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October 02 A new day in our unchanging work. This is a big day at the Children's Shelter of Cebu--one we will not soon forget. Today we get to watch the airing of the Oprah Winfrey show that included our own Sandy Swanson. Suddenly the Sandy who left a Bible camp to go to Cebu and work at an upstart orphanage, who has fielded countless questions from prospective adoptive parents, and has written hundreds of worker schedules in our homes, will have a tag we've seen on lots of things: "as seen on Oprah." And CSC will have been seen there too. The best part about today is that it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change the interactions Sandy is having with the kids we've committed to give our best to. It certainly doesn't change Sandy...I think back to waking her up (remember Cebu is 13 hours ahead of Minnesota and Chicago) back when we got the call from one Oprah's producers and encouraging her to go on the show. We're not dealing with a spotlight seeker here. It doesn't change our work in Cebu either. We are CSC. We are about giving every child a chance at a family, and providing a loving home until an adoptive family can. We could try to explain to the kids at the shelter that millions of people will see Auntie Sandy on TV today, but they won't get it. They'll just get that they're finally in a place where they don't have to worry about their food or safety anymore. Today would have been a big day without a TV show. Today we have a great looking, professional new website. We got it done just in the nick of time! I say "we" loosely. The truth is that the "we" really boils down to one volunteer, Chris, who poured hours upon hours into this. It's quite a combination to have someone who has both expertise and the heart to give it away. Expertise and the heart to give it away. I hope that's what CSC is always about. July 30 What's a mailout?We have this term around CSC that is definitely not a word: "mailout." Spell-check catches it every time. It's not as bad as Minnesotans calling the thawing of something "dethaw," but it's still bad grammar. Anyway, the mailout is the event where we bring all our newsletters, invitations or fundraising letters together with a bunch of volunteers and they get it ready for immediate dropoff at the post office. The volunteers who work our mailouts are awesome. I'm not going to guess the average age, but someone in their 50's would definitely be a young'un with this crew. In fact, when we did our volunteer appreciation event last fall we did this thing where I asked for everyone's birthday and promised they didn't have to disclose the birth year. I was quickly informed that there was no need to be discreet because "we're at the age that we like saying how old we are again." I love it. We take a break at 10 o'clock on mailout morning that is announced by Millie, the official timekeeper and maybe the sweetest person I've ever met. She always has a hug to deliver to Theresa and a word of encouragement. She's hard core about the break though. She announces it every 10 minutes until it comes (sometimes several times in the last 10 minutes) and keeps everyone buzzing and laughing. Then we always get some incredible treat that Brenda in our office has worked up. It was good to be with them. This newsletter got botched up in the final stages, and eventually ended up causing me to completely rehash the schedule we use and the creation of a proofing checklist. After all of that though, it's off now. 3,000 people will receive it. Last year over 1,500 people gave to CSC. How many places can claim that many people giving in comparison to their mailing list? Not many. We've got some amazing people taking part in CSC...including a group of people who have no qualms about sharing their age. June 01 Road Trip!I just got word from a friend that might interest you other adoptive parents out there. There is a conference in Franklin, TN on October 2 & 3 called Together for Adoption. I've looked over the website, and am personally really interested in going. Maybe Theresa and I will be able to "grandparent-out" the kids and head down for it. You should come with us! I'll admit that I don't know much about the organization, but the friend who recommended it is a discerning, well-connected pastor and I trust his judgment. The conference itself is only $55 for a couple. That's obviously a great deal. The only downside for us Minnesotans is the flight costs are a bit high as I look today ($316 on Expedia, $315 on Southwest). But, flights to Chattanooga are better at $268 and it's only a 2hr 20min drive up to Franklin from there. Let me know if you plan on going, it'd be fun to have a CSC contingent! April 29 T-Minus 2 Days (Closed-circuit to adoptive families)It's banquet week! It's pretty unusual that I would pop in to make a blog entry this week. It's typically the craziest week of my year. I'm not sure why, but this year is not as harried as usual (yet anyway). I actually ironed a shirt this morning to wear Saturday. In my life I've never been that in front of an ironing job. Perhaps I've finally got some things figured out in year five. Or, shoot, maybe I just delegated more. Hope someone else isn't feeling new pain on my account. A couple of weeks ago I talked with a Licensed Social Worker from here in the Twin Cities named Peggy Thomsen. Recognizing that sometimes kids have a little trouble adjusting to a big CSC reunion, she had some good advice. I heard somewhere that it takes 7 years for an older-adopted child to fully bond in their new family. That's a long time, but not implausable and I for one need to be mindful of doing things that will help foster that, especially during a big weekend like the one coming up. It's got to be a mind-blow for these kids to have all these awesome reunions, but it's probably good to remember there will be higher emotions and some preparation isn't a bad idea. Here are a few thoughts from Peggy that you might like to ponder, perhaps they'll help families avoid a "crash" when they get home as well: "Attachment requires that children experience and learn over time to trust that their own parents are the primary source of warmth, comfort, safety, value, and joy. We are mutually supportive of each parent-child connection when we:
January 06 I Have to Hand it to PaulOne of the core components of the Master's degree I'm working on is leadership. I spent hours this fall considering and weighing types of leadership: what works, what doesn't, what kind of leader I am and aspire to be; and I have more of that to come I'm sure. But one of the clear leadership lessons of my year came from Paul. When we talked in late November he shared his gut feeling that CSC was going to be okay in spite of the economic climate. Our financial needs were significant, but Paul decided not to be overwhelmed. God, through our donors, has confounded time and time again when it comes to what should come in. We are $17,788 shy of making budget right now. If anther dime doesn't come in for 2008 we landed inside 2%. That stands in contrast to an Association of Fundraising Professionals article I just read that we are in the toughest fundraising climate since 1998.
Paul had faith in what he'd seen, the importance of what we do and God above else. He had more faith than me, and blessedly, he was right. There's this old saying that ministry should never follow money, but that money should follow ministry. It means that if you do things right, and honor God in your programs, God will bless your income. It's corollary is a warning not to change your programs just to get some money. I'm sure there have been exceptions, that good ministries have had to close for financial reasons even when they were seeking the Lord in all they did, but that saying holds water for me. Do your ministry right first, and the money will come. Have faith, and God will honor it (even when He does so in a way we don't expect). Lead with faith, and God will honor that. This year is one clear example of those things happening at CSC. If you were praying or giving, I thank you...you taught me something in 2008. December 30 One More DayIt's snowing again. Though it didn't snow for a few days so I'm a little less beligerent about the current snowfall. You could probably tell from my last post that I was getting a little hostile about it. A few nights straight of skating in weather in the 20's was just the balm I needed.
Well, I've posted at right another update of what needs to come in for CSC to make budget, pay back reserves in full and make all our commitments. We've come a long way. The business day of 12/31/2008 will drag on for a few more days, at least into middle of next week, as we process the remaining 2008-dated gifts. It is often amongst our best days of the year and we need it to be again. It sure would be great to see this great month finish extra strong "tomorrow", but it's a blessing to know we'll get whatever we need down to the penny.
I've now worked in interdenominational Christian ministry for 8 years, and I've thought a fair amount about the balance between faith and works in that time. There seems to be a stumbling block if organizations take on the mentality that "God will provide" to such an extreme that no practical steps are taken to be a part of that provision. The other danger is in an organization solely considering the human/"what we need to do" elements and lifting God from the equation. The danger in both is giving God nothing to bless (be the missing element effort or authentic belief). God seems to honor ministry most when we are both diligent in work, and in faith and prayer.
There is no doubt in my mind that as an organization, CSC has found a good balance. God has provided for this place immensely; and great effort and commitment have been poured into it by believers. I am deeply grateful that CSC ended up in existence, and that I've gotten to work here for 4+ years. CSC has forever impacted my family tree, and I often thank God that I am a part of this amazing work. Thanks for stopping by or plugging me into your RSS feed-reader, and God bless you in 2009. December 19 Miracle-WatchingWe're sitting with front-row seats to a miracle at CSC. I am in absolute awe of what God is doing through His people. Check out the list to the right. In order to make budget, make all our commitments to Cebu and pay back our critical and totally depleted reserves we needed $360,000 before year-end a month ago. Today we need just over $120,000. We have never had December start like this. Christmas is going to be much less stressful for our staff because of people loving our ministry and partnering with their giving. We’ve seen amazing faithfulness, people giving stock that has little impact on their taxes and lots of gifts from lots of people. We’ve had the big ones too: $50,000, $20,000 and $10,000. Also a number of gifts around $1,000 are really adding up. Work remains. $120,000 is not a small amount of money, but there is no denying God’s blessing here! Thanks for praying, and please continue to do so. November 26 Our Friend GordyLast week we got the news that one of our faithful volunteers passed away. His name was Gordy, and he and his wife have long been committed to getting our monthly mailings out. These volunteers save us thousands of dollars every year through their efforts. Although my experience with Gordy was limited to the mailings I saw him at (don't get me wrong, he was much more consistent than me) he made an awfully good impression. I was struck at the funeral by how little was said about his degrees or positions. (I need regular reminders that these are not the things that matter here!) What did matter about Gordy was what people talked about: how much he prayed, how gentle his demeanor was, his strong commitment to the church and how he was someone who you listened to when he gave advice. What little I knew of Gordy I could tell these things were true of him.
One of the speakers at the funeral made an important statement: "Gordy undoubtedly prayed for everyone in this room many times." The sanctuary was packed, but he was probably right. It made me wonder how many times Gordy prayed for the kids in Cebu. He never visited CSC, but what was spared or provided because Gordy stopped to pray for our children and our staff? No way of knowing that this side of heaven, but I look forward to finding out one day. I believe these prayers were significant, and made a difference in Cebu.
Every workday I get a report of the gifts that came in that day. To my discredit, I love to be wowed by big checks. These always catch my attention most. We need them, but we also need the faithful checks of those who simply can't afford to put a string of zeros in front of the decimal point. We need the people who are committed to Cebu in their prayers. We need so many, and God has been faithful to provide them for our work in Cebu. Thanks for being here, and God bless your Thanksgiving. October 12 Sturgeon BayWe were in Door County, Wisconsin this weekend. Somehow it was the first time our kids have been out of state, and it was easily the longest we've been in a car as a family. On the way there we only stopped once during our 5 1/2 hour trip. I stopped three times on my way to Bismarck, North Dakota the weekend before...and I was by myself. The mind-over-bladder capabilities of our kids makes me think we might be up for a major road trip next year (I appear to be the greatest cause for concern).
It was a great weekend. I had been planning to go out to First Baptist in Sturgeon Bay for a good year, but made the decision to wait until an adopting family got their kids from CSC thinking we'd bring the whole crew. Their kids have been home for about 4 months now and lived in the Cherne Home at CSC with our kids for 2+ years. Seeing the kids get reunited and listening to the Cebuano chatter is always heart warming. What a thing that these kids would come out of utter despair, enter the care of the greatest child-caring ministry on earth (said with total bias), get adopted and then to top everything off actually get to see each other sometimes. Amazing. Mark was especially thrilled to be with his buddy Edmond--they were great friends at the shelter.
We stayed right on the bay with a gem of a couple who took wonderful care of us, and seemed to pick the best fall weekend to travel there. The adoptive family we were hanging out with had a hot tub and Theresa and I lounged with them for like 2 hours on Friday night while the kids watched a movie. Getting to be with other adoptive parents is always a blessing...there are so many things to talk about and the conversation didn't break. We did eventually have to get out and de-prune though.
On Saturday we went mini-golfing and drove up to eat at Al Johnson's; a famous restaurant in Door County. It has Swedish pancakes and great food, but is best known for the goats on the grass roof. Today I finally got to see this amazing church that has become one of our best supporting churches. I think they have about 200 regular attendees and love CSC. I told them today that financially they are up on the list right next to a church with 9000 members...not bad at all. They make me wonder how we could get other churches to jump into our work as they have. It was a great weekend with family, friends and a bunch of people invested in CSC.
Not every day you see goats grazing on a roof.
Remir and Caleb hangin' with a troll.
Mark and Edmond.
Totally off the topic, but kind of interesting. I took Remir and Joy out of school a few weeks ago to non-partisanly witness the political process in action when McCain and Palin came to town. I figured they would remember this more than a few hours of school. It turns out the big crowds aren't just coming out for Obama...we could neither hear nor see them. It would have been a complete bust, except for the guy in this picture holding up an Obama sign in the middle of the rally. You can see the "Hockey Moms 4 McCain" signs swarming him front and back, and things got a little heated with people trying to tear down his sign. I'm simply left to wonder if November 5 will ever come. April 15 What a NightOn a last minute run to the grocery store tonight I grabbed a few kids to reduce the decibel level at the house and set off with Remir, Mark & Mary Joy. Basically this means I removed about half of the decibels (written with nothing but love for our dear Raymund). On the way I looked over at my daughter who had asked to sit up front. We started having them ask for the front seat because we tried the "Shotgun" thing for a while and it got insane. We'll let their friends re-teach them that in high school. Anyway, my daughter was wearing black dress shoes, white socks, black and white nylon warm-up pants ("swishy pants" in our house) and a red and white nylon jacket. To top it off she was wearing a hot orange hair thing.
I looked at Joy at a stoplight and busted out laughing. Honestly, excepting the socks, there weren't two things in her ensemble that matched. Of course she wanted to know what the heck I was laughing about, so I told her. Her reply: "I'm just a kid Dad, I'm not supposed to care about those things." Amen my dear...please don't forget that anytime soon.
This weekend was the big Adoptive Family weekend and annual banquet gala for CSC. It was an awe-inspiring night. It's a lot of work. I decided in 2005 I would never calculate actual hours worked the week before the banquet for my own sanity. There has always been a huge feeling of relief when it's over. But this year I really tried to enjoy myself. I enjoyed the fact that I get an opportunity to speak and lead and be a part of such a fantastic event; an event by the way with tasks spread out to many people...including those in Cebu. I had a great feeling Friday night at the adoptive family party. I was looking around thinking, "some day I might come to this and just be a guest." I'm so thrilled that for this season in life I get to help lead it. I love my job, and I'm glad God reminded me of that before the high stress of Saturday.
The first baby ever to be at CSC spoke as a successful 29 year-old. His name is Eddie, and he and his wife are incredible. They blessed me beyond measure. These guys from Sioux Falls, the Dirnbergers, actually wrote a song for the night...and it was amazing. We honored Sandy (she didn't have a clue it was coming!) and it was emotional to think on all she's done for CSC...for all those kids in that room. I won't outline the whole thing, but it was great. Check out the website for great pictures and more details.
Just to give you a sense of the impact of the night: our budget is $1,250,000 for 2008. We raised $97,000 Saturday...8% of our year in one night!
November 23 The (Annual) Great UnknownI had a discussion with a board member a while back, around the time her final term was concluding, in which we shared common experiences "sweating a payroll." You only feel the real weight of this situation in a position of leadership...well, unless the management team never works out a solution and paychecks are missed. Even then, it's usually the people on top who are last to get paid. This former member is a business owner, has gone through it and she emphasized to me that you always have to have people on the board who know what that's like. I have had the unfortunate experience of living through those tight times, and I agree with her. It helps to have leaders who can recall the weight of that reality.
We had our annual budget meeting last week for 2008. To be honest, this sometimes feels like the ultimate crapshoot. We have no idea how 2007 is going to end. As always, we'll be biting our nails until the last of the December-dated checks arrive. And of course the best part is that December income makes or breaks us. In addition, the devaluation of the US dollar is so bad that our ministry, and our field staff in Cebu, are getting 10% less value from the wire transfers this US office makes each month. It gets interesting trying to decide how much those transfers will be a year from now when there are so many unknowns right now.
Somewhere in the midst of this we have to have faith, while being shrewd about the what-ifs. All those what-ifs make for more faith stretching than I'm usually seeking! What if we come nowhere near THIS year's budget? What if the dollar slides too far for us to keep managing it in Cebu? What if we couldn't make a payroll? As leaders, we have to wonder, "what if God chooses to lead us through a time of wilderness--of tight times?"
God has been amazing to this ministry throughout its history, including in my 3 1/2 years. He has rewarded us with financial blessings, and we are grateful. We just have to be prepared to honor him if what-ifs turn to reality. Thankfully we have a group of capable leaders in Cebu and on the board in the US who are committed to seeking God's will in the midst of these weighty possibilities. Your prayers for our kids, and also the ministry and the leaders that serve them are always appreciated. November 14 Our Common CallIt kind of snowed. I'm not putting any more emphasis on it than that since I was too far from school to get them out for it. To keep myself from getting too upset I told the kids that a light, momentary dusting doesn't really count. And let's face it, a dusting has to cover the ground a little...this wasn't even a dusting. I feel better as I write each sentence here. Anyway, we're all still anxious for that first real snowfall.
I posted some pictures from Halloween, but never wrote anything. We went to a big event at church, and there was enough time when it was over to hit a few houses in traditional trick-or-treating fashion. They were all seeking instruction at the first house, and even Remir was proceeding with caution. We eventually learned that he thought the visitors gave candy to the people who answered their doors. He must have wondered why his parents would condone giving away all the candy they just got at church. Raymund's Superman outfit served as after-school clothes for Oct. 31, Nov. 1, Nov. 2 and I think the 3rd too. I was fine with him wanting to wear the outfit so much just to get some more use out of the thing. I'm pretty sure he'd still be wearing it if we hadn't eventually moved it to the back of the closet. Raymund is constantly producing good blog material, around Halloween he overheard some edgy language at school and posed this question to us: "what is 'Holy Crack?'"
Saturday CSC hosted an event for adoptive families, Our Common Call. It was our second time doing the event and it was very worthwhile again. We were blessed to have two adoption experts there to share about attachment. The parents also broke into small groups and wrote questions for a panel that included the counselors and Sandy Swanson, Child Development Director. Half the value of getting together was just having the opportunity to bounce ideas and struggles off other adoptive parents. Our staff and several volunteers took care of food and kids activities and we had a great day. I'll post some pictures.
Okay another proud parent quote:
Mark: "Who's stronger, Adrian Peterson or you." (Peterson is the new, immediately popular running back on the Minnesota Vikings--our kids haven't missed a game in spite of a very poor Vikings record so far)
Dad: "Oh, I'd say Adrian is stronger and faster."
October 15 ColoradoI was out in Colorado last week. I had the chance to visit our largest supporting church, including members of a summer work team to Cebu, and to speak to a gathering of physicians about our building campaign. That event was hosted by one of our board members at an up and coming restaurant south of Denver. What a blessing to have advocates like that...it's one of the big reasons CSC has gotten to where we are today.
The coolest thing that happened out there was a former CSC resident shyly approached me with an envelope full of money. It turns out she had saved the money she made babysitting this summer to give to CSC. She didn't tithe it or divide it in half...she gave every penny to CSC. I was honestly stunned by this incredible gesture. As a teenager she has such a healthy understanding and respect for what the people at CSC did to save her life (she was born terribly premature and just over 2 pounds, and shouldn't have survived). Our missionaries hear words of appreciation from the kids they impacted far too rarely, so it was fun to get home and share this story with them. Here's a child who really gets what this ministry means to her.
I had a chance to drive through what I've dubbed "the Rodeo Drive of Evangelical Christianity" in Colorado Springs. For a variety of reasons, that area has attracted tons of ministries over the years. There was one stretch of road that seemed to have ministry headquarters lined up one after the other. To be honest, seeing the facilities they were in made me glad to have an office in the basement of an old courthouse. I started my career at the headquarters of a Fortune 500 company in offices that didn't compare to what I saw last week. I don't question the stewardship of a single one of those ministries, but I'm just fine being home at an office that screams "this is not where we use our donations!"
Theresa and the kids did great without Dad home, their second time doing so since we've all been together. I got to pick them up from school the day I returned and hear about Remir's youth group retreat and stories of glory from the football field. For all the good work in Colorado for CSC, it was good to be back in the place where CSC has made the greatest impact on my life. June 06 Questions Savvy Donors AskI've been thinking some lately about how CSC appears to savvy donors. These are usually individuals or foundations that give away a lot of money and know what to ask to really dig into the nervous system of a ministry. They want to know how much you spend on programs versus administration, how you evaluate yourselves, and they absolutely, 100% of the time, want to know about the Board of Directors.
We don't talk that much about CSC's board. They just don't make good blog material. And yet, our board is an impressive one. This past weekend we had our annual board retreat and talked about all kinds of critical things: emergency contingency plans, the declining dollar to peso exchange rate and policies that guide the ministry. Like I said, critical, but as you probably also notice, not super exciting topics. We have 11 board members who are fantastic people and have the remarkable ability to make our meetings fun regardless of topic. Many of them have told me this is the most fun they've ever had on a board.
One worthy note on how our board is changing is that our first non-local member was voted on last weekend. We now have a member from Colorado. This will help expand our donor base there and is just one more indication of how CSC's board is developing capabilities.
I owe you a Kirk update. My last blog update was a bit misleading. If I were less of a stand-up guy I'd just delete it and pretend it didn't happen. For starters, we were only meeting with a consulate for a letter of recommendation. No decision has been made. However, the recommendation from the consulate is glowing, so it was well worth the meeting. We're hearing it could be 2 months before we know of a decision on Kirk's Student Permit.
Final note, you might remember we sent a cheap digital camera for the Fab 4 to play with in Cebu. There are a few shots on here now (thanks for uploading and e-mailing them Sandra). You'll see how cheap the camera is by the quality of the shots...and of course how amateur our photographers are. We're eagerly awaiting the next bit of news on getting those photographers home! April 30 It's a WrapThe 2007 banquet is officially in the books. We need to send out receipt letters, but that about does it. Wow, what a night. I actually find I'm willing to do it again next year. That sounds like on odd thing to say, but there are always a few moments during banquet crunch-time that I start to wonder if I could ever feel that way again. It's just so much work to pull off an event. The great thing is, the night is so fantastic, so uplifting, that I find myself even a little excited to do it again (fool!).
We blew the previous banquet offering amount out of the water, by nearly $20 grand to be precise. In one night we took in $94,000. $94,000! That is crazy! That's very literally more than we receive during some full months of the year. I can't describe how important that is to put us on strong footing heading into late spring and summer.
Our night was very Filipino, and that was great. We made and hung the traditional Philippine Christmas decoration parol ("pah-role") thanks to the leadership of Juliet Erickson and many volunteers. They even hung the two stars I made...honestly you couldn't have sold those two for more than a few sentimos on the streets of Cebu. Overall, they looked great though. We also had Filipino food and cultural dancers. It was a great celebration of the wonderful culture we are a part of. The testimonies of two former residents and a prayer from a current resident (via live feed) were blessings to all in attendance.
Adoptive Family Night, on Friday, was a lot of fun as usual. This is always low-key and a great time for reuniting CSC kids and adoptive parents. Paul put together a video from a bunch of great footage from our Cebu field staff. The shtick was that CSC had gone bankrupt so everyone had to get second jobs. Sandy tried to become a mechanic, and Amy and Tammy started driving a jeepney just to name a couple. It was really funny.
Thanks to another Erickson, Rich, we have some great pictures of the festivities. There are some posted on CSC's website, I'm posting some you won't see there and maybe a few duplicates. Enjoy.
[PS - Raja's recovering nicely...she's got quite a stitch line at almost a foot long, but is doing well. Thanks to all who have asked. I knew there were a few other dog people who would understand!] April 24 One of Those DaysThings are just a wee bit crazy right now. Marlys and I have been calling people this afternoon asking some CSC friends if they would be willing to make the sacrifice of sitting in the balcony at this year's banquet. We have 850 people RSVP'ed! It's insane. It is an excellent problem to have, but it's a stressful problem anyway at the moment.
In a few minutes I have to leave all this to bring a very ill Raja to the vet. This is exactly 13 days after she had surgery to remove two tumors from her eyelids. I'm honestly trying to keep the possibilities out of my mind. Why does this have to be happening right now? Why do I have to be a dog person? Why do our kids have to be so excited for her? Ugh, I just hope things go okay this afternoon.
[Editor's Note (a couple hours later): Raja needs another surgery tomorrow. She has an infection directly related to the first surgery. I've never been more relieved by such concerning news. The vet couldn't have been more apologetic, and I believe him when he says they've never had anything like this happen before. It's actually a top-notch place. I'm just so stinkin' relieved...hopefully all will go well tomorrow and that will be the end of it.] By the way, did I say "editor's note?" What do I think this is?
I am definitely a lame-o for not posting a blog sooner, and now I'm going to extend my lameness by not posting a real one now. I'll be excited to let you know about the banquet though. It's always stressful, but my first three have always been very uplifting too. If you pray for things to come together for us in the next few days...well, thank you.
January 14 What About Those Finances?There have been times I've sat down to update my blog, and I've had to tax my brain for a topic. That's not the case tonight. First of all, the brunt of the work stemming from our house being burglarized is behind us. What an experience that has been. We really are grateful we weren't around and it wasn't worse. I could write for a long time about what this whole situation has been like. For starters, I've been taken aback by how many people I know have had this happen to them. Many, many people have told me about similar situations only after learning it happened to us. They seem to all be okay. I look forward to getting back to that place. Theresa and I were talking tonight about the fact that every time we've come home since it happened, our mentality has actually been to expect it has happened again. It will be nice when that goes away.
I've left you in suspense long enough about what ended up happening with CSC's finances in 2006. We received $228,200 in December 2006, versus $301,000 in 2005. That's a pretty big difference, but it's not all grim. The biggest downside is that we won't be able to pay back our reserves (that we save for historically slow months) as we have in the past. Thankfully we didn't draw down nearly as much in 2006 as we did in past years either. Our total income for the year was actually higher than 2005, largely due to special gifts. 2006 total income: $1,227,000; 2005 total income: $1,152,000. Our unrestricted income was $3000 lower in 2006.
Here's the good news...and it's good news. We were down essentially because of two donors...yep, two. We received $90,000 less from them than they gave in 2005. This wasn't because any fault of CSC's or theirs, but just due to their situations. So, overall, we made up for their decrease in giving quite nicely. That's the most encouraging thing...that we ignited new people and others gave more. We are blessed.
Finally, we leave for Cebu in about 12 hours! This is the best part of my year, getting to be over where the ministry is happening. I'll be sure to post from there regularly. More soon! December 26 Now We're Talking!I try not to be a worrier. I tend to do this well enough, in spite of some heredity working against me. (I'm not naming names, but there are few classic worriers in my lineage.)
As I drove into work this morning I admitted to God that uncertainty about CSC's fiscal standing had led to nervousness, which was beginning to feel a lot like worry. During this long weekend I prayed once or twice a day about our end-of-year income, and then put it out of my mind as best I could. Not only did I fail to put it out of my mind this morning, but the best way I could describe it is that this "how are we going to finish?" thought had become a bubble consuming a good chunk of my brain. Most every thought directed right back there.
I'm not sure I could bear to take another okay deposit today. Thank God I didn't have to find out if I could. Today's deposit: $35,489. Now that's taking a chunk out of our needs for the year! This brings December income to $122,365. In addition, I received a few notices of generous stock donations coming in the next few days. There is still plenty of ground to cover in a short time, we're not there yet by any stretch, but I'm incredibly thankful for the shot in the arm. I'm awed that my first real stress happened on the same day God would use so many to so richly bless our work.
My responses to the deposit in order:
1.) "Oh thank God."
2.) "Whew."
3.) "Now how much do we need?"
Such is life as a leader and fundraiser trying to best steward God's work. December 19 Game TimeLet's hope this is the calm before the storm. As of today, CSC's December income is $75,342. Because of holidays and weekends, we have just 7 official deposit days left this year (although the last day, 12/29, will last a solid week as the last of the December-dated checks arrive). Our financial standing for the year depends greatly on these 7 days. We need about $30,000 a day give or take. Yep, $30,000 a DAY. I'm praying for God's blessings to overflow during this important time.
I've mentioned before that December boils down to the very end. Even though the current deposits seem small compared to what we need, we are on about the same pace as we were a year ago when we had the best month in the history of CSC.
I'm preparing for a trip to Cebu in January that will include time in Tokyo as I'm speaking at CSC's first supporting church from Japan. We're going to be doing a ton while I'm there. You can be sure this will be the busiest time of year for my blog. I invite you to check in often as I'll post regularly.
Have a wonderful Christmas! November 29 The Wait BeginsI am committed to my blog. I know what you're thinking: "is your idea of commitment posting something every 12 days?" You've got a point. I would like you to know though that I just finished a new blog entry, left my office for a minute, came back and sat down to proof and save it only to have some kind of shock go from me to my computer and shut it down. That's both weird and incredibly annoying, but I am going to try again.
What I wanted to tell you is that this is by far the worst part of the year for my job. We're doing all kinds of planning and budgeting for the new year, which is kind of fun. What isn't is that there's this big question hanging over every bit of it: Are we going to bring in enough money this year to even think about 2007?
That probably seems odd since 11 months of the year are already behind us. The reason is that in the last two years 25% of our income came in during December. That means more money came in during this one month than in all of quarters 2 or 3. And the truth is, it doesn't even really ramp up until a few weeks in.
If I had any less faith than I do I would count on an annual ulcer this time of year. As it is, I have to regularly remind myself not to worry. I'm considering printing out all of Matthew 6 onto sheets of paper to post in my office, on the inside of my front door and on my steering wheel to remind me.
Both of the Decembers I've served at CSC, we've entered the month looking at seemingly insurmountable income needs. And both years, God took amazing care of us. We paid back our reserves and started the new year in great shape. This year, we've calculated what we need to bring in again. At $300,000, it's the most we've faced yet, and God will take care of us once again. What a blessing to be at a ministry that God is so clearly leading.
I'll be sure to keep you posted as to how things are going. |
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