Grants and Birds

Here's an overdue update about our Mother's Day "flash sale" of the Fly Home Fundraiser prints - we raised $250 in just few hours. Thanks to everyone who got something pretty for their mama!

AND... (drum roll)... this week received another grant from Katelyn's Fund for $3000! 

I cried. 

They sent us the nicest note - HUGE encouragement!  I'll share it here (so one day I can come back and cry again).

Dear Harold and Erin, 

We wanted to share with you how very blessed we were by your testimonies and trust in Him during the interview time together last week. We were moved by your willingness to share with us and know that He is going to continue to work and give you wisdom and strength through all of this. We were struck by your desires to listen to His voice, to follow His plan, and to see His kingdom go forth, we were blessed as you shared how He is growing and stretching you and showing His faithfulness during this time.   We are confident He has such a good plan for your family, and loves the ways you both serve Him so selflessly.  We know that He will show His faithfulness to you.

We were struck by your genuine faith, your desires for your children to know the Father as their personal Lord and Savior, your commitment to follow His plan, and your persistence to examine ways to live for Him.  We love your hearts and the ways He is creating new ways for you to know Him. You have a powerful story to share of His speaking and leading. He loves the way you are listening for Him, that you are living in new ways to grow in Him…we trust He has and is giving you discernment in decisions, He is faithful. We will continue praying for each of you, for His grace, wisdom, and presence.

It is with joy, we share, that we have approved your family for a $3,000 grant, which will be sent directly to your agency.

It was followed by some directions for getting it to our agency and whatnot. Fun stuff.
That is the biggest grant that fund doles out - so it's a huge deal. What encouragement! 

Praying a few more come in. Several have contacted us that because of this virus mess their meetings and doing are postponed until into the summer months. 

God is providing. 

There's still a lot going on. Even when we feel like it's standing still. He is moving. 

Please continue to pray for Andrii's health, he continues radiation and his platelet count was very low this week. 

Learn to do good;

seek justice,

 correct oppression;

bring justice to the fatherless,

plead the widow's cause.

Isaiah 1:17

I'm looking for a way to share  info - like grants and expenses and timelines - perhaps google docs. Look for that soon. Maybe. Hopefully.

Fly Home Mother’s Day SALE

Mother’s Day May 10th! That’s only 3 weeks away!

We’ve got a limited stock of birds left and for TODAY ONLY* we are cutting prices in half!!!!

Regularly they are $20 each or 2 for $30
But today only you can get them for $10 each or 2 for $20
AND if you purchase 2 or more (shipped to the same address) you get FREE SHIPPING!!!!

We are still working to Fly Home a new son and daughter from Ukraine! Help us get that much closer. 

There are plenty of  both Hummingbirds and the little Jay on Praise Him! Praise Him!  
but very limited stock of Cardinals and Blue Jays. Get them quick!

Order now at this link and pay via PayPal and we will get them in the mail tomorrow (Monday 4/20/2020).

We'll ship directly to you or your mother! Let us know in the Mailing address spot on the order form.

* TODAY ONLY = Sunday, April 19, 2020

Ink, Quarantine, and Birds

I ordered the wrong ink

Last weekend we were sent one more paper to print, notarize and apostille. But I was out of ink. And I'm avoiding Walmart cause... well, it's crazier than normal. And they don't have toilet paper anyway. 
So I ordered ink. And it came a day earlier than expected. And I ran to put it in the printer and... it's the wrong size. (Although it look exactly the same *eye roll*).

So I HAD to go to Walmart to exchange it. 

So we also bought a few other things. (but no toilet paper - found that at Dollar General). 

But then The Daddy isn't home to sign it... so.... we wait. Again. 

(Before I could edit and add links and pictures Gene came home and a sweet friend Notarized them for us. Thanks Mary Ann!)


In somewhat happier news, Andrii's radiation treatment is going well. He still gets a few

FaceTime with Andrii

visitors. And a friend even got to go to radiation with him. I got to talk with him on Thursday and tell him good night. He looked really good!

There is still fundraising happening to help cover parts of his medical needs. Some testing and nursing care and MRIs. More on that can be found here. 

Haven't heard much from Anastasia this week.

Today, Ava went to Aldi with me. Which was a huge blessing because they had limited the number of gallons of milk you can buy to just 2. Which is totally ridiculous to someone that normally gets 6. Since she didn't need milk she got 2 for me with her order. What a relief! 
But I'll still have to go to the store again sooner. Which flys against this whole "shelter at home" malarkey. 

This whole mess is becoming silly. All these talking heads.... (*huge eye roll* followed by mumbling about the Constitution and rights...). 
Only sick people should be quarantined. We may bust out. (We may have already.)

And we, all 8945 that seem to live here, are not sick.  We are only sick of hearing about it ALL the time!
So, while a few weeks ago I was all about our Grand people staying home and away from others who could be carriers (like us), now... well, this is no way for any people to live life. Especially our hurting and elderly and those who have lost a loved one. It's hard to show how much you care from far away. 

"The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together."

I Corinthians 12:22-26

Can you tell that even this homebody is fed up?  

"Security without liberty is called prison." 

~ Benjamin Franklin ~

(*stepping off soap box* *noting that, if this is a prison, it's a pretty nice prison*)

We have made use of our park passes and continue to be thankful for the beautiful weather and room to roam. 

And we still have Fly Home bird prints for sale! Only a few of some but lots of hummingbird prints! 

The printer was closed and now someone else is "helping" and I'm not sure when we will order more. We had hoped Spring festivals would be a help to us... but those are all canceled. 

So look for a SALE SOON (like tomorrow). I'll link it when it goes live.

And we are still waiting for grants. But like everything else, many are paused. Some are waiting on an update from us that things are moving forward. 

It WILL happen. Soon. 

It just will.

The Last Shall Be First

We are sticklers for context so I've giggled as verses have come to mind about what has taken place in the last 24 hours. They are NOT about adoption or grants or anything concerning money but...

"The last shall be first..." (Matthew 20:16), or "A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand..." (Psalm 91:7)

We got word yesterday that the last grant we filled out, Open Hearts for Orphans, was approved!!! So we've got our first grant approval. ($2000) Woohoo! 

I also deposited a healthy lump into our adoption account at the bank from the fundraisers we've had recently. Bringing that account to just over a thousand. 

God's providing. 

There's still a ways to go... but we see a small dent. 

In other news, we've been busy!

Saturday at the Jockey Lot

Saturday we parents held a fundraiser at the Anderson Jockey Lot (a huge flee market) and did... okay. It cost us $20 for two tables on which we put lots of treasures that have been donated to help us raise funds. We had sold many items on eBay and Facebook Marketplace but that had slowed down. We also used one end of a table to promote our current Fly Home Fundraiser. We made $99.75 plus the few prints we sold. We meet two Russian speakers - which was thrilling. Talked about ideas for more fundraising (and lots of other stuff). And had a great time together!

The gaggle that went into the GSCCCA
to get documents apostilled

Sunday we listen to our favorite preacher! Gene was invited back to preach at Lighthouse Baptist Church. He's glad he got to stretch that muscle. 
  
On Monday we loaded up the kids and took a little trip down to Atlanta and got 28 documents apostilled, (Don't know what "apostille" means? See my little glossary by clicking here.) It was way easier than I expected and only took about 20 minutes. We are waiting on one more document and our part of the dossier will be done!!!

The gaggle that stayed in the van and
slept while the other half went in to the
GSCCCA

We are studying up on Ukraine, the language, and things to do and see in Kyiv. Which mostly means I'm trying to remember how to say "Hi" and "please" and "thank you" and "where's the bathroom" in Russian - and this old dog is having a hard time with this new trick! But we'll keep studying. 

Our handy Ukraine book & a
little googling printed out

Please continue to pray for us all and the kids waiting on us to come get them. Pray, that while the world seems to be going virus crazy, that the Ukraine borders and government stay open for us and all our new friends who are adopting right now too. 

Heard another song yesterday that tugged at me. "Sovereign Over Us" by Michael W. Smith - that first verse... part of it goes

You are working in our waiting

You're sanctifying us

When beyond our understanding

You're teaching us to trust

 It's posted below.

Love ya!

The Greatest Help

I was lamenting the lack of sharing of our current and recent fundraisers. Thankfully, I was just complaining privately to myself. I quickly had a talk with me.

I reminded my complaining self of a documentary we (Gene and I, not the royal we) had the opportunity to see called Blind Eyes Opened. It tells the hard truth about sex trafficking in America. Not a family flick, but could be watched by middle schoolers as they are a much targeted group. Certainly a topic of safety that parents should be discussing at age appropriate levels.

At the end of the showing they had gathered these women who had been featured in the film, all recovering and experiencing the hope and healing found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
They discussed their current lives and the ministries they were involved with. Then were asked,  “How can people help?”

Then we heard the BEST answer ever!!!
“You can do something as little as give, or as much as pray."

As a ministry leader and hopeful adoptive mama, I LOVE that answer.

I know many who are praying. And I know God is hearing and answering those prayers. He has proven it again and again over this past year of trying. And I have no doubt He will continue.
His plans are so much greater!

While I was typing out these thoughts who should arrive but the UPS man! 

And guess what arrived!!! 

Our Fly Home Fundraiser prints (they are gorgeous!)  AND our silicone bracelets from the 12-12-12-12 for World Cancer Day fundraiser (they aren’t exactly what I expected, but they’ll do).

What an encouragement!!!  

The birds and the bracelets are still available- just click on the linky-word things  up there to find out more or see below.

God is good!

Drop me a comment below and tell me how God has been good to you this week! 



To skip the reading of other blog post and get to business:
For Fly Away Home Bird Prints on antique hymn pages by Cady Driver see our order form by clicking here. 
For a #becoming12 brain and children's cancer awareness silicone bracelet give via PayPal to  PayPal.me/edbrown77 - note "for adoption" and your mailing address; or to make a tax deductible gift through the Abba Fund click here.

Fly Home

I LOVE Hymns! 
I LOVE birds! 
So this beautiful opportunity we have been given is right up my alley! 

An amazing artist and adoptive mother, Cady Driver, is allowing us the opportunity to fund raise with her gorgeous artwork to help us "Fly Home" our new children.

These are high quality professional prints made from original art that she painted on antique hymnal pages. They will fit an 8x10 frame or opening. We can deliver these locally, or ship them!

We chose five of our favorites to offer as a fundraiser to help us get these two new kids home from Ukraine,  and we hope that you love them! We are currently taking pre-orders to help us figure out the number of prints that we will need to order. We are asking $20  (or $15 if you buy 2 or more), plus shipping if needed, per print.

These would make great gifts for Easter, Mother's Day, Anniversaries,  and Birthdays coming up this Spring. Or perhaps you could get a big jump start on your Christmas shopping!

We will also be drawing the names of a few people who SHARE this post via social media or email or to your own blog (leave a link!), to receive a free print of your choice! So, please share and comment how you shared so that we can keep track!
EDIT: Our first winner was chosen on March 6th - Congratulations Grace A. 
We'll draw again at the beginning of April so keep sharing! And don't forget to comment!

We are so thankful to Cady for this incredible blessing! You can find out more about Cady on her website here and Instagram page here or Facebook here. 

Click Here for the Link to PreOrder - or copy and paste the link below

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScthKqTeuaMlIT8HxCGk9WNmgAH6tSnzGUEo4rz7ukwHx15Jw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Blue Jay on Blessed Assurance

Cardinal on Sweet By and By

Hummingbird on Christ the Lord is Risen Today

Hummingbird on He Leadeth Me

Jay on Praise Him! Praise Him!