The Gavel is Down and the Numbers are in!

I am seriously blown away by the results from the online auction for my missions trip this summer!
First let me talk a little bit about the auction.  Without awesome donations of auction items from Abbadabba Bags, The Painted Piano, Family Christian Bookstore, In My Mother's Honor, Starbucks, and Jump City this would not have been as much fun.  I loved seeing the chatter between bidders and I'm really going to miss seeing that tomorrow on my facebook feed.  I saw bidders that were new friends, old friends, lots of family members far away, in-laws of my family members, friends of friends, and even an old co-worker of my sister's.  This reached way beyond what I ever could have dreamed.  I no longer felt alone in this.  Watching the bids was greater support for my soul than any amount of money could ever have been.

If you had asked me how fundraising was going this time last week, I would have said that I really wasn't sure how I was going to get to this seemingly insurmountable goal.  Not only did I have the expenses with the Visiting Orphans team, but also for my work in Uganda.  It is with great joy that I share these numbers with you tonight.
My numbers are still a little rough until they purchase our tickets this week or next, but this is a close guess.

Last week I was approximately $1600 short
In my wildest dreams I hoped to raise $500 from the auction
In reality, you all donated $1306!!!!!!!!
Now I am approximately $300 short.  Wow!!!

If any of you bid, didn't win, but still wanted to donate, please feel free to hit the donate button on this page :)
Anything raised above my trip costs will go to a project I'm working on in Uganda.  The pastor at Return Ministries and I are working on a field trip for about 30 kids while I am there.  These children live in a beautiful country and most have never seen past their small village.  Our goal is to show them a bit of the beauty God has blessed them with.  We are going to take them to a zoo/safari park about an hour away.  It will be a carefree day of play and seeing the most amazing animals.  My goal is that they would stop seeing all these Americans coming to visit them and dream of someday going to America thinking that is their only hope.  For many of them, this may never be an option.  I want them to see the beauty around them and start to dream of a better life within their country.  The cost is $20 per kid which includes the bus rental, lunch, and pass to the park.  We will take as many kids as we can afford to, but our beginning goal is 30 kids.  If that is something that you are interested in supporting, just put "Uganda safari" in the memo line when you hit the donate button on this page. 

The generous hearts that are obviously all around me have me in tears tonight.  I always knew I was going to Africa, but now I can really say, "I'M GOING TO AFRICA"!!! 
Thank you