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.