Brat fry!

We had our first official fundraiser yesterday for Congo! We had a brat fry at Walmart on Rib Mt drive! It was a LONG and totally fun filled day! My sister-in-law, Leah, and her two youngest kids, Noel and Olivia (or as Grace says... Oweebia LOL) came to help us out! We got a little later start than we planned but we were up late the night before making posters to put up and getting everything ready. We were set up and running around 10:30 in the morning. We had a pretty steady stream of people most of the day. Whenever we started to run out we would get a lull and by the time we picked up again we would have had time to restock our supplies! We had a great time! I was very blessed by the amount of people who just donated straight to Congo! I was able to make several connections with other moms and even found a group who offered to help us raise money! It was a great day overall! I had intended to start out the morning once we were set up with all of us praying for a great day. We got hit so fast I never even thought of it. Around the middle of the day my sister-in-law and I both realized we had not had a chance to pray yet and so we did then and prayed for blessings on everyone who visited us that day, the rest of the day was even better after that! The past week I had been feeling very down and discouraged and questioning if should do this, or if anyone even cared about it. I have been praying for an answer to my thoughts and feelings. I feel like I got that answer yesterday!

There were 3 adults (Aaron, Leah and I) and 2 older children as well as Grace in the morning. Even with ALL of us actively watching her, she ran in front of 2 cars in the morning! We were having to keep physical contact with her to stop her from running away. She was increasingly getting upset with the commotion and the new environment she was in. After about an hour, she was just sitting in my lap crying and covering her ears. THIS is EXACTLY why we want a service dog for her! There is an added safety net, and research has shown children's anxiety in new situations is great decreased! A HUGE shout out and thank you to April for being willing to watch her for the day! I would have loved for people to meet Grace, but it was much safer for them to hear about her instead!

I was also able to speak with several other parents of children with ASD. I met parents who had children all over the spectrum, and consistently, EVERY one of them told me what a GREAT idea they thought this was. They all had children who were older than Grace.

God will NEVER give us more than we can handle. He tells us this in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 10:13. He will never give us more than we can handle and He will always provide a way out so that we can stand up under it. This weekend was wonderful! We didnt make thousands of dollars, but we did earn a couple hundred, but this isnt a sprint, its a marathon! More important than the money, I learned that when I feel discouraged and I feel like nothing is ever going to work, all I need is prayer and my Bible, and the answers will always come! THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed for us this far and I ask you to please continue praying! Follow me if you would like to continue to hear about how this journey goes!