Playing Catch-Up

Soooooo it's been some time since my last blog post.  I've gotten a couple of complaints for being a slacker/blogger, so now I'll try to redeem myself.  Life is unbelievably busy.  I will try my best to get caught up here, and then I'll do some special posts on some specific events worth detailing.  

 On April 25th Wayne & I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary!  Our wonderful kids threw us a very special party complete with the renewing of our vows.  They attended to many details including a cake decorated like our actual wedding cake, pictures, the Guest Book from our wedding for our guests to sign, flowers, and so much more.  We are so blessed!

 This is Sierra and I at her piano recital.  She played beautifully even if Slava did manage to find his way up to the front and sit on the piano bench for a few moments!  You can view her performance on Facebook.

Wayne is digging a trench to run a waterline from our new well to the house.  It has become a little boys' dream playground complete with excavator, dump truck, and dirt!  Please ignore the safety violations here!

We are finished with school....sort of.  Wayne and I, Sierra and Andrii, attended the annual LEAH Homeschooling Convention in Rochester the first week of June.  Typically after convention, and the purchase of new school books, no one wants to finish the "old" books.  For the most part we are done, but summer just means a new routine, a bit more relaxed, but one where learning is still occurring.

This summer is one of transitions.  Sierra is babysitting and managed to land a little job at the local library.  Andrii mows our lawn but has also begun to work a couple days with Pop Flach (his grandfather), and Anna is working at a near by farm helping with the horses.  It requires a little more running around for me, but next summer both Sierra and Andrii will be driving so that will help...I think.

Curtis is taking a summer Calculus 2 class and working, Wayne & Kerri just celebrated their 2nd anniversary, and Missy has a dear friend from Sweden, Andrea, visiting for the week.  We girls are all heading to NYC one day this week to show Andrea the sites.

Stay tuned on a post about my trip to Christian Alliance For Orphans' annual Orphan Summit.  God is showing me so many things and breaking my heart for the fatherless.

March Update

It amazes me how fast time flies.  My last post was March 3rd, and I really intended to start blogging weekly as least.  Here we are a month and a half later!  I guess it's been a busy 6 weeks.  Typically our week looks like this:  Mon night Wayne has men's Bible study, Tues afternoon Sierra has piano and I have women's Bible study in the evening, Wed night we all go to church for Missionettes/Royal Rangers/Fife& Drum/Flagging, Thurs night is Karate (Sierra, Anna, and now Jordan & Slava too), Friday night is Youth Group (Curt, Sierra & Andrii), Sat. mornings has been youth archery (which is finished now), and Sunday is church.  I'm tired just typing it, but this list doesn't include doctor/dentist appts, shopping, homeschooling or any of the other dozens of things that also happen during the week. But even with all of the craziness I'm content where God has me.  My daily goal is to remain in Christ, trusting He remains in me, for I know apart from Him I can do nothing.  

And I just want to bring glory to His name.

On April 2nd Curtis turned 20 years old!

 Sierra arose early and made him a birthday breakfast, which he ate before leaving for college with Slava happily keeping him company.

The annual pinewood derby was a fun time for all.  Andrii won 1st place in his Royal Ranger class and best looking car.  Jordan won fastest car in his class too.  Andrii turned 15 on April 10th also.

Anna promoted to a yellow belt.  Jordan & Slava have also joined Karate.  My goal is for them to learn self discipline, self control, obedience, and upper body strength.  I'll post pics of them  next time.

 Jordan with his car and medal.

March was also busy with Sierra going to NYSSMA, a women's conference for me, the Men's Retreat for Wayne & Curtis, Sierra had 4 wisdom teeth pulled, and our home school group started bi-weekly co-op classes.  We had a wonderful Easter.  I attended and spoke at the annual Mom's Luncheon, and the girls and I enjoyed a Missionette's sleep-over at our church.

Sierra has been taking an SAT Prep-Course on Monday nights.  She's not only ahead a year in school, but she's completed so much work that I'm now looking into setting her up with some on-line college-credit courses for next year.  She'll be a Junior, but aside from math and history, she's completed every stitch of high school curriculum we have.

I'm thrilled to be going to California for Christian Alliance For Orphan's annual Orphan Summit on May 2nd-5th.  Wayne felt I should go, so I'll be traveling with my pastor's wife, Mary, and our good friend Jocelyn.  And we were all blessed with some frequent flier miles, so our round-trip tickets only cost $10 each!!!!!!  God is so faithful and good.

I'm sure I'll have some exciting things to post again,

so please check back again soon!

Orphans, Orphans, Everywhere!

My last post wasn't really about the family, so I guess I better blog about the kids. At the end I will update on some more of what God has been showing me about orphans & trafficking.

"Jesus Loves Us-by Anna & Slava"

I went for a walk to enjoy one of the mild days we've been having, and I stumbled upon this masterpiece on our driveway. This kind of thing makes it all worth it.

Jordan, Curtis, Slava & Anna

Our first real snowfall this season. I officially declared a snow-day so the kids could enjoy it while it lasted. Curtis (college didn't have a snowday) arrived home and joined in on the fun.

Anna (on right) our flag girl.

Anna (I can't believe she's 12 already) is on our church's flag team.

Mr. & Mrs. Wayne Flach Jr.

My precious son & daughter-in-law at my nephew's wedding.

Andrii & Sierra

February was full of doctor & dentist appointments. Curtis had a minor surgery on his mouth, Anna got 3 fillings, and Sierra is scheduled to have all 4 wisdom teeth out. We got good news (and answered prayer) on Jordan. He saw the pediatric endocrinologist and she was pleased...he grew a whole inch since August. His blood work was great too. She took another x-ray (I think this kid could probably glow in the dark from all the x-rays he's had) of his hand and said we didn't need to come back for another year! We enjoyed my nephew's wedding, Wayne took Andrii and 2 of his buddies (and Jordan) up to camp for a weekend, and then I blinked and now it's March!

I believe God is giving the green light on me (and my Pastor's wife, Mary) going to Christian Alliance For Orphan's Orphan Summit in California in May. As I was looking over the details of the conference I came across the workshop listings. In between the key-note speakers are 15 breakout sessions to choose to attend. They are all adoption/orphan/foster care related of course, but 2 caught my eye. Aside from the "How to begin an orphan ministry" meetings (which we're interested in) there is a workshop on Ukraine's orphans and a workshop on Orphans & the Global Human Trafficking Crisis. These are exactly the things on my heart. Then a few days ago I got an update on the Summit and Dr. Karyn Pervis of Texas Christian University's Child Development Dept. will be speaking at a pre-conference session. Last summer I read Dr. Pervis's book on behavioral issues in adopted children. Her book was so helpful to us in parenting Slava that I even ordered a dvd of her teaching her techniques for Wayne & I to watch together. Last summer I was hoping she would be speaking somewhere in our area, but it didn't appear that she does much in the way of speaking engagements. And now here she will be at the Summit. God knew that would get my attention. Pastor Stan gave Mary the green light to go, now I'm just waiting for God to give the green light to Wayne so I can go.

On that note I'd like to share a God-moment I had the other day. I had an eye appt followed by a hair appt and found myself with 40 minutes between the 2. My first reaction was to go to Dunkin Donuts, get a coffee, and sit in the car and read my book...for 40 quiet, uninterrupted minutes. But then I had this thought that I should go into the Silver Spoon Cafe for a cup of soup instead. I figured that was a strange thought, it would be weird, and I'd rather sit alone. But I felt like God was nudging be to go where people are. So I went in, grabbed a booth, and ordered up a cup of soup. While I set there, by myself, in walked a young couple that I knew from town. This Christian couple, I knew, is in the process of adding on to their house to expand in order to add more children to their family. They have 2 little ones of their own (and one precious angel in heaven), and have done foster care. When they saw me in the cafe they made a beeline for me wanting to discuss...adoption. They're feeling called to adopt a child from Russia and wanted to talk about international adoption. Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite thing to talk about is orphans and adoption! They want to set up a meeting with me to talk all about it. I walked out of the cafe that day knowing I'd just had a God-appointed meeting. The Lord is certainly directing my steps towards orphan ministry. My plan is to say "yes" to Him as He guides me along.

Thanks for listening...or reading!

In Him,

Sandra

Justice For the Oppressed

Wow! It's only been a week since my last post, but I'd like to share what's been going on. In my

last post I shared some of what God has been putting on my heart. I had sent a message to a missionary friend, Vicki, who has been part of YWAM Kiev since the early 90's. She and her husband were part of the original team that established the base in Kiev. Vicki is the one who told me that Ukraine has the highest number of girls in all of Eastern Europe. I asked her the questions I'd posted here, basically who is doing something!?!

As it turns out, Vicki and her husband started Justice For Youth (please check it out at justiceforyouth.org). It's basically a platform to bring about info, awareness, and hopefully solutions. Today we skyped for an hour discussing trafficking in Ukraine and Moldova. I'm really seeking God on what the next step for me is supposed to be. I do know one thing...I can't not do something. Something Kay Warren said in her book struck me. She was referring to the global issues of HIV/Aids, poverty, orphans, trafficking, etc. "Hope for sustainable, lasting societal change is found primarily in the Church of Jesus Christ.". She also said that God put all his eggs in one basket...and we, the Church, are the basket. There is no other basket. Jesus said to go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation. Jesus wasn't speaking to a select few, He was speaking to us. We can't always just throw a few dollars into the offering plate and call it a day. Sometimes you just have to put yourself into the offering plate. I am stepping into the offering plate.

LORD, You know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them.

Psalm 10:17-18

Dangerously surrendered,

Sandra

And Another Month Flies By...

It amazes me how the days turn into weeks! I really wanted to update this blog weekly, but before I know it 3 weeks have past since my last post. The busy-ness is all part of having my "cup runneth over" full house of blessings. So this is what's been going on:

Nurse Colleen, Dr. Jordan, and "Art-Art" the patient.

Jordan had another rod lengthening surgery on January 10th. This picture was taken in pre-op with one of his favorite nursers. We've had very good experiences at Albany Med. We always joke that we're "frequent fliers." Everyone loves Jordan and he's pretty famous in pre-op, the OR, post-op, and up on the pediatric floor (especially at the nurse's station)! Surgery went well. Dr. Carl lengthened his rods a whole 10mm which is a lot actually. Jordan complained more about the pain this time, and I was more concerned about the look of the incision as he healed, but he's back to normal now. We just had an awesome visit to Dr. Carl's office where everyone is requesting that Jordan be made the office mascot! We go back for x-rays in May and the next surgery will most likely be in July.

Ukrainian Princess Anna

Our Missionettes had a fashion show where they got to dress up in time period clothing or a costume of their choice. Anna really wanted to be a bride, but I had no idea where I was going to find a bridal gown. We settled on a bride's maid type gown, then my friend, Kelli, showed up with a whole bunch of dresses...including her wedding gown. Anna was thrilled to her toes! This pic isn't the greatest, but she did look beautiful.

Sierra getting ready to walk the red carpet.

Sierra managed to pull off wearing 2 outfits, including this gown (also from Kelli) and a top hat and cane she borrowed from Curtis.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

February 4th was my mom's birthday. We had my parents, my brother & sister-in-law, and all the kids over for dinner. I cannot mention her age since she frequents this blog!

Our days have been filled with doctors, dentists, school, archery, and church activities. Curtis, Sierra, and Andrii spent last weekend away at a youth retreat. Tomorrow we're all looking forward to a fun time at my nephew's wedding.

In my free time...which usually doesn't happen until 9pm or so, I've been doing a lot of reading. Over the summer the Lord put it on my heart to search the Scriptures on the topic of orphans, which brought my attention to the word "oppressed." Then my pastor's wife lent me the book Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren which launched me into researching human trafficking and forced prostitution. I'm not sure why, but I'm compelled to read. I know in my heart that trafficking and orphans are linked. It is the poor, vulnerable girls who are preyed upon by traffickers whether they be in Asia or Eastern Europe, or even right here in the U.S. Ukraine is a place near and dear to my heart, and it just so happens that most of the girls trafficked in Eastern Europe are from Ukraine. I can just picture traffickers hanging around the villages outside of the orphanages, just waiting for the teenage girls who "age out" of the orphanage. Girls with barely any education, no money, no job, no family...prime targets for sure. I'm having a difficult time finding out whether anyone in Ukraine, any Christian ministry, is reaching out to the at risk girls, the girls in orphanages, to educate them and warn them of this potential snare. Who is training them to earn a living in a safe, healthy way? Who is teaching them skills? Who is ministering to the girls who actually make it out of the nightmare? I have friends in Cambodia doing exactly this stuff with girls at risk there. I've always known about trafficking, but now I'm seeing clearly, like God has brought it into focus. I'm not sure yet exactly what I'm supposed to be doing about it. For now I'm praying, researching, and waiting for the Lord to show me the next step. My heart is still on orphans and adoption, and it probably always will be. My mother-in-law just lent me the book Choosing To See by Mary Beth Chapman. She and her husband, Steven Curtis Chapman, adopted 3 girls from China, the youngest of whom tragically died in an accident. I sobbed through the book, and even starting searching Chinese adopting online. At this moment I'm not feeling the call to actually adopt, but of course I never say never...my mission is to always say yes to God. And right now He's got me wrecked for the oppressed. I would however, really like to see others adopting. Every Christian family needs to adopt older girls from Asia or Eastern Europe. We became members of Christian Alliance For Orphans. They put on an Orphan Summit each year to promote adoption awareness and to help churches to advocate for orphans and adoption. It seems almost impossible for me to go, but I'm praying about it. It's May 3rd-5th in Southern California at Saddleback Church (Rick & Kay Warren's church) and one of the featured speakers is Steven Curtis Chapman!

So now I'll step down off my soap box. It's 9pm. Time for me to curl up with my research! Thanks for listening.

Sandra

Busy, but Blessed!

December was such a busy month that I just never got the chance to post. We enjoyed 2 wonderful weeks off of school but life was still busy. After Christmas I spent much of the week on the computer doing annual adoption reports (progress reports on each kid sent to the Consulate General of Ukraine in NY) and homeschool quarterly reports on each of the 5 kids. We returned to school on Tuesday, sort of, since I had to take Jordan to get his cast off in the morning. The day before I spent quite a bit of time correcting about 3 weeks worth of Sierra's school work, something I just never get to during the school week! It's a good thing she's self motivated, maybe too much so. Sometimes I find my self telling her to stop doing school work because she's so far ahead and I'm so far behind.

I bumped into my dear friend, Jay, in the grocery store yesterday. We hadn't seen each other in probably over a year. It was so good to see each other that we spent a good half of an hour getting caught up. Mostly I needed to be updated on her family. It turns out that Jay peruses this blog and reported that I hadn't posted lately. So, Jay, here it is!

It is a Flach family tradition to spend Christmas Eve with Wayne's parents and all his siblings and their kids. We enjoy appetizers and family fellowship, then Rita reads the Christmas story from the Bible. Wayne's dad shares a message from his heart. This year he challenged each of us, especially the grandchildren (the 5th generation), to walk with God. He illustrated the family tree starting with his grandparents, Karl & Anna, who arrived in NYC from Germany. They ran a bakery and Anna attended a German service at Ridgewood Pentecostal Chruch in Brooklyn. She got saved, then later Karl did too. Charles (Wayne's grandfather) got saved there as well (as did many of his siblings), and that was the beginning of the Godly heritage in our family.

Flach Family Tree

Notice that our branch has the most nuts!

Actually I find it interesting that Karl & Anna had 8 kids, and so do we!

We even have an Anna from E. Europe.

Christmas Morning

Doesn't it look like Slava's saying, "Where's my pants?"

Christmas day was very precious to me. Missy slept over to be with us in the morning. My parents came, Wayne & Kerri, Tom & Linda, and Shannon (Kerri's family), and Jean & Earl Smith (Missy's Godparents) all joined us for dinner. I felt so incredibly blessed to have all of my children with me the whole day.

Slava's House

What a difference a year makes! Slava has come so far. This year he was really into Christmas and could answer questions about the Christmas story because we read it to him so much. We asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he said, "A house." So, he got a house. He was so excited when Daddy carried the big box in, he actually was jumping up and down. Then he "helped" Daddy build the house!

With the holidays now over, we're back to the busyness of life. Jordan has his next surgery on Tuesday, 12/10. Please keep him in prayer. It's just a "routine" rod lengthening with just 1 overnight in the hospital, but we always want God's presence throughout it.

Jordan wins the prize for the biggest scar!

Jordan asked me to take a picture of his scar so he could see it. Well, here it is. As crooked as it looks, it is much straighter then it was prior to the rod surgery. And he's much taller since he's finally growing.

Today marks the 5th year anniversary of the day we brought Andrii, Anna, & Jordan home from Ukraine! We are blessed beyond measure to have the God given privilege to raise these kids for Him. Thank you, Lord!

The LORD has been very faithful to us in 2011. We saw answered prayer in Slava, God's protection over our children, a house for my parents, good health, and countless other blessings. We're looking forward to walking with God through 2012!

Happy New Year & Abundant Blessings to you,

Sandra

Family Fun

My plan with this blog is to update weekly...ha ha...easier said than done! Life is so busy and full that I just don't get to everything. I've stumbled upon a plan of success recently though. I begin my day with a list of things I'd like to or need to accomplish, then I give it to the Lord and ask Him to accomplish what is on His list instead. Amazingly, when I remember to do this, my days are much less overwhelming and much more productive.

We've had some fun family times since my last post too. Sierra turned 15 in November! I just can't believe it. We also attended a bridal shower for my nephew's bride-to-be. Now we're mid-way into December and Christmas preparations are upon us. Our tree is up, the house is decorated, cookies are baking, and there's a whole lotta shopping going on! This week will be the last week of school for us (another advantage of homeschooling). So the week before Christmas we can enjoy the season while getting all the last minute things done.

Toilet Paper Brides

Sierra & Gracie (victims of a bridal shower game)!

Some Flach Girls

Sierra & Missy with Grammy Flach

The Birthday Girl

Mr. Slava

This picture cracks me up!

Wayne took pics of the boys in his Royal Ranger class for a craft project, and this was Slava's pose!

This week is shaping up to be a marathon week: Jordan has a doctor's appt, piano lesson, church ladies' Christmas party, Royal Rangers/Missionettes' Christmas parties, Christmas shopping with Curtis, attending a play with the kids, a hair appt, a birthday-movie-date with Sierra, and the last week of school until January!!! Tis the season to be jolly! But after this week things will slow down and we will snuggle in and enjoy the celebration of Christ's birth with our family!