Citizenship Ceremony

Citizenship is defined as the fact or status of being a citizen of a particular place. It is also defined as the qualities that a person is expected to have as a responsible member of a community.

This past Wednesday, Alona participated in an oath of citizenship ceremony after which she received a certificate officially making her a citizen of the United States. As I looked around the room at the 40+ immigrants who were receiving citizenship and their families, I couldn't help but think of all of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into getting each one of them there.

What made my heart swell, was the fact that there were 3 other Russian speaking teenagers....2 from Ukraine and 1 from Latvia that were adopted last fall. That means that at least 10% of those taking the oath were teenagers, on the the brink of adulthood,  that are now experiencing the love and security of a family for the first time. Not only are they learning to be citizens of a new country, but they are learning about the qualities that a person is expected to have as a responsible member of a family. 

The road to citizenship, whether citizenship of a country or of a family, is not an easy one. The road is full of bumps, detours, roadblocks, and U-turns. Once gaining citizenship, the journey is not over. In fact, it has just begun. There are rules to learn and follow, responsibilities to maintain, and duties to fulfill. 

Alona has learned and unlearned much these first few months home. The road ahead stretches out into the horizon...the possibilities and opportunities she will have as a new citizen in her new family and country are endless. We pray that she will continue to work hard and strive to be the citizen that God has called her to be. 

Oath Ceremony!

Alona with other new citizens

Taking the Oath

Waiting to receive her certificate of citizenship

Alona wit her Aunt Sarah

Proud Parents!

Alona with her Gigi and Boo

Citizen of the United States!!

Walk on Water

A few weeks ago, I woke up from a dead sleep at 3 am. Walk on Water, Walk on Water, Walk on Water kept going through my mind over and over and over again. Ok, Lord.... I think I get it!!

Leading up to that early morning wake up call, I had been praying that the Lord would give me a way to express what He has done for me through our adoption of Alona. My hope was that whatever it was, that it would not only show how much my relationship with Him was strengthened, but that it would also give me a way to help other families who are in the process of hosting and adopting.

So, what does walk on water mean? Well, most of us know the story in the Bible of Peter calling out to Jesus one night while the disciples were in their boat. They saw Jesus walking towards them on the water, and thought he was a ghost. Peter asked Jesus to let him come walk on water with him if he was indeed Jesus. So Jesus called Peter out onto the water, and Peter started to walk on water! After a few steps, he got scared, and started to sink, so Jesus pulled him back up and delivered him safely to the boat. After that, all of the disciples who witnessed these events, started worshiping Jesus, and their faith grew stronger. 

The story of Peter walking on water is not just about him defying odds and doing something that is impossible. It is about God using that impossible, uncomfortable, and scary situation to take Peter's faith deeper than it ever would have gone. It is about taking Peter out of his cozy little boat into a situation that he had no choice but to fully trust in the Lord to get him through.

When I think back on my time in Ukraine, I think of this story. My time spent in Ukraine was when I walked on water. The time that my faith grew stronger than it ever has was when I was left all alone, except for my new daughter whom did not speak my language, for three weeks. I was away from my husband, my 4 precious daughters, my family, my friends, my home, my church, my car, my safety, my routine, my control. I was in a foreign country where I couldn't speak the language, or even read their alphabet! I had no one to rely on OTHER than God! And you know what? I would not trade those 3 weeks for anything in this world. And you know why? Because the Lord revealed himself to me in such a deeper, more meaningful,  more powerful, more all encompassing way than I had EVER experienced Him before. 

The song "Oceans" by Hillsong United best describes how I feel about my experience. The refrain says, " Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the water wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior."

I have come to realize that the adoption of our daughter was about so much more than bringing our daughter home to give her a loving family and a bright future. It was not just about "saving" her from a life of poverty, despair, and hopelessness. It was about saving ME. It was about delivering me from my cozy little life filled with self reliance instead of total reliance on my Savior. It was about showing me the depths of God's love for ME. It was about seeing what a deeper relationship with the creator of the Universe looks like. How blessed I am!!

The Lord has placed such a desire on my heart to help others see His love in new and more meaningful ways. He has also placed a huge burden on my heart to see orphans and families united together forever. I am thankful for an opportunity to combine these 2 passions together! I have started a fund raiser that I hope will be able to benefit many adoptive or host families. 

I am selling these Mudlove bracelets! The center portion is baked clay made by Africans in order to provide their communities with clean drinking water. They feature the phrase Walk on Water so that whomever wears the bracelet will be reminded to step out in faith to whatever it is the Lord is calling you to do. The Lord does not call us all to the same thing. Maybe He is calling you to adoption. Maybe He is calling you to go on a mission trip to a foreign country. Maybe He is calling you to befriend a coworker that is not so easy to like. Who knows?? My challenge to you is to listen and obey! I know personally, that you will NOT regret listening to and answering the Lord's call. You will be more blessed than you could possibly imagine!!

So how does my fundraiser work? Well, Ryan and I paid for the first 50 bracelets in full. We wanted to help other families going through the adoption and hosting process, and thought finding a way to make our money multiply would make more sense than giving a one time donation to a family. Every bracelet that is sold, will go directly to another family. We are hoping to select a new family to give the proceeds to with each new order of 50 bracelets that we order. The bracelets are $10, and cost $2 to ship. We currently have royal blue, pink, turquoise, and brown band colors available. We only have 10 bracelets left of the 50 we got in yesterday!! We will be ordering our next 50 tomorrow!!

If you would like to order a bracelet, or 2, or 10....please email me at wendilynn.farrell@gmail.com. And if you, or someone you know, would like to be considered for our fundraisers, please let me know!!

So what do you think? Are you ready to Walk on Water and help change the life of an orphan in the process? 

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Colossians 2:7

Fall/Christmas

Wow, it's been a while since I have updated our blog!! So, what have we been up to? Oh, just about EVERYTHING!! Fall-Christmas is my favorite time of year, and I get so excited about all of the fun activities, food, and crafts that come along with this time of year. The girls, Ryan, and I have been staying super busy and having a blast!

Our biggest event over these last few weeks, was packing up and heading to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. Ryan's sister Katie and her family live out there as well as several of Alona's dear friends from Ukraine. We wanted Alona to be reunited with these sweet friends, and thought Thanksgiving would be the perfect time to go! What is typically a 13 hour road trip (not factoring in stops) ended up being a 17 hour road trip (not including stops) for our crew!! Our little ones were huge troopers and did an AMAZING job on the LOOONG drive. We planned in advance, and packed a busy bag for each of them to keep them occupied, along with lots of snacks, and a whole  bag of dum dums to resort to when all other things failed:)

One of the many things in the girls busy bags...pom poms and containers to sort them!

 Road trippin!!

 The girls were slightly excited about getting to stay in a hotel:)

 Precious cargo

Snow through the NC mountains!

We had such a wonderful time being with our friends and family in NC, and it was totally worth the long drive. Getting to witness Alona's sweet reunions with her friends was priceless. When you think about all of these sweet kids, and where they came from, and where they are now...it is truly remarkable. Who would have thought that they would see each other again...much less with new families and in the US!! Truly, miraculous.

Alona and her BFF Liza 

Alona with her dear friends (siblings!) Vitalik and Lera

Cousins!! (We brought the girls, the Williams have the boys:))

Back at home, we have been busy, busy with all the holiday parties and school activities for my Kindergartener and Preschooler. Alona has stayed busy going to the dentist:) Last week-end, we headed to Branson, MO for a week-end getaway. We stayed in a cozy 2 bedroom cabin and treated the girls to a ride on the Polar Express. We got our girls, Alona included, matching Christmas pjs this year, as we do every year. As I was getting the little ones ready in their jammies for the Polar Express, Alona excitedly asked me if she was to put on her Christmas PJ's. I just loved seeing how excited she was about it! All of our girls loved the Polar Express, and Alona said that her favorite part of the trip was seeing Santa:) It has been so neat seeing her reactions to all of our holiday events and traditions. To think that just this time last year, we had no clue that we had another daughter in this world, and that Alona thought she would never have a family, just makes me wanna cry like a baby!! How awesome our God is, that He had such an incredible plan for our family that we could never, ever have imagined. 

Avalea's preschool Thaksgiving Feast

Alona filling and Operation Christmas Child box for an orphan....so sweet!!

Round 2 of getting cavities filled

Aislynn was Pocahontas for Book Character Day at school...and won 3rd place overall in K for her costume!

My Little Pilgrims

Getting ready to see the off Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast!

Avalea with her gingerbread house

The big girls with their dough art creations

Sledding on a very icy week-end!

Pajama Day in prek!

Arabella in her Christmas gear

My little Adalaise posing in her Christmas attire as well:)

Welcome basket at our Branson cabin

Lots of snow in Branson!

Lincoln Logs!!

Farrell girls ready for the Polar Express

Our family all ready for the train ride:)

Santa!!

Candy cane treats for Avalea's prek Christmas party

Avalea's class!

Girls working hard on painting our wrapping paper

Aislynn wearing her Grinch dress at school

Pretty wrapped presents with the girls handiwork:)

Aislynn's class party!!

Sweet keepsakes from Aislynn and Avalea

PJ day in K!

My 3 princesses....life's a ball in the Farrell House!!

One other new and exciting that we are about to embark on, is Alona starting school! We feel incredibly blessed that we are going to be able to ease her into full time school, by starting her out taking 2 classes this coming semester. She is going to audit and ESL and an art/computer class starting in January to hopefully prepare her for full time school starting this fall. We feel that she will benefit greatly from being around kids her own age and that she will flourish in this small school setting. To be honest with you, I am totally not a teacher!! It has been a huge struggle to find the balance of home schooling Alona with giving my 4 little ones the time and energy they need through out the day. We will still home school Alona this coming semester as she audits her 2 classes, but look forward to her being in school next fall. She is nervous about starting school, and understandably so. But she is also excited. We cannot wait to see how she grows through this process. 

As we gear up for Christmas next week, we want to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas! 

Avalea (4)

Arabella (3)

Aislynn (5)

Adalaise ( 18 months)

Alona (16)

Me and Ryan (the old folks;))

Sweet sisters

Psalm 136:4," Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles. His faithful love endures forever."