May 12, 2012 (Julie)
Tonight felt like a rehearsal
dinner or maybe even a wedding reception. It was beautiful. We were in an outdoor…the best way to
describe it is, living room. Lanterns, flickering candles, fresh hot pink peonies,
a cozy fire…tall wine tables, carefully hand crafted. Food more delicious than can be imagined; Ceviche made just minutes before being
served, 13 hour slow braised meat over polenta, homemade pizza cooked in the
backyard oven an Asian coleslaw sprinkled with pears and peanuts, and 3 other delectable
dishes all perfectly paired with a generous portion of wine- SEVEN different
types throughout the evening! And
nothing snooty; the evening was warm, inviting, and had the air of a huge
celebration. And celebration it
was! The hosts Mandy and Chris Wilson
joined with Donnie Austin from House Wine in Worthington and his wife, Megan,
to create an incredible fundraiser for Ryan.
Over 50 people pulling together to do what we couldn’t do alone. Friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and even
those we didn’t know beforehand came to stand beside us and support us on this
journey, and most importantly love Ryan home.
Chris, Mandy, Donnie- there is no
way we can even begin to thank you for your love for us, for all of your time,
effort, and HARD work that you put into this night, for the beauty of an
incredible evening, for your passionate concern for one little orphan in Eastern
Europe and for allowing your hearts (and talents) to be moved to action to
bring Ryan home. Our prayer is that your
blessings will continue to abound, especially as you see Ryan in our family,
finally home with a mom and a dad, and three adoring sisters… knowing that you
played a huge role. I can’t wait for him
to meet you and the others who have “heard” his cry and have chosen to be moved
to action.
Over the course of the night tears
spilling silently out of the corners of my eyes was pretty common. So many people came and showed their support
for us, for the value of human life, for Ryan; many invigorating conversations
were had, sincere and difficult questions asked in sensitive ways, and I was
able to meet a whole community of fascinating people! Telling and retelling stories of the miracles
that God has already done for this little guy, knowing full well that Chris and
I do not deserve to be a part of anything so wonderful, in awe that we have the
joy of being willing participants- that brings me to tears. Remembering how God has pursued me like this,
to win me over with His love, His kindness bringing me to repentance, over and
over again, going to great lengths- even death…that moves me. Reece’s Rainbow has a phrase that they use
often, “You don’t have to adopt to make a difference! Even if you are not in a position to adopt
there are countless ways to help these sweet children…” And tonight was evidence of that.
Generous donations completely
filled a table, making the silent auction a complete success. From a signed, James Laurinaitis mini Riddell
OSU helmet to a gift certificate for a Resume Critique and Interview tips from
the Recruiting Manager at Manta, the bases were covered. There were also four pieces of custom-designed
CEB fine sterling silver jewelry, 3 Silpada jewelry pieces, an entire days work
from a gentleman doing remodeling and carpentry (and, no it wasn’t Chris), a
Joan Selle Zeller “Serenity” Mobile (which I had to evoke so much self-control
just not to bid on it myself), three handcrafted pink tulle tutus, six
Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizzas from Lou Malnait’s, two purses, a legal will
from a local attorney, a $50 gift certificate for a Fondant Fantasies cake,
Jenny Floch pottery…and the big bang for the night was a $500 airplane ticket
voucher from Frontier Airline- someone just saved $200…and then magnanimously poured
back to Ryan! The donations for the
night far outweighed the cost of the items.
Thank you to all of you who helped make the silent auction part of the
night a wild success: Chris and Mandy
Forbes, Frontier Airlines, Davina Alloway, Jenny Floch, Danielle Murphy, Carole
Bucklew, Joan Zeller, Chad and Lisa Faiella, Jay and Retta Hurlbert, Ray and
Sandy Faulkner, Edward Bain, as well as Chic-fil-A and Trader Joe’s for their
food donation.
One other feature of the night was
the “Mystery Wine.” Donnie Austin, the certified
sommelier at House Wine in Worthington carefully selected 50, or so, bottles of
wine, carefully and secretly wrapped by his wife Megan. All of the bottles were popular and favorite
wine, but slipped in were some AMAZING wines!
So for 25 bucks you were guaranteed a good bottle, with the chance of
scoring huge- like a $300 bottle of wine.
And all the proceeds, every penny
went straight to Ryan’s adoption fund, as did every cent from the ticket sales
and silent auction items. I still can’t
believe this was real… So here is the
amazing thing (if all of this is not amazing enough), at the end of the night
there were about 20 bottles left and a young man Jake (who volunteered the
whole day setting up and manning the sound system, music, mics, you name it!)
noticed that if those bottles sold we would make our financial goal…he felt
compelled to make an announcement and the mystery wine table was RUSHED, the
wine was gone- just like that- gone! Every. Last. Bottle. Gone. I was in complete shock. And, still am.
I pray
I will never get over moments like these.
This will be a sign post for the rest of my life. Thank you again Mandy, Chris and Donnie, and
to all those who prayed for this event, who helped behind the scenes, setting
up, purchasing and preparing food, serving the guests (Mr. and Mrs. Forbes,
Molly and Chad Trumbo, Jamie and Adam Rapp, Jake Hoffer, Megan Cavanaugh,
Paulie Alexander). Thank you to those
who came bringing an incredible ethos of lavish contribution and love, to those
who pledged continued support in creative and heart-felt ways, and to those who
were unable to attend in person but sent encouraging messages and financial backing
as well- THANK YOU. To God be the glory,
Great things He has done! What a night!
There are 163 million orphans in this world...We are going
after ONE!
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