Tuesday, October 21, 2008

A Busy Month

I thought things would slow down after the 8 orphans left. I have joked with some that if you are serving God your life never slows down. We are back in the full swing of school and Community Bible Study. We have signed up for no field trips this year. I think we missed all the deadlines with the orphans here. Rachel is taking art with William Hallmark. She is doing a beautiful job and learning a lot.
Rachel, oldest daughter, and I leave for the Ukraine October 29- Nov 10. We will be visiting the 8 orphans that visited with us in August. We will be going to a least 3 orphanages. We are praying about the schedule. There are many open doors. We are trying to discern where God wants us to visit there are other cities that are options. We are praying seeking God's perfect plan for this trip and His calling on our lives. We know we are to visit the 8 children. We will be meeting with missionaries while we are in Ukraine. We know we see only in part but God sees in full.
We are in the process of helping some to host for Christmas. We ask God to shut the doors if this was not His will. Three doors opened that day. We are praying about bringing the three we hope to adopt for Christmas. (Yes, money is an issue.)
On faith we are going on the mission trip. We had $20. donated. We spent much more than that on blankets. We are fully trusting God to provide for what He calls us to do. I am so excited to see the children and to encourage them. We know the ones in Zhytomer have a missionary and churches teaching them AWANA's. It is wonderful to hear that they have the Word of God in their lives.
The 3 we are trying to adopt, were going into foster care. They did not have a hope of adoption. They were told by the orphanage that an "American" family wanted to adopt them. They have figured out that it is us. They begged not to go into foster care. They were told they could stay at the orphanage. We have been able to talk with them some using an interpreter. They are very excited about our trip but disappointed we will be there only a few days.
We have heard it may be possible to adopt them in March instead of August. We have been trying to get our paperwork finished and over to Ukraine as soon as possible. That would be amazing and awesome! God's timing is perfect and we must trust in Him.
All the paperwork for Ukraine and school for my 4 leaves me little time to breathe. It is an incredibly busy time. We did not expect so much to do. Having a week of rest is out of the question. We took 1 day off after they left and then began school. In all that is going on there is such great JOY. What a privilege to help others and serve a God that loves us so much.
Have a blessed day!