Orphan Sunday

"Do the kids have any idea what they are giving up?!"
Aaron and I have asked ourselves that question; friends have asked us that question; Ukrainian social workers have asked.  The answer is "no".  They have no idea the life, blessings, security, unconditional love, and future that they are giving up.  They have no idea how the rejection of our free offer will affect them for the rest of their lives.  All they know is the fear, or the temporary freedom that they look forward to, or the comfort of the life that they know (it doesn't matter that it isn't a great life; it is what they know). 
Aaron and I did not enter into the adoption process because we desired to have more kids.  We entered into this because God laid a nine year old boy on my husband's heart and he couldn't shake it.  We came back to do this again, not because we were determined to bring a child into our home, but because we have grown to understand what adoption means, and we have a calling to tangibly live it out (ignore my run-on).  Adoption is the perfect picture of our salvation. 
"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son,born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive adoption as sons."  Romans 4:4-5
He offered us, not because of anything that we had done, adoption as sons!  To receive life, blessings, security, unconditional love, and an eternal future.  How amazing is that?!
Yet, this gift is rejected every day.  Every day people choose to live the life they know out of a false sense of freedom or a fear of the unknown. 
We aren't sure in what direction we will move, or when our next step will be.  But, we will continue to walk this road until we are led somewhere else.  Rejection hurts; it doesn't make sense, but we will continue this race no matter where the finish line is.

1 Peter 2:20-21

I'm gonna take a couple of more minutes to talk a little more about how awesome our God is!  A couple of thousand years ago, He sent His only Son to this earth.  That Son came to live on this fallen earth with the sole purpose to suffer, be rejected and die so that we may know life.  He has offered this free gift to this world, and He is continually rejected.  Rejection of forgiveness, peace, love and eternal life.  He has done all of this for us, so why shouldn't we be willing to sacrifice the little that we have, suffer pains for a short while in this life, and be rejected by a few (not all of mankind). 
That leads me to more details...details of our day. 
We got to spend the afternoon with Yana, a social worker, and Mira (an amazing lady who graciously served as our translator...#14).  We walked, talked, ate, looked at pictures...overall, a good day.  Yana is a very sweet natured girl, and we enjoyed our time with her very much.  Throughout the day, we found out that she has a grandmother and adult sister that live in Chernigiv that she has a relationship with (the child department did not mention either one of the facts, but then again, they also told us they called and told her we were coming).  Later this afternoon we got a call and found out that Yana did not want to leave Ukraine because she didn't want to leave them. 
We've been here before.  The hurt is different this time, but it still hurts.
I do want to make it clear that neither Aaron or I doubt that each step, each flight, each child that we have spent time with have  not been in God's exact will.  I will reiterate that He has been so gracious throughout this whole process to show us that we are right where He wants us.  This is now part of our story, and we know that somehow this will be used for His glory.

                                                                Yana: God is Gracious

another child from Ukraine to pray for

Pics!!

"God is Gracious"

I will get to the details soon, but you are going to have to give me a paragraph (or two) to go on for a minute about how awesome our God is!  As of today, Aaron and I have met 13 people in this country that we can count as friends.  A country, that 5 years ago, I'm pretty sure I couldn't locate on map.  13 people who God has placed in our lives to help us out in some way!  Some have given a place to stay, some rides to countless places, dinners in their home, encouragement when desperately needed, and sometimes just laughter (also when desperately needed). Our lawyers, Ivan and Dima, have gone far and above what I expect any lawyers to do for their clients; all because they have a heart for the orphans of this country.  Aaron and I have been beyond blessed by the servant heart of every one of these 13 people!
In addition to this, God has so clearly shown His hand during this entire process.  So clearly that we haven't once had to question if we were acting out of our will or if we were still walking in the direction He would have us go.  That leads me to the details...(WARNING: this could get long)
I wrote briefly on Wednesday about our morning in the Child Department.  I'll go more in depth so I can paint a clear picture.  About 50 minutes into this meeting (we only have an hour), Aaron and I were frustrated (and honestly, a little bit panicky).  Neither one of us had heard angels singing from the heavens or a light beaming down on the perfect child for our family.  Around this time I saw the picture of a little girl that was around the age that we were looking for (8-10); grasping for something I pulled her sheet.  One of the ladies from the CD, then, brought out two more girl's sheets from the back room.  One of the girls was 13...not exactly what we were looking for, but I think it's pretty obvious at this point that we are pretty flexible.  They were letting us know that our time was almost up.  If we left this appointment without a selection, we were going to have to wait for at least another week for another appt.  Aaron continued to bring back up the 13 year old, and I agreed that we should add her to the 10 year old little girl to make a call to their orphanage. Neither one of the girls orphanages answered since it was so late in the day.  We were told that they would call both in the morning and we actually would have until 10 am the next morning to make a final decision.  As soon as Aaron and I left the pressure cooker, we both knew that we were going to go with the 13 year old (even without the angel's song).  Strangely enough, when they called us the next morning, the 10 year old wasn't even mentioned.
That night we looked up the meaning of her name: Yana "God is gracious"...we were sold.
Aaron called Doug (one of our very important 13) to see if he could help us out on travel and living arrangements in the town were Yana's orphanage is.  Out of "all of the children in Ukraine", we happened to pick one that is a region that Doug knows very well.  He put us in contact with some missionaries that he knew in Chernigiv.  Aaron called Conner (he and his wife are our newest #'s to the 13), who has never met us or know anything about us and he was able to arrange an apartment for us and picked us after our visit with Yana this morning and spent his whole day helping us out. 
The visit itself was short, but nice.  We are pretty sure that, even though we were led to believe she had been told, Yana was blind-sided by our appearance and desire to adopt her.  She was very sweet, but still shy during the meeting.  She talked to us a bit, looked at our pictures and said she would like to see us this weekend, but would like a little time to think about her decision. 'She asked if she could take the picture album with her (yea!). We will get to spend the day with her tomorrow and should get to go on a short excursion. 
After Conner picked us up, we learned that he actually visits that orphanage weekly.  On top of that, he was pretty sure he knew Yana and had some pictures of her on his computer.  He did...and she has been coming to their Bible club for years!  "All the kids in Ukraine" and we are sitting in the living room of a family, looking at the pictures (I'll post some tomorrow) of a precious 13 year old girl that they have been pouring into for years! 
Awesome...just awesome!