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'.