The Road We are On

Found this picture on Pinterest.  It was taken of a road in Ukraine by an adoptive parent.  They wrote underneath, "so symbolic of this process".  I totally feel this today.

Decision Made

Monday morning brought crazy interesting news.  Not very many moments have gone by that were not consumed by thoughts of this eighth grade boy and what our role is in his life (or what his role is in our life).  Two verses have played on repeat in my mind trying their best to crowd out all of the other thoughts and fears.  The first verse has been special to our family for a few years and definitely helped lead us to the place we are in right now.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11
God knows the plans he has for us, and he knows the plans he has for Artyom and for Vlad.  We received word from Ukraine that these brothers can not be split up (we didn't feel good with this decision anyway).  So now we were faced with the decision of both or none.  Decision made.  In our hearts, Artyom already belongs to us.  There is no going back on that.  We have had two separate people say to us this week that sometimes God only gives us little bits of His plan at a time, so we aren't totally scared away.  God's plan for this adoption hasn't changed, but the amount of information that we have been allowed to see has. 
So, while I can't change the name of our blog, our mission has changed:  Making Artyom and Vlad Alfreds!
That leads me to the next verse that has kept me going forward.
"Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous?  Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."   Joshua 1:9
An older child adoption seemed daunting enough when I was dealing with a 9-10 year old.  Adding a few more years just multiplies the fears and concerns that continue to swirl in my head.  I looked up "dismay" because I felt that put a nice word on my emotions.  "To destroy courage or resolution of by exciting dread or apprehension"...Exactly the opposite of what I have been commanded to do. 
We will continue on....strong and courageous!

"Hello, Bridge"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there."  That is what we naively said when the social worker approved us for two children during our homestudy, "just in case there is a sibling."  Well guess what, we just walked up to that bridge.  And, in my mind it is one of those shaky bridges made only of rotten wooden slats and rope to hold it up.  We received a message today saying that Artyom's last name has been found out, but we should also know that he has a sibling.  Now, many of you that know me know that I have always wanted a daughter.  So here's my chance, right.  Obviously, it's going to be a sweet, little blond girl that I could put bows on and immediately sign up for gymnastics....WRONG! 
This is the message we received: "One other thing that you should know is that Artyom has an older brother, Vlad, he is in the eighth grade. I am not sure about other siblings."
Four boys! Two of which are teenagers!!  To say that I feel overwhelmed seems like the understatement of the year!!!
We know that God has gone before us in this entire situation.  That's why we are going to try to take all of our thoughts and fears out of the equation.  If you read this blog entry, please take a couple seconds to say a prayer of clarity and peace about whatever decision that God would have us make for our family.
I'll keep ya posted!

Big Week--the sequel

After this process being stagnant for so long, it has been exciting having things happen almost every week!  This week we received our biometric (fancy way of saying "fingerprints") appointment from the U.S. government.  We go in on March 8 for our final step before sending our dossier (fancy way of saying "whole heck of a lot of papers") to Ukraine.  Also this week, we made contact with the lawyers in Ukraine who will be serving as our facilitators for the adoption.  They have agreed to take our case, and are going to start the leg work in finding all the available info on Artyom.  Prayers would be appreciated that all of his paperwork is obtainable and quickly found!

New (old) Pic

This picture is kind of amazing.  I spent a lot of time praying this morning that I could have some kind of connection today.  This was sent to Aaron in a facebook message this evening!  It was actually taken this summer after Aaron's trip to Ukraine.  Aaron bought the soccer ball (or football) for Artyom and got the boys a matching one.  Doug (in the picture) is a missionary in Ukraine that works closely with the kids in the orphanage.  Most of the pictures that we have come from him.  It is a real comfort knowing that there is someone there loving on this precious boy when I can't.

  Maybe I am a bit bias, but I think he is pretty darn handsome!

Room for Two!

Cal has been living alone in the big room since Trent moved out on his own a couple of years ago (just into two seperate bedrooms...both of my children do actually live under my roof).  He has been so excited to get a new roommate and has been eagerly helping me put together a new room.  We have matching bedspreads and are going to be decorating around these fun colors!

The lime green "t-shirt" is actually a pillow that Cal made at school from an old shirt of his that didn't fit anymore.  Thanks Mrs Cameron!

Big Week!!

It has been months since my last post.  There have been many times that I have thought about it, and even had big ideas about what to write about...I just never could quite make it to the follow through.  We have had many hold ups and snags, and to be honest, I was getting very discouraged.  I didn't want to write because in my eyes, nothing had changed.  BUT, this week things changed!  On Valentine's day we finally got to file our I-600A.  An I-600A is just another government paper of random letters and numbers that I knew nothing about until we entered into this process.  Now, I get so excited saying those all-important letters and numbers.  Once we recieve our approval and fingerprints from the US government, we can send our dossier across the ocean to Ukraine! 
People's favorite question is, "what does your timeline look like?''  Honestly, I have absolutely no idea, and I try not to even speculate.  One thing that I have been trying to learn is that when come up with my own time-table, I am never content to rest in the plans that God has for us and for Artyom.  All I do know is that this week, we did something. And, this week was a good week. 

                                Cal sending our I-600A.  He has hard time containing his excitment this week!

A couple of weeks ago, we got an unexpected update picture of Artyom.  It did a lot to revive our spirit and keep us pushing forward.