Answered prayers...

I believe God answers prayers. I wish every answer He gave was what I wanted to hear, but it is not. It turns out we were NOT submitted on October 15th like we have thought for the past two months. Turns out we were NOT submitted at all.
It is what it is. I would LOVE to tell you what now, but I don't know. I am discouraged, but that is OK. I still believe God has a plan for our child/ my family, but it doesn't make this setback any less painful. I've gotta give myself a little bit of time to process all of this and then we go again. That's what you do for your children. You grieve your losses, celebrate your blessings, and get up and keep going.

Our Christmas Elves!!!

Click on this website to see our little "elves"!! It is TOO FUNNY!!
It takes a minute or two for it to load, but it is worth the wait!

Merry Christmas from all of us!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1730490495

All I want for Christmas...

O.K. I've held out long enough, I will now torture you with my 'latest' song!!!
(Sung to the tune of "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth")

All I want for Christmas is our travel date,
our travel date,
oh our travel date.
All I want for Christmas is our travel date,
so we can plan our trip to Ukraine.

It's been so long, since we turned in-
our dos-ee-aa to the country Ukraine,
gosh oh gee, how happy I WILL be,
to get our in-vi-tation!!!

All I want for Christmas is our travel date,
our travel date,
oh our travel date.
All I want for Christmas is our travel date,
so we can plan our trip to Ukraine!!

(Everyone please hold your applause). It looks like I'm not getting my Christmas wish since Christmas is in a few days, but that's OK. I actually spoke to our social worker and she says that it should be "soon". Some of the other Lifeline families that were submitted in October have gotten March appointments.
I put a link to the Rahn family on the right. They are from Virginia ( I think)- and we don't personally know them, but I have fallen in love with their blog. They are adopting two older girls. It tugs on my heart to hear them talk about their "girls" and all the others who are there in the orphanages. I know God is preparing me for whatever age referrel we are going to receive. I want them ALL!!!!! I want to look each and every child there in the eyes and tell them they are loved, wanted, cared about, prayed for.
I am excited! I'm ready to GO!!!

A journey of Faith and Worship

OK, so I've been a little bummed because we've not heard anything about our date and because of that I have not really felt like posting anything lately, but I want to share with all of you out there a little bit of Sunday nights message from our pastor. (I hope that's ok, Bro. Dwight- I'll try not to mess it up too much).
Bro. D was preaching on the Magi (wise men) and the journey they took to Bethlehem. Todd and I got tickled because he said -can't you imagine the conversation the wise men had with their friends...
"where are you going?"
"we don't know"

"How long will you be gone?"
"we don't know"

"When will you be home?"
"we don't know"

"what will you find when you get there?"
"we don't know"

But then (Bro. D) said "All the wise men knew was that they were doing what God had told them to do!! It was a journey of faith!" (Sound familiar to anyone else other than us??)

Bro. Dwight went on to talk about the wise men's journey also being one of worship. That in everything they did, they worshipped God. Their purpose was to worship, they sought out the joys and blessings that God had waiting for them at the end of their journey. They had NO details, only a promise from God that something wonderful would be waiting for them when they reached the place where they were headed. And they WORSHIPPED while they were going. My prayer is that those of us on this "journey" whether it's paperwork or plane tickets right now, will see God in EVERYTHING. May we look around and see God in EVERY STEP, even if it is waiting!! Todd and I have never really been lacking in faith for this adoption, but maybe God is waiting on me to worship him and give him the honor and glory that he deserves.

Our Christmas letter

I mailed my Christmas cards today, so it's time to give a little "recap" of this website. I put our blog address on our cards thinking we would have great news to share with everyone on our mailing list about our upcoming adoption, but it looks like that is not going to be the case. For those of you out there whose mouths are hanging open right now, yes, we are trying to adopt internationally from the country of Ukraine. (Not THE Ukraine, just Ukraine). We have spent the last year or so doing paperwork, getting fingerprinted, writing checks, etc. and have prepared what is known as a dossier (pronounced dos-e-ay). This bundle of paperwork which requests permission from the country of Ukraine to adopt an orphan child/children has already been submitted to the SDA (the DHR of Ukraine). We are now waiting on an invitation from Ukraine to travel to the country to view files of children available for adoption. This is where the hang up comes in. Because of a lot of stuff I can't comprehend, the number of younger, healthy children that the SDA is allowing to be adopted by American families is not so great. There are THOUSANDS of children in the orphanages of Ukraine, but because of paperwork, etc. not all of them are AVAILABLE for adoption. Now before you get all worked up thinking, "man that's wrong" just let me tell you that it is no different than the way the children of the US get hung up in the system. It is a flawed world we live in. If it were a perfect world, there would be no orphans. When Todd and I decided to adopt, we wanted to adopt a child that might not otherwise be wanted and/or cared for. We are in NO WAY close to being great parents, but we love our children, we love each other, we have a beautiful home with more than enough "stuff" than we could ever need. We have been given the forgiveness of God, and there is no greater joy than to be able to model that and share that with our girls. We love FAMILY and we are pretty good at it. We did not start out with any preconceived ideas of the age, sex, whatever of the child we hope to adopt. We started out and are still at a place now (most of the time anyway), where we are 100% trusting God to bring us the child He has for us. The waiting is hard, the journey is hard, the details are WAY too many to even try to give you. The latest estimate for when we might travel to Ukraine is sometime in the Spring. We will use this website to 'communicate' back and forth between home. (And we are taking the girls with us.) Don't stress out over all the details- I figured out pretty quickly it doesn't do any good! Thanks to all of our friends out there who love on our family! We are so blessed and maybe next year our Christmas card will have an extra kid or two on it!!

Merry Christmas!!
Todd, Melinda, Ellie, Emma, and Avery

Look at all these Rumors...

Our agency sent us a little info yesterday about the SDA that I thought I would pass along. As always, it's "Ukrainian truth" so don't go writing anything in stone. The news is that there is a director in place at the SDA, which has gotta help. It is also rumored that the SDA is looking to change the way they are accepting dossiers, and that they will not be accepting new dossiers for healthy kids under the age of 5 until Feb 08. It seems like the SDA is going to limit the number of dossiers it will accept for 'healthy, under 5' kids. I'm not sure if those of us waiting on appointments are gonna get caught up in these changes, or if they will apply to future submissions. I would love to know if anyone with an October submission has gotten a travel date yet. I don't think any of our Lifeline families from October have heard any thing yet.
Our agency has two families in Ukraine right now! I put a link to FINDING ZOE on the right. This families appointment is TODAY! Like right now! I pray that all is going great for them. They posted a great entry which made me feel really good about how our facilitators were helping. Todd and I met this couple in B'ham and I know their hearts are truly in this adoption. They have opened themselves up to be used by God in a mighty way, and I feel confident that God will bless them for it. I can't wait to see the child God has for them!!

(for the children of the 80's/early 90's, let me get a song stuck in your head today-Come on now, sing with me, don't be shy....... look at all these rumors, surrounding me everyday, just need some time, some time to get away from, from all these rumors, can't take it no more....)

Now for the adult of 2007, I've gotta go load the dishwasher! BUMMER!!!

Those who love our babies

I attended a funeral today for a dear lady who was probably my mom's best friend. Her name was Ms. Jo and what I will always remember about her was the way she loved my children. My girls will probably never remember who she was, but I will. I will be able to tell them about her every now and then when something happens that sparks her memory. It made me wonder about those 'people' in our child's life in Ukraine. Right from the start, I confess that I have not prayed about details, paperwork, timing, whatever--I have prayed that someone has touched our child today, shown him or her some attention, smiled at them, loved on them. I believe that God gives us special "grandmothers" that love our children just because they can. I wonder if there is someone "loving" our child right now. I will never know them, I will not be able to tell stories about them to my child, I will not ever be able to look them in the eyes and tell them how much it means to me that they were there. I am so grateful to the men and women who stand in the gap for our children.
It seem like there is good and bad news coming out of Ukraine. What else is new, huh? Our agency has two families traveling this week. One family is adopting an older child, and the other family is adopting a special needs child. (or special knees as Avery called it- FUNNY story, by the way). It seems like things are speeding back up as far as time in country, but it also seems as if the referrals are not going so well. We started this thing out to adopt the child God had for us and we have to trust that now. It's so easy to let the world change your desires and motives.
Anyway, thats my rambling for the night. The good news is, It's Christmas time!!! Our girls got to open their first Christmas gift today (long story). There is so much to keep me busy for the next month that I won't have as much time to think about our travel date.

Giving Thanks

2 Corinthians 9:15 says. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift(s)." I cannot describe to you all of the things I am Thankful for. Our family put up a Thanksgiving tree at the first of November, and we have added to it throughout the month. It has served as a great reminder every day to stop and consider all the blessings we have! One of the first things my girls put on the tree was the name of our social worker and our agency, Lifeline Children's Services. There were days when instead of dwelling on the negatives, I got out the Sharpie and said a prayer of Thanksgiving instead. The first thing I put on the tree was GRACE. God's grace amazes me every time I think about it. I am so Thankful that when God looks at me, He does not see me the way I see myself- He sees someone who is worthy of EVERYTHING He has! I am so Thankful for the husband He gave me and for the beautiful girls He gave to us. I am Thankful for the strength He is continually giving to Todd and I as we wait on news from Ukraine. I am Thankful for Faith, because without it, I'm not sure how we could have Hope.

-Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see...Hebrews 11:1

Unanswered questions

I'm typing this post from my laptop tonight (that would be because the little monsters that live inside my computer finally figured out how to destroy it). It's dead- a moment of silence please. Maybe that's O.K. I've gotta get used to posting on this laptop anyway. It looks like the timeline for our trip is gonna end up being in March sometime which takes care of the HUGE fear I have had about cold weather, but does not do much for planting season for Todd. We have not gotten an official date yet, but I think I am finished worrying about it (for now, anyway). I actually have a patient that is from Ukraine and she was in the office today. I think I've shared with ya'll that I was so pumped a few months ago because I was going to Wow her with my ability to tell her -in Ukrainian- whether her baby was a boy (who o pets) or a girl (giv ch na). At least that was MY version of it anyway. I DIDN'T WOW HER!!! She couldn't understand me!!Ha Ha I gave up on Ukrainian 101 and decided I'll try to smile a lot! Anyway, she was in the office again today, and we were talking a little bit about the adoption. She asked me point blank the one question that I don't know how to answer-Why do you want a baby from Ukraine? I stumbled around and eventually stammered out "because we want another child, and we want to give a home to a child that does not have one" or something like that. I don't know how to answer that question. And I know it will be one they will ask us in court. How can you know so clearly that you are doing the right thing/what God has planned for you, but not be able to find the words to express it! Thanks to all of you out there who allow me the chance to share my thoughts about this adoption. This is part of our journey, this is part of our children's lives.

One point for me!

I actually managed to get something done on my laptop this week without a huge disaster!!! (Just let me enjoy my small victory). I purchased webcams for our parents for Christmas -hope they aren't reading this- and for us. I set ours up this weekend on our laptop and downloaded SKYPE.com so that we can "see" each other in Ukraine. I don't know if all of ya'll out there have heard about skype, but a lot of our Alabama families use it to call home from Ukraine. The way I understand it, it's really cheap. Which works well for us, because when our 4 year old starts telling a story, she forgets to stop. We are taking our girls with us to Ukraine, so the grandparents are already 'freaking out' a little because they won't get to see them for a while. Anyway, I can mark --Webcam and --set up skype, off of my list of things to do before we go to Ukraine. I also have all of my Christmas cards addressed and ready to go. (I'm not mailing them yet). I put our blog address on our cards this year, so I am really hoping to get our travel date before I mail them. I would love to be able to have an answer for people other than "we don't know anything yet". Our family watched our first Christmas movie last night!!! I guess doing my cards has gotten me in the spirit!
One last thing- I had the joy of teaching children's church yesterday, and their lesson was on Faithfulness. All of the kids received a "reward" with a tag attached that read..."God rewards Faithfulness." That phrase keeps running through my mind. Our earthly reward may be in Ukraine, but if we love and raise our children in the ways of the Lord, our heavenly reward will be EVEN greater. Can you imagine??

Diverted energy..

I think sometimes God knows we need something to divert our attention away from things like adoption, Ukraine, etc... I didn't get any offers on my little pink media player, so I have just spent ANOTHER 2 hours trying to make it work. I did get the pictures off-and now I have Rattatoluie downloaded on my computer and in my Media player file, but it still won't play or sync! Iwill admit that I am a little tunnel visioned right now, and at this point, it has become a challenge just to figure it out. Of course, after I get it done, my next project will be marriage counseling because I haven't been to bed before 11:00 any night this week. I know all of you who are adopting from Ukraine understand what it is like to take on a challenge! (There has got to be a little determination in all of us, or we would never make it home with our children.)

Anyone looking for a slightly used video player?

I hate technology sometimes. I thought I had my Sony walkman figured out, but no luck. Now I have a movie on my computer, but I still can't get it to the media player. What I did get to the walkman was EVERY media file on my computer, and now I can't get it off!!!! O.K. I just needed to gripe a minute and since every other person in MY house is asleep, this seemed like a good place to do it! I spoke with our social worker today, and she assures me that our guys on the Ukraine side are keeping up with possible appointment dates. I know our agency is doing everything they can to get our appointment, although I'm not sure they can control much.
So... if anyone out there is looking to purchase a really nice, slightly used, pink digital media player with about 100 pictures of my beautiful family on it, just let me know!! I can get you a deal on it!!HAHA! Good night to all (and Dobra RonOak to our 'children'-It's 6AM in Ukraine)

20 Days and counting...

Well, our 20 days came (and went), but this is no big shock! I did finally get an email from the Leland family this morning and they are HOME!! I'm so excited for their family, I can't be bummed about the 20 days! They have not updated their blog lately-I can't imagine why-HAHA! I know they are busy getting home, adjusting, etc...I am Thankful that two more children have begun their new life in their new HOME.

Our Daddy!

I absolutely have the best "Hubby" in the world!! I don't know if he is just really a great guy, or if he just does stuff to make me happy-But, here are some pictures of the things he has done for us this week. This first picture is of "Freddy and Daphne" on Halloween. Avery said he was "her boyfriend". He wore a pair of polyester pants that I picked up at a thrift store, along with the matching poly shirt. The hair was the really funny part. Strands keep getting in his face and he would push them back the way an old man slicks down his 3 remaining hairs!!! I'm not sure what he is planning on doing with the 'wig' but the next day, I went to throw it away and he told me to keep it. Sounds a little scary to me!
Tonight we had our Celebrate the Seasons dinner for the American Cancer Society. It was a really neat event. My table turned out really great (this isn't the best picture). I did a bird table in honor of our friend "Daddy Byrd". Notice the "Ukrainian" style tablecloth that I had to sneak in there. Todd volunteered (or maybe I volunteered him) to be a "server" tonight. He looked SO great in his black bow tie. I haven't seen him in a bow tie since our wedding. That's his mom he is about to pour water on! (and our oldest daughter, Ellie). What a guy!! He is surrounded by women. He deserves a "little man" in his life to keep him company.
-I thank God upon every remembrance of you-Phil 1:3

Food for the "adopting" soul!

I just finished watching Disney's Meet the Robinsons. Our girls got it for Halloween. I had NO idea it was about adoption and was a little disappointed when it first started because it is the story of a little guy that no one wants to take. BUT....rent it and stick with it! It has a great lesson in it for all of us. I goes off with a quote by Walt Disney-
Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.
I don't know about the rest of ya'll, but I am so 'eat up' in love with a kid 8 hours away from here that doesn't even know I exist!

Farmer Todd

I thought I would include a link to the August/September issue of Cotton Grower magazine (thanks for the reminder, Lynda Ann)-- It's pretty cool because Todd and his Dad and little brother were on the cover. I probably won't ever make it to the cover of a magazine. http://www.cottongrower.com/ (and yes, the name of the article is from trash to treasure)

I need help!!!

OK all you computer wizards out there-I need help!!! I'm taking a long shot that someone might come across this and know how to help me. I have searched the internet and to tell you the truth, I'm just too dumb to figure this thing out. I have recently purchased a Sony digital media player that I had planned on putting some of my 4 yr olds favorite movies on to watch on the airplane ride to Ukraine. I get that it's not an easy task and I am going to have to "convert" the movies somehow, but I don't even know what type of file I need to convert it to!! (I am at idiot level right now!) Surely there is someone out there that can help! I know it's a long shot, but any suggestions?????? PS I did figure out ipod last christmas, so I can be taught!!

Ukraine Update

Here is some of the latest news we have gotten from our agency. Of course, it's Ukraine- so it may not all be true or come to be, but...It sounds like I will say an EXTRA prayer of thanksgiving tonight that our dossier did in fact get submitted a few days ago. My heart is breaking right now for the families that are so close, but may not get submitted this year.

Ukraine Update
October 26, 2007
LIFELINE NEWS: We hope all of you are enjoying the coolness of the fall weather. As winter approaches in Ukraine please pray that the orphanages and the children have everything they need to make it through the winter months. At the present time we have one family in Ukraine that is nearing the end of their journey. They will be number 50 and 51 in our Lifeline family. You can begin praying now for their passports in hopes that they are able to be processed quickly. They are almost ready to begin their journey home as a family!!!
We have had eight dossiers submitted during the months of September and October. This is incredible. Please pray that we will be able to submit two other dossiers by the end of month. Also pray for the SDA as they review and process dossiers that appointments will be granted in a timely manner.
As each adoption journey is different each family will face different challenges. Pray for safety as our families travel and please pray for our families as they seek wisdom in making life changing decisions.
NEWS FROM THE SDA: There is still an interim director in place at the SDA. A new director has not been named. There is no prediction of when this will happen. While it is difficult during these transitions for our team to interpret policy and procedures, they are still working even though processes may be a little slower. Our team tells us that it could take several weeks to one month for a new director to be named, but feel that this could be a positive change for the adoption process in Ukraine.
It has been reported that the United States has met its quota for the number of dossiers that can be submitted to the SDA for 2007. It has also been reported that the SDA will continue to accept only the dossiers of families desiring to adopt special needs children, children 13 years and older, and the dossiers of families who are seeking to adopt a sibling of a previously adopted child, until December 1, 2007.
Along with this, it has been rumored that the SDA will be imposing additional quotas on younger children. This additional quota would limit the number of dossiers that could be accepted for younger children from U.S. families and could delay the acceptance of these dossiers until February 2008. This quota system is not official, but is being reported from other facilitators in Ukraine, not Lifeline facilitators. Lifeline will continue to monitor the situation about the submission of dossiers and keep you informed as information becomes available

Updates

The update is- nothing has changed! HaHa! Our social worker called yesterday to tell me that Sasha felt like our travel date would be about 4 months away from when they sent it to us. This was no big news to us. I guess a lot of families are really anxious to know something. That means we are looking at mid February (but as I've said before-nothing is stable in Ukriane). I'll be honest with you, I don't have any extra energy to worry about something that can change so quickly. I do get nervous every time she calls, because in the back of my mind- I'm afraid she is calling to tell me that the program is shutting down. I would like to know our travel date (I don't care how far away it is). It is gonna take a little bit of planning to get the girl's school, work, etc. all taken care of. I am trying to get myself a little more educated on "how" I can homeschool the girls while we are in Ukriane.

We're submitted!!!!

The word is that we are submitted as of yesterday (the 15th)! Yea!!!! We still do not have our registration number, but Sasha went back and checked when he was on the phone with our social worker and said we WERE submitted. What now? You might ask--- The SDA (Ukrianian government) is supposed to have 20 days to review our dossier and issue us an appointment date to travel to Ukraine. The Ukrainian defination of time is a little different than ours, so it will probably be more like 40 days. Our appointment date will (probably) be a couple of months after our application is processed. It looks like we might still get to travel sometime around the first of the year. It's pretty cool to think that in 6 months or so, we could be back home with a new Isbell.

No News

Those of you who know me-might know that I have an annoying habit of "singing" about stuff. Let me explain, not big stuff, but for example- If I saw some poor sap fall down- I might go around the rest of the day singing "da da dump dump dump, another one bites the dust.." I get on my own nerves sometimes doing it. All of that was my introduction to let your know that I have walked around all day singing "buried with the grateful dead, came back as a parrot head, got derailed, got ???? (i just hum this part) , FBI,CIA, if they've seen her they ain't saying. oooohhhhhhh- NO NEWS." On the off chance that a member of Lonestar comes across this website- I apologize for destroying your song. (I'm actually a fan).
O.K. Long story short- We've not heard anything from Ukraine. I guess our dossier could have gone Friday or today, but Sasha has not let our social worker know yet if it did. Hopefully I will have some good news to report tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day----
Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the Lifeline meeting at St. John's United Methodist Church in Florence. I am supposed to speak which means I've got to figure out what I am going to say. I've also gotta figure out how to get there. As of right now, I have no clue! I guess this is the reason why God is allowing us to adopt from Ukraine. He knows I am too dumb to worry about details!!! Anyone who is interested in learning more about Lifeline's international adoption program is welcome to come. The meeting starts at 7:00PM. Say a little prayer for me that 'the words of my mouth, will be pleasing in God's sight'. God is SO good-Even as we wait!!!

Not today...

Our dossier didn't get submitted today. The word now is maybe Friday???

...for they shall be comforted

I know I said I wouldn't post for a while- but maybe things are happening. We got word that there is a good possibility that our Dossier may be submitted Monday!! I need some good news right now. We talked about the beattitudes this morning in Sunday School and the bible says, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." I am mourning a lot of people and things this week. The man in the picture with the girls is Daddy Byrd. He was a precious man of God that my family fell in love with at Leighton Baptist. (He and Avery would blow kisses to each other during church.) Daddy Byrd was diagnosed with cancer not too long ago and faced it with an UNBELIEVABLE amount of faith in God's plan for his life. He lived out the last few months of his life with a smile. He never doubted God or questioned why things were happening to him. God allowed me to get to know Daddy Byrd at a time in my life that I needed to know that God is big enough to make everything OK. I think this is the first time that I have grieved someone knowing that they are truly glad to be HOME!!
We will miss him..................
As for the other stuff I am mourning- I don't even know if I have the energy to write about it. I had the opportunity to minister to a Mom and her children this past week and things did not turn out quite like I planned. I want to save the world, and that's just not what God has planned for me. It's hard to let it go- It's hard knowing there are children (so close) that I can't help. My prayer is that somewhere right now, someone's heart is breaking for MY child. I pray that someone is helping him/her and loving on him/her. I know God is blessing me during this time of mourning (He has promised me that), but it still hurts.

I'm Grounding Myself!!

O.K. This will be my last post for a while, because I am officially grounding myself from the internet until something signifigant happens. I have LOVED reading about the Leland's on their blog (there is a link to the left) who are in Ukraine right now, getting to know their son and daughter. I have gotten to the point where I am always checking my E-mail waiting on news and I'm tired of doing it! We did get word that Ukraine is expected to meet their quota on the number of dossiers they will accept for 2007 by October 31st. Our dossier is number 9 of 9 that Lifeline has in country right now waiting to submit. So-- Our's probably is not going to be submitted in 2007. (They can only submit a few at a time, and only on Monday afternoons). Ukraine will begin accepting new dossiers in January 2008. Don't worry, though- I am not really bummed out about it! It means we will hopefully get to travel in the Spring (which means no 24 degree weather to deal with) or in the Summer (which means no school to deal with). Todd is not so thrilled with the thought because of work, but God's got this thing under control. I am trusting Him.

Lifeline Family Reunion

The family went to Birmingham for the weekend to attend an annual Lifeline Family Reunion. It was a really neat day! There were so many children there from Ukraine. (I would post a picture, but as my luck goes, my camera reader on the computer is not working right now.) We got to meet Jacob, whose has just came home a few weeks ago. If you haven't read the Sims' story, be sure and click on the link below one day when you've got some time and read about them. They seemed to have horrible luck from day 1 with their adoption, but in the end they are home with little Jacob and he is GREAT!!! Emma followed him around everywhere he went. It was really sweet the way she was taking care of him. She didn't even mind too much that he bit the snot out of her- more than once!! We met two different families that had adopted a sibling group of three children. I sat by one of the families at lunch and talked to Alex (who is now 9) and Alena (who is now 6). They were adopted, along with their little brother, about two years ago. They had a book their Mom had made with pictures of them in the orphanage. It was a great way to share their story. What struck me the most about them was how different they looked now, compared to two years earlier. They were GREAT kids!! It was really encouraging to see all of the kids that are HOME from Ukraine. I have to admit that I am somewhat nervous about the length of time the trip to Ukraine is taking. When we started this, it was 3-5 weeks and it seems like now it is going to be at least 8 weeks. I just have to keep trusting God that He is in control of this adoption. Maybe He has a reason for us to stay in Ukraine that long. Maybe He is going to change the length of time in country before we go. Maybe it will all fall to pieces, just so He can be there to comfort me and reveal His glory to our family and those around us. Please pray that our assurance is not shaken. Please pray that Todd and I will know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we are exactly where we should be! It's a little ironic, Lifeline has asked me to speak at a meeting in Florence in October about how much we have trusted God throughout this adoption, and here lately- I can feel doubt all around me. I do NOT doubt that we are to add to our family through adoption, but should we be going to Ukraine to do that??? My new favorite verse is this:

He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together. (Colossians somewhere)

He is before all things, that is where my trust must be. My trust cannot be in a particular circumstance, country, child, etc. I cannot trust that my family will travel to Ukraine and come home with a perfect child. I have to trust that God will bring His perfect child to our family, in His perfect timing, and that He is capable of keeping my heart in perfect peace until that happens.

Paperwork pregnant

It's all done. Our paperwork is complete. We recieved our 171H form (which I think has changed names) and our dossier has been apostiled by the state of Alabama and shipped to Sasha in Ukraine! It's really kind of exciting! Sasha is a Ukrainian man who facilitates our adoption on the Ukraine side. I had the opportunity to meet with him a few weeks ago in Brimingham. He has several people who work for him (I guess it's like another agency in Ukraine) and they will translate our dossier into Ukrainian and then Sasha will submit it to the SDAPRC. The SDA only accepts american dossiers on Mondays for a couple of hours and they have to be submitted in person. (Meaning Sasha has to hand deliver them to the office) I don't really understand how it all works and it sounds a little scary, but somehow he manages to get Lifeline's dossiers submitted despite the fact that there are hundreds of people from the US waiting to submit. Now we just wait for an appointment date.

Mountains bow down...

I joked last week that I wasn't sure God really wanted us to adopt internationally anymore because we can't seem to get our hands on a 171H form. Somehow there has been just a 'little' problem with almost everything we have done with our 171H. (This is the piece of paper, from Atlanta, that we are waiting on to send our dossier). Our fingerprint appointment went great, everything seemed to be coming along smoothly, and the lady in Atlanta decided that maybe the paperwork she had was a copy and not an original! God has shown me something this week-maybe over the last few weeks- I CANNOT CONTROL when someone else is going to do something or when something is going to happen. I can chose to waste my time and energy trying to "fix" whatever the latest problem may be, or I can chose to not let it define who I am at that moment. From now on, I chose to not allow myself to become so tunnel visioned on this adoption process, that I neglect my God, my family, or myself. Here's where the mountains come in..
Isaiah 40:4 says
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. (5) And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.
We serve a God that the "mountains bow down and the seas roar at the sound of His name!" If He is powerful enough to command the mountains and the seas, He is certainly powerful enough to 'chill out the lady in the CIS office in Atlanta'. And we can rest assured that He will be able to handle any other problem that WILL come up between now and coming home time. My new prayer for this adoption is that 'the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind will see it together'.

While we are waiting...

Well-
Our adoption is underway. We have finished our Home Study, which was a lot harder than I thought it was gonna be! We traveled to Birmingham several times to meet with our social worker at Lifeline Children's services. We had to answers lots of questions about our homelife, finances, how we raise our children, and even our past. We were questioned about our marriage, and the way we (and others around us) feel about international adoption.
We have all had our medical exams and some us of have gotten our shots to travel (the other four people are a little skiddish about immunizations). We were so busy when all of this first started, that it feels like nothing is happening now.
We are waiting now for our Home Study (a paper about us written by our social worker) to be approved by the state of Alabama. Once Alabama approves our family to adopt, then our Home Study document will be sent to the Citizenship and Immigration offices in Atlanta, GA. The CIS office will give us a date to go to Birmingham and have federal fingerprints taken. Once our federal fingerprints are cleared, then we will wait on a piece of paper from CIS that gives us permission to adopt from Ukraine. This usually takes 90 days to get. When we get permission from CIS, then we will gather up all of the documents we need to send to Ukraine. This bundle of paperwork becomes known as our dossier.
Our dossier will be sent to a Lifeline representative in Ukraine who will translate everything. (Which is a BIG job, I'm sure) and then he will sumbit our dossier to the SDAPRC-State Department for Adoption and Protection of Rights of the Child. The SDAPRC is kinda like our DHR in the United States. They manage all of the adoptions in the country of Ukraine. It usually takes 2-3 months to get at appointment date at the SDAPRC. We will not know the age or any information about our child until we get to our appoinment at the SDAPRC office in Kiev, Ukraine.
There is a lot of faith involved in what we are doing! But every step of the way, God has reassured us that this is His will for our family. I am trying to be a good Mom to the three beautiful girls that I have now, and trust that all of the details will work out in perfect timing!!
I just wanted to try this blog thing out before we get ready to go!! Maybe by the time we travel to Ukraine, I will know how it works!!