that someone would pick up the reigns and teach my son to pray, love God, love others, etc., and I know the Ortners well enough to know that that’s their specialty. Donna and I have watched as they have mentored so many people (and done an amazing job) so we’ve had a lot of respect for them for a long time. Trust me, making this decision was tough because we have been blessed with so many good friends it’s unreal (and we love all of you!).
Well, now that I’ve told you about our connection to the Ortner’s, I will now share the “big surprise” that I alluded to on Facebook earlier today. A lot of people thought that Donna and I were going to adopt another kid because I got a zillion texts and phone calls, but that’s not the big news. The big news is that after traveling a very similar path of heartbreak and disappointment that Donna and I traveled down trying to have children, they have decided to pursue adoption. Obviously, this makes me an extremely happy person because I love adoption in a way that I can’t express in words, I also struggle to put my head around how amazing the Ortner’s are going to be as parents.
For anyone that has ever looked into adoption knows already, it can be pretty expensive, there’s no way around that fact, and the fact that it is soooo expensive a lot of couples simply aren’t able to proceed and disqualify themselves from even trying. This is a huge problem today in my opinion because I know from our experience how an adoption not only changes one life but many, many, many lives even outside the immediate family. Even facebook friends come visit Spencer because they have such a connection to him through prayers for us. I’m getting emotional right now thinking about our journey and all those that prayed for us, it’s an overwhelming feeling that i can’t explain but one that I hope each and every one of you get to feel someday (obviously w/out the pain and frustration).
Well, long story short, tonight is Melisa’s birthday party, she’s turning the big 4-0. We’re expecting about 50 people over tonight for burgers & brats to celebrate, but instead of just having a little cake and everyone heading home, this night is going to be amazing. We have a goal in mind…
Each person coming this evening will be bringing their contact list as well as their cell phone chargers and we are going to go to work calling our friends to see who all we can find that has an interest in helping the Ortner’s raise the money needed to proceed in this adoption. We’ve partnered with a 501c3 non-profit in Northwest Arkansas that will handle all of the donations for us so that all of the donors can get full tax deductions from their donations. I’m going to attach the donor instructions in this post below for download. We aren’t asking for a lot, because we are going to be hitting up a lot of people, donations for $25, $50, and $100 are going to be our target.
As a sidenote to the evening, Donna and I have already decorated our house for Christmas (yes, there’s a funny story there too), but ultimately I hope that we can all stay motivated by the beauty of adoption by remembering the most important adopted kid of all, Jesus Christ. (think about it, wasn’t Moses also put up for adoption in a roundabout way?). We hope that each of you that know the Ortner’s or just want to be part of an amazing miracle will want to participate. You can call Donna and I either one this evening to pledge your donations, 501-206-1664 (Cotton) & 501-733-5341 (Donna).
By the way, for those of you unfamiliar w/ our story, there’s a great writeup by our friend Samantha in Little Rock Family…
Cool news! Love how you are helping your friends adopt.
Thanks bro, it was an overwhelming experience to see people step up and help out this amazing couple during this event. Even in a down economy things like this can happen.