Memorial Day fun

I'm at the Atlanta Braves game with my two guys. Will be back to blogging tomorrow!

13 Days and Counting!!!

Blog Roll

I just updated our blog roll. Click HERE to see it.

Are you listed on it? If not, would you like to be? Just leave a comment with your first names & your link!

16 Days and Counting!!!

Proverbs 24:11-12

I've been studying & meditating on these verses.  Here are a few translations I've read...

 

Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die; save them as they stagger to their death. Don't excuse yourself by saying, "Look, we didn't know." For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve. (NLT)

 

Rescue the perishing; don't hesitate to step in and help. If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business," will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know— Someone not impressed with weak excuses.  (The Message)

 

Don't hesitate to rescue someone who is about to be executed unjustly. You may say that it is none of your business, but God knows and judges your motives. He keeps watch on you; he knows. And he will reward you according to what you do. (The Good News)

 

Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done? (NIV)

 

Once our eyes are opened we cannot pretend we do not know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows we know and holds us responsible to act. (paraphrase of Proverbs 24:12)

While studying this verse, here's what I've learned so far... (most of this was copied from study sources that are referenced below)

• Neglect of known duty is SIN. (James 4:17)
• God's retributive justice cannot be avoided by professed ignorance.
• It is easy to make such an excuse as this, sufficient to avoid the censures of men, for perhaps they cannot disprove us when we say, We knew it not, or, We forgot; and the temptation to tell a lie for the excusing of a fault is very strong when we know that it is impossible to be disproved, the truth lying wholly in our own breast, as when we say, We thought so and so, and really designed it, which no one is conscious of but ourselves. It is not so easy with such excuses to evade the judgment of God; and to the discovery of that we lie open and by the determination of that we must abide.
• Jer. 17:10, I the Lord search the heart. He keeps the soul, holds it in life. This is a good reason why we should be tender of the lives of others, and do all we can to preserve them, because our lives have been precious in the sight of God and he has graciously kept them.
• He knows and considers whether the excuse we make be true or not, whether it was because we did not know it or whether the true reason was not because we did not love our neighbour as we ought, but were selfish, and regardless both of God and man.
• As his knowledge cannot be imposed upon, so his justice cannot be biassed, but he will render to every man according to his works, not only the commission of evil works, but the omission of good works.
• Consider - That this is only a frivolous excuse.
• God is a God of justice. He hates and despises all injustice.
• While some people might accept ignorance as a valid excuse for failing to act, God knows the real situation and the deep inner motivation behind such failure.
• Never should self-interest be the real reason for a failure to help those facing grave danger.
• Life is valuable, and all means should be taken to save it, and to prevent the shedding of innocent blood; and a man should not forbear or spare any cost, or pains, or time, to such service.
• If any be set upon by force and violence, and it be in our power to rescue them, we ought to do it.

http://www.biblestudytools.com/proverbs/24-12.html
http://www.vbvbc.org/bible-verse/proverbs24-12
http://www.trinitycrc.org/sermons/pr24v11-12.html

Test

Testing a new blog app...

Got our tickets

I officially booked our tickets yesterday. We're leaving on Sunday June 13!

We have a long layover in Germany (13 hours) so we'll get to be tourists for a bit before we move on to Kyiv.

18 days and counting!

Ukraine, Here We Come!

We received word - we have an appointment with the SDA on...

JUNE 16 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are very excited, and are busy making travel plans at the moment.

23 Days and Counting!!!

Growing up too fast

On Monday, our Little Guy will be 8 years old.

We celebrated with friends & family last Saturday at the park. We'll celebrate more in the coming days.

What an amazing 2 1/2 years it has been since God brought him into our family. He's come so far in such a short amount of time. The markings on our pantry door display his physical growth. His successful completion of first grade is an example of his intellectual growth. The sweet prayers he says at night, the enthusiasm he has when it's time to go to church, and the songs he loves to sing all speak to his ongoing spiritual growth.

As he leaves 7 behind and tackles the exciting life of an 8-year-old, I pray that God will guide him and protect him. This year will likely bring lots of changes and adjustments, and I pray God's blessings on him as we all seek to find our places with the growth of our family. I pray for the health & holiness of this precious little man who's settled so easily and seamlessly into our lives - and I thank God for the blessing that William is.

Waiting a bit more

No word yet, but it will likely come very soon.  And we have lots going on right now, so there's plenty to keep us busy while we wait... 

• Our anniversary is this Saturday - 12 years!!!!
• William's last soccer game and end of season party are Saturday
• In addition to church Sunday morning, we have some orphan care ministry stuff to take care of
• Monday is William's birthday and his end-of-the-year party at school
• Monday is also Zack's brother's birthday
• Tuesday we'll be celebrating William's birthday at school
• Wednesday is the last day of school
• Wednesday is also the last week of my women's bible study for a while
• Then comes Memorial Day - we're hoping to get to spend the weekend at the lake, if time permits. We could use a little bit of down time!

We know that God has everything in His hands, and we will get to Ukraine when He wants us to be there.  In the meantime, we will enjoy our time together as a family of three, and pray over all that He has planned for us in the future!

Chrissie is dancing with Jesus

It is with a mix of both sadness and joy that I announce to my blog readers that sweet little Chrissie passed away early this morning.  She was such a fighter. Although she did not receive her earthly healing, I praise God that she has been fully restored in heaven.

My heart aches for the Patterson family. They fought to bring her home and into their family. They fought to get her the surgery she needed. They fought to keep her comfortable for the past 31 days while she was in that hospital bed.

Chrissie came to be known by so many as the Serbian Sensation. Even as she lay in her hospital bed with tubes and machines connected in all directions, she was ministering to people throughout the world. Her story allowed her family to share Jesus' name in a way that they might not otherwise have been able to do. In the short time she was with her family, she was loved and adored, and learned how wonderful it is to be a part of a family.

Please keep this family in your prayers as they grieve their loss.

You can visit their blog HERE.

Encouraging Scripture

If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

James 1:5-8 (The Message translation)

Just kidding!

Wow, lots of mini-van comments! So I was just joking around about buying a mini-van. We have no plans to buy a new car any time soon. If God leads our family in a direction that requires more space, then okay. But for now, it's really nice not having a car payment :)

Also, I found another cool picture from Passion Kyiv...

This is how families roll...

When we got married at 22, I swore I would never drive a mini van.
But if I can be THIS cool, well, maybe I need a Swagger Wagon...



(Thanks for sharing, Deanna!)

God is continuing to speak! Praise Him!

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us?

Romans 8:31 - 32 (The Message)

I've had several people say things to us in the past few days, implying that we know our appointment date and are just not sharing it with anyone yet. No, not true! One of our facilitators did submit our paperwork to the SDA (Ukraine's adoption officials). But we don't know our travel dates yet. We are still waiting to find out when our appointment in Kyiv will be.

As I mentioned in a prior posts, facilitators are usually told to return in 10 - 14 days of submission to receive approval and the appointment date. It's now been 11 days since our submission. So we think we'll hear something this week, but of course there are no guarantees. And because many Ukrainian offices were closed for holidays on a few different days over the past couple of weeks, they might be a little backed up with paperwork. 

So we wait - anxiously, excitedly, and expectantly...

While we wait...

As we continue to wait for word on our appointment date, I thought I'd share with you some thoughts and scriptures I've been mulling over.  Hopefully they'll speak to you, too. But if nothing else, they'll be here as part of our journey, so that one day when this blog is turned into a book like we did with William's blog, our child(ren) can see how God was speaking to us and working to bring us together.

I won't bore you too much with my own personal dialogue and thoughts on what I've been reading, but will stick mainly to the passages and thoughts I came across. But those of you who know me well - or those of you experienced with & passionate about adoption - can probably guess how some of this is speaking to me right now.

Rick Warren posted several things on Twitter yesterday that really stood out to me. 

First I read this: Short-term delays & difficulties won't defeat you if your vision is long-term. Live in light of eternity. See 2 Cor.4:17-18
So I looked up this passage in The Message translation...

So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18

I then looked at some of his prior posts, including...

~ Ability means responsibility: "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,when it is IN YOUR POWER to act" Proverbs 3:27
~ The global purpose of God has always met resistance from the comfortable people of God. (a re-tweet from another pastor)
~ We often delay obedience by seeking advice. Just do it.

In studying Proverbs 3:27, I also came across James 2:16 (New International Reader's Version)

Suppose one of you says to them, "Go. I hope everything turns out fine for you. Keep warm. Eat well." And you do nothing about what they really need. Then what good have you done?

As we await our appointment, I've been praying that God would clearly speak to me - through things I hear, read, etc. I'm praising Him for reaching me in very real ways right now. And I'm waiting with an expectant heart on what (and who!) He has in store for us.

Take a Guess at our Appointment Date

As we wait to receive word, I thought it would be fun for everyone to guess when our SDA appointment will be.

Click on the Comment link below (or click HERE) and make your guess! Closest one to the actual date wins bragging rights :)

You're the God of this city [Kyiv]

The Passion World Tour touched down in Kyiv yesterday.  How awesome to know that 6,500+ university students and young adults were gathered together to worship corporately and draw closer to our God!

You can read about it on the 268 Generation blog HERE.  You can see a few pics from the event at that link as well.

How I'd love to hear Redman singing Blessed Be Your Name in Russian. Our long time readers might recall a little boy just learning to speak English who loved that song (read that entry here). ~ and by the way, when I went back and read that entry again, I got teary-eyed. Just a warning :) ~

Q&A

While we wait, I thought I'd answer a few questions we've received...

Josh asked,   "When will you guys travel? Or do you know yet?"

No, we don't know yet. Facilitators typically return to the SDA about 10 - 14 days after submission to find out the appointment date.  So our facilitator will go back sometime next week to find out.  We're guessing mid-June, but we'll see.  Maybe I should start a contest to see who can guess our date :)

Sharon asked, "When you go in for the appt, what will you do? Be matched? Stay for awhile? Come home with your child/children?"

At our appointment, we will be shown profiles of children that match our request (in terms of age/gender/health/etc.).  With William's adoption, we were shown 7 profiles - his was "Lucky #7!" The profiles typically consist of a small picture, and some limited information on the child. We will choose a child from one of these profiles and travel to that child's region to meet him or her. After meeting the child (and provided everything goes okay with that meeting), we will then begin the paperwork to accept the child's referral and to request a court date.

After court, there is a mandatory 10 day waiting period. Once the 10 day wait is over, we can pick up the court decree. At that point, we'll begin efforts to get our child's new birth certificate and passport. The timing of this can vary from region to region. In rare cases, it can be done all in one day - in many cases, it takes several days.

Our trip to get William took 33 days in total.  We arrived home on the 33rd day with our son. This trip could be longer than that, there are so many unknowns and we have to just be ready to roll with the punches!

Andi asked, "Are you guys going to be in Kiev? We have a couple in our church that are moving there in about two months."

We will be in Kyiv for the first few and last few days of our trip. We'd love to meet your friends!  Email me and we'll see if we can make it happen!

The McEacherns said, "I'd love to know your thoughts on this adoption vs. William's adoption... differences in your mindset about waiting, paperwork, etc"

The process itself has been a lot different. And so has our mindset!

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

We went into this with more realistic expectations thanks to experience. We knew to be ready for things to change at a moment's notice. We learned that timelines are merely suggestions, and there are no rules. And of course, the waiting has gone by more quickly thanks to having William with us!

HOME STUDY

This was less stressful because we'd done it before. AND our social worker from William's adoption did this homestudy as well, so we weren't starting from square one. She already knew us, our house, our backgrounds, etc.

DOSSIER PREP

Once again, less stress since we knew what to expect. For instance, with adoption #1, it took us a total off 11 (yes ELEVEN!!) visits to the doctor to get our medical forms filled out correctly. This time, thanks to some pre-planning, they were correct the first time.  We also knew where to go and what to do for all the necessary items as well, so less uncertainty.

There were a couple of new items added to the dossier package that we didn't have to do last time, but nothing overly difficult.

I-600A

This has been our biggest source of stress this time around. We sent it on December 17. We were fingerprinted on February 1. We finally received our I-171H (US approval) on April 15 - after a number of emails and phones calls begging for help. 119 days total. This time around, this step was MUCH slower than William's adoption. His was 49 days start to finish, and that included a delay where our paperwork had been put in the wrong stack at USCIS and overlooked for a number of days.

DOSSIER SUBMISSION
In 2007, U.S. dossiers were accepted on Mondays. You were not given a submission date ahead of time.

Each Monday, we'd learn how many dossiers had been submitted, and our approximate number "in line". I was calculating and making predictions on a weekly basis as to when we might actually get submitted.

This time around is a totally different ballgame! Back in October, one of our Ukrainian facilitators presented our home study and was assigned a date to submit our dossier: May 6th.  This allowed us to consider when we really needed to start on paperwork to make sure none of it was more than 6 months old at the time of submission (documents older than 6 months will likely be rejected by the SDA).

APPOINTMENT DATE

Turnaround time from submission to appointment date is a LOT faster (at least as of this posting) than it was last time. Our 2007 timeline was:
July 16: Submitted dossier

Aug 30: Received notice of appointment date

Nov 7: SDA Appointment

So we endured 45 days before we learned when our appointment would be. And it was another 69 days of travel prep before our appointment.

The current 'norms' are like this:
Facilitator submits dossier
Facilitator returns to SDA about 2 weeks later
Appointment is typically 2 - 3 weeks after that (can vary, but this has been the norm lately)

I'll be glad to do some more comparing later on in the process, but that's abot all I can compare right now.

I'll be glad to answer more of your questions.  So click HERE and ask away!

Wanna win an iPod Touch?

My bloggy friend Brooke is raffling off an iPod Touch to raise money for their adoption. They're seeking to adopt a precious 8-year-old girl that they hosted.  Check out THIS BLOG to make your donation. The drawing will be tomorrow, so you must enter TODAY.  Entries are just $5. Click over & help them out!!!

The Empire Strikes Back

SUBMITTED!

One word says it all :)

Just received that word from our U.S. facilitator, letting us know that our facilitator in Ukraine was able to submit our dossier to the State Department of Adoption today.  Can I get a Woo Hoo?!?!

Another milestone reached, and now we wait... again! 

Please join us as we pray that the SDA will look kindly on our paperwork, will find no fault, and will assign us an appointment date that aligns with the availability of the child that God has chosen for us.

Blog catch-up: Cheryl & Sasha's visit

Here are some pictures from Cheryl & Sasha's visit. You'll see some of my nieces & nephew as well - we had a cookout on Saturday so that some of the family would have a chance to meet William's brother while he was in town...

Blog catch-up: Easter

Here are a few pics from Easter 2010...

Meet our Ukraine Connection!

If you've followed our blog for more than a month or two, you've likely read about our friends the Powells - they are missionaries in Ukraine and live about an hour away from the town where William lived. And they are currently in Georgia on furlough.

(You can read about them HERE).

For local readers- we are hosting a special evening tomorrow night (May 6th).  We wanted to have an evening for people to get to know them and learn a little about their ministry in Ukraine. 

We invite you to join us for dinner & a time of fellowship, along with a brief commentary by Jonathan & Heather about the work being done in Berdyansk and other areas of Ukraine.

If you're interested in attending, send me an email (here) and I'll give you all the details!

Thanksgiving 2007
Berdyansk, Ukraine

Big Orange Adoption Story

Back in October I posted about University of Tennessee Athletic Director Mike Hamilton and his family's adoption story (here). 

I just saw a video that was produced for an orphan crisis fundraiser event held in Knoxville, and focuses on the Hamilton family.  Please at least take the time to watch the first 3 minutes or so, as it is an awesome story of God working in this family and burdening them with the James 1:27 call. I especially appreciated how Mike likened the adoption decision to standing on the edge of the pool...
But I won't share more, you'll just have to watch for yourself!

Tomorrow!

That's right, it's only a day away!

The Land family... and 2 Days... And Orphan Care Ministry

Take a look at the new button to the left - it's now official!  The Land family is seeking to adopt Vera, along with 2 little boys from the same orphanage, Sasha & Niko. 

You can click on the button to make a tax-deductible donation to their adoption fund through Reece's Rainbow.  We praise God for leading this family to these 3 children!

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Just 2 more days until submission.  Can't wait to get word that our facilitator successfully submitted our paperwork!!

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Zack & I are hosting a meeting in our home tonight, regarding beginning an orphan care/adoption ministry at our church.  We've had one preliminary high-level meeting, but this will be our first time to talk specifically about where God wants this to go.  This is something that has been on my heart for quite some time now, and I am so excited to see where He leads us!

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If you haven't already done so, don't forget to click HERE and make a comment for our Blog Roll, just letting us know that you're following along on our journey!

Brothers

Here's a sneak peek of William & Sasha. 

Be sure to read the post below & participate in the blog roll!

3 Days!!

We're just 3 days away from our scheduled submission date!  Can't believe it's almost here. 

While we wait, I thought it's probably a good time for a Blog Roll Call!  We haven't done one of those in a long time, and it's always nice to know who's stopping by our blog.

So if you're reading this, please take just a minute or two to click on Comments, and let us know you're following along on our journey.  You don't have to write a long paragraph or anything - just a note saying hi.  Thanks!

And yes, I still plan to share some pics of our weekend with Sasha & his mom, Cheryl.  It was a great weekend, but we're all exhausted. Will try to do that post soon!