Privilege

A friend of mine posted the above picture on facebook this past week. Quite a profound statement, isn't it? It perfectly sums up the feelings that have been mulling around in my brain and heart these past few months.

When I think about this journey that we are on, I have such a jumbled up mess of emotions that I cannot explain to anyone should they ask. "The depth of the tragedy" is something that I cannot comprehend. I have found myself wondering a lot lately about all the sadness our daughter has had to face in her lifetime. As I sit rocking my sweet baby to sleep, and as I tuck my "big" girls in after giving them countless hugs and kisses, I have had an underlying sadness for our daughter half a world away. She has had to go without hugs and kisses from her mother day after day, year after year. How incredibly tragic. Can you imagine your precious child going without? I have thanked the Lord over and over again for placing my 4 precious biological children in our care, so that they will know love. I am overwhelmed by the thought of trying to undo the years our teenage daughter has gone without the love of a family.

At the same time, I completely feel "the magnitude of the privilege. It still seems surreal to me that the Lord has found Ryan and me fit to be this sweet girls parents. I mean, really!!! What a HUGE blessing and honor to get to shower her with love. While the thoughts of trying to erase...or at least dull... the hurts of her past are mind boggling, I am eternally grateful to be the one that she calls Mama. How lucky am I, that I get to show her how a "real" Mommy loves her babies??

I cannot begin to tell you how in awe I am of how the Lord is working in the hearts of so many dear families around me. Since starting down this adoption path, we have been so encouraged by seeing other families step up and say yes to the Lord's call to care for orphans. I cannot imagine all of the blessings we would have missed out on had we simply walked away and said no to adopting our daughter. Just in these few short months, our eyes have been opened and hearts connected to so many families that have sacrificed so much to welcome children into their families. It makes what we are doing seem so small! I saw this quote on facebook today (who knew facebook was such a good thing!:))

Pretty great quote! Adoption is a calling, without question. And I don't believe that every single family out there is called to adopt. However, I strongly believe that everyone is called to do something. We have been beyond blessed by all of the prayers and support we have received. I would encourage you to stop, think, and pray about what the Lord is calling YOU to do for the cause of the orphan!

*A quick update....we are 2 1/2 weeks out from leaving for Ukraine!! Please continue to pray for us as we prepare to travel for an unspecified length of time, and for our 4 precious treasures that we are leaving behind!!

SDA Appointment...Finally!!

It has been quite a while since I last posted. We have been busy with end of year activities, week-end trips, and swim lessons. We are trying to enjoy each moment with our 4 girls before leaving for Ukraine for who knows how long. We waited 7 long weeks from turning in our dossier to FINALLY receive our SDA appointment date!! We found out this past Wednesday that our appointment is scheduled for July 16th. We are so excited to finally have our date set and know when we will get to start our adoption process in country! 

Our SDA date is only the beginning. For those who might not understand the process for Ukraine adoptions, I will try to explain. This initial appointment is where we will officially receive A's file and "accept" it...meaning she is the child that we want to pursue for adoption. This will take place in Ukraine's capitol city Kiev, or Kyiv. Once we receive this file, we will then travel to her region to hunt down paperwork and do all kinds of other stuff. Once all of that is in order, we will receive our court date. Once we have court, Ryan and I will travel home for a 10 day mandatory wait period. After that, I will travel back to Ukraine to finish up some things and bring Alona home!!

So, back to our initial appointment. We were SO hoping to travel earlier than mid July. There are many reasons for this. Obviously, one being we are so ready to meet our sweet daughter, and would like for her to stay in the orphanage for as short a time as possible. Another reason being, this trip will fall during my baby girl's 1st birthday. Now, I know that she won't know it's her birthday, but as a Mommy, this breaks my heart!! So please pray for me that I will get through July 22 without having a huge Mommy meltdown! The good news for our appointment being scheduled at this time is that it will fall during Alona's 16th birthday, and we will get to give her a little party with her friends and teachers! Turning sweet 16 is such a big deal to us Americans, and I am so thankful that we will get to be there for this special day. 

If you would join me in praying for us as we prepare to travel, we would greatly appreciate it. Please pray for my girls that we are leaving behind to stay healthy, and to not miss their Mommy and Daddy too much! Please pray for my parents as they keep my girls. Pray that they will also stay healthy, and that they will have enough energy to handle these 4 babies! Pray for us that we will handle all of the stresses of this process well. Pray for A, that her heart will be prepared to meet us and accept us as her parents. Pray for safe travels with few delays. And please pray for our facilitators, drivers, and government officials that will be handling our case. We thank you all!!

"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you" John 14:18