August 31

Tomorrow is August 31. To most of us here in the US that date does not mean anything too significant, other than signaling that Labor Day and a 3 day week-end is near. In Ukraine, this date means something totally different. September 1 is known and Knowledge Day in Ukraine, and marks the first day of school each year across the country. So what happens on August 31? Well, this is the day that all of the graduating teens from the orphanage leave for trade school. These young teens leave the relative safety of the place that has been their home for most of their lives. They leave with a small backpack of their worldly possessions and head off to an unknown world. 

What awaits them at trade school? For starters, these kids do not get to choose what trade school they will attend. It is assigned to them by the government. Some will go to construction school, others will go to cooking school. There are many other trade schools as well. It does not matter what you are interested in, you are just assigned to one and must go. Where do the kids stay? The trade schools have dorms. Imagine 15 and 16 year old kids all living in a dorm environment with no supervision. Not a lot of good can come from that. With no money, no supervision, and attending a trade school to learn a skill that you probably have no interest in learning, just to be assigned a job that you have no interest in doing...well, you can see why the statistics are not good for these kids. Crime, prostitution, suicide...these are all words that are repeated over and over again about the fates of many of the aged out orphans in Ukraine. 

August 31...the day that aged out teens really "age out". August 31...the day that Ryan and I will leave our little nest and fly back over the ocean to go get our girl. August 31...one less orphan will be leaving for trade school. Thank you Lord for helping us find our precious daughter before she too had to face this day with fear and sadness! To our sweet daughter....we our coming for you baby girl! You will never have to face an unknown future alone again....EVER!! We love you SO much and cannot wait to wrap you in love every single day for the rest of your life!

"Do not be afraid, for I am with you;

    I will bring your children from the east

    and gather you from the west.

6 

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’

    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’

Bring my sons from afar

    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—

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everyone who is called by my name,

    whom I created for my glory,

    whom I formed and made.” Isaiah 43:5-7

Would you please join us in praying for all the kids that will be leaving for trade school tomorrow? Please pray for peace and comfort that can only come from the Lord for these kids as they set out on their own.

Please also pray for Ryan and me as we prepare to leave tomorrow morning. I will be staying in Ukraine after court to finish out all the necessary paperwork, etc. to bring A home, which means I will be away from my little girls for around 4 weeks. You can imagine how anxious I am about this! Ryan will return home immediately following court. Please pray for safe travels for us. Also pray that our court hearing will go extremely smoothly next Friday!! We appreciate each of you and all of the support and prayers we have received. We are getting closer to having our family all together!!!! 

My Birthday!

"Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness" 2 Corinithians 9:13

As I was sitting in carpool line today (still hard to believe that I have a school age daugher now!!), I decided to make good use of my time and open up my Bible (yes it was still in the car from church yesterday). The verse above is what I opened to. As so often happens with the Lord, this verse fits perfectly with an idea I have been throwing around. 

One week from today is my birthday. I will be turning 31...gasp!! I know, also hard to believe:) In honor of my birthday, I wanted to do something that would make a difference in the life of at least one family and one orphan. Which led me to wanting to do something for a hosting program that is very near to my heart...Children's Cultural Connection. What impact has CCC had in my life? Well, I have to indirectly credit them with leading our family to our precious daughter A. You see, last summer her best friend Liza came to the USA as a host child with CCC. It was on this hosting trip that she met her forever family. Her host family was not the family that God had picked out to be her forever family. But through her host family, she was introduced to the family that she would soon call her own. Fast forward to this past February, and her new family started advocating for A...and the rest is history! If it were not for CCC, A's best friend would never have come to the US, found her family, and in turn helped A find her forever family!

I have seen many other children be adopted because of hosting as well. And it is with this in mind, that I wanted to help another child come to the US and hopefully find their family. The problem is, as with adoption, hosting is not cheap. It costs roughly $2,700 for a child to be hosted. I have heard from many families, that they are willing and ready to open their hearts and homes to an orphan this winter, but just don't have $2,700 lying around to fund their trip. This is where we can help! In honor of my birthday next week, I am asking that 31 of my friends and family donate to CCC to help fund an orphan for hosting this winter. Just 31 people!! I know that we cannot all open our homes, but we can all help another family! No amount is too small, and every penny will go to making a HUGE difference in a sweet child's life! If you would be willing to donate, please go to http://www.guglielmoshope.com/ and click on the "donate" tab. It will take you to the Guglielmo's Hope paypal page, which is an affiliate of CCC. Your donation will be tax deductible! Please put Wendy's birthday in the notes section when you check out. Thank you all in advance!

And if you would like more information on hosting, please email me: wendilynn.farrell@gmail.com. Thanks friends!!

I am also excited to announce that a panel of 3 families will be sharing their hosting experience with us at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock on Sunday, Sept. 8th at 5:30. If you are in the Little Rock area, please stop by! See picture below for more details:

"God loves a cheerful giver" 2 Corinthians 9:7

Yana and Diana

This summer, I had the privilege of watching a handful of my friends and family open their hearts and homes to precious Ukrainian Orphans for 6 weeks as part of a hosting program. It was such a blessing to me to see the people I am blessed to call friends, minister to these precious children. They took a step of faith, and poured love and life into their host children. These girls and boys got to witness firsthand what it means to be loved, cherished, cared for, and chosen....probably for the first time in their lives. 

These sweet kids were put back on a plane to Ukraine last week.  One of my friends hosted 2 adorable sisters, Yana and Diana. These girls also have a little sister, Tanya, who is too young to be hosted. My sweet friend fell in love with Yana and Diana, but due to having 4 little ones at home already, adding 3 more children to their family at this time is not possible. These girls long to return to America, and to be a part of a loving family. They adored being here this summer and flourished under the love and care they received. 

Here is what my friend has to say about Yana and Diana:

Yana (14) and Diana (8) are precious and sweet GIRLY girls!  They love crafts, nail polish, clothing, shoes, hair accessories, makeup, princess movies, and cats.

  

Yana acts younger than her age.  She has really interacted well with our young children because she enjoys playing outside and watching cartoons!  She is somewhat reserved and enjoys quiet time to herself so she can journal, draw, or read.  She also loves any needlework, especially embroidery.  Yana understands more English than she will admit although she is extremely shy about trying to speak it.  Yana is very appreciative of whatever she is given and never asks for anything extra. 

Diana is a very active 8 year old girl.  She is always outside looking for something to do even though it is almost 100 degrees.  She really enjoys doing gymnastics and would love to have the opportunity to try a real gymnastics class.  She also loves barbies, babydolls, and pretend play things.  Diana loves food especially fruits and vegetables.  She has so much fun picking out food at the grocery store and then going home to help cook them.  Diana is very timid about trying new things and needs much encouragement to help her overcome those fears. 

Both of the girls are really sweet with great manners.  Rarely have they shown any behavior that needed correction, but when that happened they quickly changed the behavior to fit with our house rules.  They enjoy whatever food is served with thankful hearts!  

They also have a 3 year old sister, Tanya, who lives in the orphanage with them.  

In my Bible reading today, I read John 4:35, which states, "I tell you open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for the harvest". Friends, there are so many orphans in this world, just waiting to be picked....to be loved, to belong, to be chosen. The harvest is ready, and the time is now! Could you be the family these sweet children are longing for? Please watch the video below that my dear friend made of Yana and Diana, and please share and  pray that they find a loving host family for winter hosting. If you have any questions, please email me, wendilynn.farrell@gmail.com, or visit the link at the end of the video.

Proud

Earlier this week, I was thinking about the word proud. How does it make you feel when you hear someone say, " I am proud of you"? I think we all have an inherent need to hear that someone is proud of us. As a child, you would probably seek your parents approval and hope that you would hear the words "I'm proud of you".  I know it would make me feel special to hear this phrase from my parents and teachers. Those 4 little words are something that I have tried to consciously tell my 4 little ones on a daily basis. I know that they need to hear this from me, and that it will make a lasting impression on them as they grow up. Which got me thinking...I wonder when the last time someone told A that they were proud of them. Maybe she has NEVER heard those words spoken to her. How incredibly sad! So, I decided to send her a text that simply said, " I just wanted you to know that I am so proud that you are my daughter. I love you"....with the help of google translate of course:) Our sweet, precious child immediately responded, " And I am so proud to have a good family. Have a good day. I love you". 

Later in the week, we were able to call her when our sweet friend was there to translate for us. She said that as A walked with her from the bus stop, she was telling her how I sent her that text to tell her I was proud of her, and that it made her so happy. I'm sure you can imagine how my heart filled with joy as I heard that those 4 little words truly meant so much to our daughter. I cannot wait to tell her every day, for the rest of her life, how proud we are that she is our daughter.

Which leads me to this little snippet I found a couple of weeks ago:

I hope that we, as a family, can show A each and every day that she is part of our "plan A". We love her and have sought after her and want her to be in our family every bit as much as we love and wanted our 4 little ones. Each one of our daughters is unique and precious and special. I hope and pray that she, along with our other 4 girls, will continue to see and know this and know how incredibly loved they are. Matthew 10:31 says, " Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows". What a sweet gift we can give our children by letting them know that we are proud of them!

To give a brief update, we are still waiting to officially here when our court date will be. We are expecting it to be the first week of September, but it could possibly be pushed out to the second week of September. We will know for sure one week from this coming Monday, August 26. At this time, we are planning to leave Labor Day week-end. We will update everyone as soon as we know our plans for sure. 

Thank you all for the continued prayers for our family!!

2 Weeks Home

We have been home for 2 weeks. The saying, "Absence makes the hear grow fonder" is definitely true in our case. I am really missing my girl today. This time of separation has been a time of conflicting emotions. On one hand, I am so very thankful to have been able to come home for this month and soak up the last few weeks of summer with my precious babies. I am so relieved that I will be here to prepare my precious 5 year old for her first day of kindergarten and to be able to be here for her on her first day of school. I am thankful that I will be here for my spunky 4 year olds first day of pre-k. I am thankful to be able to plan a small birthday celebration for my sweet 1 year old and take her to her 1 year check up. And yes, I am even thankful to be here to continue *trying* to potty train my 2 year old. These girls are the lights of my life, and I am so thankful to be able to be with them. 

A few snapshots of our life these last couple of weeks:

 My little toad on her log

 Just a girl and her puppy...and her real puppy

 Teaching the girls to play UNO so they can play with their big sister

 Climbing, climbing, always climbing!!!

Chatting with their feathered friends

On the other hand, there is such a huge void where Miss A should be. As we go about our daily lives, I am constantly reminded that A could have been here already. I am beyond ready for her to be home and to be a part of all of our everyday, mundane activities. 2 weeks home, around 3 weeks until we see her again. These last 2 weeks really have gone by super fast, and I know September will be here before we know it.

While I still cannot understand all of the "whys" of some of the bumps we have encountered in our adoption process (and probably never will), I have been reminded this week that there really is good that will come out of all of this, maybe even especially because of the bumps. Proverbs 20:24 states, "A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?" We were called to adopt our daughter, so we don't need to spend our time worrying or wondering about the "whys". We just need to focus on the end goal, the Lord has the rest of it covered!!

I was reading in Isaiah the other day and read this passage " As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, nor ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways" Isaiah 64:2-5

What great promises our God gives us! We pray that He continues to be glorified, even in the waiting, and that when we finally bring our daughter home, everyone will know it is because the Lord's great provisions only. 

Thank you all for the continued support and prayers!

Pelmini

Ryan and I LOVED the food we ate in Ukraine....as you can see by all of our previous posts with pictures of our food in them:) So, we thought we would make good use of our time at home before we return to Ukraine, by trying our hand at making one of our favorite Ukrainian dishes...pelmini. For those of you that have been to Ukraine, I'm sure you tried this dish. And didn't you think it was yummy? It can be made in many ways, but pelmini is traditionally a meat stuffed dumpling. In Ukraine, it is usually served with a side of sour cream and garnished with dill...as are most foods in Ukraine. 

I researched several recipes online, and chose this one.

I decided to make the pelmini on Sunday, when Ryan was home to help occupy the children. It took me a couple of hours to make these little pelmini, but I enjoyed the peace and quiet, so I didn't mind. The good thing about this recipe is that you freeze them, so you can make several batches at a time and have a few ready made meals to pull out of the freezer when you need a quick meal. Here are some pictures of our little pelmini adventure:

My pretty little dough ball

Cutting the dough into circles

Filling ingredients

Mixing the filling up

Time to fill the dumplings!

Our little taste tester..isn't it cute?!?

Viola! Homemade pelmini!

We made a couple of alterations to the recipe. Instead of ground pork, we used ground chicken. We also used garlic powder to season along with the salt and pepper. We also ended up making 2 batches of dough, because we had so much of the meat mixture left over after the first batch. You could cut the filling recipe in half if you don't want to make the extra dough. 

The best part about the pelmini, is that my girls actually liked it!! Woohoo!! 

If you have never tried pelmini, I would highly recommend that you do:)

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" 

1 Corinthians 10:31

If Two or More Agree...

*Update 8/7...At the VERY last minute, Sasha called and changed his mind!! He wants to be adopted and is ready to come home with Nicole. If you never believed in the power of prayer, you should!! Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!!

*Update 8/6...Thank you to all who have prayed for Nicole and Sasha. He has decided to stay in Ukraine. While this is not the outcome we all had hoped and prayed for, we know that the Lord has a plan that is far greater than we can imagine. Please continue to pray for this sweet boy when he comes to mind. Thank you friends. 


I must start out by saying that I am completely blown away by the response I have received about sweet Anya. When I wrote the post early Friday morning, I was hoping and praying that my close friends and family would share it, and that a few hundred people would commit to praying for her. I so underestimated you all!

Within 48 hours, Anya's blog post had been viewed 3,000 times!!! At this moment, it has been viewed 3,700 times and counting! I am just so in awe at the love and support that is being poured out for this sweet girl. I have received several emails from families that are very interested in learning more about her, and that are prayerfully considering adopting her. Thankful does not come close to describing how I feel about each and every one of you that has chosen to share her story, pray for her, and for those that are praying over her right now about her joining their families. I feel very hopeful and confident that Anya's forever family is out there, and I will look forward to updating you all when I have more news:) In the meantime, please continue to pray for Anya, and others just like her that are longing for a family to call their own. 

I must now humbly ask you to join me in praying for a sweet friend of mine who is currently in Ukraine, working hard to bring 3 aging out boys home with her. Nicole has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know, and she has previously adopted 3 beautiful children from Ukraine. 

One of the boys she is hoping to adopt has decided in the last few days that he cannot come home with her. He tells her that he must stay in Ukraine, but his heart and actions are telling her a completely different story. This sweet boy loves Nicole, and he loves her family. He has only until TOMORROW MORNING to change his mind and agree to be adopted. You guys, this is literally his last chance of ever being placed in a family. The bible states in Matthew 18:19, "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in Heaven". Would you please join me in praying for Sasha, that he will change his mind, and that he will make the right choice to be adopted into a loving family so that he can have a wonderful future? Would you commit to covering him in prayer over these critical next 24 hours? I learned first hand while in Ukraine, that while the obstacles may seem insurmountable, the power of prayer can overcame any and all obstacles.

Please share this post if you feel led, and pray, pray, pray for Nicole and Shasha! To read more about Nicole's journey please click here

Thank you in advance for your prayers!

Anya

I am writing this post because I know first hand it can make a difference. Not because of my own writing, but because of all of you. Let me explain. We first heard about our sweet girl on February 1 of this year. There was a short little facebook post written by a friend of my sister in law that simply stated that their newly adopted daughter was sad that her best friend was going to be left in Ukraine because time was running out for her. She would be 16 in a few short months, and at that point, she would not be available for adoption. I can't explain it, but as soon as I read it, I knew I had to reach out to them and find out as much as I could about this sweet girl. Later that afternoon, these sweet friends wrote a blog post about A. Once I read it, and saw her pictures, I was in 100%. Ryan took a little bit longer to commit...a whopping 48 hours ;) 

If it weren't for these sweet new friends of ours stepping out in hope and faith that their posts would somehow reach a family for A, then our sweet daughter would be facing a much darker future. And so, knowing that writing a little post can make a HUGE difference in an orphans life, I write this today on behalf of A's dear friend Anya. If you would be willing to share this post with your friends and family, please do! The more people that see Anya's face and hear about her, the more likely she is to find her forever family.

Meet Anya 

Anya is 14, and will turn 15 in November. She is a tiny little thing with bright, sparkly blue eyes, lots of freckles dotting her nose and cheeks, and beautiful blonde hair. She has no siblings, and is a true orphan...meaning she is available for adoption now. 

Anya has a quiet disposition, and is very thoughtful. She is a near constant companion of our daughters. She is very attentive, and nurturing. She would constantly fix our daughter's necklaces that we gave her to make sure they were not tangled. Because of these nurturing qualities, I feel that she would do well in a family with younger children. I feel that she would flourish in a family where she does not feel like she is in direct competition with a sibling her own age. Being a teenager can be difficult in any surroundings, and I feel that she would do well in a family where she can learn and grow at her own pace. With that being said, she loves her friends dearly, and would enjoy the company of children her own age socially. 

She is honest and works hard in school. She is shy around new people, but opens up quickly once she gets to know you and feels that she can trust you. Anya loves crafts, and is willing to explore and try new things. 

Anya would ask our translator every day while we were there, "Do you have a family for me too"? Even after we left to come home, on our daughter's birthday she asked our friend if she had a family for her. Would you please join me in praying for Anya and sharing her story? Let's not leave her as an orphan. She is a precious child that deserves all the love a family can give. If you would like more information, or to see more pictures of her, please email me wendilynn.farrell@gmail.com. 

"God sets the lonely in families" Psalm 68:6