Our Story

While it's true that I've had a burden for orphans ever since I can remember, my burden really grew in the summer of 2012. That summer I had read a few articles and books that really sparked my burden. I couldn't just sit around and think about the fact that there are 150 million orphans any more; I had to do something.

Mom and I started praying about ways we could help,an outlet for my burden. We came up with the idea of an Etsy shop where all the proceeds would go towards orphans. At first, we decided to give to an Ethiopian orphanage. But God had a different plan. 

Through our friend (Nik's cousin) we learned that Nik and Stacy were adopting a child from Ethiopia. The more I prayed and thought about it, the more I felt like we should instead give the proceeds of our Etsy shop toward Nik and Stacy's adoption expenses. Well, it turned out that Mom had the same idea.

Over the next few months, Mom and I got in touch with Nik and Stacy and things began to line up. We decided to do a craft fair in November of 2012 as sort of the kick-off for the shop. On October 31, 2012, our Etsy shop opened. On November 3, 2012 we had a booth at a craft fair and raised a lot of money. 100% of this shop's proceeds go toward Nik and Stacy's adoption expenses. -Emilie

6 comments:

  1. Wow! Kudos to you and your Mom. That/this is such a loving, generous thing to do. It is, simply put, Love, in Action. You aren't just thinking or wishing you could make a difference, you got out there and did the work, And it turns out that the work you are doing is Love Work. (ha, a new shop name!)May God bless all of you in this endeavor. I'll be saving up to come shopping here, too!

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    1. Thank you so much for your sweet comment. It was such an encouragement to me and truly made my day. :)

      Emilie

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  2. Love how your little shop created-someone had a need, another felt a calling and rather than sitting back,thinking and praying about it, y'all acted on love and faith! My favorite places to shop are born out of love, quite often. Good luck with your blog and with your shop as well. Love what you already have up for sale!

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  3. Wow. I just found out about you and what you're doing - it's amazing - through therebelution.com. I just have to ask, what were the books that inspired you last year?

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    1. Thank you! The biggest one was "Kisses From Katie" by Katie J. Davis(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11281852-kisses-from-katie). It just really inspired me. I had recently read a blog post that really just opened my eyes to the little ways God had been working in my life towards helping orphans. I also had recently read the book "Do Hard Things" by Alex and Brett Harris. That was another big help in making the decision to open an Etsy shop. If I hadn't read the book, I probably wouldn't have done something so soon. I would have waited until I was actually old enough to go to Africa and help, rather then start now. There were several other things that helped, but especially my mom and dad. They have supported me throughout this whole time and without them, I wouldn't have opened the shop. Thank you for asking, it was fun remembering that time of growth in my life. :-)

      Emilie

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    2. Wow! I just read both those books a few months ago, as well as 'Start Here' by Alex and Brett Harris. They really inspired me too, only I haven't discovered something I can do as yet... Anyway your vision is amazing and really inspiring. I'm fifteen, and it's nice to know there are other young people out there who think like I do!

      By the way maybe you would like to have a look at my blog: jessicalg97.blogspot.com.au

      Thank you!

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