It Takes a Village

It isn't any wonder that Cam & I want to be parents. We talk about it enough! :) I'm sure those of you who have been able to have the blessing of children in your own lives understand why we would want that for ourselves so deeply. We attended the Utah Infertility Awareness Event last weekend and the gears really started turning. We went to a session in the Salt Lake Temple afterward to try and sort things out. It was wonderful to be together after the session and be completely on the same page. We had our answer. And  that answer was WORK!

This blessing of having children that we desire is not going to come to us without a whole lot of effort on our part and faith that our Heavenly Father will take care of us. Call it what you will (I choose "inspiration"), but while we were walking around temple square after the session, I was reminded of a post I'd seen on this blog a long, long time ago. (So long ago, in fact, that I can't find the post. I went through her entire archives and so I'm not even sure it was there. But I had convinced myself that it was...anyhow).

An online silent auction.

This was it. THIS was how we were going to make the money we needed to finally bring our baby home. And you should have seen us. We were giddy little kids coming up with all of the people we could contact who had said "If there is ever anything I can do, please let me know!" And then it set in. We were going to be asking people for help. Help with building a family. And I'm pretty sure humility is what our Heavenly Father had in mind when He told us we were going to have to work for this. We were going to have to work physically, but also work personally on coming to grips with the fact that we can't do this on our own.

It is going to take a village.

So we got to work. We have been contacting businesses up and down asking for donations to auction off. I designed a blog and have been posting the auctions as they are finalized. We have lists and lists of possible donors, but we know our connections are going to be exhausted quickly. However, we know you, and you know others. You shop at different places. Your friends own businesses we have never even heard of (or have heard of, but don't have a good connection to). Your friends have talents that no one else has. I have told this idea to a few friends who have responded with, "I WISH I had something to donate!" "I wish I was more valuable." And I said not to worry about it (and I meant it!). You are valuable to me. And then I woke up to an inbox with 3 new auctions from friends of friends. The support we have already been shown is overwhelming. It has brought me to tears more than once in just the past couple of days. We are slowly being taught that when you let people in, the blessings abound. Not just for us, but for everybody.

My sister said to me yesterday when I expressed how shocked I was at others' generosity, "When are you going to get it through your head that you and Cam are loved?"

And we are. We are so very loved. And the love that has been shown already for our little one brings tears to my eyes.

So here's the deal, if you have made it this far and still want to help. :)

Go Team Call

The ways to help are listed on the blog, but I wanted to put them here too:

1. If you are a business owner and would like to donate an item to be auctioned off, please click here for more information. We are also interested in finding a business that would be willing to match our total donation.....!

2. Bid on our online auctions starting June 24th! It's the best of both worlds! You get an item you love & 100% of the profits go toward our treatments!

3. If you are uninterested in either of these options, you can always go directly through the donate button and make a monetary donation.

4. Spread the word on your blog, facebook or twitter! (<-- this is HUGE! We not only need donors, but we need to get the word out about the auction! Most of the auctions start at 50% off or more, so there are great deals to be had!)

Bottom line is, though, if you don't want to, or can't donate please don't feel obligated to. That is the last thing we want! We love you just the same and you are absolutely still part of the village. :)