Grace Family Adoption

2008-01-19T12:48:00.000-06:00

To be continued.....

January 19, 2008

Due to the benefits that we have realized from the journaling of our adoption to date, we have decided to continue the process. However, we will be beginning a new blog site which can be found here.

For those of you getting off the train at this stop - thanks for following along with us. For those of you that continue to go with us - the fun is just beginning, so hang on!

Chris and Gina

2008-01-12T08:34:00.001-06:00

Highlight of my week

January 11, 2008

I suppose that you all have concluded that we made it home safely. My apologies for the cone of silence. We really hit the ground running once we got home and haven't stopped. Here are the details of our departure/arrival: As you may or may not know we had a terrible time obtaining the US visa to come home with Dasha. This was the result of a lack of care for the details on the part of a stateside government employee. BTW, I drafted a scathing post which shall not be published due to my concern for my own reputation as a nice guy. I spent a couple of hours at the embassy on Friday awaiting confirmation of our immigration approval renewal. It never came and the embassy closed at noon. So I spent most of Friday afternoon and evening trying to get that settled. By the end of the night between the guys at the embassy, Jana with Lifeline, and myself - four different countries had been contacted. What a circus! All because somebody wouldn't send an email - rant off.

In the end, we received our visa on Saturday morning thanks to the goodness of an embassy dude that had pity on us. However, I did make the mistake of not purchasing a ticket for Dasha earlier in the week. I called early Saturday prior to getting the visa to find that the flight was overbooked. I settled on the fact that we didn't even have the visa so I would worry about this little detail after we had the visa in hand. By 11AM it was ticket time. So I called back and this time the sweet lady told me that even though the flight was overbooked, the average no-show number was 37, so we stood a good chance to get a ride. We bought it - less than 24 hours from our boarding time. Thank you God.

Sunday morning was coldy-cold. I was determined to be at the airport 3 hours prior to boarding to increase our odds of getting aboard. We made it on time, got our boarding passes and then began to wait for the boarding. We (obviously) made it on. There were several seats vacant. I ended up with a row all to myself. The kids were able to sit all together. So I invited my honey to come on back and spend the next 9 hours with me - and she did. As we were sitting on the taxiway waiting to take off, I leaned over to Gina and said, "I can't believe we pulled this off." She sweetly reminded me that we hadn't pulled anything off and we really didn't have anything to do with it. We escaped and it was good! Breath deeply now and just know that all is good - for now.

On to NYC. Now I had carefully rehearsed in my mind what it would be like to bring a child immigrant into the US through NY. I was wistfully imagining the symbolic - maybe traditional - nature of coming to the US through NY as so many immigrants have. Customs was a little confusing because the line choices were citizens and aliens. Well, we were both at the moment. We chose to all go through the alien line and just see what happened. It worked out OK. We approached the officer (who had a great Italian name) and began doing the deal. In my mind I was realizing of the significance of this moment and trying to hold it together - dude, you were Ukrainian over there and you are about to cross this line and then you will be American and how awesome is that! Do you have any idea what people have gone through, risked, paid, fought for in order to gain this? And you, you are about to get it for nothing. Isn't that cool! Needless to say, she was not savoring the moment. One reason might have been because it was a blistering 90 degrees at the desk. The heat was ON! We were all beginning to wither - including the officer whose uniform included a full turtleneck.

Well, I had had enough with the obliviousness of our new daughter so I said something like, "Dasha, this is it! This is the big moment. Once you crossed that line you became American! Isn't that cool?" She wasn't overly impressed, but she wasn't rude about it. But, the officer called me down. He kindly informed me that she didn't receive citizenship until he applied his little stamp (Doesn't that sound just like a "Ukrainian" ritual?). He said jokingly, "so be nice to me." He cut up with us a little while he was reviewing our documents. So finally (and kindly) he ceremonially did the deed. Oh, it was incredible. cu-chunk, cu-chunk. done! You're in, baby, and you are with us! Now I had come to expect by this point a roll of the eyes or an over-expressed sigh. Instead, we got a very appropriate, accented, szank you, sir. Hmmm, that was pleasant. Maybe it was because he was carrying a nine on his hip. Don't know, but I'll take it.

Left out a little (no pun (as you will see in a moment) intended)) detail. Back to Kiev in your collective minds - as we were waiting to board the flight out, these two "little people" came walking through to board with us. These were the smallest people I had ever seen. Extremely small features and squeaky Ukrainian voices. Obviously, they stood out. So the guy has on a Cirque de Soleil jacket on and I'm thinking - this guy could be in a circus. So I just had to ask - I know, I know that is so un-PC, but hey PC ain't too cool in Ukraine anyway. So I asked if they were with the Cirque? And guess what? They were and were delighted that I had asked. The told us all about where their shows were going to be and were really excited about the trip. Dasha was weirded out a little because she hadn't ever seen such a sight. We got her calmed down and convinced her to stop pointing and went on about our business. Well, we ran into them again in the customs office when we were getting fingerprinted. She asked if she could have her photo made with them. Innocent enough, but they won't allow such in the customs ward. Had to let that one slip away. These two performers are know as The Little Clown and Clowness in the new "Corteo" show beginning in February on the west coast.

So all that to say we made it home. It was midnight, but we made it home. Home, indeed. Doggone, its good to be home! Can't believe it.

Well moving along (because I'm a week behind) as expected, the week has been a little sketchy for many reasons. Mostly just adjustments to new life. We're pretty hard core right now trying to make life boring and forcing interaction between us. Very limited TV, computer, telephone and visitors. The two kids with the American accents had to go back to school on Tuesday. I had to go back to work on Monday. So we were trying to get a handle on what would unfold at home when "and then there were two" occurred. We did get some initial "foo", but overall the moods have been good. Only a few minor skirmishes over the computer, but we've evened it out on them all and its been generally accepted by all. The English has kind of come and gone and there are long silent spells, with pointing and grunting (which I completely understand to be a universal language which I use often in a pinch). And then came Thursday....

Thursday began at the unholy hour of 3AM. A-train told us all that he had BB practice at 4:30AM. I called bunk, but he stuck to his guns and so we made a date. I got that kid to school at 4:15 and guess what - not a soul to be found. In his defense, this has been a tough week with the jet lag, make up work and the quick turn around, despite all that we exchanged a few remarks and I ended up leaving him there around 5:30. Came home, cleaned up went back to McDonalds to get him some breakfast - just a kind gesture. Come to find out, practice was in the PM - duh!

The weather on Thursday was predicted to be harsh. I spent the day in LA working in the field. I didn't head back to our neck of the woods until 5 and that was when things were beginning to deteriorate. By the time I was a half hour from home the worst of it was very near home. I decided to pull over and wait things out. I called home to check on the family and Gina had them all rounded up in the bathroom. I was thinking about the conversation that we had with Dasha's Ukrainian family about natural disasters - tornadoes in particular - and how infrequent they occurred. Now we were home less than a week and we are in full up wall to wall severe weather coverage. I don't think anybody was panicked, but Dasha did ask Gina if I was still alive. Isn't that cute?

I made it home finally and no harm to life or property occurred near our home, but once I got there, guess who was the first one to open the door and hug my neck? Yep, it was Dasha. Something had happened to her. Not sure if she really was fearful for our lives or if she just wanted to beat the other two to the punch. Doesn't really matter to me, I'll take it.

Now this wasn't the highlight of which I have referred. After we had eaten some leftovers - and there are many because we haven't quite figured out how much food his new family will consume at one sitting - she started talking. This was not the normal short two or three word sentences, but a full our barrage of broken English. She was giving Austin "down the road" because she had wished him good night and he did not give any response. She was really on him - laughing and cutting up - "Every night I say 'Good Night, Ousten,' and he no wish me good night." Austin heard the commotion and came dragging back in - he did get up at 4 this particular morning - and he attempted to apply the good night hug to her and she wasn't going to have it. He pressed on and she finally accepted. It was a funny time and that was the highlight of my week. It was so good to see them cutting up with each other and showing affection.

I know that there are many hurdles left to scale but this was a little moment that I will treasure. We will look for the good in every situation and use that as a stepping stone to keep us moving forward.

BTW, I know that we haven't properly thanked all of you that helped take care of our business and pets and property while we were away, but we are so grateful for all the love. It is good to have friends and family. The house was so clean and warm and everything was so perfect when we arrived home that first night. We have done a good job of scattering belongings and luggage to mask any evidence that anyone was here while we were gone. It is good to be home!

Chris and Gina

2008-01-05T05:09:00.000-06:00

Arrival Details

January 5, 2008

Our tentative plan for tomorrow is to arrive in Bham at 10:36 PM - Delta Flight 4753. Our first flight is overbooked. Please pray that we can get a seat. We'll be there early. Probably around midnight for you guys.

We finally received our visa this morning. Now that was no easy task.

Thanks to all that helped with that. Thanks to all that prayed for that.

Hope to see you tomorrow evening.

The Graces

2008-01-05T04:19:00.000-06:00

Night on the town

January 4, 2007

Whoa! a lot has been going on since our last post. I remember Nichols telling me that trying to get home is like "The Great Escape." Dude, we've been right in the thick of it. We've been trying all week to get our visa to bring Dasha home. Monday and Tuesday were a loss because of the holiday. Wednesday was a loss because we we didn't realize that our daily window of opportunity was only from 10-12. So we finally got in yesterday. We all went. I was thinking what a wonderful opportunity this would for our kids to visit a US Embassy. Well, let's just say they were not impressed. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that there iPods were taken at the door. This was an integral part of my plan. We were now on our own to keep them occupied.

We got to our window and turned over what we had been given in exchange for a few forms to fill out. So I took on the task of working through the forms. The kids did what kids do - fidget and squirm and try to find something to do. We met another couple there (as you always do) from another state (Delaware in this case) also adopting. We exchanged our stories and it was a genuine pleasure. About half way through this process and a lady appears and tells us that our I-600 form had expired and that we would not be abel to get a visa. Oh my. It was a flagrant violation of our team rules and I thought I would have to sit the lady on the bench or through a flag or something. We had given her the form that our government had given us, but alas the electronic version of that form had not shown up (over a month later). Frustrating does not even begin to describe the feeling.

The kids said that the couple we met both gasped when she told us that. They began praying for us right then. We turned in what we could a paid the fee and hoped for the best. After we left, we immediately began to scramble to find out who dropped the ball on this one. Like Louis from the movie Casablanca, I already had a list of the usual suspects in my head. Fast forward to this morning and I have just learned that we will be receiving our visa this morning. I know that I've not described this event in a whole lot of detail, but I want to save some of your attention span for what we did last night.

So there are these orphan graduates here - Katya and Sonya. Some of you know them very well. Such sweet girls with so much potential. They are an absolute hoot! We spent some time with them over at the Casa de Underwood the other night and it was a lot of fun. They are helping out with the Music Mission Kiev. This is a group of people - Ukrainians and Canadians in this case - that hold concerts from time to time. These girls are helping with the translating for the Canadians. We had been interested in attending one of their performances and so the girls were able to get us some tickets. - the circus meets the symphony. Seven children, four parents and two orphanage graduates - the circus meets the symphony.

Our seats were (wisely) in the balcony and we were not really dressed for the occasion. But hey, when else could you do something like this? Our seats were not all together and so we had to choose which defensive scheme to run. This did not set well with some of the children - Ukrainians in particular, but after a little drama we ran the play. The program was both choral and instrumental. It was really nice. Our balcony seats also were not elevated so those of us not on the front row could not see the action downstairs.

Now you can imagine what kind of people attend such an event. Needless to say, there were not many families which multitudes of children. If you've ever been to a symphony concert you know what to expect. You will find some high brow folk well dressed and all proper. The good news is that most of those people had better seats at locations other than ours. However, across the way, I spied an older gentleman and his wife. Obviously not people of wealth, but those two were in the "groove," as it was. He looked like a kid listening to a lullaby and she looked like she was in prayer (and I think she might have been). Both of them looked so content - smiling and swaying - and I just sat there and wondered what there lives were like. I too enjoy "freshly prepared" music. Something about it makes me breath better. But a lot of my pleasure this night came from observing these two.

Our elder daughter did not quite fancy the event at first. She was very clear about her distaste for such events. But beside the couple which I was observing I noticed her. She had made her way to the edge of the balcony where she could see. She had wedged herself between two columns and was just watching intently. By the third or fourth song, she was actually clapping after the performances. I'm sure that her level of satisfaction with the performance was not even close to the couple I was watching, but hey, when was the last time she had a chance to attend such an event. By the end, she had taken the camera and was snapping up photos right and left. Not sure if that was a response to boredom or a genuine attempt to capture the moment.

So, we wrapped up and made it back to our flat. Ande made a pizza run and we finished it up with some Orange Fanta - what a night! BTW, not sure if Ande said anything about it over at his blog, but he had wanted a pepperoni pizza. What we ended up with was a pizza with pepper "on it." It was really good, though.

Continue to pray for us as we are trying to wrap things up and head home.

Love you guys,

The Graces

2008-01-05T04:04:00.000-06:00

his is a post which Gina wrote which I failed to publish earlier this week. It was written the same day that I wrote "Everybody wants to go to Heaven." You can see through these words what the mood was that day. One response (from Superjenn Smith) to my blog involved the song Gina mentions in her blog. We were sitting at our little table here and this particular song came to our minds, also, prior the post that day. So I would say it is a fitting representation of the situation. Will try to make it available online..... cg

Mission Impossible???

December 31, 2007

To those of you who have been waiting to hear from me, I apologize..... mothering is a time consuming task, and I am not the gifted writer like my husband. I warn you before you read this, it is not going to be pretty. As a matter of fact, it will probably be quite messy. For me, trying to communicate all of what is floating around in my head might look like a bomb exploded words onto the screen. So, for those of you who are brave enough to follow... here we go.

God has been teaching me so many things on this journey. Mostly about myself and my inability to love. It's funny, I always thought I was pretty good at loving and being kind to others, but God is showing me my inability to TRULY love. Unless I rely on Him and His love to flow through me, I can end up causing more harm than good. It is easy to love those who love you back, and extremely difficult to love those who don't know how to love, and Dasha has not been taught how to love. The people that were suppose to love her have made some terrible life choices that landed her in the orphanage. But you see, Dasha is not the only one that has a love problem. I too am incapable. I must be taught by my Heavenly Father in the same way Dasha must be taught by us. God is putting me in a position to identify with Him and the suffering I cause Him when I reject and refuse to obey Him. We have a great task ahead of us that seems nearly impossible.

Orphanage life is a terrible situation. In a sense, we will have to deprogram everything Dasha has come to know and become dependent on. Then we have to reprogram her to our family life. This is exactly what God has to do with us if we want to be obedient to Him. She has to be taught how to use a washcloth because they don't have them at the orphanage. She has to be taught how to stay with us in a mall and not to walk away from us without permission. Can you imagine trying to find a lost child in a country where you don't even speak the language? She is a 3 yr. old trapped in a 13 yr old body. In a sense Chris and I have become "the bad guys" (in her mind). We tell her when to take a shower, because we care that "stink" has jumped on her. We tell her to stay with us, because we love her and don't want to loose her. We tell her she needs to change the channel on t.v. because what she is watching is filling her mind with negative things. No one has cared enough to teach her these things at the orphanage. All she knows are the things that are comfortable to her, and she misses the comfort (if you want to call it that) of the orphanage. She weeps and sobs because she misses it so much. She doesn't want to leave. She wants to go back to where she was. There is a song by Sara Groves that I connected with many years ago because of where God had me in life. It has continued to connect with my spirit because I am always on journey with Him. God reminded me of this song when I thought about Dasha and the place that she is in life. I think it describes her situation very well:

I don't want to leave here, I don't want to stay
It feels like pinching to me either way
The places I long for the most are the places where I've been
They are calling out to me like a long lost friend

It's not about loosing faith, it's not about trust
It's all about comfortable when you move so much
The place I was wasn't perfect, but I had found a way to live
It wasn't milk or honey, but then neither is this

The past is so tangible, I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy to discard
I was dying for some freedom, but now I hesitate to go
I am caught between the promise and the things I know

Chorus
I've been painting pictures of Egypt
Leaving out what it lacks
The future feels so hard and I want to go back
But the places that use to fit me can not hold the things I've learned
And those roads were closed off to me while my back was turned

If it comes too quick, I may not appreciate it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand
If if comes too quick, I may not recognize it
It that the reason behind all this time and sand

So, we have been called as a family to journey with her, to teach and guide her through the dessert of life, because God wants her to reach the promise land (and I don't mean the good ol'
USA) No, I'm talking about a place that surpasses our country. This mission is difficult, complicated, and even risky at times; but God has assigned it to us. We will be obedient and trust
that He will provide and see us through this life long mission.

Gina

2008-01-04T05:29:00.000-06:00

A Quick Note

January 4, 2008

This will be a quickie:

Today is Dasha's 14th birthday. We will go to the terminal (mall) to do some go carts and ice skating with Underwoods. Happy Birthday to Dasha!

Spent 2 1/2 hours at embassy again today trying to get visa. No luck. Can't get DHS to verify our renewed I-600. Guess they are all too busy enjoying the holidays!

Best case - visa tomorrow. Next best case - visa middle of next week. Worst case - we apply for residency/work visa from Ukraine. The Great Escape is on!

Not looking good for us all to come home on Sunday at this moment. Austin, Kirby and I will be home, regardless. Gina might end up staying for a few extra days next week. Will let you all know more once we do.

BTW, I quick bday wish in the form of a blog comment can be immediately seen by Dasha via Blackberry.

Blessings,

The Graces

2008-01-02T01:33:00.000-06:00

Everybody wants to go to Heaven.

January 1, 2008

Today (Really yesterday b/c I'm writing early in the morning) we called the hail Mary play on our Embassy visit. Unfortunately, the ball got batted around in the end zone and eventually fell to the ground. This is a disappointing snag, but we will manage. This means that nobody is coming home today. I spent a very frustrating 2 hours on the phone with Delta negotiating a return date. Looks like Sunday is our date. Bad news is that it looks like we'll be returning pretty late that evening. We'll look into bumping up the ATL/BHM run, but I'm not very optimistic. Overall, I can't (and won't) complain about how things have gone. We are so close to getting home, I can almost taste it.

We are dealing with some pretty major grieving at the moment, so I'd ask that you guys please continue to pray that a vision for the future will be cast and clung to. We all know the statistics, but that cannot be explained to an emotional teenage girl. We were expecting this. I know that we will be fine. I was reading Mark and Jenn Smith's blog, www.mjadoptua.blogspot.com and ran across an article that she had posted about the "Brotherhood of Sons." In this article the author was giving a description of his family's adoption of two young boys from Russia and how some people were unintentionally offensive with some of their questions. So in the article he describes details of leaving the orphanage. He said the boys would shake in their arms from the fear of the unfamiliar. Things as simple as a car ride.

Now their orphanage was in dire condition. They were much younger than our girl and were left in their cribs most of the day to lie in their own waste. It sounded like a horrible life. The orphanage that our girl came from was relatively nice - no Ritz Carlton, but they did have a lot of media outlets such as TV, DVD's, MP3 players, computers, and each other. Not all bad, just unlike life is now. So back to the story - these two boys from Russia they were reaching back to the orphanage because it was familiar. It was all that they knew about life. The same is true with our girl. She is bored out her mind and very timid about trying anything knew. This is a trust issue that will take time and experience to overcome. She does not like Kyiv because it is so unfamiliar to her. She is scared. At this point the easy thing for her to do would be to go back "home" - that is the only home she has known for six years. She cannot even begin to imagine what life will be like in the US.

So here is a good lesson and some good imagery to take advantage of. Crowder sings a cover version of this old song called "Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven (But Nobody Wants to Die)." You may know it. As the Apostle John was writing his book of Revelation he was there. He was actually in Heaven (maybe only in spirit) observing the incredible things that Heaven is. Now today I read Revelation (rarely) and I just have to scratch my head at the descriptions and metaphors that he used. It looked like...... gates of pearl, streets of gold, ten horns here or there, tribes and elders.... you are familiar with all of this.

Now don't take this analogy too far. Our home is not going to be Heaven. Our kids don't surround us and worship us 24/7, we don't live in a mansion, and I don't emit light from the goodness of my being so if we don't pay the power bill, we sit in the dark. But this analogy is fitting. Death is a scary thing for most of us. We, as humans, are trying everything possible to live. We Americans spend billions every year on drugs and healthcare, trying to squeeze every minute possible out of this life. Why? To delay this home-going for as long as possible. We like it here. It is familiar and comfortable here for the most part. But we all want to go to Heaven, right?

Side note: The treasure of Heaven isn't found in all that "stuff" - gates, and gold and glam. It is simply to "be" in the presence of God, Himself. Would we all be disappointed if it turns out not to look like the set of a TBN program? What if it looks like a mud hut in the middle of Uganda? To be with Him, is that the root of our desire? End side note.

So this is where we find ourselves - somewhere between life as we know it and the promise of a better life which lies before us. Death is an unfamiliar thing that is necessary in order for us to enter into that promised land. We have been "reborn." We have new passports (and a permanent visa) with our new names written in them. God came to our land and went to court (and paid the ultimate expediting fee) and rescued us from a life of hopelessness in order that we might be called "sons and daughters."

Likewise, our new daughter is grieving the death of her former life and waiting for the promise of a better life ahead. Our challenge is to continue to encourage and guide her into this new life - to help her to look forward with hope and to find a place for us all to put our collective past. This is no easy task and we knew that going into it. It is really amazing to see how these children react to the new environment and the families which want so desperately to love them. So please continue to pray with us that this transition will be smooth. We know and appreciate the prayers and support that you have offered thus far.

The Graces

2007-12-31T01:46:00.001-06:00

Perfect timing

December 29, 2007

Yesterday brought closure to some things. Our only real goal was to check Dasha out of the orphanage for good. This is a day that we have looked forward to for some time. We were looking forward to the pomp and circumstance or whatever Ukrainian version there might be for this "ceremony." We've officially been her parents for five days and we really haven't felt like she belonged at the orphanage since we got into town four weeks ago. We've spent a lot of time together and it has been good for us to have this time. We made it out to the orphanage around 11:00 am.

Along the way, we stopped at the Rainford Supermarket. This was our first visit and man, were we impressed. Imagine Ukrainian Publix. It had everything and was neat and clean. The Hartsocks and Kemps had told us about it, but it must be experienced to be appreciated. We had stopped to pick up some goodies for Dasha's class to have a small going away party. We picked up some cake, candies, fruit and juices. I'd say we made pretty good time in there. We were a little pressed, because the director had asked that we be there at a certain time and we were pushing it a little.

Side note: When traveling in Ukraine, one should always leave time for the unexpected travel crisis. Although, punctuality is not always priority one. End side note.

We got up to the register to pay (Gina, Denis, and I). We got a buggy full for less that $40.

Side note: Their buggies here have four wheels that swivel as opposed to only two in the states. This makes it easy to pick out the Americans in the stores. It looks like an optical illusion or something similar to a drunk shopper. A sight that also must be experienced. End side note.

So I am digging in my pockets for some money. A skill that I've become very proficient with while here. Gina is still bundled up in her coat and she is leaving the check out. I've mentioned before how tight security is here. This is the only place that I've ever seen fingernail clippers that have anti-theft devices. Not special ones - just the plain ol' clippers that your grandfather carried around in his pocket. I actually had to wait for a clerk to remove the device before I could leave a store a couple of weeks ago! So at the Rainford like in many other places they have one of those walk through things to pick up what ever you stole that day. So Gina goes through and - what do you know? A thief has been identified! Here comes the SWAT team to pat her down.

OK, I'm a little nervous, but I know that my sweet wife is no thief. So they ask her to step back through - beep! OK lady, what do you have? Take off your purse and try it again..... beep! OK empty your pockets...... beep! Open up your coat and let us take a look. Nothing. Try it again..... beep!

By this time, I've settled up with the cashier and am spectating. They aren't being rude so I'm probably more relaxed that I should be. Nobody's upset. They just have a job to do. Then guard 1 (of 3) and I have the same idea. We've both spotted the security tag in her coat that was not removed when she bought the coat. We're both pointing and saying the same thing but in different languages. I offer my pocket knife to extract the offensive device, but he has his own. He cuts it out and she tries it again. Whew! That was it. We all smile (as much as the guards are allowed to) and we are released.

We pack ourselves back into our taxi and continue to make our way to the orphanage. I don't think we've lost more that about 10 minutes to this. Once we arrive, we see that some of the younger kids are having a holiday program. This is the last day of class and there are many family members there to pick up children. Isn't that just weird? Anyway, the director is busy observing this performance and tells us that we'll have to wait. No problem. We'll head upstairs and "get the party started." There were more kids in class than we expected, but we managed OK. An hour and a half later and the director is free and can see us now.

So here we go. We are expecting a speech and pleading and weeping a gnashing of teeth. She apologizes for our delay and produces two blank forms and asks us to sign on the line. She will complete these forms later. That's it. No speech. No ceremony. Nothing to drink or eat or burn. We're done!

Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty she is free at last!

So we say our goodbyes to her caregivers and teachers and some of her friends that are ripping out our hearts because they are so sweet. (KB even asks if we can come back to adopt one of Dasha's friends that has really taken to her - Oh my.) We pack back in again and we left with our new daughter.

We had some gifts for Anna and Nicolae (still not sure about that spelling) who do so much work with the kids here. It was early in the afternoon so they were not at the orphanage yet. We called their home and asked if we could drop by and leave those things with them there. She is delighted to have us stop by. They live close by and so we make our way there. We are planning to stay about 15-20 minutes, but..... she has prepared sandwiches and tea and candies for us. So we must not be rude. We end up staying for close to an hour.

And now back to our theme for the day... we were all hungry and didn't really know what we would do to squeeze in lunch. It was about two o'clock and we had somehow managed to missed lunch at the orphanage. So far we have been lucky with the wheel of menu at the orphanage. Everything we have been offered was recognizable and fairly good, but that luck can only last so long. That pickled herring is looming out there for us - I just know it. (BTW, we always carried plastic bags with us just for emergency disposal of food which cannot be forced down.) Our kids all loved the sandwiches that Dasha had prepared with Anna's help. So we are aimlessly going about our day - sort of - and God has provided lunch from the charity of another

Guys, they (Nicolea and Anna) are (to steal a Brockism) the "real deal." They are always looking for ways to instill something of value into these kids. Nicolae couldn't be there. We had crossed paths with him between his home and the orphanage. He had a line of young men standing at his door waiting to recite scripture in exchange for little prizes. This was something that I had observed a couple of weeks ago and it touched me so much. It has really caught on. He has become strict with them. Their recitation must be near perfect to qualify for the prize. Little do they know that they are opening their hearts to have the seeds of God's Word to be planted. Oh, how beautiful is this sight!

So we get back into our little car again and are headed back to the flat . (?) Nope, Yanna (a friend who has helped us at the orphanage in the past) calls to tell us that she has not been able to pick up a letter from a relative here for some of our friends back at home. She and Gina and Dasha had visited the aunt of some girls that live close to us to deliver some photos and correspondence. And also just to follow up with her to let her know that her nieces are doing wonderful and have a great life in the US. She wanted to send a letter back with us, but she is blind and had to wait for her son to come and take it down. We were to pick this up and take it back with us to deliver to our friends back home. Since we are out we decide that we can go ahead and do this to save her a trip. We get the address and we are off. Now she lives across the river - a place that I had wanted to visit, but had not yet had the opportunity. Oh well, last night in Zap - why not?

While we are speaking with Yanna, we ask about the status of the passport. No word. The mail from Kiev has not yet been delivered, but they should be working tomorrow (holiday weekend, yeah right!)
and we will just check in with them and see. Worst case, they can send it to Kiev next week. I'm already thinking of the implications of this action. Might cost us a week b/c the embassy is only open 3 days next week due to holidays. Does mail run on Monday? What if it doesn't arrive until Friday? Oh man, this could be bad.

So our visit with the aunt goes so well. We were so happy to be able to tell her all about her girls. She was so kind to us and I think the visit helped to bring peace to her life - just to know that God had provided for them and they were in good hands. She lives alone. She does have one son that visits when he can, but he works on the road quite a bit. Oh, how my heart aches for her, but she is in such good spirits. She has happy memories of the girls and is kind to share them with us. When we are packed back into the car all I can think of is the phrase from James 1:27 "...orphans and widows." Finally I whisper this into my wife's ear and she says that she was thinking the same thing. God is loading up our hearts with this burden.

Once again, we stayed longer than planned. It is now dark outside and stomachs are growling again. How do I know? Because as we are driving down the road, with my sweet wife all up in my space, I keep feeling my phone buzzing in a pocket that cannot possibly be accessed. By about the third or forth ringing session, I comment to her about how I wonder who that could be. She breaks out in uncontrollable laughter and informs me that this is not my phone but her stomach. Dude! That is serious. A check of the phone at the next stop confirms this.

Traffic is pretty heavy headed back into town and we are not making very good time. Yanna calls back just as we are getting back into town to make final arrangements for tomorrow. She and Nina (another friend that has been helping us) want to come by and visit in the morning to say goodbye and to give some gifts to take back. She also informs me that the passport is ready and that she will try to get by the office in the morning to pick it up so that we can take it back with us. As God would have it, we are within a block of the office and so Denis asks if we can just swing by and pick it up. We all agree this is best. He comments about how perfect the timing was for this.

When we arrived, a new year's party is brewing. I observed the rare smiling Ukrainian government worker although I could not get a photo - so you'll have to take my word for it. They were all scurrying around and had already placed a bench across the entry way with a sign that said "closed" in Russian, of course. We walked right in, found our dude and he quickly found the passport. A check of my ID and a couple of signature later and... WE HAD IT!

I must admit this was an overwhelming thing for me..... to open up that little booklet and see her pretty face and her new name....

.....and the way she signed her name..... in very neat printed hand writing was one single word....

GRACE...

I suppose that she was in a hurry and couldn't put together the english letters for her full name. Oh God, how perfect is that? Excuse me a second while I dry off the keyboard.....

Fade to black and roll the credits - what a perfect ending. This one was written, directed, produced by none other that God, Himself.

We finished up our last day here in Zap at the train restaurant. All through supper, I couldn't help but keep pulling out that passport and staring at it. I just can't believe it. So many times during this journey, God has provided for us at just the right moment. This has truly been a journey of faith - and it has been rewarding. Grace.

That sums it ups. His timing is indeed perfect.

Love,

The Graces

2007-12-28T12:56:00.001-06:00

Risky Business

December 27, 2007

Warning: Another extremely long post - too much to say, but hey, its your time!

Today we took a risk - actually many risks. We had two tasks planned for the day. Any of you that have been here for an adoption know how ambitious this is. We had planned to go to the orphanage this morning and check Dasha out for good. We would also be giving some of her friends a little going away party. We had planned to be there around 9. No risk involved in this. The big task and big risk was to take Dasha to visit with her Grandmother who lives about an hour away. We had been advised to approach this very cautiously and to consider not doing it at all. We felt like this was something that we wanted to do for her as a going away present. She had also asked about this a couple of weeks before we came. I'll tell you ahead of time that my head is still spinning. Its like waking up from a dream.

Well, let's just say the day didn't start of quite like we had expected. We had a little delay with our 9 AM appointment. So I decided to head down to the "bread store," as we call it. This is one of those places that stops you in your tracks as you are walking down the the sidewalk. It smells so wonderful. Imagine every kind of bread/pastry known to man all displayed out for your choosing. Only problem is that I don't speak Russian very well. So the pastry Nazi likes to keep things moving along and doesn't fancy the point and grunt method of which I am so fond. Anyway, by the time I got there the place had been raided. There were only three things left to choose from. So I bought all of one thing and a few of some others. Stopped by a corner magazine (store), picked up a coke and headed back to the flat.

Two things happened while I was out that are noteworthy:

1. People here are not afraid of the weather - at all. It is nothing to see a mom out strolling her child in the snow or cold or whatever. Now they know how to bundle them up like for real. Remember Ralphie's little brother on The Christmas Story? Yeah, that's it. Those little kids are layered up to the point that the can't bend their arms. They just sit in the little strollers and exist. So I spied a tall slender lady headed down the sidewalk in front of me. She was wearing this elegant fur coat and a stylish hat. At just below the knees were these two blue appendages sticking out like the fingers of a latex glove that somebody inflated. I tried to steal a photo, but just couldn't get into position. It was a classic image.

2. It began to snow again.

Now I've got to say our state is somewhat weather savvy. We've got Spann, the man. There is not a day that goes by that I don't know for a fact what the weather will be doing two or three days out. Here, the weather forecasts that I've been able to get are more like.... oh, I don't know maybe a spin of the ol' weather wheel. I think that they might actually have some type of dart board or maybe the forecast comes from an almanac or something - maybe one of those weather rocks that you can buy at Rock City. It is not accurate. Today was supposed to be overcast - no mention of snow. By 10:00 it was all out blizzard - I know that my blizzard definition would be disappointing to someone from the midwest or north, but for me - if my coat and hat are covered after my little one block walk to the store and back, I declare blizzard! There was a half inch of snow within about 30 minutes and it was beautiful.

So our driver came to get us about noon. By this time there was about an inch and a half of fresh beautiful white snow and it was still coming down. So here's the other thing - I thought these guys handled the snow and driving pretty well. I found out today that it does, in fact, slow them down and they do have accidents. I knew this had to be the case, but I thought there was some elaborate scheme to cover it up or something.

We picked up our facilitator at a bus stop and headed out to Babushka's house - you know over the river and through the woods.... So getting out of town was terrible. We saw two or three car wrecks and then a tractor trailer rig jack knifed. I didn't think this was possible here. An hour into our journey and we were still not out of Zap. BTW, did I mention that there were seven of us packed into this little Korean car - about the same size as a civic or corolla. Sardines doesn't even come close to describing the closeness. Bonding is not the word - maybe fusing. I did discover though that the little space that forms between your knee and your wife's leg and the door makes for a nice cup holder. Dude, I couldn't move, I couldn't breath, if we had wrecked there was no way any of us would have been slung out because we were all unbelievably wedged in. I'm still unfolding parts of my body. Positive spin: I haven't been able to get this close to my wife in a month!

About 40 km out of town the weather began to break a little. We finally made it into the little town - population around 15,000. Now about the risk. I said above that we wanted to do this for her. We also wanted to do it for her Grandmother. We knew that she was fond of her Grandmother but I had no idea of how we would be received or even who would be there. We asked Dasha to call her Grandmother a day ahead of time (no more) to make sure that she was even in town and to see if we could come by. When Dasha called her she put her on speakerphone and we could hear (but not understand) everything that was said. She didn't sound upset, but she did sound surprised. Now we had purposefully waited until everything was finalized before we made this contact. We found out later in the day that Gmommy called the orphanage director to find out why she was not informed about the adoption. UH-OH! Now I'm a little worried. We told her that we would come around noon. I wanted to be a little ambiguous about the time - trying to think like Jason Bourne.

Now we are all praying like mad that God would just breath over this encounter and keep things from getting out of hand. We did know that her mom had some substance abuse problems. We didn't know anything about her dad other than the government didn't even recognize that he existed. (Gmommy is dad's mom.) What if one or both show up? What if something crazy happens like they kidnap her? What if the try to extort us? What if she gets emotionally charged up and changes her mind about the whole thing? This thing could get out of hand in a hurry. Dude, have we lost our mind? This is why we were advised to reconsider.

In my mind, I had decided that my (inflammatory) question would be where have you guys been? Why has she been alone all this time? The other thing that I had in mind was that our driver doubled as a bouncer in a former life. He is awesome! I hope some of you that come after us are able to use him. He's like a grandfather - giving advice to Dasha and telling her along with our other kids when they are getting out of line - just a really good guy. But could he help us in an all out brawl? Man, this is crazy talk! This is risky business.

Well, by this point we are committed. We're an hour and a half into the sardine run and so I think cleverly, why don't we call and check in to see what the temperature is there? Is the welcome mat still out or should we tuck tail and flee back to the city? She was still expecting us and seemed to be ok.

So the plan was to let Dasha and our facilitator go in and check things out. Let them have some time alone. If she was receptive to us, then we would gladly go in for a visit. Otherwise, we would send in the extraction team.

We winded on into town a little past noon. I forgot to mention that Gmommy lives in the same town where we went to get the birth certificate on Monday. This was the site of my Ukrainian coming out party - remember the sausage, pickles and mustard in the car? So the little store where we bought the goods turns out to be on the same street where she lives. So on Monday I was goofing around just a couple of blocks from her home and had no idea. Isn't that just weird?

She told us that she had a green gate. So in just a matter of seconds we were there. It happened so quickly that we didn't really have time to be nervous. We stopped. Dasha and Denis (the facilitator) got out and rang the bell. Wait! Take your gifts in with you. Already in the gate. Wait, Denis is coming back. She said she wanted everybody to come in. OK, Lord here we go. Hope you're already in there cause I know that you couldn't fit in that car with us on the drive down.

First person we see is Babushka. A kind and loving face. Hugs and kisses to go around for all of us. OK, this is good. Inside for meet and greet. Boots, coats, hats, gloves - off at the door. I smell food and I'm hungry. Oh wait, who are you? We meet Aunt Natasha (Dasha's father's sister - still with me?) and her daughter Nastia (Dasha's cousin). She is telling us that Nastia has some health problems and can't walk by herself. She is a beautiful child. She also has the eye disorder which we've seen commonly in children here. What gracious hosts they are? Maybe this is going to be OK.

Sit, sit, sit... it is time to eat.

OK, but we can't stay long, we need to be back at the orphanage in an hour.

We were served borsht, pork fat, a wonderful slaw, bread, potatoes and chicken. Chocolate, oranges and tea to finish up with. Over the meal we were asked several questions. We are asked about Dasha's medical care and school and what Gina does. Mostly just out of curiosity. I suppose I would have questions too if I was in their shoes. They don't know us from Adam and we are taking their precious little girl to another country that they don't know a whole lot about. So in walks some dude and he's big and Russian and in pretty good shape and I'm sizing him up. He's well dressed and introduces himself as Uncle Sasha (Natasha's husband). He is kind and doesn't stay but a second and then leaves again. Hmmm?

Natasha produces a golden ring for Dasha, but it turns out to be too small. I say that we can have it resized in the US. They are concerned that resizing may cause the stone to fall out. What to do? Gmommy begins to pull her gold earrings out to give to Dasha. She says she had been waiting for her 18th birthday, but now would be the time to do it. Oh my. Here we go. I will need to look away or think of a sunny place or something. Let's hold it together now.

Out comes the photo album and we begin to talk about the family. We see photos of her mom and dad. Neither were around and neither were invited anyway, because Gmommy and Natasha were worried that things might get out of hand. Hmmm? Mom is still is around locally, but drinks heavily. She cannot take care of this child. We are told that she was very intelligent as a young lady. No one really knows where dad is. His work takes him from town to town. They think he might be in Kiev, but are not sure. He served some time in the army. Dasha favors him a lot. Especially in the eyes.

Uncle Sasha reappears and he has another gold ring for his niece but larger this time. OK, he's cool. He begins to ask us about our lives and what we do and where we are from. They want to know what natural disasters occur in Alabama. I explained that we had Spann and it was all good - not really. We did tell them about tornados, though. We had to describe to them where Alabama was in relation to the entire US.

Oh wow! This is really going well. Gmommy says that she worried all yesterday and last night about Dasha. Said that she cooked all morning and was nervous about us coming. I feel bad now and apologize. We told her that we were equally nervous, but that God had brought us all together for this purpose at this time.

We are quizzed about our religious beliefs. Natasha asks us about our belief in icons or Jesus. I respond that we believe in Christ. She tells us that they are Orthodox and that they give written prayers to their priest for Dasha and now they have been answered. Oh my. Later, as Natasha is looking through the photo library on my laptop she runs across photos from Ecuador. In particular, she asks about plastic Jesus in the glass coffin. Whew! That took some explaining, but I think I passed.

Uncle Sasha talks to us a little about raising children and how he worries about Dasha and alcohol. He was happy to hear that we didn't keep any at home. As a matter of fact, he gave us a little "Slava Bog" (Praise God) on the deal. He gives Dasha a little advice about thinking about your actions before you do them. This is a good family!

Gmommy explains to us the three eye surgeries she recently had and how she is loosing vision in her left eye. We begin to understand that the reason Dasha was in the orphanage is because there really was nobody that could care for her. We discover that our two hosts initialized the revocation of parental rights petition because it was in Dasha's best interest. They knew that she couldn't stay where she was, but also that they couldn't adequately take care of her either.

So they all decide that they like us - a lot. And the feeling is mutual. Aunt Natasha slips Denis a little under the breath comment about "we really like them" and he goes ahead and translates that for us. Thank you, Lord!

Our time is winding down and we are preparing to leave. Numbers and addresses are exchanged. We are asked when we will be returning. I explained to them how our church fellowship of believers was doing missions all over the world and that Ukraine was definitely a place where we would work. I tell them that it may be a year or so, but that we will be coming back. Gmommy takes us to her bedroom and tells us that the wool rug on the wall is also for Dasha. She says (jokingly I hope) to roll it up and take it with us. We explain our transportation dilemma and how it would ruin on top of the car. It is truly beautiful and has a lot of history in the family. Was traded for a pig and then purchased back somehow. It is an heirloom.

As we wind down we all gather together to pray. I go first thanking God for working all this out. Then Aunt Natasha prays. During her prayer she confesses that she feels a lot of guilt over Dasha's life. Many tears shed here. No sunny place can save me now. I'm engaged. She is such a caring woman and she has a full time job caring for her special needs child and she knows that. Their prayer, like ours, is that God will repay Dasha for the years that were lost in the orphanage. I believe not only that He can but that He will just like in Joel chapter 2.

Our one hour visit is now standing at three and we are calling the punt play on the orphanage visit. So this has been a good day, regardless. I don't regret this visit or this encounter. This family is not unlike our own. In fact, now they are our own. Man, we got some good intel! We know birthdays and addresses. We can send them card and letters. We can call them to check in and to give them updates. Likewise, they have our information. They really took to us - especially Kirby. Remember that gold ring that did not fit? Well, Kirby ended up wearing it home.

What have we learned today? We learned that we share some things in common with this family - a faith in a merciful a caring God and the love for a particular blonde young woman. We learned that our risk was worth the reward. We learned where the breaking point was in the Ukrainian transportation system regarding weather. We learned that God has been ahead of us here for years preparing things to be just so for this day.

The ride home was long. We even were stopped at one point by the police to allow cars to climb a hill slowly so as to avoid any accidents. When we finally got back to some city lights we were amazed at how much it had snowed. The trees looked artificial. Their branches all covered in snow and illuminated by the glow of metal halide bulbs. It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful day.

I stand in awe at the "grace" which was extended to us today.

God, you have been so good to us!

The Grace's

2007-12-26T07:34:00.000-06:00

Breaking Ties

December 26, 2007

We were able to accomplish a lot in the past two days. We were able to obtain the birth certificate, ID number and passport photos within 24 hours. Now we wait.... again. We are planning to travel back to Kiev this weekend and make our final preparations to return home. We don't expect to receive Dasha's passport before this weekend so it appears that she and Gina will be forced to return after the rest of us. Please pray that we can find an affordable flight when it is time and that we can get her visa without any problems next week. (and if you want to pray for a miracle on Monday or Tuesday morning, please do)

Today we will be making a visit to the relatives of the daughter's of our friends who were here almost two years ago. I'm not sure I can mention the name, but it should be a joyous time for us to share how well their girls have done in the US and what a wonderful family they have and how beautiful they are.

Either today or tomorrow we will be officially checking Dasha out of the orphanage. This will be a very emotional time for us all. Most of her friends have left for holiday trips and will not be there to see her off. After this we are planning to make a trip to her Grandmother's village to allow her to say goodbye (or maybe see you later?). This will also be tough, but we feel that it is very necessary and she has asked us to do this for her. We look forward to meeting her and sharing a little about ourselves with her. My observation is that she is ready for the next thing. I think it is a little beneficial (at least for the older children) that this process takes as long as it does. At this point, this flat is her home. In the next few days we will transition to another home and then another. I'm sure it is tough for a child to adjust to all of these changes. Please pray that this will be a peaceful transition and that she will feel secure with her new position in our family. In reality, she has been a part of our family for quite some time.

BTW, Christmas was different.

I know that there is less than a week left in the year but I would like to officially submit this statement for consideration as the "Understatement of the Year." Just not the same.... especially outside the door of our apartment. December 25 is just another day here - business, as usual. I'm curious to see what impact that will have on our two bio kids. We finished off the day with a fabulous meal at the Irish Pub. Hope yours was wonderful! You were all missed here. I think now we are certifiably homesick. Oh, what I would do or pay for a plate of home-cooked holiday foods!

Please pray for our endurance to finish this leg of the race. (I suppose this could be considered only qualifying for the real race.) Also, please pray that our visit with her Grandmother will be without conflict and that God will protect us.

We love you all and can't wait to get home.

The Grace's

2007-12-26T07:33:00.000-06:00

Another Sunday

December 23, 2007
(this is slightly out of order)

Warning: Extended blog today. Unique experience which required extra verbiage. Read at your own risk. Its your time so waste if you wish.....

Today we had the privilege to be guests at another local church. It was actually located in a village on the outskirts of town. We had met some of the church members last week at another church where their choir and brass band was performing. During lunch last week they had asked us to worship with them this week. Of course we were flattered and so we finalized the details late this week and met our contact this morning out on the main drag here. I couldn't remember our dude's name but I was hoping to recognize his vehicle or at least him on the street. We did see him, but he was not in the van that we expected. Instead, it was an older Lada. Now those of you up on your Eastern European car makes will know that six adults and a child cannot fit into this car. So our dude decided that he would catch a bus back to the church and allow us to ride with the unknown driver. Any questions? Where is this church? Who will meet us there? Does anybody else speak English? Are you expecting me to speak? When are we coming back? How many liters/gallon does this thing get? Do you think I could sneak one back in my luggage?

Anyway, after about a half hour of riding and very little speaking, we pulled into this village. We were clueless about the church location or what it looked like. I honestly wasn't quite sure what time the service started. But then we saw it - an ornate little building that stood out like a church should, I suppose. The driver let us out and we saw one of the gentlemen that we had met last week at the other church. Turns out that he is the pastor of this church. He is obviously a bi-vocational pastor by the condition of his hands. A very kind man who was very glad to see us. He led us into the church and offered us tea and coffee - a welcoming tradition here. We met some of the sweet little old ladies in the church they just loved on us and hugged on us and told us all sorts of things that we could not understand. We asked D to tell us, but either she did not understand or she was too embarrassed to tell. They ended up figuring out that we had adopted her - I guess the fact that she spoke their language and not ours made it an easy conclusion.

One of the ladies came up and I caught these words - internat, dochka, and Italia. She was tearing up and was obviously troubled. Turns out that she has a grand daughter at D's old orphanage and she had left to go to Italy for the holidays. I'm not sure if she was touched by the fact that we had taken D into our family or if she was missing her grand daughter. Regardless, she was so kind to us and said some of the kindest Roosky that I had ever heard (and yet not understood). Those not familiar with the language should note that it is a hateful language. Someone could be wishing you a wonderful day and if you did not understand them, you would swear that they had just questioned the legitimacy of your birth parents.

Side note: if you fancy a little bling in the ol' grill, this is the place to be. A made the comment that all the babooshkas had great "grills." Indeed, it is hard not to stare. End side note.

So I was expected to speak. Hmmm? Not really prepared for this. Good news is that they have four or five sermons per service, so if I bomb, maybe another brother can pick up the slack. Bad news is that I have to speak again. So they had brought in this lovely young lady to translate my little speech. She also translated the service for us. She did a great job and we will probably never get to thank her sufficiently. Now these people in this fellowship.... recall that we had met a few of them the week before at another fellowship where they were performing - cue harp music. We had eaten lunch in the first shift and they were eating in the second shift. As I was sipping my chai in the lobby, our dude (recall from above) asked if I would sit with them while they ate. Now recall my ant farm reference from previous post. I don't know where G and the kids got off to, but I found myself alone. Anyway they shoehorned me into a small space at the table and then the inquisition began. Now it was not hostile just curious. They all looked at me like I was an alien - I suppose that I am here. They asked all sorts of questions. The most interesting to me was the size of our church fellowship of believers. When I told them about 4000, they asked for a recount. When I stated the same again, they just stared at me in amazement. Then the pastor asked about the size of the choir. I told him that when we had one it was around 200. I didn't dare go into the whole recording of the CD thing although I really wanted to. Anyway, there I was - all alone at one end of the table while all twelve or so of them were staring at me - chicken bones in the bowls and hanging on every translated word of mine. What a weird thing. It was so funny. They have no idea what a looser I am!

So transition back to earlier today - cue harp sound effect again. I told them a little about us and where we come from and why we were here. I told them that they would have to figure which one was adopted. Now they were supposed to laugh at that and they didn't. So I reminded them that they were supposed to laugh - and they didn't. OK, we'll move on now. We read from 1 Cor 6:19. I reminded them that they were the temple of God - the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. That as they walked through their city or at the factory, field or office that they were the church. I told them the post office story and how they were all "authorized agents" of the kingdom of God. I think it went over well. There was nodding and I even got a slovo-Bog at the end. The third guy gave me a little call back on the post man analogy. I think it went over OK, but I don't think I'll be making the comedy tour here.

So after the service, we were asked to join them for lunch. Only thing was, we were the only ones eating. Mashed potatoes, sausage on bread, pickled tomatoes and eggplant - not too bad, but I was missing the Baptist bird. They must have been Primitive Baptist. Anyway, there we were again on one end of the table and the same 10 or 12 people sitting on the other end staring at us and hanging on every word. Talk about a fish bowl. It was like we were over at a friend's house and they were all waiting for us to finish so that we could go out and play - and that was exactly it! Once we had finished our chai, they asked us to sing for them. When we told them that they were not ready for that they asked us to teach them some American games. Oh, where is Wes Sullivan when you need him! After a couple of unsuccessful suggestions, they came up with their own.

So back to the main room, rearrange the chairs and a game of Ukrainian charades breaks out. Then a clapping concentration game which we all finally gave up on and finally a rendition of Ukrainian musical chairs. This church was very hospitable to us and we enjoyed our time together more than we were expecting. What we discovered was that there were two brothers which served as a foundation for this fellowship. One brother served as pastor while the other handled the duties of worship leader. They both had families and were all talented in many ways, especially musically. Come to find out, 90% of the choir/orchestra was comprised of their family. It sniffed of other fellowships that we have been a part of in the past - not in a bad way. I was looking for similarities and my observation was that these people do life together. Their lives are bound by the blood of Christ and it was refreshing to be allowed to be a part of that for a brief time.

After the winner was declared in our musical chairs, our driver indicated that he would need to take us back and so that was it. We loaded the Lada and we were off.

Guys, I've got to tell you that one of the highlights of any of my travels is the fellowship with other believers in other cultures. It is always so humbling. I always have trouble containing my emotions. I can't help but think of the others of you that are sleeping in your beds. And the fact that we may be unaware that people on the other side of the world are worshipping when we are not.... unaware that the name of Christ is being lifted somewhere by someone... always. Isn't that amazing? So whether is is a dirt floor building in Uganda, a block building in Ecuador, an ornate chapel in Ukraine, or a modern building in the US, worship takes place and it is diverse and similar and wonderful. I highly recommend it.

So we have a bond now with two fellowships here. We know faces and a few names and we look forward to reuniting with these people again - although maybe not in this life.

Blessing to you and yours,

The Grace's

2007-12-25T10:36:00.000-06:00

Officially Official

December 24, 2007

I spoke to our facilitator this morning. He called to wish us Merry Christmas and also congratulations. He had just picked up our court decree. We are officially new parents as of today! The ten day wait is over. Nobody contested our adoption. That news hits me with new emotion and pride. Thank you, God, for this gift. I won't be able to look at Christmas Eve the same ever again.

I then had the privilege to travel to her birth city to get the new birth certificate naming G and I as her parents. Now that is really real. The city was small but more than a village. The shops were nice. We stopped to pick up some chocolate for our friend doing the birth certificate and a sausage, bread, mustard drinks and a few pickles from an open bucket for our driver and us to eat for lunch. I felt like a real Ukrainian! We ate as we drove down the road. What an adventure. The lady at the office was also a believer and she was very kind to us. She basically saved us a day in the process. You could tell that she was one of the people that God had selected for us - one motivated by compassion. She prayed for us before we left. Man, how cool is that? Now let's hope she has a friend at the passport office.

So we are preparing for our Christmas celebration tomorrow. The two bio kids are excited. D can't really understand why. We'll see how it goes. We have decorated one of the (fake) house plants with lights and ornaments. D calls it our Christmas "flower." It will do just fine in a pinch. Yesterday we saw that some city workers were erecting an enormous Christmas tree. We'll get some photos of that later when it is lit. That was a pleasant surprise. There are several stores and shops that have decorated for the holidays. But overall the culture is still recovering from the Soviet religious oppression. They won't say "Santa" Claus because it might be construed to be religious. I'm not a hater, but little do they know that this jolly ol' fella probably has done more to secularize the holiday that any government could have.

The only thing that I'm missing is a leg lamp to place in our window. Beginning at noon today, I will be playing The Christmas Story for 24 hours straight. We are planning to go ice skating this evening and then scavenge the city for turkey and dressing. Tomorrow will be very busy for us as we have more planned to do than we have day to do it.

We will be missing you all and our cozy home back in the States. Christmas will not be the same here, but it is what it is and regardless of where you are, the birth of Christ can be celebrated and savored. So Merry Christmas to you all and at least some of us will be home for the new year. Please continue to pray that we can all make the trip together.

Blessing,

The Graces

2007-12-23T11:09:00.001-06:00

Our First Home

December 22, 2007

Gina and I were very fortunate to be able to purchase our first home only 6 months after we were married. That was a benchmark moment in our life - we were so proud of that little white house. It was the fall of the year and I can still remember waking up on Saturday mornings and reading the paper - my own paper that had been delivered to my own front door earlier that morning. I can remember sitting on the front porch on Friday nights and hearing the high school football game across town. It was wonderful. We were adults. We had our own place. It was a two bedroom, one bath job with a small kitchen. It sat on about a quarter acre with enough backyard to have a small garden and teach Austin how to play baseball. It had an enormous water oak tree which provided shade 6 months out of the year. It dumped those tiny leaves and acorns each Fall and I loved it because I had leaves to rake in my yard. We lived there for six years. Once KB was on the way, we knew we would need to upgrade.

As G grew with child it seemed that the place became smaller. With only one bathroom we had to plan well our potty and shower times. I recall a battle with the ole' stomach bug that nearly ended in disaster. The three (and a half) of us outgrew that space. It was cozy and we look back on that time in our lives with fond memories - but I've got to tell you, we were glad to get out of there. It was just such a small space. It was a great place to start out - probably would still be a great place for a couple - old or young.

So tonight we find ourselves on the absolute other side of the world. A place I couldn't even find on a map three years ago! (and I still can't spell the name of the city) Four weeks ago we began our time here as a family of three. Ten days later we were a family of four - one (or maybe three depending on your point of view) with a slight linguistic impediment. Three weeks into it and we are now five. Our current home is smaller than our first. We are living in a four room (and that includes the kitchen and bathroom) apartment. Thankfully, we have all been able to live around one another peacefully (for the majority of the time). But let me tell you, we are all up in each other's personal space.

Time alone here must be scraped together either late in the evening or early in the morning or maybe during a walk to the market or while taking out the trash. I (C) am one who treasures a healthy amount of alone time - not that I am a recluse, just that I need time to reflect on my thoughts on my actions on the course of my day or week or life. I need time to read and pray and study. It is hard to find these days.

Now this is not a rant. Please don't take it that way. It's just really humorous to me. If you think about it, this is the ideal situation for bonding. Remember what they say about camping? No? Well, Gary Smalley says that all families should camp together. No, not for the fun of it. But because camping inevitably leads to "bonding." Well, our bonding will not be complete when we return home, but we are off to a good start.

A month before we left for this place I created a countdown clock on my computer. I just couldn't believe that we actually had an appointment and would be traveling. Just couldn't imagine what it would be like. KB has also created a countdown calendar for Christmas Day. She's just like a kid at Christmas... hmm.... I suppose she should be. So you will have to forgive me for creating another countdown clock on my computer for our departure date. Can't imagine what it will be like to be home.

We've really enjoyed our time here. WE OWN THIS TOWN! (or at least the two or three blocks near our apartment) We had crab sticks today. We cooked home made chicken soup tonight. We know what milk not to buy. We know who has the best pizza in town. We know where to get the good TP. We are recognized now at the market and the video store and the exchange counter and the Irish Pub (that I use for wifi). Those folks are willing to overlook our cultural ineptitude in exchange for our money. We have become their entertainment - in the ant farm sense. What will those goofy Americans want today? What word will they not know?

Already, I'm beginning to miss the kids at the orphanage. I'm beginning to miss this place. I went out tonight just to take it all in. Side note: I saw a poster in the mall advertising Albert's organization which ministers to orphanages in this area. I was intrigued by this. He is really doing a good work here. If I can remember the web address, I'll post a link to his site. - End side note. The place where we are really is beautiful at night. Although I know that many of the kids I know here will most likely never be able to live on this side of town. They'll likely just ride through and wonder. I wonder myself what it would be like to live here. I suppose in some ways it would be a lot like our first home....

Blessings to you guys and your families this Christmas Holiday. We will celebrate the birth of Christ with you - but we'll beat you to the punch by about eight hours.

The Grace's (from small spaces)

2007-12-20T12:55:00.000-06:00

Christmas Time's a Coming!

December 20, 2007

Before we get into the meat of this post. We need to ask a favor. Our local facilitator here, Denis, has some health issues. His heart gives him trouble from time to time. Some of you may recall from this summer when the Gully family was here that this was a concern. He has been in the hospital again today with the same problems. Please pray for him that all will be well. He did not sound good on the phone today. He has done a good job for us, but I know the stress of it all can be sometimes overwhelming.

As you can imagine the blending of a family is no small endeavor. There are conflicts from time to time. Rules and behaviors have to be learned. The language has to be overcome. Those that have come before us know this very well. We have a very smart, intelligent and overall good girl. But it does become disappointing when the first conflict arises - as if we were expecting to never have any.... yeah, right! So before we left, I purchased some light reading for our time here.... The Practice of the Presence of God (Lawrence), The Normal Christian Life (Nee), and The Screwtape Letters (Lewis). I only began to read Lewis in the past couple of days. In the second letter, Screwtape is giving some practical advice to his nephew, Wormwood, in light of the fact that his "patient" has become a believer and is now in the hands of the Enemy. It goes like this...

"Work hard, then, on the disappointment or anticlimax which is certainly coming to the patient during his first few weeks as a churchman. The Enemy allows this disappointment to occur on the threshold of every human endeavor. It occurs when the boy who has been enchanted in the nursery by Stories from the Odyssey buckles down to really learning Greek. It occurs when lovers have got married and begin the real task of learning to live together. In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing.......For once they get through this initial dryness successfully, they become much less dependent on emotion and therefore much harder to tempt."

So this is where we find ourselves..... in the "laborious doing." Now this is no surprise. We were and are prepared (I think) to take on this task. Our moto for this trip was "prepare for the worst and expect the best." Please pray for our endurance and patience as we learn to live together. The children are getting along just fine. Its just this idea of having parents to tell you what you can or cannot do and when you can or cannot do it. It will work out just fine in time, but for now there is a little pain and learning involved.

So today we have been Christmas shopping. We have decided to give each of the children a sum of money and have them shop for the other two. It has gone nicely so far. KB is quite the miser. AG has expensive tastes. DC has never been able to such before. It will be an interesting Christmas experiment - unlike anything we've done before. It's hard to believe that we've been here for almost four weeks. It's interesting to see how the American kids react to the different culture. We haven't really had any severe homesick episodes. As long as we have Fanta, Ramen, and some decent TP we can survive.

An interesting thing happened tonight as we were coming home from dinner. We had been told by Chris Nichols of the incredible disparity here. A mix of several cultures from Soviet, to Ukrainian, to European, and even American. He tells a story of being on a bus in Kiev and hearing the Beach Boys on the radio singing California Dreaming. So we were sitting on the little bus here and the same thing happened to us. Keep in mind it's about 25 (F) outside. Everything is frozen and nasty. The wind will cut right through you - and then there's the Beach Boys singing to you from overhead. That is the icing on the cake. Although my dreaming has more of a southern flavor.

We will have an opportunity this coming weekend to visit another body of believers on the other side of town. We met them last weekend at another church. We are looking forward to it.

Please continue to pray that things move along smoothly next week. It will be a big one. We get the decree on Monday, Christmas on Tuesday, and then it passport and visa time. We should be back in Kiev by the end of the week and then I will be returning with A and KB.

We love you guys. Have a Merry Christmas if we don't get a chance to say it again!

Oh yes, almost forgot - more photos from the Snow Bash Yesterday. Remember the part of the movie Elf where Buddy went nuts on the mean kids in the park? Well let's just say it doesn't snow much at home.

Snow Bash

The Grace's

2007-12-19T13:24:00.001-06:00

Here is a link to some photos that we've taken over the past couple of days.

Enjoy!!!

Ukraine Photos

2007-12-18T05:07:00.000-06:00

December 18, 2007

I confess. I have been holding out on you. I had another Kirby video that I have been withholding since Kiev. I was a little concerned about the lyrics, but I've have been convinced by the other members of my family here that this must be shared. So...

2007-12-18T05:02:00.001-06:00

White Christmas?

December 18, 2007

It has been snowing here for four days. As I write, there is about 6 inches piled up on top of the stump that I've been using as a measure outside our kitchen window. One of the thing on my life list is to have a white Christmas somewhere - obviously away from our current home. Thing are looking promising here. So I ask... does the snow have to be freshly fallen or does three day old snow count? I am not an expert in this realm and solicit your counsel. I think we are going to be able to check this one off the list after next week.

We had dinner with our friends from church here. The pastor is Nicolie and his wife is Anna... I'm sure I have misspelled his name - please forgive me. I mentioned earlier that they are doing a great work at the orphanage where we have been. We had heard about them from previous families and what a wonderful work they were doing. We enjoyed so much worshiping with them on Sunday and were delighted to be invited to dine with them last night.

Oh, how wonderful the food was. Anna had prepared a macaroni, cheese and chicken dish along with a Olivier (sp?) salad, another vegetable salad, some tomato juice from their garden and a wonderful cake afterwards. Whoa! I had not eaten this much since we've been here. I think everyone was filled. It was a wonderful time and we thoroughly enjoyed it. They have two beautiful young girls and by then end of our time together, KB was learning the Russian and Ukrainian alphabets.

Our conversations after dinner revolved around the ministry that they were doing at the orphanage. We all agreed that one of the biggest opportunities (or maybe gaps is a better word) is the care and training of orphanage graduates. The outlook after graduation is bleak. His vision is to be able to build or buy apartments and staff them with mature Christians that can look after and mentor these children - and I do mean children. Most are 16 to 18 and completely on their own. They need advice on how to live and how to take care of their business and affairs. God is raising up people here (and in other parts of the world) for that purpose. It is interesting to see God at work in other places with other people that we know along the same lines. Pray for this ministry.

BTW, Nicholie pastors a Baptist church, and believe it or not, after the service we had dinner on the grounds with the culturally appropriate "boiled" as opposed to "fried" chicken. Some things are the same everywhere you go. I have always enjoyed worshipping with other believers in other parts of the world. It is such a blessing for me to think that as I sleep on the other side of the earth, people are worshipping a praising God in their own tongue in they way in which God has called them to do so.

Another church from across the city had joined them for worship this day. They brought instruments and a choir and really did a great job. I'm not sure what the occasion was, but it was fun to see them interact. We didn't know many of the songs as they were local in flavor, but at the end of the service they did a medley with several hymns that we did know. We sang the verses in English that we could remember. I was a little concerned that we might be called down for speaking in tongues. -JK

We miss home, but we are finding ourselves reasonably comfortable and well taken care of here. Pray for our children as we will be here for Christmas. This will be a very special time for our family as we learn to be together. Likewise, there are other families that will be spending Christmas here. December 25th is just another business day here. We may actually need to go to Dasha's birth city and get her new birth certificate on this day. We will see how this plays out.

"A father of the fatherless, a defender of the widows, is God in His holy habitation." Psalm 68:5

Blessing to you all,

The Grace's

2007-12-18T04:58:00.000-06:00

All together now

December 17, 2007

So we have Austin with us now. What a great moment it was when he arrived. Because of logistical problems with school and sports we could not all travel together as a family. Austin travelled from home to here unaccompanied. I think this was a big confidence boost for him. It was nerve wrenching for us. We were sure that he would be in good hands, but what if... he missed a flight,,,, there were weather delays.... his luggage got lost..... he got sick.... Its amazing what can go wrong in your mind when it comes to your children. Regardless, he arrived safely Sunday night. We had considered traveling back to Kiev to pick him up, but one of our friends from Kiev offered to just bring him down. This was a very kind offer.

We were able to keep up with Austin through his itinerary through SMS and phone calls. I think he really enjoyed the trip. We attended church with a local pastor that we met at the orphanage. He and his wife are doing a great work there and have the children very close to their hearts. Someone from their fellowship is there each day to minister to the children. More on that later. So as we were worshipping with other believers, Austin was arriving and making his way through customs and meeting with our friend to be picked up. He SMS'ed me in the middle of the service to tell me he was having a little trouble getting through customs. It all turned out well, but I admit my thoughts rambled a bit during the service.

He finally made it around 6 local time. We all decided to meet at the restaurant/pub near our flat and eat supper. Oh what a precious moment to see him step out of that car! We embraced and I did my best to hold it together. We were joined by the Little family and their facilitator. It was a good time - our very first meal together as a family. BTW, shouldn't an Irish Pub serve Corned Beef and Cabbage? Couldn't find it on the menu. But we were able to find the Chelsea/Arsenal match on the tube and take in as much second hand tobacco smoke as we ever have.

It was really interesting to see how the children all interacted with one another. Big Brother is finally here. They were all affectionate toward each other.... at least for a little while. Austin has really been a breath of fresh air for us. He brought snacks, new DVD's, some refills on some meds and just his personality. It is good, indeed, to have him here.

I must admit, the newness of this family structure is still sinking in. I look at them walking down the street or riding the bus or sitting together at the cafe. Man! Are they really ours? Oh, how blessed I am! What a wonderful family God has blessed me with. I only pray that I have the wisdom to raise them wisely.

"Behold children are a heritage a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them..." Psalm 127:3-5a

Blessings to you all,

Chris and Gina

2007-12-14T11:04:00.001-06:00

The Waiting Game

December 14, 2007

Court is over. Looking back on it, I suppose we were worried about nothing. We had been told by those before us that it wasn't the crucifixion that we has all expected. It was actually a pleasant experience. The judge set the tone at the beginning by saying, "Why do you all look so serious?" He read a lot from the papers before him. I suppose this was required by the law. The questions were not too probing.

We were seated on the front row with our translator. Directly behind us was the orphanage director with our child sitting beside her. To our left was the local inspector, a prosecutor (???) and a court reporter. In front of us sat the judge and two ladies that served as jurors. On the wall above the judge's chair was posted the national flag and a banner. We brought a ton of photos that Dasha had collected from us over the last couple of years. This was a huge advantage. They all enjoyed viewing our family photos and were a bit preoccupied by them.

I was first to be questioned... Why Ukraine? Why this child? What benefits does your government give you for adopting a foreign child? Are you prepared to provide for and care for this child? Well, duh? I answered as honestly as I could and my translator added a little spice. They paid attention to me - a little. I did make mention of the fact that Ukrainians were beautiful people and that KB and D looked so much alike. You should have seen them all straining to look at them both and compare and then nod to each other in agreement. Dude, that was funny.

Then it was G's turn. By this time they were well in to the photos. He's how it went.... "Tell us all about your story. We will listen." No questions. No demands. Just, tell me a story. The whole time. No eye contact, just folks taking in our life through photographs. I was summoned to the bench a time or two for an explanation of the photographed subjects. Try to explain the National Shrimp Festival to a Ukrainian. Otherwise, no real pressure. BTW, Gina told a great story of our journey. Although I'm not sure anybody was really listening.

Then he turned to KB. I think this was more for fun. He asked if she wanted to adopt D. He asked if her if she would share her room. He asked her if she made good grades. KB did great and answered him directly. She was a great sport. Even made the director cry.

He questioned the director. Not too in depth... just if she had any objections. She said no. He questioned D. She responded in short sweet tones. Not too much in the way of spice from her. She held it together completely.

So after story time and after the gigging of KB, after all the interrogations, the judge read some more and asked us a few questions about whether or not we were satisfied with the court and whether or not anybody else in the court wanted any more shots at us. The all responded negatively.

Then he told us that she was ours. Let that sink in...

She is ours. 2 years later... She is ours. Is this real? I haven't yet realized the wholeness of this day.

Then they all folded up their papers and left us. I was spinning.

She can go home with us this night. We are responsible for her now. Now keep in mind there is a 10 day return policy. That is a joke. We wouldn't dare. But the decree can be appealed within 10 days. It has already been written and will be issued on Christmas Eve. How about that?

How do we feel? Not sure. Really, it feels like a dream. Not really what I was expecting. Relieved... still nervous... worried... excited... ready to come home... grateful... humbled... ready to get on with it. We realized that this all happens in God's perfect timing so we now wait. We are good at it by now. We expect to be here through the week of Christmas and then back to the capital on the 27th or 28th. We are hoping to be able to obtain her visa that week. So like I said earlier, we are going to be down to the wire.

Thanks to all of you who pray for us. Thanks to all of you who have supported us. Please continue to pray that we blend well. Pray that A has a safe trip on Saturday and into Sunday. He will be traveling alone and that hurts me. I know he will do fine, but I want to be there with him along the way. We should see him about 3 on Sunday afternoon. We will be complete then. The dynamics will be different, but it will be good.

Many other details that I won't bore you with now. Ask me later. All I can tell you is that we stepped out in obedience and He has met us at every step. Here's the analogy of where we are: We've been waiting in line for 3 hours (or maybe 2 years) at Six Flags to ride the Scream Machine for the first time and now we are in the final queue to board. What was the last thing I ate?

Oh God! Please be with us as we continue to walk this out.

We love you all. Thanks and blessing this holiday season.

the Grace's (all five of us)

2007-12-13T06:33:00.003-06:00

Dasha Claire Grace

December 13, 2007

While most of you were sleeping this morning, we were here nervously working through the "labor" of our court hearing. It is my great pleasure now to introduce to you our new daughter, Dasha Claire Grace. We were speaking yesterday that it would be her last day with her old name and that tomorrow she would get a new name. I'm not sure that she really understands what all that means just yet. She probably doesn't know that she is now my heir and that everything I have is hers along with my other children - that I am now responsible for taking care of her and seeing that she is properly raised. Oh so much to take in.

Thank you God for bringing us to this point. What a long journey it has been. A two year pregnancy? Well sort of.... How we celebrate this day!

More details to come...

The Grace's

2007-12-10T03:55:00.000-06:00

Court Date!

December 10, 2007

We received our court date today. It will be this coming Thursday at 9A here. So that's 1A for most of you. Here is the problem. As many of you know the holidays here begin around the 28th and run until about the 10th of Jan. As things are lined up, we will be bumping right up against the wire. Pray for a miracle. I will be leaving with the other two on Jan 1, regardless. I could return if needed, but the best would be for us all to travel on the 1st. It could happen, but only God can pull it off.

Please continue to pray for us all. As many of you know, there are two other families here from home. Another family arrived on Saturday from our state. They are here to adopt a younger child. We all need your prayers and encouragement. There are many adjustments to be made to incorporate these wonderful children into new families.

The Grace's

2007-12-08T06:38:00.001-06:00

Guys, this is funny stuff. This is what happens when a bored 8 year old gets your laptop!

2007-12-08T05:58:00.000-06:00

So Far So Good

Well I am about to eat a scrambled egg for the first time call me crazy but I'll do it. Yesterday we went ice skating, it was fun! It was my first time too do it and I did really good! I am going to love it here. Now all you people how are reading this I want you to make comments on this.

KB

2007-12-08T05:56:00.000-06:00

Brown Eggs and Ham

December 8, 2007

I made my way to the supermarket alone this morning. This city in similar to others in that a lot of folks sleep in on Saturday. I got on the stinky bus and rode with some of my closest (in the literal sense) friends. An elderly gentleman offered me a seat and began to speak to me about the contents of his bag. It was full of light bulbs and fixtures. I interpreted that he was trying to sell me some. I told him in my best Russian no thank you and that I was American and did not speak much Roosky. He interpreted that his offer would not be accepted and then asked me what my business was here. I made up a word and he did not understand. It was a rare pleasant encounter with a local. These people are not superficial at all. They only smile if you give them a reason. Otherwise, they wear blank expressions which we interpret as good southerners as unfriendly - don't get me wrong, some certainly are.

Made it to the Billa (supermarket chain) and picked up some essentials whilst the girls slept. Here, you are a criminal while shopping. They watch you intensely and if that bothers you, too bad! You must just go about your business, but know that you have an audience. Interesting parallel....

Among other things, I picked up some cheese, ham, and eggs. This is where the title comes from. We've not ventured out too far in the food realm. So as I blog, G is preparing eggs. She and I had a ham and cheese omelet and it was good! A good start to the day.

Continue to pray. We do not yet have a court date, but we are expecting to receive one early next week. All of our paperwork has reached its final destination. Hopefully, by this time next week, we will have a new daughter. For now, we live each day in hope.

Thank you for your comments, calls and prayers as we walk through this.

The Graces

2007-12-06T09:05:00.000-06:00

No clever title available...

December 6, 2007

Ok, so my creativity is lacking a bit today. Speaking with some of our friends back in the capital city, we all feel a little like we are living the movie Groundhog Day. Have you seen it? Those coming behind us - get ready.

As I sit here in our flat, the girls are preparing gift bags for a little party we are having this afternoon for our D's friend, Y. We'll be meeting them later today for pizza. They are having a great time being girls. Can't wait for A to arrive! It is fun though to watch them interact pleasantly. Her creative skills are really impressive.

This city is such a place of contrasts. The place where we are is not appealing on the outside, but the apartments are nice on the inside. We are a short walk from the main street where you can find most modern amenities - clothes, appliances, foods, etc. The sidewalks are wide and used heavily. At night the buildings are lit up and it really is nice. I'm not sure if this is a seasonal thing or if it is always this way. We are learning that in Soviet times many references to religion were done away with - in the interest of the common good - sound familiar? For instance we saw "Father Frost" the other night in front of McD's and I said "hey, there's Santa Claus!" I was told that he cannot be referred to as Santa or Saint. So silly, yet so profound to me. This city is known for its manufacturing of steel, cars and other goods. The factories are on the outskirts of town and you can see the plumes of exhaust coming from the stacks. The City reminds me of Bham in the 70's. The air is heavy and polluted. The cultural cross section runs complete from paupers to the dude who parks is H2 outside the hotel up the street.

So we've been spending some time with our child this week. Yesterday, she and I took a little trip to town and to the market. That girl has long legs and she can out walk me easily. I found myself struggling to keep up. It was a surreal moment to take in. She helped me to navigate around the city. We went to the internet cafe and she quickly got bored with that. But alas, I had prepared wisely. I whipped out the ipod to occupy her time. That lasted about two minutes. Then she asked to call one of her friends. So I conceded. She took the phone and walked outside. I could see her the whole time. I watched her as she talked to her friend. She looked so grown up - not a little girl any more. I know there is a reason why we have had to wait. Maybe we will know one day. We have a beautiful young lady on our hands - a precious jewel.

We began to make our way back to the flat. We walked to the bus stop to try to determine which one would take us back. At the stop there were several vendor selling there things - hot dog stand, a popcorn cart, several beer vendors (mental pause: did you know that you can't buy gallon of milk here, but you can buy a 3 liter of beer). We settled on the hotdog and some popcorn. I let her pick out what she wanted - cost me less that $0.50. The lady put ketchup, mustard and yes - sour cream on it. The dog never made it back to the bus stop. It was inhaled quickly. The popcorn turned out to be kettle corn and was really good. So I felt good about this day. Its the little things that help us to bond as a family.

Please continue to pray for us all. As many of you know the blending of a family is no easy thing and each experience is unique. As the director said on our first day here as a response to the flowers that we presented to her - "this is a celebration of the birth of a new family." The old is passing and we are discovering our new identity. Similar to our walk with Christ, we are being transformed every day - Romans 12:1-2

Can't wait to hear Sonny and Cher in the morning....

Papa

2007-12-05T05:31:00.000-06:00

Another Day

December 5, 2007

Today we got up a little earlier. We've had breakfast and ventured to a new market to expand our food inventory. KB and G are having school today. The sun has appeared and I was beginning to wonder if it ever would. It is a beautiful day here in Zap and we are getting more comfortable by the day. One thing that is a little different than we expected is that our girl is growing so much! She is taller than G and I'm afraid might end up taller than me - although that would not be a big feat. She is a beautiful young lady and seems to be fitting well. Continue to pray that this transition will go smoothly and that we can get a court date soon. There are many things going on each day that help us to move along.

And now I would like to take a moment and brag on my eldest son! I understand that he scored 17 last night against a rival team, including a clutch 3. We are so proud of you son and can't wait to see you!

It seems that the lessons I am learning so far are centered around the character of humility. I've been reading The Practice of the Presence of God about an old guy named Brother Lawrence. He was a cook at a monastery in Europe several hundred years ago. His worship and intimacy with God stemmed from his everyday chores including cooking and cleaning. A simple life but also profound. The simplicity of this time and our days makes this an appropriate read.

We love you all and appreciate your prayers and comments.

papa

2007-12-04T08:06:00.000-06:00

Alive and Kickin'

December 4, 2007

Sorry to be so long without a post. This is going to be a long one. Much to tell you. We have safely arrived in our region - I'll go ahead and call it Zap. We arrived early Sunday morning by train. Those of you who are familiar with that train ride will be happy to know that the toilets have been renovated and now include both seats and paper. The ride was uneventful other than the lack of sleep. KB did great and I think really enjoyed the ride. We were greeted by friends including our local facilitator D. It was so good to see familiar, english speaking faces. We loaded our bags quickly and sped away to our flat here in the city. I'm again ashamed to say that we slept away half the remainder of the morning.

We got the word through the grapevine that a party was happening Sunday afternoon at McDonald's and that we were invited to join in. We met the Kemp's at the bus stop along with D and headed up to McD's. We knew that another family was bringing their new daughter's class for a meal. This was the purpose of the party. As I was standing in line, I saw her - our D! She was allowed to come along with the other class. This was a huge surprise for us. I was overcome with emotion - big surprise. But wait, she doesn't see me. I'm waiving, but she doesn't see me. She's excited she's heading upstairs. She's going to see mama. D had spotted mama from outside and knew where to find her. She came back and it was a joyous, impromptu reunion there in the crowded line. What a great moment.

We ordered and made our way upstairs and wedged ourselves into a table and enjoyed our first meal together (minus A). It was so wonderful to be able to spend time together with friends. We were beginning to feel at home. Unfortunately, D had to return to the orphanage. We made our way to the Kemp's flat for some fellowship and a cake! (The first meeting of the UA supper club)

We stayed there for a couple of hours and gawked at the Kemp's flat. Very spacious indeed. Afterwards, we made our way home via bus. We're still a bit confused by the bus routes. More on that later.

On Monday we hit the ground running. We made our way to the local administration and officially received our referral. The people there were so helpful - wink, wink - your prayers are being heard. We were at the orphanage by 10:30 and went straight to the director's office. She asked us why we were there - "well duh," I said, " we're here to adopt our daughter." She told us that this would be up to the judge not her but that she would go to get the girl to ask her consent. (This is apparently required for older children). We were expecting this, but I've gotta confess. I was a little nervous about what her response would be. She came in radiant and beautiful as always, and took her seat. It is always funny to see how the kids react to the director. They have much respect for her in person.

The director began here speech about what was happening and what it would mean and what D should consider in making this decision. I thought all of this was appropriate, but a bit dramatic. She spoke of the opportunities that she would have here in her country and of the potential opportunities that may await in the states. A great show indeed. I'm sure the inspector was impressed. After it was over she solicited us for comments about whether or not any pressure had been applied. All we were waiting for was our D to say "yes, I want them to adopt me!" But she could not fit in a word. Her countenance was hard to read. What had she been told overnight? Had she changed her mind? What would be her answer? Finally, a pause. The question was offered. And the response.......

.......She said YES!!! Yes to us! Yes to our life. The Regis, I mean the director , asked, "is that your final answer?" Can you believe that? No, don't make her second guess! Is it hot in here or is it just me? Is my face red? Does anyone have tissue? I think I might hurl. D shut that down quickly and affirmed her answer.

Then she was asked to make a written statement in the presence of the inspector that she did indeed want be adopted by us. After a couple of typo's and corrections, she got it right. We spent most of the rest of the afternoon with her all around the orphanage. It was another good day. She and KB really hit it off. I think they are both a little excited about getting a sister. Continue to pray that this transition is smooth. We anticipate some difficulties - just because it will be strange at first for them both.

We left around 3:30 and headed back to town to the notary's office for some other business along with the Kemp family. We were out of there by about 5:15 and to the Zap parade of flats. We had just mentioned some logistical issues and so we met with our landlord to view some of his other properties. Now this guy - this guys is like the Ty of Zap. He buys these old apartments and upgrades them. He took us to three properties - Gully Place, and two VIP flats. One of the VIP's had only been completed a couple of weeks. He had designed it himself and was very proud of it. All were nice, but I think we are just going to stay where we are. The two VIP's were more costly than where we are and so it doesn't really help out that much. Plus moving is a pain.

After this we went to the pizza place - where the still hold a special table for the Brennan and Gully families. It was a good dinner and then on to out little flat. We decided that our place needed a little cleaning. The place if fairly modern, but just was not clean. There is some stuff on the dishes and around the range that absolutely won't wash off with soap and water. We spent several hours tidying up. We feel cozy now.

The days can become a little boring if you're not careful. KB has become an expert with the video tools on our laptop. I'll try to post a video - too precious not to share.

You guys continue to pray that things move along quickly. Also, pray for all of our families here - the Zap branch of the Body that normally meets at M-17. God is blessing us, but pray that he continues to encourage our spirits and strengthen us to carry out this task. Sometimes when it is still, you wonder if you really are crazy.

Tonight is Borsht night with the Kemp's and Hartsock's. We are all becoming a part of this culture!

Papa

2007-12-01T03:41:00.000-06:00

Moving Day

December 1, 2007

We awoke to light snow/rain and overcast skies today. Temps continue to hover around freezing. We missed A's first high school BB game last night. Have heard no word on the outcome. I was able to see online that the varsity boys got hammered by our friends over the mountain, but no word on the freshmen.

Today is moving day for us. We'll be meeting with S later today and packing up to make the train tonight for our region. Any of you who have taken this train know what an adventure it can be. I've only done it once before. This is about a 4-5 hour drive. The train leaves around 7P and arrives around 6A the following day. The toilet situation on the train is a bit stressful, but I'm sure we'll manage. Again, I say I am a fan of public transportation. It is a bit hard though not to stand out.

We had a great day yesterday and ventured out farther than before. We got out a little late. I'm ashamed to say that we are still adjusting to the time zone. We met with the U family at the metro platform and then on to the underground mall a little after noon and ate a quick bite. This was the first "American" food that we have had. We were also able to speak with Don the phone during our mall time. She sounded pleasant, but our conversation was short. KB talked to her for a bit, also. She has historically be fairly shy to talk on the phone. My words to her were, "D, eta papa!" - Her reply, "I know" She continues to try not use her native language to communicate with us. We can't wait to see her again.

After that we were to meet with our other facilitator, B, and his family at their home out in the suburbs. We were to meet him in the metro station downtown on the platform. Now we are still figuring things out a bit and we had decided that rather than him coming all the way into town (a 20 minute ride) and then turning around with us to head back home, we would just head in his direction and meet him on the platform at the station near his home.

Gina had told me of her metro adventures from last year - packing people like cheap sardine in a small space and then fighting like mad through the crowd to get off at your stop - we had not yet seen this. But this time, it was on. The main station where we boarded in downtown and the passenger demand is relatively high. So we boarded and had to stand in the crowd the whole way. I was anxiously reviewing my metro map and watching the screens to make sure we did not miss our stop. KB was a little bothered by it, but hey, she likes the thought of being a big city girl. So after 9 stops we decided to disembark and hope for the best. As God would have it B had just arrived and was standing at the door where we were to step off. I'm learning to look for His hand in all things especially the little ones and to be thankful at all times. So thank you God for riding the metro with us. In reality, this was a real confidence booster for us - however, not yet invincible. So we rode with B and his wife to pick up two of their children from school and then to their home for a very nice dinner. Their home was so nice and cozy. We really enjoyed this time to "fellowship with other believers." Their family is also incredibly beautiful - such grace and kindness - a happy home indeed. They are doing great work for the kingdom here and we are happy to know them. Our dinner consisted of a chili dish which was quite tasty and was made with tomatoes which they had grown themselves. We also had juice from their small vineyard. G and B's wife really hit it off with the decorating talk. KB and their eldest daughter also had a great time playing together. It was a very nice time and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you guys for being so kind to us.

BTW, I was dubbed "Buddy" by their son. This is the name he calls his grandfather who also has facial hair. We all got a kick out of it. He was so cute and such a smart young man of 3 years.

We made our way back to the metro station and were able to ride while sitting this time. We made our transfer correctly and were home by around 9. I made a quick run to the market for some supplies and then we began to try to sleep.

Please continue to pray for us as we travel again tonight. It will be a sleep deprived night, but we are looking forward to being in the region.

Papa

PS, We are 4 deep on phones. Thanks to all who have allowed us to borrow. Here are the best numbers for us at the moment: 380673921930 and 380984250118

2007-11-29T11:00:00.000-06:00

SDA AOK

November 29, 2007

Today we were a bit adventurous. Our main task was to see the SDA representative and get our referral. This was so much less eventful than we were expecting. We got out a little late and went over to a little cafe not far from our flat and had a little snack with one of our facilitators, B (our body systems are still adjusting the time zone). After that we trekked over to the mall and did some light shopping - another metro ride. While I'm thinking about it - public transportation rocketh! We met another of our facilitators, S, to accompany us to the SDA. He was to drive us there. Not more that a couple of blocks. Some dude had parked his land cruiser in the middle of the street and almost made us late. We did arrive on time and walked up to the office and met with a very pleasant lady who asked us a few simple questions. We narrowed it down to our D. She walked out and came back with a couple of pieces of paper - the "file". On one side had D's photo from a few years ago. What an innocent little girl. You could see the fear and hopelessness in her eyes. It was for me, a very stirring moment. The lady could see my emotions and she very politely stated that she would give us our referral tomorrow afternoon. It was evident that we had been preceded by our heavenly advocate. S is good, but HS is the best. So once we receive that, we'll be on our way to the region. We are expecting to be there on Sunday morning.

Later tonight we met with B's wife, at the dva goosya restaurant. We had heard a friend rave about it. It was very good. We spent a little time browsing through the Mac store and comparing it to the one near our home. Such a contrast in the cultures here. Much space between the have's and the have not's. And some of you (Nichols) will be happy to know that our conversation over dinner was all about the local "body of believers" and what that is suppose to look like and how we do life with one another. Again, we could see that we had been preceded by HS. So here we sit at another little cafe called "Chocolate" very appropriately have the most incredible hot chocolate ever! I leave you with the passage that my mom shared as we left home - "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged" ~Dt 31:8. Here is G's take on the day.....

Well, I am sitting here going into my "chocolod" coma and reflecting on our day. My stomach is still settling from last night and I'm learning to ease into the culture. Even though I am mentally prepared to jump in feet first, my body is not. There is the cold, the walking, the hotness of the inside and then it is time to put on your coat and walk in the cold again. My grandmother would declare us all sick from going to the cold to hot, cold to hot. As Chris said, there is a vast contrast here. We can walk down the street and see shinny light fixtures hanging from inside the expensive stores. On the same street and especially in the metro, you will see beggars holding out there hands for money. It is really a little confusing. I would love to go out with my camera and take pictures of all that I see to share with all of you.

All in all it has been a great day blessed by God. When you have an appt. with the SDA it is a good thing to have no surprises...and that is exactly what we got. Things went so smoothly we were a little taken back. We should have our referral to visit the orphanage tomorrow and we will board the train Sat. night and arrive Sun. morning. It may be Mon. before we can see D. We have been trying to reach her by phone and cannot get her phone to ring. I think she knows we are here because she sent us a text from her phone to ours.

I enjoyed meeting our facilitators wife and it seems that we have many things in common. They have been so good to us and it is so nice to have them here to help us with communication. We hope to meet up with them again tomorrow.

K has been great although I think the hot chocolate is getting to her now. There is so much more I would like to share, but with a squirming 8 year old I think I need to wrap it up.

Much love to all of you that are back home praying for us....especially to the unknown couple who has made this adventure possible financially. We think about you and thank God for your obedience to Him who is able to do exceedingly above and beyond what we ask or imagine. To Him be all glory and honor and praise forever and ever.

Mama

2007-11-28T09:19:00.000-06:00

Finally here!

November 28, 2007

So we are here! Man, what a trip. We had a slight delay in Cincinnati and ended up taking a flight to London. This put us behind about 6 hours. Our facilitator met us at the airport right on schedule and all of our bags made it - even the ones that went through NY. We got settled in our flat last night and got a decent night's sleep. K is doing great and adjusting very well. G and I are still trying to decide what time it is. We just had a late lunch/early dinner with some other friends here on their journey. We have our appt with the adoption authority tomorrow at 3 pm - 6 am CST. So you guys be in prayer that it goes smoothly. We should be in our region by Sunday morning and hopefully be able to visit with our child on Monday sometime. This is so surreal. The snow has been beautiful, but it isn't really sticking. K has never seen snow like this. I hope she is taking it all in. She was able to meet with our friend's children this afternoon and I know that this was mutually beneficial. We don't have internet at our flat so this may be the last post until we reach the region.

Be in prayer for the others here with us as we all face certain struggles in our own journeys.

Thank you all for praying with us. The fun is only about to begin.

Much love,

The Graces

2007-11-26T14:50:00.000-06:00

Game On!

November 26, 2007

The day is here. I sit now in Cincinnati trying to find free wifi. Looks like you "watchers" will have to wait a few hours for a fresh word. But here is what has happened today so far. We wrapped up our packing last night and into this morning. G has earned the new title of MP (militant packer). It is amazing how much I realize that I don't know about space and weight management. But the proof is can be found at ticket counter - no bags over 48.2 pounds! All kidding aside, I am proud of the MP. So we slept very little last night. We woke up very early and arrived at the airport a little after 6 am. To our surprise the security line wound around and down the entire front of the airport and then came back to where our ticket counter was located. Man, I've never seen so many people waiting at our little airport at one time. Although the crowd was impressive the lines moved along quickly and we made it to our first gate without delay. The weather is a little sketchy today so hopefully we'll make all of our connections and get to our final destination on time. I'm not looking forward to the overnight flight this evening.

So enough with the itinerary. Yesterday at our church, we hosted these young kids from all over the world to sing and tell a bit about their own stories as either orphans or children who were victims of war or poverty. These kids were awesome. I don't suppose any of them were over 10 years old. Some of our friends had seen them at an adoption conference earlier this year and helped to arrange their visit to our church. So the whole thing ended up and Platt took the stage and began to expound on James 1:27 and what it meant to care for orphans and widows. We talked about the aids pandemic and what our part as the body of Christ is to reach out and care for these people. I was just overwhelmed with the thoughts of how many of our friends both within our local church body and from neighboring communities have been impacted by the summer hosting program and are taking action to walk out this admonition. Platt said something to the effect of "once you meet them and know their names and faces, the need becomes real (my paraphrase)." Dude, that is so true. All I could think of was that in about 18 hours I'd be on a plane to walk out our mission. So the service ended up in small group prayer. Gina had to step out to take care of some last minute business and I sat there with KB and began to pray. About half way through the time I felt a hand on my shoulder and it was our friends that had just arrived back at home earlier in the week with their new 3. God has been so good to us to surround us by so many willing to lay it all on the line for the sake of His call.

So here I SIT, ready to WALK in obedience and through HIs power - and reviewing my notes from small group yesterday. I appreciate you brother.

Please continue to pray with us. Thank you to all of you who have loaned us stuff for this adventure and helped us to prepare. Thank you to all of you that have helped us financially. Thank you God for allowing us to be a small part of your plan to help the helpless.

Papa

2007-11-04T16:31:00.000-06:00

Funk Free!
November 4, 2007

Yes, the rumors are true. We have officially reveived a date. And due to public pressure :-), we are blogging, yet again. Although with a renewed sense of peace and anxiety simultaneously. Is that possible? We just had an incredible conversation with a close friend that we haven't talked to in a while - a spiritual giant and mentor of ours - and I was reminded over the course of the conversation that I have not updated the blog. Once logged in, I saw that some people actually do read this stuff. Some of which know what has happend over the past few weeks and are looking for posts. My apologies to you all. I didn't know you were watching.....

So here is the deal: We received word about three weeks ago that we were to appear before the adoption authority on January 29. While this wasn't quite as soon as we had hoped, it was a definitive point for which we could plan. Our agency had advised us to file a petition asking for an earlier date - early November was ideal - and so we did. To our surprise and amazement, last Monday we were granted a date of November 29! Whereas this is good news from the stand point that we'll start sooner, we'll be missing some friends which we were really looking forward to getting to know better during February. Our original date was close to theirs. We look forward to telling you about how everything is shut down during the holidays and how we are making no progress in our legal proceedings, but how we are growing together as a family. Please pray that our court can happen and be finalized before the government offices close for the end of the year. Seriously now, ya'll pray!

We have booked our flights and are making final preparations. I catch myself breathing heavily at times thinking about all that is about to happen. We've not been able to work out all of the details just yet on school for our bio kids, but we're working on that, also. As it stands now it looks like we'll be leaving AG with grandparents for a few weeks and then once we're close enough to the Christmas holidays, he'll join us there for a fun filled "vacation" (I say that in jest, due to comments made by some when we made our request for a leave from school). Seriously, if God were not in it, I'd be scared to death. Where we are headed is not known to be a tourist destination for westerners.

This has been an incredible week. We know about thirty people in county this week. Most are flying back as I type. They have been doing ministry in other cities this week. God has been so kind to surround us with such Godly people that have a heart for this mission. I'm amazed to be counted worthy of this calling.

Pray as we continue to approach our travel date:
1. That God will be with all of the families that are on this same adoption journey.
2. That God will give us clear minds to be able to prepare thoroughly
3. That God will go before us and hand select the individuals with which we will be dealing in the government
4. That these individuals will be believers and have a heart for the plight of these children and be motivated not by profit, but by compassion
5. That we will be protected as we travel
6. That God will continue to work in our new daughter's heart to prepare her for the cultural adjustments that come from being adopted and being integrated into an existing family.
7. That our children will be similarly prepared for the adjustments that they will be making as we walk in obedience to our calling.
8. That we as a family will continue to develop a heart for this country and these people
9. That God will be strategically positioning the people (... not mere mortals.... ~C.S. Lewis) that He would have us to encounter while away from home.
10. For God's providence during and after the trip.

So, we'll do our best to give you an update about once per week leading up to our departure and no promises once we arrive in country - due to limited internet access.

Now for the photo. The kids are really growing....

2006-12-15T23:30:00.000-06:00

We Got da Funk, Gotta have da Funk!
December 15, 2006

G wrote several weeks back a spot called “No Griping or Complaining.” Now don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for all that God has done for us, but I gotta confess, I got the funk (did you get the George Clinton reference?) Honestly, we knew that we had not posted in a while and G suggested that it was time to do so. I’m in a state of mind where I want to fast forward – have you seen the movie “Click”? Now that is what I’m talking about! If you have seen the movie, you remember the underlying theme of “enjoy the little pleasures of today” or “the joy is in the journey.” If you haven’t seen it, it is a modern version of the classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” with some off-color humor thrown in. Ironically, I saw the movie on the airplane from Zurich to Washington on the way back from UA in October. But see here is the deal, my heart hurts for someone far away – someone that I can’t fully communicate with because it is against the rules – someone who is destitute – becoming despondent – looking for assurance that it is all going to be ok – wondering when. And at the same time I have a house full of folks that I care about here. They need stability and nurturing and love. They need to enjoy this holiday season. I know that life as we know it is coming to an end and a new life awaits us. I realize that now is the time to live – now is a time to savor and enjoy. It’s a paradox really - sort of like longing for heaven, but living here on earth. Pray for us. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel (some would say that it’s a train!).

Here is the situation: God is continuing to poor Himself out on and around us. We are faced with some incredible opportunities for which we have hungered. We are so blessed to have Godly friends and to witness God at work in their lives and in our community. I suppose I’m just a little impatient. I’m looking for that add a minute button or maybe it’s the popcorn button or maybe hot water. Man, I’m not sure what fits the bill. To complete the analogy – are you guys familiar with Alton Brown? You know, the guy from Good Eats. I love to watch this guy. So he’s cooking a rib roast the other night in a flower pot inside an old oven. Have you seen this one? The point is – he had to cook that thing for hours. He was looking for a certain temperature. So he poked his handy dandy thermometer in it and closed up the oven and forgot about it. Why the flower pot? Long story, but it served as a Dutch oven. So here the relation: I’ve got to put this whole thing in the oven and forget about it. RonCo had a commercial about his rotisserie thing. I think his slogan was “set and forget it.” - remember that one? OK so I’m loosing some of you with the food/cooking references – a function of the funk.

So pray for peace – not patience! I forbid you to pray for patience! We all need a little peace here. We all need to be able to sit here and know that God is sovereign and all this will happen in His perfect timing. The roast will cook quicker if I’ll quit opening the oven to take a peak. Gotta live life in the now. Gotta celebrate each day and be grateful that God has blessed us with the provisions and the promises. This is such a humbling time. Free me from the Funk!

papa

2006-10-17T09:44:00.000-05:00

No Grumbling or Complaining

October 12, 2006

Okay, so I am terrible at this journaling thing! I guess since there has been no activity with our adoption (due to the delay of the new UA adoption center), I have felt it unnecessary to bore you with the details of how agonizing it is to wait on a government-run facility to get its act together! I have, however, tried to rearrange my mental thoughts and dwell on the fact that I need to be enjoying my family, just the way it is at this moment, because it won’t be long before it’s all going to change. I have also been reading with K about the Israelites and how God set them free from the Egyptians. In the middle of their journey all they did was grumble and complain to God instead of being thankful that God had delivered them…they even asked to be sent back into slavery! They would complain, God would forgive and punish…then the vicious cycle would start all over again. Many of the Israelites never even made it to the promise land because of their sin and unbelief. Hey, I’m hearing God loud and clear and counting it all joy when I go through various trials, because I know that the testing of my faith develops perseverance and perseverance must finish its work so that I can be mature and complete, not lacking anything. So, as hard as it is, I am thanking God for the time we have to wait.

Since we didn’t bring D to America this summer, C (along with several friends who are adopting) will be traveling to UA to visit the orphanage. I am so excited that he will have an opportunity to spend some time with D and her friends. I finally decided to tell her that C would be coming to visit (only after the plane ticket was purchased). She had been sounding very down on the phone and I believe it gave her a renewed hope to hear that he is coming. She has sounded much better on the phone when we have talked to her. So, we are counting down the days when C leaves for his exciting adventure to UA. Only 5 more to go! I know he is a little nervous about the whole thing. It is very hard to trust that the people who are making plans for you to be in a different country are taking care of all the details.

In the mean time, there are bags to pack, which will be loaded down with gifts; gifts for the children, gifts for the director, and gifts for friends. Which reminds me, I am missing a few and need to go shopping. I am hoping that I will be able to journal more next week since C will be at the orphanage then.

More to come,
Mama

2006-10-16T19:25:00.000-05:00

Looking Over the Edge

October 16, 2006

A few weeks ago, we went camping with some families from church - a new campground that we've not used before. We've come to believe there are two type of people: campers and non-campers. Now the Grace's - we're the first type. Granted, we've been slacking in the practice, but we've still got tents, sleeping gear, cooking gear and most importantly, camping friends. The weather was a little warm, but we had planned to take advantage of the lake while we were there. This was a two day affair. G's sister was swollen with child and very near delivery so we weren't sure this whole activity would play out or not. This was also opening weekend for college football and my team was only available by PPV and radio. So we went camping. Now recall the lake info. We were able to camp right along the bank up in a slough. Well as you can imagine the kids ended up in the water. BTW there was this unruly kid camping a few sites down. Man, his mama stayed on him the whole first day. Poor kid shares a name with me - "C, you better git up here now! I'm gonna woop you if you don't git up here now!" poor kid.

Anyway, swimming, yeah, swimming - We explored around a little in our friends canoe and happened upon a serious rope swing. So we did what any red blooded American should do and we declared that we would ride the swing. Now this took some preparation and agging on. Another family came to visit in their boat and so a group left for some tubing. Those of us left decided to venture back to the swing. Stay with me now - The point is coming. So here's the make up of the group. Me - the sole adult male, two other adventurous swimming moms, G in the safety of the canoe, and a handful of kids of various ages. So the dare was on. Now being the sole male, I had to go first. Now I gotta tell you, I'm not terribly afraid of heights. I've flow in small planes, I've soloed, I've build treehouses... but something about the angle that this thing swung took my breath away.

So there I was. Standing there looking over the edge. Nothing below me but good ole Alabama Power Impoundment.

Do you know that feeling? Standing there. Wanting to take the plunge, but uncertain about how long the fall would last - how would it feel - exactly when to let go of the rope - how to balance yourself as you fell so as to avoid that belly flop? All those thoughts running through your head. All those people waiting to see whether or not they were going to cheer or comfort your wound as they try not to laugh.

So here I am. Sitting here. Waiting for tomorrow to arrive. I'm flying to K tomorrow to visit for a few days. Nervous? yep. Wondering what life will be like at this time next week. Will I feel the same? Will I offend? Will I survive? I know that God has very specifically (and spectacularly I might add) led us to this point. We've been blessed and God has fulfilled his promises.

So what have I to fear. Nothing below me but that impoundment of matter that God put together and ultimately controls. So what if I end up with a little bruise here or there. I want to live life with few regrets. Twenty years from now... what will I regret. It won't be sitting here wondering what life could have been like.

BTW, we had to pack up camp in the middle of the night and flee like refugees because little H R couldn't wait. G spent the rest of that night at the hospital watching that life begin.

Isn't God good?

2006-08-26T23:09:00.000-05:00

STILL…WAITING PATIENTLY

August 23, 2006

Well, it has been more than 2 months now since we have journaled and we are still waiting for a date to travel to UA. It seems that the new adoption center did not open as quickly as we thought they would. We received word that it could be as late as Jan. of 2007 before we even know when we might travel. It has been our experience that with UA, you never know what might happen.

We are trying to keep our eyes focused on the Lord, but as a typical American I must say…I don’t like waiting! We have fortunately been able to make phone calls to D and talk with her (Thanks to O). She wants to know when we are coming to visit her. Of course, we haven’t told her that C is planning to take a trip to Ukraine in Oct. to visit her and the others at the orphanage. If anything happens and he is not able to make the trip, she would be devastated. She is such a sweet girl! All summer she has been at a camp located near the Black Sea. We had the opportunity in the spring to sign her up to come to America for a couple of weeks during the summer with Hope for Orphans of the World, but we didn’t because we were so sure that we would be in UA by this time. This was a decision that we now regret making. After a phone call to her at camp we found out that she was hungry. The amazing thing is that we mailed some food items (a women’s shoe box full cost around $50) and found out later that she actually received our package! I think those were the most expensive snacks I have ever bought….but I would spend it all over again to know that it satisfied her appetite. And hey, we found out she likes Slim Jims (she takes after her papa). In one conversation, D asked if we could call her every day (I think she just likes to hear our voices). O quickly let me know that I could not call her EVERY day ($$$) but we told her we would try to call around 3 times during the week. O agreed to translate for 1 of these times. The other 2, I am on my own…which makes for a short phone call…. (yah nyeh pah-nee-mah-yoo pah-roos-skee) I don’t understand Russian!

Later

Mama

2006-06-15T21:28:00.000-05:00

Progress At Last!

June 15, 2006

Its been a while since I've posted and a lot has happened since then. G has been keeping you up to date with most of the details. As you probably know, we've be waiting on one form from the CIS in the ATL. We got word today from our case worker that she had talked to one of the CIS agents assigned to our case and that our form should be released in a day or two. I was struck dumb. I don't know where the feeling came from, but I got this overwhelming feeling of release and relief about the whole thing - a few tears. I have tried desparetly to contact CIS this week to get a status report or something. I've had absolutely no success. I tried the web - needed a number that they didn't send to me. Tried to call - after a 20 minute wait (thankful for speaker phone) dude was really no help at all and gave me a fax number to send letters to. Tried the fax - couldn't get an answer all day yesterday - I think the number was bogus. So I decided on the way home that I'd call our case worker. Little did I know that as that thought was being birthed in my mind, she was calling home to give the the hope that we needed. Wow! God's timing is so awesome!

You know we can't really communicate with our child about these things for a number of reasons. We just have to trust that she is waiting patiently for us. It is heartbreaking. We received a photo this week of her with her grandmother. She looks so attached to her. I know it is going to be tough to leave her. Pray that we know how to handle that situation when it occurs.

I feel much better knowing that all of our paperwork will be in UA by next week. I should be ashamed at how forgetful I can be of God's goodness. His timing is perfect.

I want to take a sec and say thanks to all of you who have given to our cause and all of you who have committed to make this whole thing a priority in your prayer life. Every prayer is appreciated and every gift has made an impact no matter the amount. I want the two of you that made the huge sacrifice to finish the funding to know how grateful we are for you. My heart is humbled by your generosity. We can't thank you enough. I want you to know that your gifts will change the life of that girl forever. Your gifts have changed our life forever. We may never meet you all. I wish that I had the word-smithing ability of C Nichols to express in 10 pt. Times New Roman the way we feel.

So we continue to wait. Based on information we received yesterday from the Embassy, the new adoption authority will open in July. We're going to be cutting it close to get finished before school starts back, but that is our plan. So pray hard!

Papa

2006-05-05T22:18:00.000-05:00

Happy Cinqo de Mayo!
May 5, 2006

We wait patiently for forms and paperwork to be completed. Honestly, I'm not so patient. I'm ready to get things going and make the trip. We still have a good ways to go to be in that position. Since our last post, we've met with our facilitator and recieved several letters from UA. The NAC has also opened up this week. In one of our letters we were asked what "American" name we will be bestowing. I think that is hilarious! We had talked about it before this, but I suppose we'd better be getting a baby book and start picking out some names. G sent out a letter this week to family and friends soliciting prayer and financial support. If you didn't get one, please don't be offended - BTW if you did get one please don't be offended. We've lost any pride about this thing, we are sincerely seeking God's guidance and trusting that He will make a way for this to happen. He's been faithful so far and we expect nothing less for the rest of the journey. We are trusting Him to provide for the completion of this mission. Most importantly we are soliciting your prayers. Here are the specifics on the prayers:

1.) Paper work to continue smoothly and in God’s timing.
2.) Finances to be given through God’s provision.
3.) Our family and D while we wait.
4.) Safety and wisdom when we travel
5.) A, K and D to be sensitive to God’s voice.
6.) C and G to rely on God for everything.
7.) The bonding and transition of the family unit.

Seriously, pray like mad! We love each of you. Feel free to post a comment. Until next time...

Papa

2006-04-23T18:18:00.000-05:00

Love Like Crazy

April 23, 2006

So you have found our blog? Welcome to this journey of faith that we are experiencing. This photo was taken earlier this year at an informational meeting held by Hope for Orphans of the World. We are approaching the end of our home study and dossier preparation and anticipating a travel date of mid to late summer. So have you heard the song by Chris Rice entitled "Love Like Crazy"? This has become the theme of our adoption journey. One of our good friends, when solicited for prayer about the whole thing, asked if we were crazy. He told me that it was ok as long as we knew it. :-) So here we go! Please keep us in your prayers as we walk where He is leading us. We will continue to post as we have time and certainly when we travel.

CG, GG, AG, and KB