Our Last Document!

I received an email from our local USCIS officer today that my I171-H approval to adopt was put in the mail yesterday and I should receive it today!  That is the last document I need to complete my dossier - so it will be off in UPS tomorrow on it's way to Kyiv! 

Six weeks from start to finish (could have been 5 if USCIS hadn't stopped at "S" last week - I did it in 5 weeks in 2007)!!!  In two weeks our dossier will be submitted to the State Department of Adoptions in Kyiv and we will await our travel date!  We have asked if possible to have our appointment on October 26th or 27th - I figure it doesn't hurt to ask!  We could potentially be home for Thanksgiving!  

I am so thankful that it has been quicker this time - it is hard to wait when you feel that "your" child is far away and needs you!  I pray for all the children who wait and all the families waiting to go and get them!   I confess it is not something I do well...........

Here is a poem about waiting....

The Wait by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate...
and the Master so gently said,"Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!"
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I relate
hangs in the balance and you tell me to Wait?"
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign.
Or even a 'no,' to which I'll resign.

You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply.

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
as my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
and grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting...for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine...
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
you'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
when darkness and silence are all you can see.

You'd never experience the fullness of love
when the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
the faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

You'd never know should your pain quickly flee,
what it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
but oh, the loss if I lost what I'm doing in you.

So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
that the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still "WAIT".

WOO HOO!!!! Fingerprint letter came today!

I am happy to report that the much awaited fingerprint letter came today!!!!  Doing the happy dance!!!  Now one last step in our dossier completion is our USCIS I171-H approval to adopt!  We are praying that it will be here no later than October 6 - which will give us a week to get it notarized, apostilled, mailed to Ukraine, translated, certified and submitted on October 14! 

Please keep us and the other waiting families in your prayers! We're all anxious to get our children home!

Tick...Tock...wait...wait...and wait some more!

I am happy and a little sad at the same time.  My friend Julie got her fingerprint letter today from USCIS - one step closer to getting to Ukraine!  I took my application and hers and dropped them off together but my letter didn't come.  I am hoping it is just slow mail and mine will be here tomorrow...praying it will be!  I also sent her dossier to Ukraine at the exact same time I sent mine and what happens??????  Mine gets to Ukraine a day later!  Our facilitator gets our dossiers registered to submit the same day and guess what?  Her appointment is October 13 and mine is October 14!  So it seems to be that I am destined to be a day later....which I am okay with as long as it is only a day or so! :)  Now we pray that our fingerprints are processed QUICKLY!!!!!  We need our approval to be in Ukraine no later than October 10th!  Please pray that USCIS will be timely!

Out of the mouths of babes - or Children say the darndest things!

Yesterday my girls were talking about being adopted and Payton said that she had 3 moms - a biological mother, a Godmother and a real mother. Melted my heart!!!!!!! The other girls chimed in that I was her adoptive mother and she replied to them,  "Mom isn't adopted." 

I told her that I liked being her real mom!!!!!

The Countdown!

Yesterday officially marked the 2nd week of my submission of USCIS - now I am awaiting the "offical" letter for fingerprints. Each day rushing out to check the mail anxiously hoping that the letter might be there! After fingerprints - then it will be the nervewracking countdown for the I171-H USCIS approval! THe last document needed for my dossier (paperwork).

I also got good news yesterday - my dossier will be submitted on October 14! And we can expect to travel 2-4 weeks after that - so we are on target for late October, early November. The news was received slightly deflated because I was also told that if I had my USCIS approval, my dossier could have been submitted today............kind of takes a bit of the joy out of it! But I am trying to trust God's timing - I know how my clients feel during the wait and even on the 3rd adoption, the wait isn't really any easier.

For me, once it was in my heart to adopt (knowing or not knowing the child) I have had the sense of urgency to get to "My" child. As a mother, when you know your child needs you, your first instinct is to get there immediately! That is how I feel - one day away from "my" child is one day too many! One more day of them feeling unloved, scared, lonely is one day too much! I would be on the next jet out of here if it were possible!

At least when you are expecting, you know where your child is, and the care they are receiving and that is a comfort. The wait can still be hard but in adoption, everything is seemingly out of your hands - your paperwork depends mostly on the efficiency of some government clerk to do their job in a timely manner, your employer to cooperate in getting a letter the way it needs to be done, your doctor to fill out a form as directed, the list goes on......then when your paperwork finally gets to Ukraine, you wait some more...

The end result is well worth the effort, the wait and the emotions. When you are home with your child and you can see their happiness, it is overwhelming. Just like when you may have glanced upon your newborn. Watching them at a school function and realizing that it may be the first time they had someone in the audience for them, celebrating their accomplishments, and seeing them blossom under your love and the security of a family is priceless.

So for now I wait....praying that some person at USCIS will do their job and send me my *(&^%#@$# approval so that I can go get my boy already! :)

What is in a name?

For those of you who know me personally - you may know that unintentionally I began a naming trend with my kids - one that has gotten away from me. I didn't set out to do but it has ended up that way. When I was 13, I picked out the names Logan and Jordan and fortunately my husband liked them and that is what we named our son and daughter.

When I was pregnant with my 3rd child, I sort of liked the idea of naming a daughter after my mother but wasn't sold on "Grace". I was watching a show called Models, Inc (a Melrose Place spinoff that tanked) and there was a leading female character named Grayson. I didn't like the meaning of the name or that it had the word Gray in it - so I changed the spelling to incorporate the name Grace (and the meaning - undeserved gift) with the word "Son" after Jesus - so her name means "An undeserved gift - which we received through the Son". Graceson the end result.

Then came Lauren, meaning "crowned" and I thought of how she was going to now have a new life and was victorious over the old and how they used to crown runners with the laurel wreath in the olympics. Paul refers to this in his writings in the Bible.

Okay - so many of you may wonder why we would change the name of our daughters from the names they were given and that are from their heritage. Some disagree with it - that it is taking away who they were and their heritage. When we were adopting Lauren, we were also a bit torn as to what to do, but when we met Lauren and saw she was only 5 months old and found out that she had not been named by her mother but given her mother's name we decided to give her a new name (we had chosen Lauren but had decided that we would give her Ukrainian name as her middle and call her what was best). While in Ukraine I met a missionary who had also adopted and I shared this indecision with her - she reminded me that whenever God did anything new in a person's life that he gave them a new name reflecting their new circumstances (ex. Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Paul, Peter).

I thought that was a wonderful perspective to have! So, then not only did I have the trend of names ending in "N" I decided at that point that the names had to have great meaning.

Okay - now for Katelyn, her name came from my one of my favorite Bible verses "Pure and faultless religion is caring for orphans...James 1:27. Katelyn means "pure". Humorous side story is that when I first decided on the name Katelyn, I thought it meant "light" and I went on and on in my prayer journal about the symbolism of light in the Bible. Her Ukrainian name was Yelena, and when I looked up the meaning it meant "light".

I chose Payton because it has a couple of meanings - one is "village of the warrior" which where we live we are the Whiteland Warriors, and where she is from is where the Russian navy (warriors) is docked. Plus the Scottish version of her name means "royalty" or "of noble birth". Now she is God's family and is the daughter of a king!

At last, it is time to name our new son! It has been a family affair of throwing out names ending in "N" and then looking up the meaning! Jeff, my husband, has been a huge help in throwing out names such as "Lantern" which he told me meant bright light! LOL!!! He has also contributed "Cotton" and "Bison" - needless to say he doesn't get final say! The girls all seem to think they have the right to name him - of course they all 5 have different names they like! While I appreciate their opinion, I remind them it is the parents decision and they will have the opportunity to name their children!

Jeff and I seem to agree on one name - Griffan (yes spelled with an "a" instead of and "i" - which happened when we were naming Payton (first had Peyton and then Graceson pointed out all our kids have 2 syllable names, ending with "N" and all have a "a" in it - see what I mean on how it got away from us? :) I found that in Welsh that it means, "strong in faith". I also love the symbolism of what a griffin (gryphon) is.

SYMBOLISM OF GRIFFIN: In symbolism, the griffin combines the symbolic qualities of two solar creatures, the lion and the eagle. It is the king of birds and lord of the air united with the king of beasts and lord of the earth. Griffins are a symbol of the sun, wisdom, vengeance, strength, and salvation. The griffin's ability to soar like an eagle made him an emblem of poetic and spiritual inspiration.

The griffin's dual nature led it to be associated with Jesus Christ, God and man, king of heaven and earth. The eagle half of the griffin signified Christ's divinity and the lion half represented his humanity. During the Middle Ages, griffins were symbols of Christ's resurrection. The strength of the lion and the wisdom of the eagle combined in the griffin symbolized the strength and wisdom of God. "Griffins are protrayed with a lion's body, an eagle's head, long ears, and an eagle's claws, to indicate that one must combine intelligence and strength." Besides - what 11yo boy wouldn't think it is cool to have his name come from such a cool creature?

Funny thing is his name, Vadym is derived from Didymus which is also Thomas. Thomas means twin. When I was going to have Graceson, I prayed fervently for twins (boy and girl). In adoption lingo - whenever you adopt a child that is less than 9 months in age from one of your children it is called "ARTIFICIAL TWINNING". I never dreamed that God could answer that prayer 11 years later in this way! God does have a sense of humor!

So the long and short of this rambling post is that a family should do what THEY feel is best for them and the child. A couple adopting from infertility may have a name that has a significant meaning to them and should have the opportunity to use it - it isn't a right only give to people naming their biological children. In our family - Vadym would have stood out from Logan, Jordan, Graceson, Katelyn, Payton and Lauren. We want him to feel as much a part of our family as he can. Plus since God is giving him a new beginning - I want to celebrate that new beginning with a new name. It is a name that speaks to what we want for him and one that includes him in his brother and sisters. We are not trying to rob him of his heritage but to give him a sense of belonging. Each family will be different in what they decide - there is no right or wrong answer.

A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words

Do any of the children in this picture look like orphans? 4 out of 5 of them were (well technically one still is but prayerfully not for long!). I think this picture shows what love can do to change a child's life. When "V" was here, he said that being with us in America was like a dream he could have never imagined. You can see the happiness on his face! Look at all of them closely - which of them knows what it was like to beg for food? Which of them was diagnosed as "failure to thrive"? Which of them deserved what they got? Which of them was born in to a safe and loving environment? Which of them is not worth the effort it takes to adopt?

The sad truth is that there are thousands upon thousands of children just as beautiful (well almost :) speaking from a mother's heart), just as precious and just as deserving as these children to be loved, to have the security of a family and the opportunity to know God.

If only more Christians would step out of their comfort zone and really focus on TRUE RELIGION as defined by God, there would be more photos of FORMER orphans like this. Below is a song that I wrote (I am not a songwriter!) - please read the words and think about it. Is an orphanage good enough for your children? The Bible says to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Is there any cost too high to save YOUR child? Too many times I talk to families that are considering adoption but choose not to because of the cost (not always financially - usually emotionally, or too much out of their comfort zone). Thankfully, Jesus didn't count the cost for us.....

LOVE DOESN'T COUNT THE COST by Lydia Tarr

Mommy, How much did I cost? (child's voice)

Verse:
There’s no price on the value of a life – I just knew
Price was not considered in deciding to love you.
When I saw your face, I didn’t stop to count the cost,
Nothing really mattered then, I knew my heart was lost.
Love doesn't count the cost.

Chorus:
No need to measure sacrifices made
The cost of love, the price I paid,
All I knew
Is when I met you,
love didn't count the cost.

Verse:
If you were to measure all the wealth upon this earth
None of it would equal a portion of your worth.
Too many children wait, so much stands in the way,
Precious lives lost, for no one wants to pay.
Love doesn't count the cost.

Chorus:
No need to measure sacrifices made
The cost of love, The price I paid,
all I knew
is when I met you
love doesn't count the cost.

BRIDGE
How do I value the the time it would take,
Or the sacrifices I would make?
Who said love doesn’t cost a thing?
The truth is… love doesn’t count the cost.

Verse:
When Jesus came to save, was it all about the price?
His blood was shed so we might live - total sacrifice.
What did he do when it was time to pay?
Did He let the cost get in His way?
He didn’t count the cost.

Chorus:
No need to measure sacrifices made
The cost of love, The price He paid,
all He knew
is when it came to you
love didn't count the cost.

Too many children waiting,
precious lives are lost,
is there no one willing?
Love should never count the cost.