2 Weeks To Go

We received our SDA appointment last Monday.  Our appointment is 4/26 at 10am!  We are so excited.  The kids were home for spring break when we received the call so we were all able to call Vika and tell her.

Since then there has been an announcement (4/7) that the SDA (agency that processes adoptions in Ukraine) is being blended into another agency.  We have no idea what that means for us and our appointment - we hope it means nothing.  We are progressing as planned at this point.

In case you don't know our story...we hosted Vika over the holidays.  She is from Ukraine and she just turned 14.  We had no plans to adopt again...but God always has a plan, even when we don't.  The particulars of how we came to that decision are her story to share one day, but I can tell you that I was humbled in the process.  She is a sweet, loving, helpful child wanting a home.  She fell in love with our kids (maybe more than us!!!) and wants a family.  The five weeks she was with us were hard/easy/loving/challenging/rewarding/frustrating but all together worth it.  We love her and just want her home. 

We are the first family (from our hosting group) to adopt from her orphanage so I am committed to blogging so that the path is as smooth as possible for everyone else.  We are scheduled to leave Easter afternoon and have no idea when we will be home.  We pray for 2-3 weeks after.  We are planning to take Thomas, our youngest.  I cannot imagine leaving him for an undetermined period of time (Meagan, Garrett, and Emma will be staying with their mom until we return).  Jason and I both travel thousands of miles for work but this trip is different.  We are concerned about a lot but trying to see this as an adventure.

God's hand has been on this process from the beginning...from the day I heard about hosting...to the day I sent Vika's picture to Jason, to the day we brought her here, to the processing of our paperwork (and this has had HIS hand all over it!).  In this process I have met true friends that I know will be friends for life.  I have met women who have cried with me and prayed with me and for the children.  I am so thankful. 

We are anxious to go and see Vika again and, ultimately, to bring her home.  At this point we plan to leave Easter afternoon.  I will keep you all posted.