Home Study

Ok. Lots of updating to do. So let’s recap with where we are at in the whole adoption process. We have already covered the fact that we are too young to adopt Oksana and Vitya. Sooooo, we are pursuing anyway! We know that obedience to God at this point means pursuing these children in the same way that God pursued us….with an unrelenting love. We had a conversation with them on the last week that they were with us via Ksenia (our Ukrainian friend/chaperone/translator). She explained to them that Mama and Papa were going to do everything in their power to get them home for good, but she also broke it to Oksana that there was a hitch and a possibility that it wouldn’t be allowed. It was very bittersweet…they were excited but, obviously, pretty sad too. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago we were able to send them each a package full of fun things, candy, notes, and even a recordable card with all of our voices on it (with the exception of Pax!)! Step 2 of dealing with the “missing-them-blues” was calling them on the good ol’ telly. This past Wednesday we gave it a try at 9 in the morning our time…4 pm in Ukraine. Right here I have to give props to my sweet and beautiful friend Anya! She was willing to do a 3-way call with us and translate. So we actually got someone on the phone, however they told us that the kids were still in classes and that we should try back Saturday by 1…which for all of you who don’t feel like doing the math, is 6 AM OUR TIME! I mean, really, may they never question our love for them. What was truly baffling was that Anya and her mom, Stephanie, were willing to sacrifice their Saturday morning to help us. And, unfortunately, it was all for naught. The 6 o’clock call rendered only someone whispering “They came!” and then putting us on hold/disconnecting the call. After 4 more attempts to call someone finally answered again and said a bunch of stuff that even Anya couldn’t understand and hung up on us. Ah well. It is documented here so that one day they can read and know that Mama and Papa got up at 6am to talk to them and Mama and Papa don’t get up at 6am to talk to anyone who’s not in the hospital!!

After rolling out of bed (yes, those calls were definitely made from the comfort of our cozy bed) we did precious little to get ready, drug our still sleeping kids out of the bed, and headed to my sister’s house to drop them off for safekeeping. It was on to number 2 of 3 home studies!!! Yay!! Next Saturday we will officially complete that process! So that’s where we are. We know that our job is obedience…not “saving the kids”. And along the journey may God reveal His power and love and mercy!