One year later

One year ago this weekend I prepared to say good bye to my youngest son Dustin. He was preparing to go to Marine boot camp. The day after Labor Day we took Dustin to his recruiters office, said good bye and left. It was hard. Exactly one year later we went to the airport too pick up Dustin and bring him home for Labor Day. A lot has changed in one year. The young boy we left at the recruiters office a year ago is now a man. He is a Marine. He is still our crazy Dustin who loves his family and loves to have fun! Today I hear his cd's playing way to loud in his old room and I realize how much I have missed that! Hmm...now for the mess in the room not so much! So for a few days my Marine is home and all is right with the world.

Praying for a miracle!

Why not? I have faith and I believe in miracles, sooo... Here's the deal, After I left my job a year ago to start the Hug Away Foundation it has been tough. Not only emotionally but also financially. I have kind of floated around like a balloon with the air let out since then. Don't you just love my metaphors? Anyway it has been tough but I have learned so much on this journey. It has made me more patient, more appreciative and has allowed me to rely on my faith!
Right now I am working two part time jobs. I am from the old school and I do not mind doing whatever it takes, but it is really tough, not only on me physically but being away from the girls so much and not being able to work on Hug Away.
Tonight was my night off from my second job and I was sitting here chilling on the computer (the girls are in bed and Mike is at work) and it came to my heart "ask for prayer about your situation." So here I am asking for prayer. When three or more are gathered in His name. So for those of you who pray, please pray that I listen to God and do His will in my life and that needs are met. God knows what I need. As a matter of fact if you need prayer about anything let me know in the comment section and I will pray for you. God Bless!

This is me

This is me trusting God, thinking positive thoughts and believing God is taking me through this journey. He never said it would be easy, all He asked was that I trust Him. So this is me trusting God. Every single time one of those giants confronts me, I stay strong and remember the reward that lies ahead. Honestly, it makes this journey a whole lot easier.

I know without a doubt I have sisters and brothers in Christ who are praying for me and I want to thank them. And to my dear friend and sister in Christ Connie J. Thank you for reminding me that satan attacks those of us who are strong in our faith. Love you sister!

Facing the Giants

Most of us do everyday. They are everywhere. My all time favorite movie is Facing the Giants.
If you have never watched it you should. It is about facing your giants and how with God nothing is impossible. I have been inspired this week to think and act more positive, to believe that though I am facing giants God is right there and has great plans for my life.

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Revelations 3: 7-8.

Personality check!

Aha! I have decided too do some tweaking in the personalty department. I am going to speak blessings into my life and believe that they are going to happen. The last 10 months have been such a roller coaster ride I have kind of, no not kind of I have lost my way a little bit. My faith has wavered at times and I have felt alone, but not anymore. God spoke to my heart last night about this. Sooo... I made a decision right then to wake up this morning believing I was going to be blessed and just have a good attitude. Remember in the last post about my bad day and I said today would be better? Well it was! Though several things happened that would normally put me in a "mood" I refused to go there. I just kept saying to myself "I am Gods child, He loves me and He wants good things for my life." It worked!
Now with all this said, I am not a gloom and doom person. I have a good attitude and pretty easy going personality, but I am human and I have bad days. More good than bad, but none the less. God gave me a a free spirit so I have the choice to work on this and that is what I am going to do.
I expect great things to happen from this.

Hmm...

I had a bad day! I mean bad. You know one of those days that are so bad you have too laugh because you are thinking to yourself, "are you kidding me? It was just a bunch of stupid stuff. Anyway the day is almost over and for that I am thankful. The bright side of all this is tomorrow has to be better, right?
The only bright side of the day was my Kennedy girl started pre k today! Oh she was so excited! She had her princess back pack and her princess lunch pail. She was so cute! So whenever I was in the bad zone today I thought of that precious face and it made me feel much better. She has real attachment issues. I think she said bye to me. All I know is we walked up to the door of her classroom and she was gone as I stood there, all alone surrounded by all these young cute moms...boohoo.I guess she thought she had taught me well and could just move on, sigh.
Another happy thought is the fact my Dustin is coming home for a few days Labor day weekend! I have never been away from him this long. What am I going to do when he is deployed?
For all my griping I know I am blessed and I never forget that even in my worse moments. As I look back I see how God in only ways that God can, took care of me, even teaching me lessons along the way. Any turmoil, anxiety and yes even bad days are mostly my own doing because of poor choices and bad attitude.
Tomorrow will be better.

Keep on keeping on

As many of you that read my blog faithfully are aware my husband and I founded the Hug Away Foundation in 2006. We offer financial grants for adoption, education and Hope for Orphans. All of this was inspired after adopting three precious little girls and of course inspiration from Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman. By Gods grace we became a non-profit in January of 2008. We have been able to help three families so far. Not bad. The reason we stepped out of our Church's umbrella and became a non profit was so we could hopefully receive donations from corporate America. I have no clue how to approach them. So far all our money has come from donations at church and fundraisers. I am just a mom and sometimes I feel I am way over my head.

At this time no one is paid, so except for materials and setting up the foundation all of the money has gone to grants. As of today we don't have enough money to offer anymore grants.
God has been so good, we would not have come this far without Him and those who believed in what we were doing and donated.
I left my job last October because I knew without a doubt God called me to do this. It has been a rough 10 months personally and financially, but I have learned a lot not only about myself but about hanging in there. I will be honest, when we became a non-profit I just knew people would want to help and we could help hundreds of families and orphans...wham! just like that. Little did I know that God was going to teach me about baby steps, patience, faith and learning to trust in Him totally. Do I succeed in this everyday? NO! I fall short so often I honestly have days I think "what's the point?" Then God will speak to my heart and say "come on Elaine, don't quit now."

I am working 2 jobs and I am tired . But only because God called on me do I have the strength to get up everyday and keep on keeping on. I am so grateful He provided me with these jobs. For those of you wondering, I work around my kids schedule. They are my whole world and they are my priority.
I hope someday I will not have to work two jobs and devote that time towards Hug Away. I ask those who read this blog pray for Hug Away. I have no doubt God will provide. If you would like to see what we are all about go to http://www.hugaway.org/

We have a video of some of the families that go to our church who have adopted. Some of them were inspired by seeing videos or hearing testimonies during our Adoption Month celebration.
Anyway see those three beautiful angels? That is why I want Hug Away to succeed. I want other families to be blessed by adoption. I know adopting know is tough, but you know what? There will always be orphans and they are worth the fight.
My husband has the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia in October. This is a missionary trip. If God opens the doors for him to go he will visit an orphanage we hope to help. The sad thing is not all orphans can be adopted, but they deserve to know that someone loves them and wants to take care of their needs. Please keep this in your prayers also.
I appreciate those who read my blog. I love the fact that people from all over the world can read a blog. In a way we are kind of a family. We may not agree with each other on everything that is blogged, but we check in on our "blog family" to see how they are doing and what's going on. With that being said I pray each of you are blessed and that whatever journey your are on know that God is there.

08/08/08

I'm to tired to blog but I wanted to have a post with this date. I know I'm nuts.

Steven Curtis Chapman Family

If you did not see Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman and thier family on Good Morning America today, you missed one of the most heartbreaking, tearful, hopeful, faithful expression of love I have ever witnessed. I posted on my blog in May that if any family could take such a tragedy and make anything positive out of it, the Chapman family would. But make no mistake Mary Beth let the world know she wants her Maria back. She is a mom whose heart is shattered and grieving but knows that her other kids need her and she has to be strong. Steven Curtis mentioned he did not know if he could ever sing Cinderella again, but he will. I am just getting to the point I can listen to that song without crying, but he like his beautiful wife knows that there are other Cinderellas in his life and he needs to focus on them. They interviewed the three older kids including their son who accidentally ran over Maria. What awesome Godly kids! All I can say is they knocked me over and it was obvious God was with each of them. In the midst of their grief they are trying to seek something good. They are human, the grief is still raw and they still have questions but they know Maria is safe and whole in the arms of our Heavenly Father.
I have never missed a SCC concert when he comes to Tulsa. Last year he had all three girls with him and as he crouched down to be at their level I believe it was Maria making bunny ears behind her daddy! It was so precious. Everyone there was blessed. As I have said before I had the honor of being interviewed by Steven Curtis a couple of years ago. I am not lying, it was like sitting down with someone you have known all our life. It was amazing. I have never had the privilege of meeting Mary Beth but I feel a connection with her. I have no clue why but I do.
I know the Chapman's do all they do for the glory of God. Today was their crowning moment. You had to be a stone not to be moved and desire to know this God who gives them the strength to get through this.
They had inspired me to get The Hug Away Foundation up and going and to start an adoption ministry at my church. Today they inspired me and touched my heart in ways I did not know was possible. Please keep them in your prayers. It was so evident that life goes on but they are still overwhelmed with grief. I just want the to thank the Chapmans for being real. We love you!

ADD ON!
The family was on Larry King live. Again you see God in everything they say and do and again I am amazed.

Ramblings in the morning

It is early Saturday morning. I should be sleeping in but nooo... I had a very restless night, no clue why. I have a busy day planned so I will regret it later.
I think part of my problem is my brain never shuts down. Anyway I felt like blogging so this will just be ramblings.
Oh, where do I start? Hmm... I am looking for a way to earn extra money. I have an office cleaning business so if you read this blog and live in the Tulsa area and know of anyone who could use my services, let me know. I am also plagued by guilt. I have a million pictures that I would like to see in scrapbooks and I have no clue when I will ever get that done. To chill I make earrings which has been a surprise blessing. I took some to work one day and they sold and it has turned into a nice little side business. Who knew! Hopefully I can find time to make some for the fall.

I have friends in Vietnam at this moment. They are there to meet and bring home their sweet little boy. He is such a doll! People often ask me and my husband if we are going to adopt again. Well...I believe our family is complete and He has us on a new journey with Hug Away, but God may have a different plan. We never completly close our hearts to it. The truth is my heart is adoption and everything it stands for. If Mike and I had shut our hearts too adoption I would be sitting in this house right now alone. Oh, Mike would be upstairs asleep , but my boys are grown up and out on their own. They filled the first part of my life with weekends spent at ball parks, scrapes and bruises, funny movies, protecting me from spiders and mice, jokes, guy things, body noises,cars and a bond between mother and sons that is one of the most precious gifts life has to offer. The second part of my life has been blessed by adoption. What a sweet unexpected gift! Three of them. Now my life is filled with make up, fashion shows, dolls, chick flicks, pink and purple everywhere and sometimes tears. I may have not given birth to these three angels but the bond we have is just as strong and precious as the one I have with my guys. I love all of my kids the same but differently. They are all unique individuals who have special gifts and each of them needs my attention in a different way.

So as I sit here rambling in the early hours(well it was when I started) I know that somewhere in California I have a Marine, on the other side of town a son is asleep and in Kansas a son is working, here at the house 3 angels sleep.

3 trips to the hospital$$$

2 trips to Korea$$$$

1 trip to Vietnam$$$

The rewards: Priceless!