Today, Please Look at Their Faces

My older sister once told me, "It's so easy to forget about orphans ... until you see their faces."

Today, I ask you to take a moment to stop and SEE. See their faces. Look into their eyes. Let their needs touch you. Their physical necessities may be cared for by the orphanages, however, each child carries a wounded and broken heart that is in desperate need of healing.



If, after watching this video, you feel that God is asking you to do something for His little children, please consider one of the following:

1) Sign up to host an orphan with New Horizons for Children (the largest hosting agency in America). This does not obligate you to adopt. It is merely a way to minister to an orphan for 5 - 6 weeks this summer. Time is running out for this summer, so you will need to act fast if this is something you wish to do. There are many children who have still not been chosen and many of them already have scholarships available. Click HERE to view New Horizon's website.

2) Read up on the orphan crisis and educate yourself on the real needs of orphans in our world by clicking either of the titles below:

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Infinitely More by Alex Krutov and Jackie Davis

3) Donate! This is probably the easiest way to help, but the most often overlooked. Come alongside someone who is in the process of hosting and donate towards their hosting fundraiser. You don't have to drain your bank accounts. Ten dollars given in faith will go a long way. (Remember the widow with her two mites?) If you don't know anyone who is currently planning on hosting, I have two suggestions:

a) My friend over at Good Old Days Farm Blog is working hard to bring her four littles back this summer.

b) And, in case you've missed all my other posts... we just HAPPEN to be fundraising for our two sweeties to come this summer as well. And, there just so HAPPENS to be a link to our YouCaring site in the upper right hand corner of this blog. If you HAPPEN to drop a small donation into it, we would literally float up to the ceiling with happiness. (To see the fundraising fun we have planned take a peek at our RANDOM SMILES PROJECT in our previous post.)

4) Pray!!! This is the single most important element to any ministry, and hosting is no exception. Pray for the children. Pray for the families who will be hosting them. Pray for God's will, His protection, and His guidance in the lives of these precious kids. Pray! Just pray!

From the bottom of this hosting/foster/adoptive mama's heart,

THANK YOU!

RANDOM SMILES - Ammended

Okaaaay, so there have been some improvements made on our summer hosting fundraising campaign. ALL donations made though the link below are now TAX-DEDUCTIBLE.


After all my kicking and screaming about having to fundraise again, I am now really excited to do it. Why? Because along with blessing two sweet kids, we will be distributing care packages to the person of your choice OR someone from one of the following professions...

Minister or Priest from the denomination of your choice
Civil Servant from the department of your choice
Educator/Principal
Health Care Professional
Elderly person
Sick person
Foster child/orphan
Homeless person
Single parent
Student



When a donation is made in one of the amounts below we will deliver a care package (aka SMILE) to a random person or the person of your choice.

$10 for a basic SMILE boost (see description below)
$25 for a local delivery (within 10 miles of Cedartown, Georgia)
$45 for us to ship it to a specific address within the United States
$100 for a care package for an entire establishment (i.e. the entire police department, children's home, etc.)
(Sorry, all donations are non-refundable)


3) All other SMILE packages will be wrapped up in a pretty package and contain:

1 Bible tract

1 of my husband's piano CDs "Hope Still Lives"

2 edible treats

1 card from NHFC explaining their hosting program

1 encouragement/thank you card telling the recipient how special they are to God and/or thanking them for their service - this will include your name as the donor (unless you wish to remain anonymous)

1 small item specific to their need/vocation



4) $10 SMILES

These precious packages will contain:

1 Bible tract

2 edible treats

1 card from NHFC explaining the hosting program

1 small note card with your name as the donor (unless you wish to remain anonymous)


5) We will take a picture of each SMILE we deliver and post the stories here. Orders can be made now; deliveries will begin next week. (I have to assemble everything first!)

Again, ALL donations made through the link below are tax-deductible.

Share a SMILE and bring two beautiful orphans here for the summer.


Donations can be made through our YouCaring page HERE

Thank you for your support, encouragement, and most of all, your prayers!

Fundraising - Day 1

"For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." Psalm 50:10

Last night I embarked upon my least favorite task of all time -- fundraising. After Tatiana arrived in December and God miraculously resolved our remaining balance ($4300) via one perfectly timed phone call on the very day everything was due, I thought I was finished. Done. End of story. Finito.

Nope!

In actuality, God only granted me a four-month breather before gently nudging me out into the pasture again to go gather up some more cows.

Here cow!

Here cow!

A $2800 deadline looms before us. As Friday, April 22, creeps closer I vacillate between two polar emotions. It's as if two sides war within me. One side is completely terrified we will fail. The other rests in total peace, knowing that if God brought us to this, He will also bring us through it. At any moment of the day I can be found camping on one side or the other -- peace or perplexity. Like a nervous tightrope walker, I teeter-totter back and forth between the two.

But, the more I fundraise, the more I think I'm coming to a better understanding of all of this. Yes, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, but how grateful would I be if He didn't bless me with the opportunity to work for it? My value of His blessings increases exponentially when I actively labor to obtain them. And I come to know Him so much more intimately when I am asking, no begging, for His blessing on everything I do.

I know I can do nothing without Him. And so it is that as I stretch myself to the very limit emotionally, physically, and financially, I feel His hand on my shoulder. I hear the gentle throb of His heartbeat in rhythm with mine as we work side by side to bless another life. He asks me to do this because He wants me to work with Him ... to be a part of His team. And, in the process, I am learning to be grateful.

So today, as we complete this first twenty-four hours of yet another round of fundraising, I ask for one thing ... prayer. Please pray for God's provision, pray for ideas, pray for peace for my heart, and pray for the kids we are trying to help.

And now, I must bid you adieu as I climb back in the saddle and ride off into the sun setting behind a thousand hills. I'm pretty sure there's more cows out there somewhere.

Giddyup, horsey!

Fundraising Thermometer by:
Provided by Easy Fundraising Ideas

And Just Like That ... Everything Changes!

We didn't plan to host this summer. Nope! We sure didn't.

We made plans to visit California.

But ...

God doesn't fit into OUR plans. He writes His own.

And they are simply amazing!


Three years ago we hosted four kiddos from Eastern Europe. Those four added to our own four made for quite a houseful! When the kids returned to their orphanage, we moved forward with adoption plans. And that's when everything came to a screeching halt.

The two older girls did not want to be adopted. They wanted their freedom and independence NOT parents with rules and curfews. Over the next three years, I watched hosting season after hosting season come and go. Although "our" four were listed almost everytime, no one hosted them. My heart ached whenever I saw their sweet faces among the photo listings. "When can we come back?" the two younger kids would question me repeatedly as we conversed through the internet. "I don't know," was the only answer I could give and I hated it.

But, this year ...

THIS YEAR!!!

God has turned everything upside down to make everything right side up again. Those younger two kiddos, the ones who kept asking when they could come, WILL come. These two have suffered so much disappointment over the past three years that Latvia sent a special message along for us. "Please don't back out."

Once again I am reminded of how God hears the cry of a broken heart and tenderly answers in His perfect time.

Rejoice with us!

Pray with us!

I don't want to disappoint them again!!!

To help us fundraise, we are offering free shipping on my book "Marie: Woman of Beauty, Mother of Courage" if it is ordered off my website and a $1 discount for all Kindle editions from Amazon .

This book is the dramatic account of the miraculous escape of my grandmother and her two children from war-torn Estonia during World War II. Stepping right under the noses of the warring Nazis and Communists, my grandmother and her family slipped out of Estonia on the very night Estonia fell into Communist control. It is a story of courage, faith, and determination that will encourage you to live the life God has intended you to have and make you reevaluate the legacy you are leaving your children.

This book has already sold in five continents around the world with excellent reviews. It is perfect for younger readers (my kids loved it), but can hold the interest of adult readers as well. Readers are not disappointed! Order yours today and save! Sale ends this Thursday at midnight.

Here are some videos about my book:

https://youtu.be/8IUS1jnhi3Q

https://youtu.be/v41tO-FwR94

My daughter's promo:

https://youtu.be/j7H2ZoxQGOQ