Motherhood, Ministry, and Miracles

We are in an incredibly busy season right now.  With the arrival of September came the beginning of our home school year, Justice For Orphans is in full swing, and Jordan had surgery.  

Big Brother Curtis helping Little Brother Slava

 Curtis began his junior year of college at RPI.  He still lives home and it blesses my heart when I see him taking time out of his busy schedule to play with the little boys.  Sierra is a senior in high school, at home of course.  She is taking all of her courses through Liberty University's Edge Program and will officially graduate high school in December.  She will be an official Liberty college student in January, but has her heart set on attending Houghton in the fall (sniff, sniff, tear, tear).  Andrii is in 11th grade with plans to attend Hudson Valley to become an electrician.  Anna is in 7th grade, Jordan is in 3rd, and Slava is in 1st.

Anna cracking the books!

 In addition to homeschooling, Slava is receiving services again this year from our local public school.  I really prayed that the school schedule would work with our home schedule and thankfully it does.  On Tuesdays we are at the school from 1:00-2:30pm for Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech.  On Thursdays we are there from 1:30-3:00pm for OT, Social Skills, and Speech.  Since these classes are in the afternoon they do not interfere with our school day and I use the block of time to run errands close by and conduct business from my car (orphan ministry business that is)!  It's kind of nice to have a quiet hour to sit and work on emails and radio show outlines.

Jordan and Andrii (hiding) hard at work!

Andrii being our poster child at the Casting Crowns concert!

 This is the busy time of year for our orphan ministry.  We had the amazing opportunity to be part of the Sound of Life's booth at the Casting Crowns concert on 9/12 at the Glens Falls Civic Center.  We handed out 150 Orphan Sunday postcards and 140 JFO postcards and we could have doubled that had we brought more.

Mary & I at the Miriam's Heart regional conference in NJ

 Mary and I went to NJ for an orphan conference.  Miriam's Heart is a ministry very similar to Justice For Orphans.  We learned some things and made some great connections.  October 26th is our 2nd annual orphan conference and November 3rd is Orphan Sunday.  These are 2 of our biggest events and they are keeping us very busy.  The radio part of our ministry is growing too.  Our partnership with the Sound of Life is getting us much airtime everyday and our radio show "Orphans No More" is now being aired twice a week!  We are also looking at extending our contract with the New Light 96.7fm which means the weekly show will continue.  God is doing amazing things!

Happy Birthday Wayne Jr.!

 A mother's job is never done!  We celebrated Wayne Jr.'s 24th birthday this month.  It's hard to believe that my first-born baby boy is going to have a baby of his own!  We are sooo excited!

Wayne & Slava

 We took some time out for a family fun day at a local theme park.  It was a beautiful fall day and the kids had a great time!

Jordan post-surgery this week.

 I have lost track of how many of these rod-lengthening surgeries Jordan has had.  But since he had the growing rods inserted for his severe scoliosis, he has had to endure this surgery every 6 months.  He is such a brave boy!  The plan all along has been that once his torso stops growing (for most boys that's in the early teen years) then the growing rods would be replaced with permanent rods and spinal fusion.  We sort of just accepted this plan and rejoiced at the fact that his spine is getting straighter.  But after this surgery when Dr. Carl met with me, he indicated that we have several options - one being NOT putting in permanent rods and NOT doing spinal fusion!  I was stunned and even repeated what he said back to him to make sure I heard correctly.  Jordan's spine now has a curvature around 30-40 degrees.  The doctor said that if a teenage boy walked into his office with that type of curve, he wouldn't even do surgery on him!  It will all depend upon how Jordan grows over the next couple years.  He's 10 years old but only a peanut at 4 ft.  But we know that this is a miracle in the making!!!!

Another miracle in the making.....

Mom-to-be Kerri

Gender reveal parties are all the trend these days, so we of course had to have one!  Tuesday night the family gathered for some pizza and very special cup-cakes.  Inside these cupcakes was a very special cream filling in a very special color - would it be pink or blue?????  Twenty cupcakes were passed out on the count of 3 we all dove in.  I did not have a preference, none of us did really.  Well, Slava did want the baby to be a boy named "Slava".  We are all very excited that a baby is on the way.  A boy or a girl???????   It's a girl!!!!!!  We are expecting Iona Elizabeth Flach to arrive in early February!

Yes the blessings and joys of motherhood, ministry, and miracles.  And now that I hear mayhem coming from the other room...it's time to go start school!

ORPHAN SUNDAY: One Day - One Voice - One Purpose

Orphan Sunday is an event near and dear to my heart.  As an adoptive parent I have come to understand God's heart for the orphan and even better understand the Father's heart for me - a former orphan until He adopted me into His family.  Orphan Sunday is a day to celebrate adoption, foster care, and global orphan care that reflects God's heart as revealed in His Word.  Psalm 68:5-6 says A father to the fatherless...is God in His holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families...

Orphan Sunday is an annual event on the 1st Sunday of November.  On Orphan Sunday Christians stand for the orphan on One Day - with One Voice - for One Purpose!  I invite you and your church to join us along with thousands of others across the United States and around the globe to celebrate this November 3rd.

Why celebrate Orphan Sunday?  As Christians, WE are the people God has called to defend the fatherless, to care for the child that has no family, to visit the orphan in their distress.  It is mandated in His Word:  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress...James 1:27.  It is not the government's job to care for orphans - it's OURS!  There are approximately 163 million orphans in the world - some adoptable, some not, but all need to know the love of God. Not all of these children are found in distant orphanages overseas.  Did you know that the United States has orphans?  There are over 400,00 children in the American foster care system.  Over 100,000 of them are available for adoption with 250,000 entering the system annually.  ALL of these children are created in God's image and every one of them needs and deserves to know the love of God and it's OUR responsibility to be the hands and feet of Jesus to these kids.
There are over 350,000 churches in the United States.  If just one family from each church were to take in 1 or 2 of the children from the foster care system alone that would leave zero kids in the system - they'd be in Christian homes!

I know not everyone is called to adopt or foster - but I do believe that if more Christians prayed, and sought the Lord on what He'd have them do for the fatherless, and if they walked it out in obedience - there would be a whole lot less orphans in the world and a whole lot more sons and daughters in families.  I challenge you to pray as individuals, as families, and as a church.  Ask the Lord what He would have you to do, and trust me - there will be an answer to that prayer.

Orphan Sunday is about waking the Church up to consider these things. It is simply taking some time during your Sunday service to share God's heart for the orphan.  A church could spend as little as 10 minutes or as much as an entire service dedicated to celebrating God's love for the fatherless.  Just visit the Orphan Sunday website at http://orphansunday.org/  to access free video downloads, event ideas, posters, post cards, bulletin inserts, and even sermon notes.  The 3 minute video clips are perfect for showing in church on Sunday.  Adding a testimony from a foster or adoptive family is a powerful message too.

This year on 11/3 my own church, Gospel Community Church in Coxsackie, NY, will be presenting a 30 minute video featuring Ukraine's orphans as part of our celebration.  Anyone in the area is welcome to attend our 10:30am service.  The Sound of Life radio ministry will also be broadcasting live from our church that morning.  Please join us - or better yet - get involved by getting your own church to celebrate Orphan Sunday!  And if you do, please let me know.  As the Orphan Sunday regional coordinator for New York, I'd love to hear what your church is doing for Orphan Sunday.  You can contact me at this blog, email me at sandraflachjfo@gmail.com, or by going to my ministry's website:
http://justicefororphansny.org/.

Join us in defending the cause of the fatherless!
http://orphansunday.org/

Good Bye Summer - Hello September!

Well, it's official.  Jordan is 10 years old!  We had a family party complete with this policeman birthday cake.  He was very blessed.  

Birthday Boy, Jordan!

 I've been pretty busy at the computer lately with orphan ministry stuff, getting ready for another year of home schooling, and life in general.  I looked up from the key board only to discover Slava had dragged a ladder in from the garage and was proceeding to do some household repairs.  At least he has initiative!

Workerman Slava!

 We spent a long Labor Day weekend up at our camp in the Adirondacks.  I ventured up on Thursday afternoon with Sierra, her best friend Luci, Anna, her best friend Mary, and Jordan and Slava.  Friday night Wayne arrived with Andrii and his best friend Ezra.  Luci, Ezra, and Mary are siblings and live right next door to us.  They're also a homeschooling family too.

The girls at the Old Forge playground.

 The girls watched the little boys for me at the playground while I ran to the store.  I don't think they minded;  They had just as much fun!

Sierra, Luci, Anna, & Mary cozy on the boat.

Yes, the big girls are reading books!

 Saturday night we headed to town and the kids had some fun racing go-carts.  Wayne got in on the fun too.  

Andrii getting ready to pass his dad!

 The days were warm and mostly sunny and the evenings were cool but nice.  The kids had fun on the lake and played a lot of card games.

Back: Sierra, Anna, Andrii

Front:  Mary, Jordan, Ezra

Friday night we roasted hot dogs on the fire.

Anna & Sierra did the cooking!

Sierra & I 

 Sunday  afternoon our friends, Lauri & Dennis, came up for the night.  Luci, Ezra, and Mary belong to them.  We enjoyed a boat ride around the lake and then headed into Old Forge for fireworks.

 On the way home we almost always go to the Soda Fountain in Remsen, NY for lunch.  It's a 50s style diner with the best chocolate milk shakes ever!

Jordan & Slava being silly at the Soda Fountain.

That pretty much sums up our holiday weekend.  We arrived home Monday evening in time to meet the 13 year old boy that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law are fostering.  Our whole family was excited to meet him.  He will be spending a few hours with us the next couple of afternoons as public school doesn't start until Friday.  I'm so glad we had all of our clearances done and completed the MAPP classes so we can help our family as they foster.

Another bit of exciting news regarding our orphan ministry is that we have been asked to share a table with The Sound of Life radio station at the Casting Crowns concert in Glens Falls, NY next Thursday night.  This is a huge blessing!  And our 60 second spot has begun running 4 times daily on the station as well.  We are so excited and blessed by all that the Lord is doing!