Kristina's Hope

We are pushing forward in faith. Our spirits have been encouraged by the good news that Orangewood Presbyterian Church has offered to partner with us to raise the funds necessary for Kristina's adoption. They have agreed to accept tax deductible donations on our behalf!

To that end, we have created a website that will focus our fund raising efforts. Our prayer is that we will meet our financial goals by the end of December 2006. Please consider joining us with prayer and financial ministry if you can. Please call on your network of family and friends and send the web address to as many people as you know. We can bring her home with your help!

www.KristinasHope.com

Letters from the Field

A letter from our dear girl was waiting in our inbox this morning. Its amazing how God uses small things to reassure us of His goodness and providence.

To my best family!!
Hello my beloved family!
how are you?
I am doing just wonderful!!!
I love you very much!
Thank you very much for the gift you have sent for me! Thank you very much for the letters! Thanks to Hanna for such beautiful card! For the stickers and magazine!!! And that you love me so much!!!! also thank you very much for the bubble gums. I enjoyed being with you in America very much.
Thank you very much for taking me to stay with you sometime!!!
I love you a lot.
Your Kristina

Around and Around We Go . . .

So many changes are taking place in Ukraine where adoption is concerened. The system shut down for several months and recently reopened under new organization. Now we have heard that the head has retired. A change in leadership may mean a change in policy or even another shut down. There have even been questions raised concerning hosting programs. Please pray that hosting programs will be allowed to continue as they do so much to open doors for these children. Selfishly, we are hoping the structure will hold through Christmas at least so that our angel can be with us.

I feel a real urgency with the uncertainty of what lies ahead. Please continue to pray for the financial resources we are lacking to move forward with Kristina's adoption.

The Journey of the Soul

One of my best friends leaves in two weeks for India. She will be working with orphans there for a month. I envy and admire her all at the same time. I want to go with her and see what she sees. I want to meet the children and experience the uniqueness of another culture. I credit my friend Kathy with introducing me to the beauty of the history of other places. I crave other places now. There is an exhilaration in the sensory feast coupled with the initial fear of a foreign land. I took a group of students to London before my trip to Ukraine and Robert joked that he wondered if I would return.

But more than anything, I long to feel what I know lies ahead for Kim. The joy and the pain of connecting with the needs of others in service for the King is priceless. I remember sitting in the backseat of Dima's car after leaving the baby hospital. I tried my best to weep quietly so that he and Oksana wouldn't notice, but I was raw after touching those abandoned and dying babies. When she looked back and saw me, I was ashamed of my display of weakness. But I am thankful that I was allowed to see it. It changed me. I know Kim will be changed as well. I was only in Ukraine for a few days. She will be in India for a month and will be even more intertwined in their lives than I was allowed. Pray for Kim as she prepares for her journey.

Life at Warp Speed

I feel as though I need to apologize each time I start an entry. I know there are people out there who have kept up with this blog for the last few months. Since Kristina's return to Ukraine, the posts have been few and far between. You should know that's not because there's nothing to say in her absence. Rather, my life seems to have swallowed me up again as school is in full swing. Strangely, I am noticing this for the first time. I am seeing just how taxed my time is, how little time I have for my family, how utterly exhausted I seem to be all the time. It makes me question the pace I travel at and to what end that race seems to be. I spent the summer focused on cultivating family and meaningfully connecting with one another. My current life doesn't allow me to do that. How do I change that? How do I make my life about what is important?

The group traveling to Ukraine arrived this morning. I was able to send an envelope with a few girl magazines, some gum, lip gloss, stickers, and paper dolls (remember those?!). It's not a lot, but I know it will mean so much to her. Please lift the team up in prayer as they minister this week and seek to meet the countless needs of these children. Pray for me as I seek to find balence in my life.