Promises And Possibilities: Called By Name

The weekend of November 19-22, 2009, I headed to downtown Raleigh for the annual Carolina Christmas Show. I was not a shopper but an exhibitor! I dusted off my paint pens and ordered some new products to get my personalized children's gift business, Called By Name, up and running again! My friend and business partner had moved away and life had gotten busy causing us to put the business on the back burner. But , with a pending adoption and finances getting tight, I decided it was time to kick it into high gear with all proceeds going toward our adoption.

My friend came in from out of town to do an all nighter painting piggy banks and lap trays to help me get ready for the show! Another friend went with me the night before the show to set up the booth. My neighbor even offered to do a little painting for me . Two other friends volunteered their time to take shifts during the weekend and my mother took the remaining shifts. It was definitely a team effort! All done with love in an effort to bring our baby girl HOME!!

When all was said and done, we raised close to $1000.00 toward the adoption expenses. Woohoo!! God is good!! In a tough economy, other exhibitors were having trouble making enough to cover just their booth fee but we were blessed to have come away with a profit.

I did another smaller show in December making another $500.00 towards our adoption . I decided then to push forward in getting our website up and running again as well. You can check it out at calledbyname.net All proceeds will continue to go towards our adoption and once it is paid for, profits will continue to be used to support orphan care around the world.

The following pictures are a peek at what our booth looked like at the show!