The green-eyed monster....

We had a great day at the orphanage today!  Even had the opportunity to skype home so that V could see the kids and they got to see him.  It was too loud to talk as we had extra kids to spend time with us!

For most of our visit, V was doing fine - but then towards the end he became a little jealous of all the time that mom and dad were spending playing with the other kids.  When I it was time to go, two girls grabbed my hands and V got upset.  I had Victor tell him that we were his parents and we loved him the most, but these children had no one.  He still didn't like it much...

It is amazing how very much these children soak up any attention!  They are like a dried up flower needing water and when you talk to them, show an interest and affection - you can see such a difference in them, the light inside turns on and they bloom.   I hope I never get callous to their need.

We won't get to see the kids tomorrow, we have some paperwork to get done.  I am all for whatever it takes to get things rolling as well as a break in the routine!  We have about 4 1/2 hours a day occupied and the rest is down time.  For those coming - bring anything you can think of to do! 

Tomorrow is a critical day for us - we will know then how things stand and IF we get to have court on Friday.  We are praying very hard - hoping for good news and that it all comes together!  I am hoping my next post is a joyous one!

Same day, different date...

We are at the phase of the journey that each day is the same as the previous and the one to come....I love seeing the children but the routine gets monotinous.  Julie and I only have another probable 17 days of it...

Today we did get to meet some other children, a couple of them that are coming to Indiana in late December.  Yulia is adorable, an older girl with 3 siblings - she is quiet but seems to be really sweet!  Denys Y also seems to be a really sweetie!  I have seen a couple of the others but not enough to make any impression.  I think we should have time tomorrow.  For now we sit in a room and play with the kids.  We have a backpack that has some games and I brought some old video games with me - as you would guess those are the biggest hit with the boys or girls! 

We also got to see some art the children made - very interesting and some quite beautiful!  We also got to see V's room and his bed.  He is so sweet!!!  He is just so happy to have a family...he sits by us and sometimes he will just smile and lay his head on us.  He is very snuggly with me and sometimes with Jeff but he really likes to tickle and be a boy with his daddy.  He has made it clear he is very ready to go home and has not a moment's hesitation about it.

We should know on Monday if things will continue to go well.  Please keep praying!  I enjoy being here with the kids buy miss the ones at home.  We have had fun emailing and skyping though!  They are so funny! 

We have become the regulars at the one restaurant in town - it is really good and for 4 of us to eat a big meal is only around $3-5 per person. The taxi we take back and forth from the orphanage to our apartment is pretty inexpensive also - it is around $5 round trip! 

I guess for now that is all...I look forward to hearing from you!  We have about 4 hours a day that are occupied and about 12 a day that are not!  The down time is a killer!  Julie and I think we may do some travelling during our 10 day wait - we aren't sure we can handle that much down time for that long of a period!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal!

Things are going well!!!

Things are going as well as we had hoped!  Yesterday we were a bit nervous as the judge is older and has only done 2 adoptions, he was also very busy and was unable to schedule us before mid December.  But the good news is he said that we could use another judge to get our court date set!  So as of this morning, we are looking at having court on December 4!!!  If things go as planned we will be home before Christmas - which is my prayer!  Thank you God!!!!!!

Yesterday, our facilitator had the opportunity to talk to "V" about his new name.  I had written down the meaning and the "WHY" we wanted to give him a new name and "V" gladly said yes!  He is so anxious to get home, he is very excited!  The teacher told us that he carries his photo album and letters from us everywhere and shows everyone.  She knew about the lipstick kisses, and musical cards!  One of "V"'s friends recognized us when we arrived to the orphanage and ran to get him - just by seeing our photos!

Everyone tells us what a good boy he is - which we know, but it is good hearing it!  It is so cute to see how happy he is.  I will try to post more later - we are heading to the orphanage to visit now.  Keep praying!!! 

I am thankful....

I just realized that today is Thursday - which means it is Thanksgiving!  Although there will be no turkey and fixings for us today I do have alot to be thankful for...

I am thankful for a God who loves me beyond my imagination...so much so that He sent His son to die for me.

I am thankful for a saviour that was willing to give His life so that I may live.

I am thankful to have had a family that gave me a Christian foundation.

I am thankful for a husband that loves God and loves me and our family.

I am thankful for all of my beautiful children - both by birth and by adoption. 

I am thankful for my soon-to-be son, that we have the blessing of being his family.

I am thankful for my friends, both old and new.

I am thankful for my job - I love what I do and can't imagine doing anything else at this point.  I love working with the children....and being able to see their lives changed.

I am thankful for my home, especially in seeing the conditions so many others live in.

I am thankful for my country - praying that it stays that way!

Being away from my family is hard, but it is a worthy sacrifice.  I pray that "V" will someday understand the sacrifice and will have a lot to be thankful for.  I pray that he and all the other children I have helped to come home all understand the importance of the opportunity they now have.  God has given them all a new start in life, them out of the millions of orphans around the world....I pray that each of them will discover their God-given purpose.  My hope is that they will all have the same desire to help orhans and those in need BECAUSE of where they came from.

Have a wonderful and blessed thanksgiving!!!

I

Finally!!!

Today we finally made it to our destination!  Headed to the children's inspector first and picked up the inspector and found our way to the orphanage, after a little while they brought the kids in!  They had asked us if we needed to go to the bathroom first, but I said no because I didn't want to miss seeing "V"'s face as soon as possible!  Jeff chose to go and mised being the first one to see him. 
"V" had a shy smile on his face and I got a bit of an awkward shy hug first, then after he sat down beside me he looked at me and said, "Mama" and I replied, "Vsegda" which means forever in Russian.  He smiled and I hugged him tight.  He was very excited to turn and see Jeff - he went and gave him a hug too, a little more comfortable now.  He sat so sweetly beside me for a while and then he had to write a letter to say that he wanted to be adopted by us, which he did with no hesitation!

I was happy that he remembered everyone's names - he only stumbled a bit over Payton's but only once.  We had to make a quick exit because we had to go to the notary to get our paperwork started.  We went to the only notary in our city and he was very busy - said he couldn't see us until next week.  Well that doesn't fit in to our plan of hoping to have court next week so we ended up having to go to a notary about 30km away.  

Funny thing is that she noticed I had notarized Julie's paperwork and she warmed up to me and began asking about what was required to be a notary in the US - I replied $30 and an application.  Here it is quite different and she enjoyed telling me.  I must have made a good impression because she gave me a really nicely bound book about notaries in Ukraine with her picture bookmarked. 

We then headed back on a near empty tank (had visions of having to walk back!).  Since we had to get up around 3am this morning and head out we decided to go back to our apartment and get to bed early.  Tomorrow we will get a bit more paperwork done and head to the orphanage.  It will be the big day to discuss names!  Praying he likes his new name.

I hope to write more tomorrow.  I am so exhausted I don't have much to share today......

Today, and impressions....

Today we will be going to pick up the necessary paperwork to go to the region where the orphanage is and start the process to get a court date.  It has been difficult being so close to "V" and not seeing him, I am so anxious to see his beautiful face and to hear him call me, "Mama" again. 

When he visited this summer he called me "Mama" a million times a day, but when we got to the airport on the day he left he stopped calling me "Mama" and called me, Lydia.....it broke my heart that he had to seperate his feelings and to draw back.  I want him to know how much we love him and that he will soon have a "Mama" forever....and a huge family!

Yesterday we brought some souveniers, and you know you have been to the slope too often when the guys recognize you!  LOL!  Oh well, he gave me a good price (or so he told me).  We will go back today as Jeff has a list of items to buy. 

Unlike most adopters who do blogs, I have not written much about my impressions of the country.  After being here so often I just don't think of it as often. :)  It is so funny here though........you will go in a nice restaurant and find the hole in the ground toilets - how nice of a restaurant does it have to be to have a real one?  I have also decided that the people here also walk different than Americans do - they have a purpose to it and a fast stride, where Americans have more of a lazy walk or a saunter. 

You will also not find any respectable female in Ukraine NOT wearing her boots!  Short ones, spiked ones, knee high, thigh high, boots of all shapes, and colors!  Also - natural haircolor here is not appreciated by the wormen - almost every woman I see has her hair colored - old and young alike.  They always look so stylish and I always feel so dowdy here!

So - for now that is a snippet of what it is like in Ukraine.  Not much news to report yet, tomorrow we will hit the ground running, trying to complete the process in the least amount of time possible.  We should be able to be home by Christmas - or that is our goal! 

Please keep us all in your prayers!
Blessings,
Lydia

SDA TODAY!

We finally made it to the SDA today and had our appointment!  The photo they showed us of "V" was so sad - it was taken when he first came to the orphanage.  Basically though our appointment was short and there were no surprises.  We did a little shopping on the hill, went to the embassy for Jeff and had lunch.  Not too exciting.  We will not leave for the orphanage until Wednesday but we are hoping to hear something  by Friday about when the possibility we can have court. 

Not much to really write today...I am looking forward to posting when we have exciting news.  I can't wait to see "V"'s sweet face!  It is so cute - the girls email and ask now about "Griffan".  Praying he likes his new name! :)

Love to all!
Lydia

We made it!

We made it safely to Kyiv after spending a beautiful day in Munich!  The weather was amazing and we didn't even need our coats!  We had the traditional German food - bratworst and German beer.  Not too bad!  It is such a beautiful city.  After a long day we finally made it to Kyiv at 10:30pm - we were exhausted and slept until noon the next day. 

Spent a non-eventful day yesterday - Susan and her little boy Cayden joined us and we went to eat and that was about it.  Today we will go to buy souveniers and hang out.  Tomorrow is our appointment with the SDA and we are hoping for good news that we will get our referral and get to head on to the orphanage. 

Nothing exciting or newsworthy as of yet.  People are still wearing the masks here due to H1N1 but only a few. 

Will hopefully post good news on Monday! 

"Adopting one child won't change the world; but for that child, the world will change."

I love this quote...I have been thinking about it on and off today.  I also happened to be flipping through channels and saw a clip of Bruce Wilkinson (one of my favorite authors) talking about his new book: YOU WERE BORN FOR THIS: Seven Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles.  I mention both the quote and the book for a reason....families that are adopting are often told we are "amazing" for doing what we are doing.  It isn't that we are amazing or anything special but that we have come to understand that we can truly be the change we want to see in the world (another quote I love!). 

In the book (that I am going to go out tonight and buy to read on my trip) YOU WERE BORN FOR THIS, Bruce suggests that we are the vehicle that God uses to deliver miracles.  Isn't that a beautiful thought?  For example, our family is the miracle that our Ukrainian children needed....and God blessed us to be the deliverers of that miracle.  We could have said no - and we could have missed out on the blessings that God has brought in to our lives, through the children that we are privileged to care for, the friends we have met, and the job that I feel that I was purposed to do!

I pray that each and every person that takes the time to read this will be encouraged to seek God and take part of being God's plan for someone's miracle.

You can listen to Bruce Wilkinson talk about his book here: You Were Born For This...part 1.

Excitement, relief, ton of things to do...

We finally have our new appointment date with the SDA!  I am thankful to finally know - the relief is a welcome feeling!!!!!!!  I had been praying that it would be on 11/23 and God answered that prayer!  We are excited to finally make the preparations to go and get our son!

With a Christmas miracle in mind - we could make it back by Christmas Eve!  If we do - Praise God!!! and if we don't - Praise God!!!  I am learning that He is in total control and that every day is His to do with what He sees fit.  It is not an easy lesson to learn and I still struggle - but it is getting a bit easier.  Feel free to remind me of this when I am whining because I miss my family after beeing overseas for 4 weeks! 

Now the flurry of activity begins!  Due to the holiday travel - we have to leave on Thursday of next week instead of Friday as we thought.  So we now have 6 days to get everything done!  We are in pretty good shape since we had started - but now I have to organize that sea of suitcases and do some last minute errand running! 

We decided to go ahead and get the H1N1 vaccine - our doctor suggested it due to us being overseas and the outbreak there, he felt it put us in a higher risk than if we stayed here.  One more thing to get done...but better safe than sorry.  I bought dayquil, nyquil, immunization boosting vitamins, and miscellaneous cold/flu meds to take over.  I also have a friend who is donating a box of masks to take over - we will give what we have left to the orphanage to use. 

All the families I am working with also got their travel dates - let's just put it this way - there will be alot of hoosiers in Ukraine over the holidays!  Everyone is so excited to begin their journey - the anticipation has been building and finally they can spring in to action!  It is funny how quickly the excitement wanes in light of so many things being out of their control....I just pray that God will give them (and me!) the strength we need to hold on and to walk the path He has already ordered.  It is one thing being able to "talk the talk" but a whole other situation in being able to "walk the walk".  Your faith is stretched beyond what you could ever imagine - but somehow you get through it and come out so much stronger on the other side. 

My prayer for each and every family is that God will be glorified in every way, every day.  That they will be an encouragement for each other, and hold each other up when needed, just like in the battle in Exodus: 
Joshua did what Moses ordered in order to fight Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. But Moses' hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle.  Exodus 17:12 

I will try to update as I can while I am gone!  I am excited to see all that God has planned and to share that with you!  Please pray for our health, our families health, our new son's health, and all of our safety.  I pray that this Thanksgiving - we will truly understand the meaning of thankfulness and from where our blessings come....God bless.

Sad today....

I am facing today with some sadness - not because of our travel delays but because of regret.  If you have not read Katie's latest blog entry - I encourage you to do so - it is the November 8th entry.  (in fact - read it first and then read mine!)

This 21 year old girl has touched my life so profoundly.......and is making me face the regret in my life but also encourages me to have the determination to change.  Katie quotes Francis Chan from one of my favorite books (CRAZY LOVE), "How we live our days, is how we live our lives."  She points out that many of us have wasted days in waiting on something instead of living in the moment.  I am sad to say that I have wasted too many moments in my life - waiting...just like the past few days. 

While I have not gotten very upset over our delay - I have not taken advantage of it either.  Today I will take the time to enjoy the time I have with my daughters - before I have to make our new son a priority.  More snuggles, more secrets, more individual time with each of them before "V" comes home and needs our focus and attention.

This reminds me of another favorite book of mine by John Piper "A LIFE NOT WASTED".  I don't want to look back at my life and see alot of regret - I want to try to live my life in such a way that I can find a way each day to glorify God.  If I can learn to do that and teach my children to do the same I will be happy - or if we at least strive to live our lives that way I will be pretty happy. 

My favorite quote from the book is, "Only one life, twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last."  Can you imagine living our lives in which every decision we make is weighing whether it will be done in Christ's name and have lasting value?  How different would our lives be?  I know mine would be vastly different.

So - the point of my whole entry today is to encourage you to live each moment........or at least to do the best you can.  I hope that Katie's post encourages you to live.......

Disappointment....stupid pigs...........

Thanks to the H1N1 virus (aka - swine flu) our scheduled departure date for Ukraine is postponed indefinetly....and for now we wait....  Next Friday we "may" hear some news but we are told that it is likely at least a 3 week delay.  I am sorry for us, for the families that it is affecting and mostly for the children who now have to wait longer......

Please pray for the situation in Ukraine - that they will lift the quarantine as soon as possible.  Please pray for "V" and the other children who have to continue to wait.  Also pray for the health of the people in Ukraine. 

I know that God is bigger than H1N1 and that I can trust Him on our timing.