Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Home Alone

Well, we arrived home safely on Saturday Night, grateful for two weeks of safe travel and good health. Bill's brother, Doug, and Nephew & Niece, Geoff & Andrea, graciously picked us up at LAX. What a gift to see our family at the airport!! We had been awake for more than 48 hours with only some intermittent napping on the 12 hour plane ride. We were exhausted and we all went to bed. Sunday was also a blurr as we did some laundry and slept most of the day.

Monday Bill actually went back to work and the rest of us tried to put the house in order along with more napping. We all anxiously waited for Tuesday to get here. Also we had another unexpected loss today. One of our cats, Rocky, became critically ill, and after a 17 hour battle with no improvement, we had to have him euthanized. He was only 2 years old and he was Rachel's favorite. It was a sad time for us on top of all the other emotions from our trip.
Tuesday is the day of the final vote, at the regional council in Chernivtsi, on our request to legally separate the siblings. We waited all day, and in the afternoon we got the word that they voted 7 to 4 not to approve our request to legally separate our little guy and his sister. We were told that the 16 year old sister's opinion regarding what is best is carrying more weight than our guy's orphanage director (his legal guardian). What is wrong with all these adults? We don't understand why his legal guardian would not be consulted regarding her opinion as to what is best for him? We are not completely surprised, but we are extremely disappointed. We are now looking into getting a medical visa for him. Our facilitators in the Ukraine will continue to try to establish a trust relationship with the sister in an effort to educate her about adoption, life in the United States and our family's hope for her brother. We are not sure why this is happening, but we know there is a reason. We know we do not see all that is happening here and we rely on our faith during this difficult time. We covet your prayers for peace and comfort. We are not defeated, but we acknowledge this as a set-back.

'Though He slay me I will hope in Him.' -Job 13:15
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower;
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Sleepless in Europe

Leaving Ukraine

Friday the 26th and Saturday the 27th (a blur).

I write this at 36,000 feet somewhere over Germany headed back to LA by way of Munich, following a 10 hour cross country van ride over snowy, winding 2 lane roads to get to Kiev. We will have a 6 hour layover in Munich, which would be enough time to do some exploring if we can find just a little more energy but let’s back up.

Friday morning Rebecca and Bill had a direct conversation with our guy’s sister. She communicated very clearly that she neither wanted to come to America nor would she allow her brother to come to America. We communicated that we felt her intransigence was a direct threat to her brother’s long term survival. Rebecca shared the story of Solomon deciding which mother was the true mother of a disputed baby, hoping that perhaps the sister would comprehend the concept of putting her brother’s medical needs first. This was another hallway conversation under close supervision by a shelter manager, who had no reluctance at interjecting himself into the conversation, most frequently expressing that the brother could receive whatever care he needed in Ukraine. Not helpful (or true). This was clearly our last meeting with the sister and it did not go well.

We left there pretty depressed and frustrated and headed down to the orphanage to say our goodbyes as it did not appear there was any business left for us to do. The local town officials will make a decision on December 30th in response to our formal request to legally separate the two siblings; however we know that most officials are very much opposed to such separations and some are opposed to adoptions by anyone other than Ukrainians so this is an uphill battle. We arrived at the orphanage in time to enjoy another musical and dress up Christmas party, which was a lot of fun. The children were very excited and we had a chance to visit with several of the kids who visited the United States earlier this year. Lots of photos to share with their host families. The time arrived and we explained to our guy that we had to go home, that we had hoped to take him with us this trip but there was still “paperwork” to complete before he could live with us forever. He took it in stride and we told him we would see him again soon. In a heavy snow squall we walked down the long driveway through the woods, boarded our van and headed back to our apartment to pack up.

As seems to frequently be the case in this process, once it seemed over, it was not. Our facilitator in Kiev called while we were still in the van returning to our apartment and gave us some encouraging news about next week’s meeting. After several phone conversations both with Kiev and stateside adoption experts, we feel we have a fighting chance to separate the siblings and then proceed with the adoption after all (we have no guarantees, but this could be our miracle). Can you say traveling to Ukraine in frigid January? It’s possible…..

We will work stateside on the medical visa paperwork. We hurried back to our apartment, packed everything and met our driver at 5 pm to begin the 10 hour ride to the Kiev airport. We arrived at 3:30 AM and took off about 7 am, exhausted but hopeful.

This has been a truly amazing experience, pushing all five of us at different times and in different ways to the limits of our physical, emotional and spiritual abilities. Was it a waste of time and money? Not for one second. We don’t know if we will successfully adopt or not but we learned a lot about another people, another culture, we helped some kids at an orphanage and we learned a lot about ourselves and our faith. God is good. God cares for all children, even in a place that seems to have institutions that are hostile to their best interests. There are people willing to give so much of themselves to make a difference in the lives of kids who have no one and have nothing. Our hearts are full; we have done all we can do here right now, so we wait upon the Lord with joy and confidence.

'Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me Heavenward in Christ Jesus.' Philippians 3:12-14
Nice group shot, American families have Christmas Eve dinner together- a Joyous time for all.
Patrick and Bill trudging through the snow back to the van after saying "see you later" to our little man.
Rachel and Casey in Munich airport- no sleep for 36 hours.

An encouraging sign at Kiev Airport- sums up our visit pretty well.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

The Ukrainian (dis)Connection

Tuesday

We planned to spend time with our guy and later on with his sister, but as usual – things changed. Bill & Rebecca spent most of the day in the taxi/van waiting as our interpreter played courier and hand-delivered documents all over. We did get to talk with the orphanage director a little. She told us that her meeting with the sister did not go well and that she was sorry. Our little guy was also at that meeting, and she told us that he is now feeling more connected to his sister than ever before. We were advised to try to meet with the sister to counter the last meeting. We did plan to spend a lot of time with her this evening, but when we got to her shelter, we were told we could only spend five minutes with her under strict supervision by the staff. We got to see her literally for 5 min. Whether she absorbed what we said or not under those circumstances we don’t know but we did make very clear that the sister’s brother (our guy) has serious medical issues which need treatment in western hospitals and that we wanted to help to make that happen whether or not we were able to complete the adoption. It did not feel like a lot of progress was made there! Tomorrow we will try again but the local officials have said we cannot talk to her without a local official observing; our facilitator said the local officials who must be present to observe are hard to find and get to a meeting place (this feels like another intentional roadblock on the part of the local folks) so once again it is out of our control. The concept of scheduling an appointment does not seem to be part of the local officials’ vocabulary.

We have been discussing our options and trying to deal with negative forces. Tomorrow we are hoping for positive news from the Inspector’s meeting. They will be looking at our request and comparing recommendations from various interested parties. We, however, are not allowed to be present. What is up with this crazy place!?! (Aren’t we the most interested?) Obviously we need prayers for patience and fortitude. It seems we are coming to the end of the road for any remaining options here in town to influence events. The people in town who know us and know our guy see that this is an obvious decision but the decision makers do not seem to want to spend the time to learn anything about our history together last summer, his medical condition or the appropriateness of our family. We will continue to work on the adoption and possibly a medical visa in the event the adoption does not happen. We trust the Lord with all of this. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, we are committed to spending all morning at the orphanage distributing gifts and hanging out with our guy and his friends and are absolutely not going to let the negative administrative adoption process impose on that part of our day. It is snowing pretty heavily tonight and is expected to do so for the next few days. Looks like a white Christmas!! Forgot our Flexible Flyers!!!

White Christmas Eve and White Christmas Day (Yes it was snowing).

Christmas Eve started out early for us and quite nice too as we finished our now traditional ham and egg breakfast and boarded our taxi/van to head to the orphanage. We had asked to stop at a toy store on the way so we could pick up some toys both for our guy and the orphanage children to share. To our surprise, we stopped at a place that very closely resembles COSTCO or SAM’s CLUB. This was both good and bad news: they had everything we could have hoped to buy and they had everything we could have hoped to buy. Conveniently you could change currency right on premises (we did so). It was a lot of fun and even more so when we got to play a little bit of Santa (and played hotwheels cars) later at the orphanage. When Rebecca said, “my heart is full” on the way back, I think she spoke for all of us. While we envisioned this trip as a mission trip, there has been far more waiting around for paperwork than actually doing. This morning was a very welcome way to feel that we were tangibly helping all the children at the orphanage to enjoy some fun. We hurried “home” and met a friend for some quick boot shopping for the girls as every woman here wears long and presumably warm boots. No luck on our first try.

Rebecca and Bill left the kids to browse as they headed to another meeting with our guy’s sister to try to learn something about her background, explain what life in America would be like and have a real dialogue (our first two visits were very short and very closely monitored by local officials). Once again, we met under the close watch of three officials and were told time was up after no more than 30 minutes. This was the most substantive talk so far but still so difficult meeting in crowded hallway with constant interruptions by visitors and staff, every word trying to be translated and cell phones interrupting the dialogue continually. We left with the impression that the sister remains very unrealistic about what life would be like in America. We did our best to communicate the truth in love but the circumstances do not seem to be in our favor here.

Later we met most of the other families at our favorite local restaurant and then attended a Catholic Christmas Eve Service (in Polish we think). The Church was very cold (we could see our breath) with standing room only but it was beautifully decorated with holiday lights and wonderful incense. Communion really does not need translation nor do favorite Christmas Hymns. After that we walked through heavy wind and snow with the Maggi family for dessert and concluded our time together near midnight with a few Christmas Carols. What we lacked in energy and quality we made up for in spirit. I am sure the locals were quite confused by the whole thing.

Christmas Day dawned snowing, cold and windy. We again headed to the orphanage in the AM but our facilitator, who was with us, needed to stop and file some notarized forms related to the adoption process. As always here, these processes took more time than you would ever expect and we arrived at the orphanage just after noon. The director met with us and agreed to keep our guy awake during the normal nap time so he could help us to identify which gifts we had brought would be best suited to which children. There was also more good play time. We also were able to obtain some needed documents and input from the orphanage director related to our effort to continue to work on a medical visa for our guy. We are working on this front as well as the adoption front because we want to try to get him the medical care he needs even if the adoption does not happen.

The day was supposed to end with another meeting with the sister but……after we arrived, the Director of the shelter facility denied us the visit even though the local government official had officially approved our visit with her just the day before. All five of us were geared up emotionally for a big meeting (this would be her first meeting with our three children). We all left frustrated and angry and wondering where we could find the Christmas Spirit. A couple of hours later, Christmas night around 6, our facilitator called and said we could try again as they would now let us visit. Our fun meter had already pegged for the day at that point and we declined any further meetings today. As I write we are collectively trying to rest, decompress from the day’s (and week’s) stress and find the energy to meet the other families for Christmas Dinner (and Wifi for the blog).

We have been earnestly praying for clarity regarding direction. It seems our options are limited to adopting two (one of whom is an almost 17 year old girl who we do not know at all) or adopting none. It seems that the local government is trying to compel us to adopt two on the one hand but on the other hand they seem to be doing everything possible to keep us from spending time with the sister. Today our guy said he wants to come to America with us forever but only if that is with his sister (who he has seen twice in the last 12 months+). Right now we do not see how we could appropriately care for two children with extremely demanding special needs at the same time. We feel we could do either one but not both at the same time. Both would suffer (along with our biological children) from a lack of necessary attention and care as they tried to integrate into a new culture.

So maybe we are sharing too much with you as we write this but it is helpful to process the information. We remain open and in prayer but you see where we are and now you know how to pray as well.

Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart, commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn and the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. –Psalm 37: 4-6

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Anger Management

Step by Step Family Matters

Just after we finished writing this last blog at the Japanese restaurant, our wifi was discontinued. We saw on the news that some cables were cut (possibly by an earthquake or something else) under the Mediterranean Sea that may have interrupted internet service to Asia, Europe and some of Africa??? We have no idea what that’s about, but we will try to post it again tomorrow.

Early Sunday morning Casey and Rebecca were awakened by the sounds of hard rainfall and loud meowing. We knew our little adopted kitten, Sneakers, had to be very cold and wet, so we let him into our apartment! We knew Bill would not be thrilled with this decision, but he was so cute and it was wet and cold outside- we just had to.
Sneakers playing outside our apartment. I'm starting to think that Rebecca and Rachel will try to smuggle him back to the States.

He played in our living room and found some plastic bags that he liked to jump on. We found out that, like our other cats, he likes bread and cheerios!

Later that day we discussed our options regarding the sister. Then we ate breakfast and we decided we needed to have some church. We gathered our family and sang and prayed and shared meaningful scriptures. We had a communion meal of sorts and I think we all felt unity in our LORD once again.

At 12:30 Bill and Rebecca along with our adoption agency representative from Kiev (and a translator) piled into our van/taxi and we went to see our little guy to talk with him about his sister. We were not surprised that the Kiev rep. gave lots of instructions to our new unofficial translator on what he could and could not say and translate between us. As she clearly put it, “you are from an open society and this is a closed society; do not be offended.” It is frustrating not to be able to be in control of our communications with everyone around us. It makes the ‘Freedom of Speech’ and the concept of ‘Due Process’ seem all the more precious. Having zero control and virtually zero influence on this process is an incredible lesson on patience. As Americans we are so used to being in control of our environment and being able to influence circumstances for change. We are absolutely not in control of anything here AND God is absolutely in charge. He is sovereign; He is perfect; He is omniscient; whatever happens here we accept our LORD will use it for good. It is a lesson we are starting to learn in a brand new way.

We arrived at the orphanage and we were told that our guy was napping. Apparently, all of the children rest for 2 hours each afternoon. The orphanage workers woke him up and brought him to us. We had a little bit of play time while most of the adults talked to give him some time to wake up. Once he was alert and could pay some attention, we directly relayed to our little guy our intentions to adopt him. We were able to tell him that we would be talking again with his sister and that we have no control of the process or the amount of time it could take for him to officially become a part of our family.

The Kiev Representative asked him if he would rather stay in Ukraine and live with his sister or live with our family. He said that he wanted to go with us and that he would not stay with the sister.

We wanted to try to understand the relationship he has with his sister. The impression we got was that they are not very close. All in all it was a fairly short time of playing mixed with talking about some serious stuff. We are still trying to build back the sort of relationship that we had with him this past summer; kids spell ‘Love’ with ‘Time’. We were also told that we would not be allowed to take him off orphanage grounds again because there is a law prohibiting such visits. We were only able to take him out for dessert that one time because it was a holiday.

When Bill and Rebecca returned from the orphanage the whole family along with our Kiev Representative went to a nice restaurant called Reflection. It had rained earlier in the day, but by the time we were ready for our walk to the restaurant it had cleared and we actually had a very nice, not too cold, late afternoon walk. It was the most western meal we’ve had since arriving in Ukraine. They even had fajitas on the menu, but we’re not sure what it would have looked like; no one had the guts to order that. That’s probably the best bet for our Christmas dinner if we spend Christmas in Chernitvsi (no wifi access, though- bummer!). Later we found out it is one of the five best restaurants in the whole country (at least according to our guide book).

At the end of our meal our Kiev Representative left because she was tired; but we were joined by the translator who came to the States with both cultural camps and another family here, the Darnborough Family! We had a good, informative, fun time of talking and fellowshipping with them. PS, the desserts at Reflections are not to be missed!

On the way back to our apartment, our translator friend guided us to the city center square to the New Year’s Tree. It’s several stories high and was decorated like we would decorate a Christmas tree with lots of lights. It’s very beautiful and it gave us some Christmas Spirit in this country that celebrates Christmas in a way that is quite different from what we normally experience. As we continued our walk home we stopped in at the Japanese restaurant again for some ‘tea’ (read wifi) so we could check emails and post the latest blog.

These photos were taken within seconds of each other. This is usually how we look when we're at the Japanese restaurant.We had a quiet evening thinking about our upcoming ‘charge’ into the Adoption minefield the next morning.

Monday dawned sunny and relatively ‘warm’. As I write this Monday has just dawned in California but we have wrapped up our dinner and it is dark here. For the third day in a row, we enjoyed eggs, ham, bread and coffee at our apartment. One of the other families encouraged us to work hard to have a hardy breakfast because, with the uncertainty of the adoption daily schedule of events, you never know when or if you will get another meal.

It was a quiet day waiting for a meeting with the sister that never materialized. We walked to the grocery store to get fruit for our little guy and his sister, and later to the famous university here where we admired some very Russian looking architecture (apparently most of the buildings were built over 100 years ago for the Orthodox Church leaders). We learned tonight that our guy’s orphanage director has requested a meeting with our guy and his sister together in order to move things forward. We are hopeful and again this is all out of our control (sense a theme?). Our facilitators think we may have a good sense of which way things will go by the end of the day Wednesday, Christmas Eve.

As we had our family church service yesterday and shared scripture and prayer, we reminded one another of the need to pray continuously. We have so much to be thankful for over the last 10 days. We have experienced kindness by many, mild weather for this part of the world, support in the orphanage community for what we are trying to accomplish, wonderful fellowship with the other families that are here working on their adoptions but most of all, we have experienced such tremendous prayer support and messages from all of you back home!!! We will never be able to express to you how important you have been or how many times we think you have made a key difference for us. We continue to think about what God is doing here, and maybe we will never fully understand; but He has blessed us richly already in so many ways during our time here.

Some of the family playing at the younger orphanage where we got to spend good quality time with 4 of the children we met in the summer.

Another view of Chernivtsy. We think it looks like a movie set. We understand that the whole city was recently repainted for the City's 600 birthday.Using the wifi at the Greek restaurant- the only other place we can get online in this city.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Saint Nicolai is Coming to Town

Friday morning we got up early and watched the children at the orphanage put on a musical program for Saint Nicholas Day. We saw most of the younger children that we met during the cultural camp this past summer. They sang and danced and recited stories about this patron saint of children that we know as Santa Claus. It was a joyous morning and the children were all very excited. This is a day when people give gifts to children. The orphanage director, local officials, honored guests, and some parents were in attendance. We took lots of pictures and videos and we will share those when we return to the States.

After the program we stayed and spent some time with our little guy for a little while and gave him some gifts. We then got to take him out to a local café for some dessert. Unexpectedly, another young girl asked to come along; so our family, our adoption liaison, our child, along with a chaperone from the orphanage and also this other young girl went out after the presentation. It was a good time. At this lunch our little man was officially told for the first time that we are here to adopt him. He was very positive about that and seemed to understand that this is a process that will take some time. We are happy that he is so happy about this possibility. Too soon it was time to say goodbye and we went back to our apartment where we ended up having a quiet afternoon (some of us napped). We went out for Japanese food for dinner where we found the second place in town to have wifi. We will probably be eating a lot of Japanese food in the foreseeable future.

We are still waiting for any kind of positive feedback from local officials. No one seems to be receiving any positive news at this time. The courts in this region may now officially be closed for the rest of this month which affects all of the families here in various ways, although there is still a lot of work that can be done before it is time for court. We are now looking into other avenues to move this process along.

We are still trying to negotiate with the sister and various other third parties and we anxiously await the outcomes of these meetings. We finally discovered a single English channel on our 300 channel TV. Most of them are Italian. Figure that one out.

Saturday morning we had a relaxing morning, sleeping in late and our first homemade breakfast in our apartment since we got to Ukraine. While we waited to hear if we had permission to see our little man today we went to the market for the essentials. It was obvious that we are foreigners when comparing our full shopping cart to the nearly empty baskets that the locals had. We didn’t really know what we were buying, but we think we’ll be able to eat some of what we bought.

We tripped a breaker when we tried to use an American hairdryer. Note to families who will come in the future, do not bring American hairdryers- the voltage is too high.

We were able to go to the orphanage late in the afternoon, and discovered that we couldn’t take any of the children off grounds like we wanted because the director was not there to give us permission. We played in the children’s gymnasium and invited the other children that we met in the summer at the cultural camp. The four of them and the five of us played ball, hoola-hooped, ran their small obstacle course, and climbed the rope wall. It was a great hour and gave them some gifts and candy before we told them we would be back to see them again tomorrow. It was a really good time to connect with those children.

When we got back from the orphanage, we learned that there was a meeting with the sister and the adoption agency facilitators and, at the request of the sister; we will probably meet with her again to discuss some of our concerns. Obviously weekends are a little less exciting because business hours are unpredictable and even more this weekend because it’s a holiday, but we still find ways to keep busy.

Tonight, we find ourselves back at the Japanese restaurant so we can post this blog and check email. We don’t even know the name of this restaurant; we just know it by the logo and the wifi sticker on the door. The teriyaki chicken and grilled salmon are quite good though.

We took lots of pictures today and yesterday, but most are of the children at the orphanage so we can’t post them!

Worry and anxiety come easy here but we are focusing on faith to overcome our anxiety. We saw the sun for the first time in a week today and it was a little warmer and dry (prior to this it seemed every day was heavy fog, mist, rain or light snow).

Luke 12:22 can be summarized as DO NOT WORRY. That is our hope and our prayer.
This is the view from the front door of our apartment:


These are the cobblestone streets we drive on (slippery and bumpy- old looking)

This is our taxi- we have no idea why we haven't crashed about a thousand times- but we are all alive and well. It's a 12 seater mercedes benz with a cracked windshied and rope holding the back door closed. The driver is a sweet Ukrainian man.

Friday, December 19, 2008

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad Chernivtsi

On Tuesday, while we waited for our meeting with the SDA our family spent some more time exploring Victory Square in Kiev. Rachel, Casey, and Rebecca noticed that almost every woman in Kiev wore high heeled black boots and long chic black coats. We didn’t exactly fit in.

When it was time, our drivers took us to the SDA (State Department of Adoption) to get our referral to see our little guy. In addition, we received a referral to see his older sister because of a Ukrainian government policy that siblings should be adopted together. They insisted on this obligation to see both children with the intent to adopt. Once we had these valuable pieces of paper we headed for the train station in Kiev. The traffic was crazy busy, but we made the train with a bit of time to spare. In order to get there our driver had to drive on the wrong side of the road, through gridlock traffic, on and sidewalks all while he talked on multiple cell phones and ignored his collision avoidance warning alarms.

The station was VERY busy and our Adoption host gave us specific instructions about how to keep our family and our luggage safe all the way to the train; we looked like a mama duck with her ducklings following all in a row with a bodyguard/driver bringing up the rear. We were quite the sight, I’m sure.

Just before we boarded the train we met our new adoption agency host and an interpreter who will be with us in Chernivsti. They are very kind and we are so thankful for them. The Train was old, the rooms were small and hot; but it had a certain charm too. We could have been on the Orient Express.

This is a picture of the hallway. Our rooms are along the wall behind Rachel.
After the bumpy fifteen hour overnight train ride to Chernivtsi we took only a few moments to settle into our apartment before we met up with the Croucher family from home. It was wonderful to see familiar faces! We also got to see a friend of ours who came with the children from Ukraine in the summer. It was great to see her too.

We then drove the forty-five minutes to the district to get permission to see our little guy. After hours of waiting for the bureaucratic process to unfold, we picked up a social worker. Finally, after five days and eight thousand miles of travel, we made our way to the orphanage.

It was wonderful to see our little boy again! When we first saw him he had just woken up from his nap and was a little sleepy; but he had no problem sitting with Patrick and looking at the photo album we brought of his trip to America. We spent some time taking turns sitting with him and he perked up as he woke up. He became the talkative, playful little boy we remembered. We also got to see one of the girls that we met in the summer from his orphanage. She joined our group and we all played cars and laughed together. Just before we left for the day he showed us his bedroom and his locker and we got to meet some more of his friends. We had to say goodbye after only an hour; the social worker had to get back to the office.

To cap off the day, we met up again with the Crouchers and another family from home, the Hegrebergs, for dinner along with our translator and guide. It was a wonderful time to share our experiences and just be together and support each other. We are all traveling a similar challenging path and it’s great to have someone who’s been there to vent to, talk with, and get encouragement from. As some families make progress, those of us a few more steps behind are encouraged and we have some hope.

This morning Bill and Rebecca had some frustrating meetings with Chernivtsi officials. While we have known for several months that the child we wish to adopt has a sister, at these meetings it became clear for the first time that the sister will play a significant role on whether or not we will be able to adopt him. She is much older but somehow still in the ‘System’; and in this region there is a decree that sibling children must be adopted together. We did not know this before we got here. We were under the impression that we would merely have some extra paperwork to do to dissolve the family relationship but that over all it would not be a big deal. It’s going to be a big deal.

Bill and Rebecca had a very short meeting with the sister; nothing was resolved and we decided to meet again later. Then the American families and our Adoption guides/translators went to the boarding school (where the older orphans live). The other families spent some time passing out snacks and bonding with their kids and received some paperwork to move their process along. We are glad for them and rejoice with them in the progress they are making. It’s wonderful to share in their joy.

While our family was at the boarding school we spoke with some of the staff who know our child’s family, including the sister. Based on the information we received from them, Bill and Rebecca do not plan to adopt the sister. We went back to meet the sister again. At this time her role in this process remains unresolved. This makes it very very difficult for us to adopt the child we wish to adopt. Our plan is to continue to talk with her until we have clarity on her intentions regarding our desire to adopt her brother.

It’s very cold here (in many ways) and the news we have gotten so far has not been encouraging or hopeful. Whenever we do get to take a step forward inevitably we take two or more steps back.

Our word for this situation since our family decided to host our little guy for the cultural camp in the summer has been “Miracle”. Every single step along the way, from deciding the host him to the medical work we got done while he was in the states, to the decision to adopt him- we have named all of these Miracles. It is so obvious to our family that God’s hand has been in this from day one. On days like today and yesterday where a lot of times (maybe even most of the time) the outlook is very bleak we do our best to remember that even here in this tiny region of Ukraine, literally, this little corner of the world, God is in charge. Even when we are not at home God hears our prayers. He knows our hearts, and he knows our desire. If it’s in His will for us to adopt this certain little boy He will make it happen.

It’s a habit of our family that before we begin a trip of any substantial length we gather around and pray in a circle. Minutes before we piled into the car to go to the airport for this trip we prayed together again. The word we used in that prayer was Miracle. We asked God for a Miracle. Since then, in our family prayers on this trip as the difficulties have become more and more apparent, we continue to ask God for a Miracle.

God is bigger than the cold, He is bigger than language barriers, He is bigger than district and regional officials who may try to stand in the way, He is bigger than a poorly written law that could keep us from bringing our little guy home.

So, please Dear Friends and Family pray for miracles to happen.

This is taking a toll on our family. We are scared and sad, and frustrated, confused, and yet, somehow still trying to be hopeful. Please pray for strength for our family too. This is no vacation and we won’t give up until we either have our new family member or there are literally no more options.

On a happier note, tomorrow morning our little guy’s orphanage is having their Saint Nicholas Day program. We were invited when we visited him yesterday and we look forward to that very much. We will take pictures and will show you when we get home.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. –Hebrews 10: 23-24
A Square near our apartment in Chernivtsi

A picture of some of our apartment in Chernivtsi and Rachel and Patrick.

Rachel and Rebecca found a kitten who lives near our apartment. They call it Sneakers

Monday, December 15, 2008

From Ukraine with Snow Flurries

It was another chilly chilly day here in Kiev. (bring hats and slippers- warm clothes will serve you well outside AND inside) It was the day of our first meeting with the SDA (State Department of Adoption). Bill, Rebecca, and Casey along with our adoption agency host went to this meeting in hopes of learning more about our little guy and receiving a referral to move onto the next step of this adoption process. We met in a small office with the adoption official and showed her the pictures we took of our little man in the summer when he stayed with us. She seemed impressed with our observations of him, and of our knowledge of his medical conditions and the progress he’s made in the last few months. She told us a little more about his family and his past, but she only had general information. We understand that we can find out more detailed information from the orphanage where he lives. We had a successful meeting and we hope to get our referal to visit him tomorrow afternoon. After we get that piece of paper we plan to board a train for a 12 hour train ride to the region where our child is. There we hope to spend time with him in the coming days and also take the next steps toward growing our family.

It seems like everyone here smokes. It's like we can't get away from the smell. That will be one of the things we really appreciate about home- less cigarette smoke!

Tonight we ventured out and ate our first Ukrainian meal here. There is a nice-looking hotel at the end of our block and we went to the restaurant there. Most of us ate what we ordered. Thank goodness the menu had English words. Even with the familiar language, we still ordered some…interesting dishes. It really was good, though, to get out of our apartment and experience a little more of Kiev. We ask for prayers specifically for the process we are entering into. The news we’ve received from some of the families that have gone before us to the other region is not as we would have hoped for them and their child. This makes us anxious and very nervous since our situation is so similar to theirs. We, of course, pray for God’s will to be done here; we just hope and think that for this process to move along smoothly and quickly would be in line with that. We pray for wellness, safety, and strength for our family and the other three families here that we know from home. We are all sleep-deprived and the jet lag is hitting us pretty hard. We love to hear from you and your prayers are a great comfort to us. You are our prayers warriors and we need you now, very much!

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. -Colossians 1:17

This is what we know to be true. We must have the faith and hope to believe this and allow God to work in His pure and perfect way. We love you; and we thank God for you!


The WOMEN'S toilet at the opera house. Thank goodness we haven't actually had to use this kind...yet



















The Opera House...BEAUTIFUL!
















A war monument outside our window




















Checking coats...something we don't have to do at home.














Literally the size of the elevator in our building. Trust me, my flash makes this look way lighter, less scary than it is. Most of us prefer to take the five flights of stairs.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

How to Succeed in Ukraine Without Really Trying















Rachel found the very best way to spend the cramped 12 hour flight to Munich;

Things we talked to local folks about:

Because of the natural gas debt, the government controls the temperatures and hot water supply to all the residences. We have pretty warm water while the temperature in the apartment is "brisk."

Most folks we run into have some basic English (thank goodness for us)

they want to know why all Americans want to be "rock stars." Answer: good question; we don't know.

Why do Americans love this sport of baseball? That we took a stab at: pastoral, relaxing, slower paced than other sports, no clock so the game can theoretically last forever and a beautiful green field. Don't know if that helped explain it or caused more confusion.

Ukrainian driver said their TV is the same as American TV, just Ukrainian actors and language (same plot, same jokes, etc).

Cold blustery day today with snow flurries but probably no colder than New England this time of year. Sunday was spent trying to catch up on lost sleep and getting to know our immediate area, learn how to exhange currency in the at the exhange in the ground floor of our building, found the local coffee shop (critical). purchasing a few groceries and odds and ends at the local market. We sort of figured out how to use the shower, a real plus for everyone!

Kiev, a city of 3 to 4 million folks reminds us all increasingly of New York City, fast paced, there always seem to be people walking around on the streets at all hours, lots of hustle, Christmas shopping, malls, etc. Sunday night, thanks to our adoption agency host, we had the opportunity to attend the Kiev Opera, "Prince Igor." A spectaular opera hall, classic eastern European architecture, could have been right out of a sound stage for Phantom of the Opera. This was a wonderful night to be surrounded by the people of Kiev in a place that did not feel like a tourist destination.

Tomorrow is the big day: first appointment with the State Department of Adoptions and then hopefully approval for the next steps, which will take place in the local region of the orphanage, a 12 hour train ride away. Need to find some playing cards and yarn for needlework. We hope to connect with the other families that are ahead of us in this process once we get to the region; hope to compare notes and share some meals together!


This is the view out of our apartment. It's the National Circus.
















Our family being cold.
















Getting coffee in the mall








A short video of our apartment:

Blessings to you all.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Long Day's Journey into Night

We left LAX at 9:30pm on Friday; flew all night and arrived in Munich, Germany 9:30am Pacific Time but it was 5:30pm Local time. We ate breakfast on the plane about an hour before we landed, and ate dinner at the airport during our 2 hour layover. Now we are on the second leg of our journey to Kiev, Ukraine; due to land in about an hour. So far we’ve had no glitches and everything seems to be going smoothly, but we are very tired.

And the journey continued into day again it seemed. We arrived in Kiev on time and walked off the plane and down the steps into freezing temps, cleared customs easily, got our ride to our apartment, which, unfortunately was still sort of occupied. After lots of calls and confusion, we moved at 1 AM to another apartment all our own. Now at 2:30 AM we are winding down. We are safe and sound, exhausted, and ready to try to get some sleep. Tomorrow we will rest and buy some groceries and get ready for our big appt with the adoption agency Monday afternoon at 3:30. It is about 25 degrees Fahrenheit now. Brr Keep praying.


We'll post pictures soon!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Some Thoughts Before Leaving

Hello!

Tonight our family will begin the long journey to Ukraine! We are going to Ukraine to take the next steps toward adopting a young Ukrainian boy who has become very near and very dear to our family in the last months. We look forward to moving this process along and spending some time with our little boy during the coming weeks.

We covet your thoughts and prayers as we finish preparing for this trip and while we are away. We pray for peace, patience, understanding, and for our family to remain supportive of each other during this time of so much anxiety, excitement, uncertainty, and joy. We know that while we don't know very much about what we will face during our trip, God knows what will happen, we know that He is bigger than our fears and apprehensions, and that He has a perfect plan for all of this and for all of us. We rest in that understanding.

Updates to this blog will come as we have news to share, time to write, and access to internet. We look forward to sharing this great adventure with you!

Thank you for your prayers and support.

May God Bless You and Keep You.


Love,
The Weeks Family

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. -Jeremiah 29:11