For
those of you who are unfamiliar with this post, Friday’s are for
updating you on the random happenings of our lives. To those of you
(all 2 of you, plus my mom) who asked me to bring back our Friday
Updates, here you go!
I can’t promise a “Friday Update” every
week, because, well, we just aren’t that interesting anymore! No,
really…. we are working a lot lately and not traveling as much…. so
without kids or pets, there aren’t always interesting updates. The last
thing I want to do is bore you guys to death! haha! I will try to do a
Friday Update when we do have an interesting week though, or fun
pictures to share! In the meantime, I have a new blog idea that I am
working on…. so stay tuned for that! 😉
Fed-Exed to the IRS.
“What”? you might be asking? Our 1023!!!! For those of you who don’t
speak “lawyer” or “IRS”, a 1023 is the massive, confusing, crazy
detailed application you have to fill out in order to get tax-exempt
status for your non-profit organization. See, you can be a “non-profit
organization” but not be a “501c3” (501c3 status means you are
recognized by the IRS as being tax exempt, and the donations you
receive are a tax write off). Needless to say, that status is a BIG
DEAL if you ever want major donors or grants. I have been pouring over
the 26 page application (all in “IRS” language – AGH!) for months
now… doing my very best to get it finished and ready to file for The
Sound of Hope. Thanks to some explanations from our wonderful,
supportive, patient accountant friend Lane (he is awesome!) I was able
to finish!
Monday,
we took the 60+ pages of information (which I had either prepared
myself or answered questions on) to our lawyer. *Note – when filing
your 1023, the IRS typically sends it back once or twice for “more
information”. We are really hoping to avoid that delay since we’ll be
in Thailand for almost 4 months next year. Here’s the really
good news – our lawyer was so impressed with my work, that he said he
thought we had an 85% chance of getting approved on the first try!
YES!!!!
I can’t tell you how good it feels to have heard him say
that! After being consumed by this application for so long and working
SO hard, it was incredibly affirming to hear “job well done”! Now we
wait and pray for FAVOR – that it will be approved on the first try and
that we will get the results by the end of this year. Please pray with
us!
Paperwork and meetings.
If you’re wondering, that’s not all we’ve been up to lately for The
Sound of Hope. Since our last update, we had our first Board Meeting,
approved our bylaws, and named an organizational lawyer and accountant.
We’ve also created lots of necessary paperwork, like an accountable
expense reimbursement policy, reimbursement forms, and a partnership
agreement for our overseas partners. (I know it sounds boring, but it
had to be done!) Our next big undertaking will be our website. We are
in GREAT need of a website – it’s been holding us back for months now.
Please be in prayer about this process with us!
Our Sound of Hope Board :: Rusty Jackson, Ericka Jackson, Tina Essmaker, & Michael Hindes
Hard-working husband.
I’m not the only one that’s been working hard around here, Rusty has
been BUSY! This week, he worked 5 different jobs. Yes, I said 5! His
main job (job #1) is of course working for The World Race, recruiting and
equipping missionaries. His next job (job #2) is Treasurer and Vice President of
The Sound of Hope (which means he does our bookkeeping and accounting,
and helps me with other projects when I need him). Unfortunately (as
you all know) those are support raised jobs (with no benefits) and
don’t provide everything we need. With the holidays approaching and our
trip to Thailand only about 4 months away, we are in need of some extra
money. So, Rusty has also been substitute teaching some days (job #3)
and working here and there with a friend who does masonry work (job
#4). Job #5 is working for our church doing video work. This is Rusty’s
favorite thing to do (and he’s
SO good at it!) We were so grateful when the church hired him on for
this year as a part-time employee! This was Rusty’s only constant,
paying, extra job. Unfortunately, the economy has not been kind to our
church. We found out this week they were having to cut back on some
things, and can’t pay Rusty anymore. While this news was disappointing,
we are still so thankful for all they have done for us! Please pray for
PROVISION for us and for our church. They are an incredible body of
believers that are doing wonderful things for the Kingdom. It’s just
unfortunate that they’re located in one of the hardest hit economic
areas in our country.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL!
As my husband says, “It’s the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!” No, not
Christmas…. FOOTBALL SEASON! We could not be more thrilled that it’s THAT time of year again! We may have a lot of different interests, but FOOTBALL is one thing we both
LOVE! We had an opportunity to go to the season opener here at
Michigan’s stadium (the largest stadium in the nation). Let me tell you
friends – it was a very different experience than the SEC, but still
lots of fun. Stay tuned for another blog about that trip 🙂
35 and counting.
Since we’ve been away from blogging, we celebrated Rusty’s 35th
birthday! We spent the day resting, watching movies and cooking out
together. His birthday present from me was a day at the Tiger’s game
(yes, the same as last year. It’s all he wanted! haha!) So a few days
later we went out for a day of baseball. We had a blast!
Hanging out in the hammock….
Rusty getting ready to blow out his candles!
(and yes, I know the cake it pitiful….Baskin Robbins did an awful job!)
Celebrating at the Detroit Tigers Baseball game in our orange and blue!
Modeling Missionaries. We
are still modeling for our friend’s iStock business… so I guess
that’s job #6 for Rusty! I haven’t been doing a good job of posting
pictures (sorry!) so there are a few too many to add here today. I’ll
try to put up a blog next week with a few new pictures from our shoots,
and a link where you can view new photos as they are updated.
GLEE!
The countdown has begun!!! 4 days until GLEE is back! If you’ve never
watched this show, you are missing out. Considering I was in High
School Show Choir for 4 years, All-State Show Choir for 2 years, and AU
Singers for 2 years, it’s pretty easy to understand why I am OBSESSED
with all things musical/show choir/glee club 😉 I’m SO EXCITED Glee is
coming back next week! Anyone with me?
