The End and The Beginning

The last few weeks have been a whirl wind of events. We drove to Michigan at the beginning of the month so the boys would be cared for by my mom and dad. Jason and I were on a flight the next morning to Moscow for our court hearing on the 5th and to visit with Natalia.

We got to Chicago to realize that our flight to Dulles Airport was canceled. This was a little unsettling because we did not have much of a cushion in our itinerary. If we missed our flight to Moscow it would very likely cause our court date to be canceled. After talking to customer service, they arranged for us to fly into Reagan National (the other airport in DC), then we had to catch a cab to Dulles to make our connecting flight. The plan went off with out a hitch and we were on our way to Moscow.

Although the trip is always exhausting, we were glad we made it safely and happy to see Vladimir waiting for us as we exited immigration. As we drove to our apartment he briefed us on what would happen at the court hearing in the morning and also said that these were all formalities to confirm the decision that has already been made which made me feel better as I was intimidated with the idea of having to earn the judges approval. 

The court hearing went smoothly. Jason went to the stand first, he was asked a series of questions from his name to why he wanted to adopt. I followed Jason up to the stand and received the same line of questioning (maybe a little less drilling than his). I was very nervous but for some reason could not keep a huge grin off my face. I probably looked very ridiculous with my permagrin as she is asking me if I might love Natalia less than my biological boys. But to me I was so excited and the question was so silly that I could not help but smile with great delight!! The truth is, I already love her! God chose us to be her family and I don't think He is worried about biology ;-)

So, the judge ruled in favor of us being Natalia's mom and dad!!!! Yay!!! That afternoon we went to the orphanage to visit our sweet girl. The weather has gotten much colder since our last visit and spending time outside was out of the question, so we met with her is a common area that had couches and toys to sit and play. I was overjoyed to see that she was healthy and happy. She was a complete joy to be with. She was not only crawling all over the room but also pulling herself up onto furniture and had two more teeth. How much changes in just over a month. My last trip she was crawling but not too far and now she is on the go!! When our time was almost done, we asked if we could see where she lived. They agreed and we were led to the second floor, we went through the entryway and saw a nicely organized room with plenty of toys and play areas. It seemed clean, functional and cheerful. There was another room off the the left that we were led into where we found about 10 cribs all set side by side. I wish I could remember this better, by mind is foggy, I think due to the overwhelming emotional moments of it all. We were able to visit her crib, she was in number 5. After taking plenty pictures of her throughout her room (mostly because her caretaker was putting her in all difference positions for us) we said goodbye and went back to our apartment.

The next day we went back to the orphanage again and spent more precious time with our daughter. I was able to ask several questions about her eating and sleeping habits. Knowing that this was the last time we would see her on this trip, we didn't want it to end. But she began to get tired and Vladimir called for the caretaker to come and get her. Although I know it is perfectly normal, it made me sad to see Natalia smile when her caretaker walked in the room. I couldn't wait until that smile was for me!!!

So fast forward a 12 day waiting period and lots of fun with the boys and family in Michigan, here we are on the last day of our last trip!!!!! We arrived on Monday, and went to the orphanage on Tuesday to get our baby. It was different knowing that we were there for the last time. I found myself looking around taking it all in and not wanting to miss a thing. We were led into the office of the orphanage director where we gave her the gifts that we had brought and thanked her. Then walked over to another office where we were asked to sit. We waited only a minute before Natalia was brought in. I wonder if she recognized us. We took off the clothes she had on and put on the outfit that we brought for her first day with us. It was funny, she had a one piece outfit on with a Kermit the Frog t-shirt underneath, cute. We put her in a pink shirt with "my heart belongs to my daddy" on the front, pink worm and fuzzy pants and a pink and gray sweater vest. After a small about of paperwork Vladimir said it was time to bundle her up and go. We had a thick pink coat with a stripped hat and mittens. She was completely adorable!!!!

Walking out of the orphanage with her in our arms was beyond words. She fell asleep in my arms while sucking on her two middle fingers on the way to our apartment. This has been an amazing journey with great joy and upset along the way, but as Jason said earlier "God saved the best for last!!"

We have spent the rest of the week with our girl in Moscow, enjoying each other and getting to know her. She not only smiles when I walk in the room but when I put my hands out to hold her she actually laughs with joy and anticipation of being held. What a sweet gift!!! My heart is so humbled and grateful to our gracious Heavenly Father who gave her to us!!

Yesterday (Friday) was the final formality, we received her passport and visa and are now free to take our Natalia home to meet her brothers. We leave tomorrow morning and could not be happier. We have tasted the food, walked the streets, bought souvenirs and are now ready to say goodbye to Moscow!! It would be fun to come back someday, but not any time soon.  ;-)

Painting Natalia's Room!!!

We have 3 days left to prepare our home for our daughter. 

We received an email this weekend (completely unexpectedly) from Terri saying that we had a "tentative" court date for October 4th. You can imagine my surprise because not only two weeks ago she told us that the court date would not be until the end of October because of Natalia being to young. I was thrilled to hear that we will be seeing her next week!!! And bringing her home by the end of October!! We got the got the date confirmed for the 5th instead of the 4th and we will be flying to Moscow this coming Monday!! 

So, here I am, running around my house, cleaning, painting, organizing and I only have 3 days left. We will leave on Saturday morning to drive up to Michigan so the boys can stay with my parents while we are gone. We will go back to Michigan for the black out period and will not be coming back to Albuquerque until after we go back to Russia for the 2nd time and bring her home. 

I could not be more excited!! Her room is almost done. I decided to paint one wall just today, and I love it!!! The boys are beside themselves! They are not only going to Nanie and Papa's house, but we will be bringing their baby sister home sooo soon!! Sammy says "I can't wait for baby Batalia to be here". I can't either!! And yes, he says it with a B. The smile that Caleb had on his face when we told him the good news was just brilliant. I over heard him talking to his friend the other day about his "sister". It was the sweetest thing! 

This has been such an amazing ride. We have an amazing God to create a thing like Adoption!! 

^{Ephesians 1:3-5}

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Almost There!!!

So the last trip to Russia was to confirm Natalia as our referral. This went as planned and she is now officially matched with our family. The next step will be the court hearing, which we are still waiting for a date but have been told that it should be no later than the first week of October. We are hoping for sooner of course! Then there is the black out period which usually will last 12 to 14 days. Then we will fly back to Russia for about a 5 day trip to pick up Natalia, do paperwork and we are hopeful that we will finally have her home by the end of October. 

I thank God for this journey and that this portion is almost over!! Having her home will surely begin another amazing journey that I can't wait to start!! 

Please continue to pray for Natalia. She was sick while I was there this last time. It seemed to be just a cold and a rash, but not knowing and not being able to do anything to help her was so hard. Pray that she is cared for and will receive the medical attention that she needs. 

She is so amazing!!  I am gushing from excitement and anticipation. I never knew how it would feel to be this close and now that it is here, I hardly have the words to describe it! Praise God for adoption and our sweet baby girl!!  It has been awesome watching the anticipation in Caleb and Sammy as well. Especially Caleb, he has been so disappointed every time we have to explain that it is not time to bring her home yet. He loves talking about her and the plans that we have for when she finally arrives. Can't wait!!  

Saying Goodbye

This is hard!! I feel speechless, but I know that I will want to remember the details that I may forget later, so I am going to try to find the words.

I had to say goodbye again today...this time was the hardest yet.
I tried to soak up every minute, every second that I had with her. She fell asleep on my chest right before I had to give her back. I wanted her to stay there!! I could hardly breath as I handed her over...my heart aches.

I hope to write more later.

Second Trip, First Day

Leaving the boys and Jason behind as I left for Russia was hard to do! I felt the need to have them with me. Not that I could not be alone, but just because I missed them terribly.
After navigating through strange airports and arriving to Moscow with no problems or delays, I thought "this will be easy". I made my way over to baggage claim to get my suitcase and head out to meet with Vladimir my translator/driver. That is when I began to panic.

Around and around went the carousel and my bag (with all personal items as well as important adoption documents) was no where to be seen. I stood there thinking "crap!! now what". I made my way to what seemed like an information desk and asked if the women there spoke English. She said "A little". I explained that my bag did not come out and she directed me to an office to stand in line. This line did not seem to move. Now what do I do? The line is not moving, I don't speak Russian and Vladimir is waiting for me with no idea that I am in this situation. If I stay in the line, he may think that I am not here and may leave wondering what is going on. I do not have an international phone so there is no way for him to call me or me to call him. I don't even have his number (note to self "get phone number!!!") if I did have a phone. If I get out of the line and go through immigration to see him, would they even consider letting me back in? I was thinking of those stern faced men sitting there and thought "there is no way they would let me back in". What to do? Every second that went by felt like an hour. My heart was pounding and I knew I couldn't wait. I tried to talk to one of the women working behind the desk but she did not seem to have time for my silly English speaking sob story. All I could think of was that Vlad would leave and I would be alone, so I left the office.

I walked over to the immigrations officer and asked if he spoke English. He directed me to another man. By this time there were tears in my eyes as I pleaded with the man to let me go out and come back in with Vlad. I could not believe it when he agreed. I bolted out and felt such relief when Vlad was still waiting with his sign that said "WAY"!!!! Thank you Lord, you did not let him leave, my plane landed at 1pm and it was now 2:30. He said that he was wondering what was going on. I'm sure he was!!

I felt as if I had my dad with me and all was well. He took care of things from there. We waited for the next flight from Frankfort to retrieve my bag and made it to my apartment by almost 7pm.

I have thought of the panic that I felt, and wondered "did I not trust that God was in control?" I reminded myself constantly "God knows where you are and what is happening, and you are in His loving grip". Yet I was still afraid. If I can trust Him with the life of my little girl, surly I can rest in His hands during this too. Ahh, the struggles of being child of God and yet living in this world where sin (fear caused by the lack of trust) is crouching at the door.
Genesis 26:24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you"
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
Hebrews 13:5,6 God said "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid"
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

My MOE appointment is at 5:30pm, in 4 1/2 hours from now. This is were they will offer Natalia to me as a "formal referral" and I will say "Yes, yes, yes!!" Although I will have to pretend that I have never met her before (so I should tone down the excitement). Then I will be able to see her tomorrow. I can't wait to hold her. I hope she remembers me. I am going to try some new clothes on her to see what size she is. I am going to wrap her on me and we are going to walk and talk and sing and...I just can't wait!!!!

I might try some of my newly learned Russian on her.

The Gift of Adoption

We are home now and I am just left breathless. Our time in Russia was beyond words. God is amazing and is giving us the most amazing gift. 

Natalia is wonderful! Our time with her was precious! I cannot explain the feelings that have followed. 

Natalia will be 8 months on the 26th. She has brown hair and hazel eyes. She is strong, alert and has a beautiful smile!! She is trying to crawl and probably will soon Im sure, but I hope she waits until our next visit. We spent time with her outside in a cozy and decorated out door area. It was incredibly peaceful, with trees, flowers and grass surrounding us. We sat on the floor playing, talking and admiring her. She is a joy! Jason got her to laugh, I snuggled her as much as possible and we were both humbled and amazed by this precious gift.  

Thank you for keeping our family in your prayers. Please continue to pray for Natalia. Pray that she would be cared for and protected. That she would begin to bond with us. We now have 3 more trips to Russia. 2 more than we originally planned for. This will mean saying good by to her 2 more times. My heart aches over this, but please pray that this time would be used for good. That she would come to know our smell, our touch, our words and that by the time we bring her home, she will know us as more than strangers. 

This is bold, but I want to pray that there would be some way to eliminate one of the trips. The only way that I see this being possible is if the black out period is waved. Apparently this never happens, but God can make anything happen, so I pray he would brake though this barrier to bring her home. 

Pray that God will continue to provide for our adoption. Adding two more trips has been a great increase in the over all cost of our adoption. 

Pray that Jason and I would find ways to prepare Caleb and Sammy for Natalia's home coming. That their hearts would be ready to welcome and love her. 

I am so grateful for the gift of adoption and humbled that God picked us to be Natalia's family.

In Moscow

So day two is coming to its end. We had our MOE appointment today. After meeting with Sergei, we sprinted (not really, just felt that way) about 2 miles to an office were he informed us that our paperwork would be scrutinized and questioned about "why we want to adopt, why are we fit for a child" would be asked. We sat anxiously with Sergei and a woman looking at our adoption documents and I was so thankful when the woman closed the folder, said something in Russian to Sergei and he said "okay, that's it". Yay, praise God!! We were accepted to move forward without any scrutiny.


We will be picked up from our hotel tomorrow at 10am to go to the orphanage and visit Natalia. I can hardly wait. I cant wait to kiss her cheeks and touch her fingers. I imagine how she will smell and how big she will be. I pray that she will not be frightened by us. Our return home will not be until Thursday, so we have asked if we might be able to visit with her on Wednesday also. Pray that they will accept this request.


So just a quick note about Moscow, it is a funny place. Sergei said today that "In Russia, we are creative with our rules". He was referring to walking during a "do not walk" sign. But Jason and I laughed because as we spend more time here observing the traffic we are realizing its true not just with walking. If anyone reading this suffers from road rage, Moscow is not the place for you.  It seems to be more of a free for all which inevitably ends up in completely blocked intersections with non stop honking and cars driving in circles to get around it. Everyone on the road seems to be in a hurry and feels that they need to go first. Very different for those of you reading this in Okinawa.


Well thats it for now, I hope to send an update after our first visit with Natalia!!!
So thankful to God that we are in Russia andwe can trust Him with the rest!!!
Shannon and Jason

Visas Came!!!

Yay!!! Visas came yesterday and we are headed to the air port!!!

Thank You Lord

So we got news today that we will be going to Russia on Saturday as planned. Praise God. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov did sign the treaty today. So there are hurdles that we will have to jump, but the good news is that, Lord willing, we will be able to secure this little girl for our family. 

Pray that our visas get here on Friday (nothing like last minute). 

Pray for Natalia, she will have to stay in her baby home for 2 or 3 more months. I can't wait to meet her! But to think of leaving her (now twice) breaks my heart. I will go by myself back for what is now our second trip and then we will both go for the third and final trip for our court date and to bring her home. 

Bilateral Agreement

So the Washington Times said yesterday- 

This week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are expected to sign the bilateral adoption agreement. Adoption groups and other stakeholders said they will be given details on the new pact in a conference call on Thursday.

"After the document is signed, we'll breathe a sigh of relief," said Chuck Johnson, president of the National Council for Adoption (NCFA).

In case anyone is wondering why this is happening now, when Americans have been adopting from Russia for years, here is the reason for this agreement- 

Following the international uproar last year over an unwanted 7-year-old Russian boy being sent home — unaccompanied — by his would-be adoptive American mother, U.S. and Russian officials are poised this week to sign a pact allowing intercountry adoption to resume fully, but with significant new restrictions in place.

Adoptions from Russia slowed and faced the threat of suspension after news broke in April 2010 that the Tennessee mother had sent the boy alone on a plane back to Russia with a note giving him back to authorities.

Torry Hansen's actions, described as "monstrous" by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, created a furor and led to suspended licenses, delayed adoptions and lengthy negotiations over new adoption rules.

So, because of this stupid women last year, our adoption may now be delayed! 

Prayer Request

First of all, thank you for all the love and support that you have given us through this long and exciting process. We are so thrilled to be on this journey and grateful that you are all in this with us with your prayer, support and encouragement! 

We received news today that our trip may be delayed. 

I don't know exactly who (minister of social affairs, maybe),  but there is a guy from Russia who is supposed to be signing a treaty for a bilateral agreement while he is in DC. This is scheduled for Thursday next week (2 days before we are supposed to be leaving). If he signs this, our trip will be delayed for at least a month. 

From what I heard, this guy has been scheduled to sign it before and for whatever reason never did. So maybe he will delay it again. I have to say that I am praying he does!! I am desperate to get to Russia, meet Natalia and say that we want her to be our baby girl!! 

Please pray for the timing of our adoption. I want it to be now so badly, I don't want to wait another month. Please pray for my heart. Pray for Natalia while she waits in an orphanage. Pray that God would move mountains! Pray that I would trust the one who created adoption. Pray, pray, pray!!

One more thing, we sent away for our visas yesterday and will need them back by the time we leave (if we go). Pray that whoever is doing them will be efficient and we will receive them in time. 

Once again God is humbling me through this adoption. He is showing me how much I need him. 

Leaving for Russia next week!!

We just want to pass along the news that we received today regarding our upcoming trip to Russia.  A few days ago we were told by our case worker that we had to wait for a Russian family to sign a letter of intent stating that they either accepted or declined our little Natalia.  Since she is still only available to Russian citizens, we know it is a very real possible outcome that a Russian family will adopt her.  However, this morning we got the call that we were waiting for.  We were told the Russian family declined Natalia and we have the green light to press on to Russia, departing next week!  So, we have to jump back into the paperwork process, make travel plans, and handle our normal day-to-day activities as we prepare for our first trip.  We will be going from 16-24 July and will appreciate your prayers and support during the next few weeks.  We will send more updates as they become available to us, but for right now, we ask for prayers for patience and calm in an otherwise crazy whirlwind of events.

-Jason and Family   

A Delayed Update

Our family spent time with dear friends today and during this time I was reminded of how good God is that he will lead you on a path that may be hard but it is always for your good and His glory. 

With this reminder I will tell you that we lost the baby that we were pursuing. She was adopted by a Russian family. I guess "lost" may be the wrong word to use. We cannot loose something that we never had. She was not ours. And now she has a mommy and a daddy to love her and I am so grateful for that. 

As I have said before, God has a child picked out for our family and I can put my hope in Him who's plans and ways are perfect! There is another baby girl who has been offered to our family and we have been encouraged by our family coordinator that she will be ours.  I have been so tempted to not send an update until I knew this for sure, but have been convicted that it would not be for the right reasons. This journey has been very hard and it is hard to say the same thing over and over again to only say "that child was not ours". So I am acknowledging to you that I may say that again, but have great hope that "this is finally it!!" 

We have many reasons to think this baby is our little girl. And Lord willing, we will buying our tickets at the end of this month to be flying to Moscow on July 15th. This will be our first visit which should last around a week and then we will be going back around October to bring her home. 

Continue to pray for our hearts to trust in Gods sovereignty. 

Moving Mountains

Isn't it just amazing that we were able to contact a prior "Talon guy"!!  Secretary Colonel Hale got the job done!! Awesome!! 

Friday afternoon I received a phone call from the director of the CYFD telling me that they had the letter with the wording that we need.  Not only did Colonel Hale get the letter written, but he also hand delivered it and Jason was able to shake his hand. We were thrilled! 

Having the letter in hand, we were able to put our home study transfer in high gear. We transferred to an agency that is not on the "black list". We drove to Santa Fe to have everything apastilled and then sent Fed Ex.

Now our prayer is that we will make the deadline. Our hearts deeply desire this little girl to be ours. But time is of the essence. If our dossier dose not get to Moscow in time, she can be taken from this agency and placed with another. We should know if this is our baby girl two weeks from tomorrow!

We trust God in this. We trust that He has a child prepared for our family. And we know that He has, can and will move mountains. 

Not taking No for an answer!

Jason contacted Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services, Timothy Hale today. He is a retired Talon C-130 pilot!! (that is the plane that Jason flies on)

Jason explained to him that the CYFD is not willing to do what it takes for our family to adopt and Secretary Hale is on fire to do whatever he can to help us!!! 

The CYFD is essentially shutting down Russian adoptions for New Mexico residents. We are going to fight this!! Keep praying!!

The rest of the story...

I have written before that there were becoming a lot of questions and concerns with the Ukraine program.   With these new changes, we have been keeping our eyes open to other options. Meanwhile we were getting ready to move into our new home. The military gave us a 1 story/4 bedroom home just down the road from our old house to accommodate our growing family. On the same day that we received the keys to move in I received an email from Rainbowkids (an organization that assists in getting waiting children adopted). I receive emails from them often and most of the time I just pray for the children. Sometimes I will tell Jason about one and he will say "Yes Shannon, he/she is very cute, but NO". Well this time he told me to call the agency and get information about this precious baby girl!! So I did.  After talking with Terri from the agency we found ourselves hoping that this would be our child. After 3 days of waiting she told us that out of several families who had inquired about this little girl, our family could now move forward with the adoption. We could not believe it!! What happened next was just amazing. We were without intranet, had to finish setting up our new home for pictures/social worker to approve our home for a new child, do all of our dossier paperwork and redo our home study to reflect all the changes, all in 3 days. Terri wanted it all done by Wednesday. In that time I was crying and on my knees praying for God to move mountains, and he did. God put an army of people around us to help. Some helped move, some set up our new home, some helped clean our old house and our amazing social worker stayed up late and came over early to get our home study done in time. Jason's boss even took his place as work so that Jason could be home to get paperwork and everything else done!! Everything happened so fast, we were just exhausted and on our knees praying for strength. One thing that we have been learning about God lately is that he dose not keep His will a secret that we have to search for. He gives us his word and wisdom to guide us and we can move forward boldly, trusting in His sovereignty in our lives and to give us the grace and strength that we need. So we did. We moved bold and fast trusting in His perfect plan.  After 3 exhausting days and nights, crying and pleading with government agencies to get paperwork right and barely making each dead line, we finally finished our dossier and put it in the mail. On Thursday we received a call from Terri saying that the dossier was perfect but that we had a problem. The problem was that our home study agency was on the Russian "black list". This was not good news. Since then we have been exploring all options to see what our next step should be.  What I am about to say is skipping a lot of detail but these are things we are praying for  (if this is our little girl)  -we need the CYFD to comply with Russian adoption standard and to write us a letter with "international" wording in it. If they do comply, we can change our home study over to an agency that is not on the black list.  -If they do not comply we will be waiting for the new "list" to come out and will be praying that our home study agency will not be on it.  If either of these things can happen in a timely manner, we will be traveling to Moscow by June 1st and this will be our little girl. If not, we will still move forward with a Russian adoption but will be waiting for a new child through a different Russian agency.  God is good and if we can trust him with our lives, we can trust Him with our adoption!! I pray for this sweet girl, I hope that she is mine and that we will be able to bring her home soon. Pray with us that God would once again move mountains!!!

The Ways to Russia

This is going to be short...I am exhausted and can not write everything that has happened in the past week.  

It now looks like we will be adopting from Russia!! We are pursuing a baby girl!!! I know you are asking "what? Why? and How?" I promise I will tell you everything soon.

For now, please pray for our adoption. Pray for our hearts. Pray for our strength to run this race. Pray that God would strengthen us through this. Pray that we will rest in His love and grace. 

And pray that God would move mountains and our agency would not be on the "Black List"!!!!! So that we can bring her home!!!

Alert: Ukraine Adoption

It seems that President Yanukovych signed a Decree transferring all functions of, the State Department for Adoption (SDA-- the current central adoption authority of Ukraine), to the Ministry for Social Policy. It is too early to know exactly what this will mean for Ukraine adoption. It could mean many paperwork changes and/or long delays, possibly even a temporary shut down until this new authority has everything in place to take over. The entire adoption process could look different after this happens.  

Yulia (coordinator in Ukraine) has assured us that adoption as we know it will not be affected by this change for at least 2 months. She has submitted our dossier to the SDA and is hopeful that our family will receive an invitation to Ukraine soon to be able to get our child and be back in America before the affects of this change happen. 

This is now our prayer! Pray with us that God would put a hold on this transfer. That we would get an invitation very soon. And that He would lead us directly to our child. That we would spend minimal time in country and be back home before this transfer takes place.

Can't Sleep...

We found out that Isabelle is not available for us to pursue. Our agency said that a family is in the process of adopting her. I thank God that he is providing a family for her and pray that they will be able to go get her soon!! I am so grateful for adoption and that this little girl will no longer be an orphan!!

I long for our child. My heart aches to be able to have a face to go along with this longing. I pray for the day to come soon, that we will be able to hold him or her, kiss away any tears and have our child home. 

I thank God that when I am week, He is strong.

It is the Lord's purpose that prevails

After having all signatures notarized, all notaries apostilled and then all papers copiedx3... we have completed our dossier (again) and it is on its way to our agency via Fed Ex!!!
I would like to be able to say that we have one foot in the door and all they need is our new paperwork to invite us to Ukraine, but the truth is there are a lot of unanswered questions that leaves us on our knees praying for wisdom and discernment as we move forward.  
Due to events that have happened in the past 2 weeks, we are now very cautious of going over to Ukraine for a "blind referral" (not seeing any children until in country).  Because of this, we have found a little girl from Ukraine through another organization and have asked our agency if they can get us more information of her. We do not know if we can pursue sweet little Isabelle, but we are hopeful to find out soon.
In the mean time we are praying...praying for Isabelle, praying for our hearts during this hard process, praying for God to direct our path.
We are trusting God with our adoption.
-Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.- Proverbs 19:21

Good News!

Once again God has proved himself to be trustworthy and in control of this adoption! We have been approved for a grant that will be a huge financial blessing for bringing our child home! How grateful I am that when God asks us to do something, He provides the way. He provides in ways that I could not have even imagined.


So now we are waiting for a few documents to be finished so that we can resubmit our dossier. Some people have asked how so much (of our dossier) could have been wrong. I wondered the same thing at first! We dotted every "i" and crossed every "t", how could almost everything be wrong? The truth is that God is in control of our paperwork and if he needs to slow things down, he will. Maybe our child is not ready to be adopted yet. maybe God needed more time to work on our hearts. I don't know why, but I do know that He loves our child more than we do and we can trust Him.


We are hopeful to have another update on our progress in a week or two with perhaps even a travel date around the corner! 

So mom asked that we start the story from the beginning. Here it is...

Our Adoption Testimony

Jason and I lived in Okinawa Japan during the time that God opened our eyes to His purpose for our lives. It was during those years that “adoption” became more than a word from stories that you read or hear.

In Jan of 2007 I went on a mission trip to Thailand. During this trip we served two orphanages, one in Chang Mai and one in the hill tribes. Through serving and loving these children and their caretakers, my heart began to break for the great need that was obvious there in Thailand. It was after that trip that I realized Gods heart for adoption and found James 1:27, which I then wrote on an index card and has hung on my mirror in the entryway of our home ever since. God changed my heart during that trip, but it was only the beginning of a great journey.

After finding out that I was pregnant with our second child we also found out that our close fiends were beginning the adoption process to bring home a child from the orphanage we visited in Thailand.  The child that God had pressed on their heart would be theirs. This was a very exciting time, but still had no idea what was in store for our family.

With Caleb and Sammy we now had two very active boys and life was full! We often talked that we did not see any more children in our future. It was during that time that we moved back to the USA as Jason’s job in the Air Force required.  We found a great church right away and began getting plugged in. 

It did not take long before God began tugging at my heart that our family was not complete. We also realized that our church had an adoptions ministry along with a large number of families who had adopted or who were planning on adopting. We decided to begin asking questions and then took an adoption class. We read “Adopted for Life” and continued to learn about our vertical adoption along with Gods great heart for the weak and the fatherless. And spent much time in prayer.

We researched adoption agencies and possible countries. And finally in January of 2010 we decided that God would have us begin the adoption process in February. We applied with our agency to adopt from Rwanda and began the long process of home study and dossier. This took us well into the summer. Towards the end of the summer we found out that Rwanda was closing to all new dossiers to become Hague compliant. This was heart breaking at first. And then God reminded us that He is good and will work all things out according to His good and perfect plan.

We began praying and asking what God wanted us to do. After much more research and prayer, Jason confirmed that we would change agencies and countries, which lead us to the path we are on now. We are adopting 1-2 children under the age of 3 from Ukraine and could not be more excited about meeting our new child/children that we have been anxiously awaiting for over a year now.

We received an email from Yulia in Ukraine last night saying that all but 2 of our document in our dossier are wrong in one way or another. Our dossier to our knowledge "was perfect" and now we are learning it is filled with mistakes. Mistakes that our family coordinator was apparently not aware of.

Please pray for our hearts to not get discouraged. That we will press on with paperwork with good attitudes and happy hearts. Pray that we would get the correct information and that it would get done the right way this time!

Pray for our child! That God would be protecting him/her until we can come and bring him/her home.

My God in Him will I trust!!