We have our plane tickets! We were able to use our flyer miles to buy all 6 of our tickets. Tickets were going to be a huge expense. We were able to get all 6 tickets for less than the price of one, using our flyer miles.
The Yard Sale at Living Word on Sweeny Hollow Road has been rescheduled for March 21st from 8-12. Thank you so much for the help and support!
Wednesday was such a awesome day at Community Bible Study. My co-teachers and childrens class made a prayer book for our trip. They prayed for our trip. I loved it. I felt the prayers. Rachel's class also prayed for her. It was uplifting and encouraging. What a blessing. What an awesome group of friends!
We still do not know where we will be staying in Poltava. We are praying for an apartment on a monthly basis, not nightly. We are praying where we stay will be walking distance to the orphanage. I know God will provide for us.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
March 23 Appointment Date
Wow! March 23rd is our appointment date. We were thinking at the earliest the end of March. We have 2 weeks to pack. We leave the 19th and arrive the 20th.
I have been so excited today. At times it is hard to breathe. I think of all the things we need to do. Then I realize nothing matters but getting them here. They don't care if the house is messy. They care that they have a home.
Our 4 children here are excited. We plan on taking all 4 of them with us. I did not want to leave them for .... 6 weeks?
Our home will have 7 children. 7 blessings.
Our fundraiser on Sunday was snowed out. We did have a dinner, Monday night, for the adoption. Thank you to everyone that joined us. At this point I think the yard sale is canceled. We will be running hard to get things together and ready for the trip. The list is long and our time here is short. We will have to pack for winter and summer weather.
Psalm 77:1 I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and He gave ear unto me.
Psalm 34:3-4 O magnify the Lord with me and let us exhalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Thank you for praying.
I have been so excited today. At times it is hard to breathe. I think of all the things we need to do. Then I realize nothing matters but getting them here. They don't care if the house is messy. They care that they have a home.
Our 4 children here are excited. We plan on taking all 4 of them with us. I did not want to leave them for .... 6 weeks?
Our home will have 7 children. 7 blessings.
Our fundraiser on Sunday was snowed out. We did have a dinner, Monday night, for the adoption. Thank you to everyone that joined us. At this point I think the yard sale is canceled. We will be running hard to get things together and ready for the trip. The list is long and our time here is short. We will have to pack for winter and summer weather.
Psalm 77:1 I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and He gave ear unto me.
Psalm 34:3-4 O magnify the Lord with me and let us exhalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Thank you for praying.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Submission date Feb 24
We have a submision date of February 24 for our adoption. We are praying that all goes well. We heard there will be a 20-30 day wait. After that they will give us a date to come to Ukraine. They give at least a weeks notice, sometimes a months notice.
We are praying:
....for God's perfect timing in every step of the way.
.... we listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His leading.
....that we would be blessed and we were allowed into the English classes to help the children practice their English.
....for and apartment.
....for people to donate love gifts.
...most of all for the hearts of these children and the merging of our family.
Thank you for your prayers....they work....God hears....keep praying, please.
Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
We are praying:
....for God's perfect timing in every step of the way.
.... we listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His leading.
....that we would be blessed and we were allowed into the English classes to help the children practice their English.
....for and apartment.
....for people to donate love gifts.
...most of all for the hearts of these children and the merging of our family.
Thank you for your prayers....they work....God hears....keep praying, please.
Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Praying for wisdom and God's timing
It has been busy month. We were so blessed to spend Christmas with the Ukraine children. We all miss them. It was such a joy to experience Christmas with them.
We are working towards going to Ukraine to adopt them. We have been on this journey for about a year and a half. We hope and pray it will all work out soon. Waiting on their registration to be complete, not fun. But God has done some great things in that time. We are trusting in His care and protection of them. We know that God sees the whole picture and we only see part of the big picture. God's plans and timing are perfect.
I'm up early on a Saturday morning. I had to call Ukraine to try to talk. I did. Hello and I'm eating is about all that was said. I will try again later. What a joy to get that much. I miss them terribly.
We are already a family. God put us together months ago. Now they too have the homesick feeling of missing us and missing their home here. They know they are loved and we are trying to come for them. We must be patient. Patient just trying to say hello. Patient on the months it takes to adopt.
I have heard some get puppy love for orphans. I never experienced that. I knew there was never a chance of us changing our minds. They were ours. God has given them to us. I know there are possiblities of problems. We have met some of them. But I know God gave them to us. Therefore God will work out the details.
Ricky and I stayed up late last night talking. I've had a dull headache for a week. Maybe sinus. A toothache for a year. (Yes, my first crown, my first root canal and yes, it still hurts. The amazing thing...it did not hurt till it was "fixed"). I digress. Talking about money gives me a headache. I know that God will provide. Just what God will provide or how I do not know. We had to total the estimated cost of the adoption. It is a large number. Then to talk to others that have adopted recently, and be told to take and extra ten thousand? How can something cost that much more?
Our four children are very excited to be getting closer to the time of adoption. They also miss the others. It is so sweet to hear my 8 year old. At every meal she prays she mentions them to God and asks for His help. I love it. We are planning on taking them with us to Ukraine. In my mind it was always the plan. Plans have to be financed. The end result is as a homeschool mom it is not possible for me to leave them for 6-12 weeks. We had been told we would be in Ukraine 8 weeks. The last two families were there 6 weeks. Hopefully we will not be there longer.
Our time in Ukraine....some things are very scheduled and rules to be followed. We are praying our time their would be useful to others. That God would use us as He desires. That we would be willing to be used by God in whatever He leads us to at that time. We do not know how much interaction will be possible with other orphans. I know God has a plan.
We are also praying about hosting again this summer. It must be decided next month. We are told we are crazy to consider it with plans of 3 new children being here. Again, it is not up to us. We are to be empty vessels willing for God to fill and use as He sees fit. We will pray.
We are working towards going to Ukraine to adopt them. We have been on this journey for about a year and a half. We hope and pray it will all work out soon. Waiting on their registration to be complete, not fun. But God has done some great things in that time. We are trusting in His care and protection of them. We know that God sees the whole picture and we only see part of the big picture. God's plans and timing are perfect.
I'm up early on a Saturday morning. I had to call Ukraine to try to talk. I did. Hello and I'm eating is about all that was said. I will try again later. What a joy to get that much. I miss them terribly.
We are already a family. God put us together months ago. Now they too have the homesick feeling of missing us and missing their home here. They know they are loved and we are trying to come for them. We must be patient. Patient just trying to say hello. Patient on the months it takes to adopt.
I have heard some get puppy love for orphans. I never experienced that. I knew there was never a chance of us changing our minds. They were ours. God has given them to us. I know there are possiblities of problems. We have met some of them. But I know God gave them to us. Therefore God will work out the details.
Ricky and I stayed up late last night talking. I've had a dull headache for a week. Maybe sinus. A toothache for a year. (Yes, my first crown, my first root canal and yes, it still hurts. The amazing thing...it did not hurt till it was "fixed"). I digress. Talking about money gives me a headache. I know that God will provide. Just what God will provide or how I do not know. We had to total the estimated cost of the adoption. It is a large number. Then to talk to others that have adopted recently, and be told to take and extra ten thousand? How can something cost that much more?
Our four children are very excited to be getting closer to the time of adoption. They also miss the others. It is so sweet to hear my 8 year old. At every meal she prays she mentions them to God and asks for His help. I love it. We are planning on taking them with us to Ukraine. In my mind it was always the plan. Plans have to be financed. The end result is as a homeschool mom it is not possible for me to leave them for 6-12 weeks. We had been told we would be in Ukraine 8 weeks. The last two families were there 6 weeks. Hopefully we will not be there longer.
Our time in Ukraine....some things are very scheduled and rules to be followed. We are praying our time their would be useful to others. That God would use us as He desires. That we would be willing to be used by God in whatever He leads us to at that time. We do not know how much interaction will be possible with other orphans. I know God has a plan.
We are also praying about hosting again this summer. It must be decided next month. We are told we are crazy to consider it with plans of 3 new children being here. Again, it is not up to us. We are to be empty vessels willing for God to fill and use as He sees fit. We will pray.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Ukraine children are here
It has been more work than expected, but they are here. 16 Ukrainians left on Dec 20 they had a 2 day adventure...some 3 days. It took hours of phone calls and paperwork to get them here. Yes, much more than expected. They had ice in Ukraine. Therefor they started with a delay. Then in NY weather trouble. One child went with the wrong group. The weather helped us there and he was able to get with the right group. We talked with the airlines for hours. They sat for hours there on the plane. Finally after deicing they arrived in Ohio after 2a.m. They went to a friends house and got some rest. They caught a plane the next morning, nearly did not make their connection by 3 minutes time difference in arrival. Pleading and explaining in Atl and B'ham, they did make the flight. Finally in Birmingham. God is good. Some were on their way to TX today.
You do know this is another thing I told God I did not want to do. I did not want to help others get children here. What a blessing I would have missed. God's timing was so amazing in all the steps. We are truly to die to self and serve. What awesome blessings it brings!
We bought 2 twin mattresses for our 3. They are all smiles and hugs. We are thrilled and blessed to have them here. This was something our family discussed and agreed to give up things to get them here. We were all more excited about them coming than Christmas.
This is our second night with them. They are exhausted and sleeping. Cold weather kept us in for the most part, although the boys did ride bikes a little. Yes, it was 19 degrees. They were excited!
Many did not think they would make it here. We are so blessed and thrilled that God did get them here. We are happy just to sit with them. To see them makes me want to cry in joy. They are our children. Not formally but in our hearts.
We did not do Christmas lights last year. We live where nobody sees them. But this year we did it for them. We pulled out all the trees and decorated most for them to see.
Today we wrapped presents, made ornaments, decorated a gingerbread house (new tradition), watched Christmas cartoons and played. For a first day that was alot. They were ready to do stuff and so we did.
To bed early. Well not for me. This is why I don't blog. I choose to sleep.
Thank you to all my praying friends. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
You do know this is another thing I told God I did not want to do. I did not want to help others get children here. What a blessing I would have missed. God's timing was so amazing in all the steps. We are truly to die to self and serve. What awesome blessings it brings!
We bought 2 twin mattresses for our 3. They are all smiles and hugs. We are thrilled and blessed to have them here. This was something our family discussed and agreed to give up things to get them here. We were all more excited about them coming than Christmas.
This is our second night with them. They are exhausted and sleeping. Cold weather kept us in for the most part, although the boys did ride bikes a little. Yes, it was 19 degrees. They were excited!
Many did not think they would make it here. We are so blessed and thrilled that God did get them here. We are happy just to sit with them. To see them makes me want to cry in joy. They are our children. Not formally but in our hearts.
We did not do Christmas lights last year. We live where nobody sees them. But this year we did it for them. We pulled out all the trees and decorated most for them to see.
Today we wrapped presents, made ornaments, decorated a gingerbread house (new tradition), watched Christmas cartoons and played. For a first day that was alot. They were ready to do stuff and so we did.
To bed early. Well not for me. This is why I don't blog. I choose to sleep.
Thank you to all my praying friends. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Helping others host
We are in the process of helping around 20 children and 2 adults come from Ukraine for Christmas. We will be hosting the 3 children we hope to adopt. We are helping families that are in the process of adoption to host children in their homes. Please be praying for all of us. This is expensive for each one of the families. The children need prayers for safe travel, God's will in their lives and God's perfect plan.
To make it clear our expense should be only for the 3 children we hope to adopt. To host for Christmas it is the same $2,500 that we payed to host for summer per child. I had said no to helping for months. God kept opening doors. I prayed for them to shut if it was not His will. They did not shut.
Now, months later, I can see why God wanted me to do this. Many of the friend I have made while working with the orphans are hosting children to let the children see their homes and to meet their families and for the children to make the decision about their future. I love that the children are getting to try out families and not families try out children.
Pray for the Dec 5th appointment date. Hosting dates are planned to be Dec 20-Jan 11.
To make it clear our expense should be only for the 3 children we hope to adopt. To host for Christmas it is the same $2,500 that we payed to host for summer per child. I had said no to helping for months. God kept opening doors. I prayed for them to shut if it was not His will. They did not shut.
Now, months later, I can see why God wanted me to do this. Many of the friend I have made while working with the orphans are hosting children to let the children see their homes and to meet their families and for the children to make the decision about their future. I love that the children are getting to try out families and not families try out children.
Pray for the Dec 5th appointment date. Hosting dates are planned to be Dec 20-Jan 11.
From Ukraine 11-08
Do I say too often.... God is awesome! We are now back from Ukraine. God's timing and plans were amazing. We planned to visit all 8 of the children we hosted. We were only able to visit 7. One was in a different city. We did not know before we arrived and had no time to find him. One, the youngest, Leeza was in the hospital. Nothing wrong with her. Just keeping up the quota of used beds there. We encountered that with others we had met before and were blessed to be able to see the while we were in Ukraine.
We joined the Reach Orphans with Hope group for the first few days. They went to Poltava. We were able to see many of the children that had been hosted on summer programs and many I had met the year before visiting there. The kids were glad to see us and we were glad to see them. Lots of hugs! We were able to go with some of them to the park. We took bubbles and balloons. Great fun.
We took the orphanage 75 blankets. The director was pleased.
Natasha planned to take me to see the city on Saturday. Rachel said she just wanted to spend time with the children. I told her it was a privilege. We went and saw churches and an author's home. All this in 1 hour. Her husband drove us. (Later God multiplied the time we lost with the children.)
On a personal note on the night we arrived.... Our boy was asked by a friend if I was his mom and he said yes. I clearly understood this in Russian. I don't understand much. Occasionally I can understand sentences. We had not specifically told them of our plans. I was glad to know he already knew. He and his older sister would come up and hug me every few minutes throughout our time together. It is hard not to have them here with us. They are, in our hearts our children. We love them.
We had a great time with the group. It was an easy time, little responsibility, follow the leader. they were in Poltava 2 and a half days. They left for home on Sunday.
My dear friend Masha joined up Saturday morning. She helped many to talk with their future children. She was such a blessing. She rode the train all night to come, with drunks. (You will understand now why I took the day train later. I learned from her bad experience.)
Sunday we were given permission to take the 3 we planned on adopting to Sumi with us to visit Ira and Rita. Natasha and her son went with us also. Masha came to translate for me. It took about 3 hours. Natasha had the driver pick her up, they picked up the kids and then us. We had a bumpy, long van ride. It was good to have some time with the children alone. We played Connect Four and would have played checkers if it had not been too bumpy.
Ira was hysterically excited. She was jumping up and down calling Rita. She had seen us from a distance. She could not decide if she should get Rita or come to us. Finally she did go get Rita. I asked permission to go across the courtyard to meet them. Big hugs and a little shy. They showed us their rooms and introduced us to their friends. We sat in the sitting room awhile then outside to the playground. They introduced us to the puppies under their building. We gave out candy and rubber insects.
We asked permission to take them to lunch. We went to town and walked around. It seemed too short a visit. We hated taking them back. They began to tear up as we headed back. Their teacher said they asked if they could come to America again.
The time came to leave and they were crying. Then I was crying.
The van ride back....I asked Masha to translate and David to occupy Natasha and her son. I knew the oldest was sad and she finally told me why. We talked about it some. I had waited until that day to mention them becoming a part of our family. I only talked with the older 2. The boy was incredibly excited. The surprise was the older girls lack of excitement. In the van she explained her father had died 2 days ago. She was not allowed to go to the funeral. I expressed my sorrow for her loss. We had a fun time on the ride back. She felt better after telling me. It had not affected her siblings like it did her.
The day was done. The children went back to the orphanage.
We joined the Reach Orphans with Hope group for the first few days. They went to Poltava. We were able to see many of the children that had been hosted on summer programs and many I had met the year before visiting there. The kids were glad to see us and we were glad to see them. Lots of hugs! We were able to go with some of them to the park. We took bubbles and balloons. Great fun.
We took the orphanage 75 blankets. The director was pleased.
Natasha planned to take me to see the city on Saturday. Rachel said she just wanted to spend time with the children. I told her it was a privilege. We went and saw churches and an author's home. All this in 1 hour. Her husband drove us. (Later God multiplied the time we lost with the children.)
On a personal note on the night we arrived.... Our boy was asked by a friend if I was his mom and he said yes. I clearly understood this in Russian. I don't understand much. Occasionally I can understand sentences. We had not specifically told them of our plans. I was glad to know he already knew. He and his older sister would come up and hug me every few minutes throughout our time together. It is hard not to have them here with us. They are, in our hearts our children. We love them.
We had a great time with the group. It was an easy time, little responsibility, follow the leader. they were in Poltava 2 and a half days. They left for home on Sunday.
My dear friend Masha joined up Saturday morning. She helped many to talk with their future children. She was such a blessing. She rode the train all night to come, with drunks. (You will understand now why I took the day train later. I learned from her bad experience.)
Sunday we were given permission to take the 3 we planned on adopting to Sumi with us to visit Ira and Rita. Natasha and her son went with us also. Masha came to translate for me. It took about 3 hours. Natasha had the driver pick her up, they picked up the kids and then us. We had a bumpy, long van ride. It was good to have some time with the children alone. We played Connect Four and would have played checkers if it had not been too bumpy.
Ira was hysterically excited. She was jumping up and down calling Rita. She had seen us from a distance. She could not decide if she should get Rita or come to us. Finally she did go get Rita. I asked permission to go across the courtyard to meet them. Big hugs and a little shy. They showed us their rooms and introduced us to their friends. We sat in the sitting room awhile then outside to the playground. They introduced us to the puppies under their building. We gave out candy and rubber insects.
We asked permission to take them to lunch. We went to town and walked around. It seemed too short a visit. We hated taking them back. They began to tear up as we headed back. Their teacher said they asked if they could come to America again.
The time came to leave and they were crying. Then I was crying.
The van ride back....I asked Masha to translate and David to occupy Natasha and her son. I knew the oldest was sad and she finally told me why. We talked about it some. I had waited until that day to mention them becoming a part of our family. I only talked with the older 2. The boy was incredibly excited. The surprise was the older girls lack of excitement. In the van she explained her father had died 2 days ago. She was not allowed to go to the funeral. I expressed my sorrow for her loss. We had a fun time on the ride back. She felt better after telling me. It had not affected her siblings like it did her.
The day was done. The children went back to the orphanage.
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