A word of thanks to the LORD

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind. This fundraiser has been a blast so far and the Lord has done some incredible things. And so, we just want to take a moment to write down all that we have seen Him do so far. Because He is good. And He is faithful. And He has been moving mightily through something as random as beards. We simply want to remember all that He is doing in this journey of growing our family.

First and foremost, the Lord has humbled, encouraged, and challenged us through those who are participating. Two of our Beard Growers are currently raising their own funds so that they can go do international missions. And yet, they are gaining sponsors not just for their cause, but for ours. Not only that, but some of our supporters have their own financial burdens going on and could have easily passed this fundraiser off as something they couldn't afford. But they didn't. Because they love Jesus and believe in adoption and are being obedient to God's call to care for orphans. What we learned from this is that when people trust the Lord to provide for their own needs, they can be open handed with their finances and freely give what they have. We are blown away by such great faith and generosity and are convicted to go and so the same.

On top of all that, we have been blown away by social media this week and want to thank the Lord for using it as a means to spread the word about our fundraiser. Bearded Gospel Men is a brilliant, random and hilarious website that celebrates both facial hair and the gospel. They so generously posted about our fundraiser on their Facebook page and in hours, we had men across the country signing up to grow beards and raise funds for us! After exchanging some emails we have gotten to see glimpses of these guys' hearts. They are God-fearing men with a heart for adoption who genuinely want to help our cause. Besides our own friends, we now have pastors, professors, puppeteers, butchers and college kids from all over the nation on our team! Because of them, A Beard For A Baby, has reached the great states of Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Illinois, and more. We are overwhelmed and so deeply moved at the fact that there are men out there who have never met us but who are so genuinely eager to help us build our family. These are men who love the Lord and want to grow what God gave them as a means of caring for an orphan and helping give one a home. Praise the Lord for social media, for Bearded Gospel Men, and for moving in the hearts of these men.

Lastly, to our great surprise, funds have already started coming in! Though the fundraiser does not technically start until June 1, our Beard Growers are already gaining sponsors and donations have been made. Tim McKnight, who we haven't even met, got all 10 sponsors within 24 hours of signing up, and so many of our other Beard Growers are well on their way to doing the same. We are overwhelmed by the generosity of our own family and friends, let alone that so many people from all over the country want to give to a random couple from Texas that they don't even know.  The Lord has encouraged our hearts and increased our faith in His provision. We recognize that all money belongs to the Lord and we thank Him for His faithful provision through you. Thank you, thank you for helping to bring our baby home.

Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that He has done; His miracles and the judgments He uttered, O offspring of Israel His servant, children of Jacob, His chosen ones!

1 Chronicles 16: 8-13

Love,
the Hofmanns

30 reasons why you should be a beard grower

Hey friends!

Thanks for checking us out and getting excited about our Beard-a-thon. We have been so incredibly encouraged by the number of people who have signed up to grow beards, who have expressed interest in sponsoring our Beard Growers, who have already begun making donations, and for all the hits this site has received so far. Who knew Beards could be such a big deal? Regardless, we are blessed by your interest, love and support and we thank God for you.

We have 7 Officials Beard Growers and more in the works! We are looking for at least three more men who would be willing to grow their beards to grow our family (though the more, the merrier!). Today is DJ's 30th birthday and in honor of his big day, I present to you...  

30 Reasons why you should consider growing a beard for our beard-a-thon: 

30. It can be your (free) birthday present to DJ.

29. It's a fun way to raise adoption awareness.

28. Beard Growers will receive a free t-shirt.

27. Adoption is central to the Father's heart and is a picture of the gospel.

26. So you can be like this guy.

25. There will be fun incentives and prizes along the way to keep you motivated...and bearded.

24. It's for a good cause.

23. It's an entertaining way to carry out God's command to care for the orphans.

22. It's a great conversation starter.

21. It's a fantastic use of the facial hair that God gave you.

20. It's manly.

19. It's awesome.

18. It's easy.

17. It's a funny event....with gospel implications.

16. Because one day our kid will find out that your beard helped bring him home, and how cool of a story is that?!

15. Because a child needs a home.

14. Because beards are awesome. And so are babies.

13. 153,000,000 orphans. Minus one.

12. Because in doing so, you're changing lives.

11. To attract the ladies....

10. ....Or, to look shady.

9. Because thanks to social media, this will be on your record for the rest of your life.

8. To be a part of God's work in setting the lonely in families.

7. To protect your face from sunburn.

6. Because it's cheaper than shaving.

5. Because it's easier than shaving.

4. No more nicking yourself with a razor or suffering from that awful sting of after shave.

3. To provide a built in cushion to rest your face on.

2. We will love you forever.

1. And last but not least.... because Jesus had a beard.

So, whadya say? Are you in? Sign up here!

Love, the Hofmanns

Calling All Men!

Gentlemen,

Most of you know that DJ and I are in the process of adopting from South Korea. And some of you are aware of the fundraising idea that we have been tossing around. Well, we finally got some traction and want YOU to be a part of it!

Here's the gist: We want to host a Beard-a-thon. You are all familiar with No Shave November... Well, our hope is that we can get a group of guys together to commit to not shaving between now and No Shave November (June 1-December 1). Each participant will be in charge of growing their beard and gaining supporters who will sponsor their monthly beard growth. The hope is that each Beard Grower would find a minimum of 10 sponsors who are willing to pay $10 per month for them to not shave their beard. You can read the contest rules here.

We want it to be fun and have dreamed up all sorts of incentives and contest ideas to keep you motivated along the way! For example, we will do a monthly poll and whichever Beard Grower gets the most votes will have their picture displayed as our twitter avatar. Things like that. So, it should be a lot of fun and we hope it's something that you are excited about!

All that to say, we need your help! Here are some ways you can be involved:

• Register to be a Beard Grower. If you want to be a Beard Grower, you can sign up here. All contestants need to registered by May 30, which means we've got two weeks to get our bearded men collected. Also, tell your friends! The more beards, the better.

• Sponsor a Beard Grower. Don't want to grow a beard yourself? Consider sponsoring someone who does. We are asking for sponsors to pay $10 for every month that their Beard Grower competes. If they grow from June to December, that's $60.

• Advocate for us! Whether you become a Beard Grower or not, help  get the word out about our fundraiser by telling your friends, family, etc. Take advantage of social media and invite others to join in on the fun! While we want Beard Growers to have monthly sponsors, we will also gladly accept one time donations. So, tell others!

• Follow us on Twitter. And then retweet us. (https://twitter.com/abeardforababy) 

• Be  invested. This is a funny event for a serious cause. We might ask some of you to write a blog or two about why you are growing. This is an opportunity to not just get people invested in your beard growth, but to also learn about gospel-centered adoption, hear our hearts and learn about our cause.

• Pray. While this is a fun idea that we hope will gain traction and bring in some funds, we recognize that all money belongs to the Lord and we are asking Him to provide abundantly. We believe He has called us to adoption and trust He will bring the funds to do so. Let's ask Him to provide and watch Him work!

We look forward to your feedback and hope you will participate in some form or fashion!

Cheers to beards!
DJ and Courtney Hofmann