Thursday, June 4, 2009

A House Reunited

Hello All from our Very Full Home.

We are pleased to announce that the sister changed her mind. Last week, Bill traveled back to the region in Ukraine and brought her back home to us. We have been spending this week all getting to know each other, as well as going to doctors & dentists. Our new son has started attending afternoon Kindergarten to get acclimated to school in America. He's learning about "cubbies" and sharing, and sitting "criss-cross applesauce." Hopefully, he'll be ready for a full day of school in the Fall. We are trying to find a good summer program to help them learn English. We are also using videotapes, audiotapes, books and computers to help us communicate & learn in the meantime. Thank you all for your prayers and support throughout this process. We end one process and now begin the much more important journey. God is good and we thank Him for all of our many blessings. Posted by "7 Cal Weeks"

Saturday, May 16, 2009

WE ARE HOME

This will be very brief as life is racing along here back in California. We must apologize to you faithful followers for the long delay in posting since our last entry. We arrived home late Thursday May 14th with our new son, Sasha (Alex). Our new daughter has had a difficult time leaving all that is familiar to her in Ukraine and we have given her some more time to think about coming, with the promise that we will return and bring her home anytime she changes her mind. Her United States Visa must be used within six months or it expires. The transition here is challenging and joyous. After about 5 days we all made the time zone/jet lag transition. Lots of medical tests have been done, the physical is complete and he is good to register for school for the first time in his 7 and a half year old life. He weighs exactly the same (33 pounds!) as he did when he spent time with us in July, 2008. But he is finally starting to eat...praise God! We praise God for all that has happened that is good. We have learned much from new friends, from old friends and from our immediate and extended family. We are very grateful for the love and support you have extended over these last challenging months. We will continue to update the blog but probably not as frequently. Again sorry for the long delay in getting this posted. Blessings to you all.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Home is Where the Heart Is

May 12, 13, 14
It has been awhile as we were away from the internet. Will today (actually tomorrow) be the day? Will we finally get the passports? We have seen a faxed version and they are supposed to be on a train to Kiev from Chernivitsi. Bill and our driver Sasha (Crazy) will leave our hotel at 5:15 tomorrow morning to meet the train and hopefully get the passports. We will then race around Kiev trying to complete paperwork at the medical center and embassy in time to be at the airport by 11 AM. If we can't make that flight we will have to pay some heavy change fees and wait until Friday. We have learned to plan and then expect to change plans so it would be great to finish and leave Thursday but...well you get the idea. Some very big additional news to share on our first blog outside Ukraine. You will just have to wait.

Monday we tried to fill our day with activities. We washed the car in the morning. Of course once the eight of us piled in, it was pretty messy again from kids' feet on the seats. Then it rained off an on all day so ...Murphy's car wash laws work here as well. Then we went out shopping and afterwards found a nice Italian place to eat. We had spaghetti and pizza-pretty tasty-but still not home. Then we enjoyed a boat ride on a small river. Finally, we returned home to prepare a Shishkabob/barbecue/birthday dinner for our host mom, Luba. Bill and I have taken to humming "One Day More" from Les Miserables to each other (very appropriate don't you think). Our late dinner party was outside and lit by candlelight. Then the rain came so in this country setting the food had to be moved inside and the clothes taken off the laundry line. Somewhat abrupt end to a nice evening.

Tuesday-packed up and headed back to Kiev as the holidays are finally over and we cold get back to business. Our patience and cash are getting thin. Negative vibes from the newest daughter have not helped. She seems nostalgic for the "good old days" in her region. Who knows what will come of this? Our new kids are getting used to one another. They love one another but also can argue and be impatient. They have spent very little time together the last two years. They still have their dream of a perfect family- and, if you know us, that dream cannot come true. This sounds pretty negative so lets be clear.

Hope comes from our faith, not our circumstances. Jesus remains in charge, even in a place such as this and circumstances as we have described. We need to keep our eye on the vision of success: boarding the plane home and completing this part of the journey. As a friend recently reminded us the word of the month is ENDURE.

For those reading this at Bill's work place, the City of Angels, please do not take his office or move his desk just yet. He actually does plan to return to work. And soon!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

The Mother of all Adventures

May 9th & May 10th Mother’s Day

Saturday - We decided that we didn’t want to stay any longer in Kiev. We were only sitting there just trying to think of things to do. When we heard from our facilitator that the passports were not going to be issued this week at all – we really were disappointed. Even depressed. We decided we needed to make a change. Our new Angel, Linda, gave us a few options: Stay with one of her friends in Kiev, or stay with a family in the country. We opted for the second. So we packed up and got in the car and drove a few hours north to a little town called Cherniga. (I’m sure that’s not how you spell it.) Linda & our new driver, “Crazy” and Linda’s good friend Alonya are our new travel companions. We arrived and the family was so welcoming (remember we are now a group of seven.) Mom, Luba, was worried that her house wouldn’t be good enough for Americans. We assured her that her home was great and that we were the ones currently homeless. The couple have two kids almost the same ages as our two here. We also descended on them on a holiday weekend. They were getting ready to have a barbecue with their friends (they call it Shish-ka-bob) So we made ourselves scarce. We explored the town, went to McDonalds for lunch, and went to a small amusement park. Then we went to a grocery store for provisions and later in the evening we saw the new X-Men Wolverine movie. Thank goodness it was an action movie, because it was all in Russian. We did have to cover our little guy’s eyes at a few of the more violent parts. All in all, we enjoyed it. When we got back to the house, we decided to have an early evening and put the kids to bed. Unfortunately, everyone else was staying up late. So Bill & I and our kids went upstairs and relaxed.
Sunday - Because we went to bed early, we were also all up early. Bill took S out for a bike ride so the rest of the family & friends could sleep in. After a slow start, we all went out to town. Our first stop was the hair salon to get the kids haircuts. Next we went to a small Mall and we did a lot of window shopping. Eventually we bought a few housewarming/birthday gifts for Luba. We didn’t want to go to McDonalds again, so we found a little cafĂ© and had a nice meal. Our little guy is having a hard time adjusting to our new surroundings. We are all trying to be patient with him, but it is difficult. Tonight we were all supposed to go to the Circus in town, but S was not happy about changing his clothes. He ended up staying home with Rebecca, while the rest went on ahead. When they got back we went to a lovely restaurant with WIFI – our lifeline to back home. We are planning on returning to Kiev in a day or so to complete this process at the US Embassy. Everyone wants the ”Magic Passports” before they will authorize anything. Then we will be coming home as fast as we can.

Friday, May 8, 2009

WAITING AND HOPING AND WAITING SOME MORE



May 8th

Well we are frustrated today since we did not get the kids' new Ukrainian passports issued this week. We have been waiting all week with "baited breath" but none were issued. The thought of having to wait here until tuesday now with nothing to do is excruciating to us. Unfortunately, this is another Holiday weekend and so no business will be conducted on Monday. We were so hoping to be finished with this process today!!!!! The thought of boarding a plane today and seeing our Brea kids Friday night had kept us going over the last several days.

We are just sitting on ready. One of our Ukraine angels has found us a home outside the City with a friend since there is no reason for us to be in expensive Kiev for the next 4 days. We think a less urban crowded environment will be better for the kids to burn some energy.

Yesterday, we spent the morning at the Medical Center - getting the kids checked out. S was all up to date with his medical, but T was not. She had to have two vaccinations and a blood test. She was not happy about that - but she was very brave and cooperated. We took them to McDonalds again for a lunch treat. When we didn't ge the passports yesterday, we soothed ourselves by going to an arcade and then watching a 4D Movie. For dinner we discovered the Arizona Barbecue restaurant and had great food for an outrageous price.

We made our third visit to the United States Consulate in as many days, completing paperwork, getting our questions answered and enjoying a few moments on the sovereign territory of the United States of America. The Embassy staff could not be more friendly or helpful. It is amazing how comforting it is to be inside that building. We understand a little better each day why there are hundreds of people lined up outside the US Embassy hoping for a chance to come to the United States. Our adoption faciliators have all but abandoned us now and we actually feel a combination of anger and relief.

Our Kiev Angels are: Linda, a 22 year old former orphan, with excellent language skills, who has really become a part of our household, facilitating communication with the kids and smoothing out all of our contacts with the local population. Her friend, "Crazy", is acting as a driver, tour guide, baby sitter, & junior translator. Most importantly, they are believers who have become our friends and prayer partners. We praise God for them and a number of other folks who have simply extended themselves for us and the kids. While the process and bureaucracy is beyond frustrating, the light of Christ is shining brightly in this rather dark place.

We had the most American pizza to date today. It even had a tomato-based Pizza sauce on it! The place is called Pizza Celentano if anyone is in the area anytime soon.

Romans 5:3"...we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy spirit, whom He has given us."

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

A House Divided.....for a day




May 4th - 6th

On Monday we hired a driver, and took the kids to the famous monastery. The place is over 1,000 years old and it is a sprawling complex. We walked around and around and even saw many mummys of famous priests. There were many people praying over them and touching & Kissing their caskets!!! The belief is that one of these, a dead doctor/priest in particular will still heal you if you do this. ????? We also discovered that all the women who visit there have to have their heads covered and they need to wear a skirt/dress. We had to buy scarves and rent skirts for T & Rebecca. We called ourselves "Babushkas" and had a good laugh. Next we went to a restaurant and had some pizza. It was closer to U.S. pizza, but not quite like Domino's. Then we got tickets and went to the Circus. We had front row seats. We saw all the usual acts & clowns, plus singers & dancers. After the intermission, we saw the tigers & lions. They were cooperating with the female liontamer, but they were not happy about it. Our only security was a net between the audience & the animals & a man with a firehose. I later realized how unsafe this whole thing really was.


Yesterday Rebecca spent the day with T in Odessa, and Bill took care of S in town.

R & T's adventure started at 2:00AM, when a driver & a translator picked them up and drove to Odessa. There is a relative living there that T wanted to say Goodbye to before she left for the U.S. So off we went for a 5 hour car ride. We spent most of the morning waiting and finally around 2:00pm T got to see the relative. Afterwards, we stopped for an early dinner and then headed back to Kiev. It was hard for T to do this today, and now she is having regrets and worries. Please pray for her and for us as we deal with monumental changes. As the plane ride gets closer, we get more happy and she gets more sad. (I wish she were more excited.)

Meanwhile, Bill & S had a play-day. They walked all over. They went to the playground near the president's admn. building (their regular daily hangout) and then they went to the U.S. Embassy to get info we'll need in the next few days. They also found a upscale bakery and bought some great bread -and brought it home. Then they heated up the leftover Borsht for their dinner (There is nothing like leftover Borsht! LOL) and finally S had an extra long bath (He likes to think he's in a swimming pool) I think cleaning up the bathroom was a challenge! Bill got him to sleep just before R & T got home. (Thanks Bill - Momma dodged a bullet!) We debriefed and all went to bed early. Everyone was exhausted.

Wednesday - we had a slow morning. Everyone was tired from the day before. We finally got out of the Apt. around noon and we went to a photo place for more passport photos (we needed bigger ones than the ones we already have) then we dropped off the photos at the U.S. Embassy, then off to McDonalds for Happy Meals & shakes. We came home and later we went on a boatride on the Knee-pro river. (That's how they pronounced it)

I think we are "Better Together" here in the capitol city. We need each other's strengths and shoulders as we navigate these unfamiliar waters. We did not get the finished passports today from the region - maybe tomorrow.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

"Getting to Know you, Getting to Know all About You..."















May 3, 2009

Today we attempted to go to church with the new kids. We found a Lutheran Church across the street from our apt. That is the good news. The bad news – the service was in German & Russian. Well, at least the kids could understand half of what was going on. We said Alleluia and Amen, but the rest was a guess. I think the kids heard some things that they never heard before. They were respectful and attentive – we couldn’t have asked for more.
Afterwards, we took a long walk and explored more of the capitol. We went up a hill to the Arch and overlooked the river. Parts of this City real are quite bautiful but we had never been able to see any of them in the past because of the extreme cold (and they were buried under ice and snow!) There were a few rides set up and we went on the bumper cars and a whirly-gig thing. Then we walked through a park and past the president’s house & maybe the supreme courthouse? We didn’t have a guide or a translator with us. We just winged it. Remember, today is a holiday, and a Sunday, so no help was forthcoming from our facilitators. Then for dinner, we found the TGI Friday in town. It was so great to read about familiar foods on the menu. My mouth was watering just reading about real fajitas and burgers, and milkshakes. Typically, the kids both had chicken fingers and fries. They are fitting in already!
We are all tired from our long walk today, and we are having a quiet evening playing cards (instead of hearts/spades/clubs/diamonds – we have Cherva/Beeka/Glist/Boobna) We taught them how to play “Crazy 8’s” and they like it - as long as we speak Russian.
Thanks to you all for your suggestions on places to see here. We will need to go exploring again somewhere tomorrow. All in all, the four of us are getting along pretty well with a phrasebook and a lot of pantomime. The kids are 10 years apart in age and we have to keep thinking of different things for each of them to do. We have “skyped” with our US kids and shown our new kids our home and pets. They think it all looks “Dobray” (Good).


We are trying hard to get our facilitators to understand we want to move this process forward quickly and get home (as in this week!). For those familiar with the cultural concept of "manana," it seems in an odd way part of Ukraine culture as well. We are hoping that hearing us complain about our need to get home becomes more motivating than the cultural pull of just waiting to see what tomorrow brings. Planning is not really done here.




Saturday, May 2, 2009

Happy Communist Day




May Day! May Day!






May 1 is a big international Labor Day holiday here. It is so big that they have made it a 4 day weekend this year. We have been spending the weekend so far getting to know each other as best as we can even though we do not speak each other's languages.



Thursday night we got on the train at 7:00pm. Several of T's friends came to the station to see her off. They were all excited and scared and sad at the same time. We also traveled with two facilitators. I think they helped to ease some of the fears that were very evident. S remembered the train ride from the summer. He was just bouncing like Tigger the tiger. We spent the night on the train traveling to Kiev. We arrived yesterday morning and were met by our Kiev facilitator. We had several hours to wait for our apt. so he took us to the Zoo in town. Unfortunately, the weather was cold and drizzly and we were not enjoying it the way we could have. Then he took us to our apertment and helped us get settled. We unpacked and went to a small food store for supplies.



Later when we were hungry for dinner, Bill & I and S went exploring. T wanted to stay in. The three of us went to a restaurant and enjoyed all the sights and sounds of a big city on holiday. Streets were blocked to cars and a stage was set us for a concert. There were people everywhere, and later fireworks. It was a little too stimulating for S, so we came home and had a quiet evening.




Today we had a homemade breakfast together - the first one. After getting the computer set up, we then went out exploring and bought some more provisions. This afternoon, Bill took S to the famous Botanical Gardens, while Rebecca stayed home with T and learned how to make the famous soup called Borsht. We all had the soup for dinner and got along great. Another quiet evening for us.




We can't wait to introduce you to our newest son and daughter. It is wonderful to have five children and it is high time we all got under one roof and stayed there. Once these holidays are over, it will be time to wrap this process up and get the US Embassy to work issuing visas for these children. We are so READY to be back in the United States to stay!!! We finally found the "TGI Friday's" the other families have been talking about. (That and the US Embassy will have to suffice for familiarity this week.)




We are planning on going to church tomorrow and we'd like to explore the city more. We are so happy to be in Kiev when it is sunny. All the other times it was ice cold and snowing. We'd like to go to the famous Monastery sometime. It is supposed to be a little creepy with mummys. If you know of any other "Must Sees" here, let us know. We still have a few more days to wait through. Neither of these kids has spent any time here, so we are seeing it all for the first time.




"We walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

O HAPPY DAY!

April 29th

What a whirlwind few days we’ve had! Our first good news came on Monday night. We were told that no one came forward to contest our adoption! Yeah! We are really allowed to move forward quickly now. Even though we technically adopted sucessfully mid-month, this process is never really complete until the plane is taking off from the runway and your new kids are with you belted in the seat. We are trying to be happy, but not unrealistic either.



Yesterday was a full day of finding & completing documents, getting passport photos taken and travelling around to many offices trying to get answers to questions regarding the children’s histories, and how to deal with property issues. We also were asked by our new daughter to consider taking her to visit her biological mother to say goodbye before she left for the U.S. We are giving this request deep thought and prayer.


This morning started at 9:00am - and without any breaks – ended at 6:00pm. We criss-crossed three cities doing paperwork and getting final, Final, FINAL signatures from all the officials and school personnel that were necessary. I can happily say that the children are mostly, almost, completely our children. How’s that for a definitive decree. We thought that we would finish up everything in the region today, but we have one unexpected snag to clear up tomorrow and then we can finally submit their passport applications. As it turns out, our new daughter (and us too) has to “jump through extra hoops” because of her age.


We were also able to finally take our son out of his orphanage today for good! He was so excited. He was in constant motion until he finally crashed asleep in our hotel room @9:30pm. His sister was getting so annoyed with him. Just like all siblings! We were able to be more natural with each other today too. This was the first time our daughter could see us interact with her brother outside the orphanage, and she was happy to see how much we cared for him. She started to really understand why we wanted to adopt him and I hope she yearned for more of that love & affection for herself. We want so much to have that kind of a relationship with her soon. We are willing to take the time to build this with her.


Tomorrow we are also hoping to leave this region and travel with our new kids. This is a 4-Day Holiday weekend in Ukraine and we would like to enjoy our time together. Otherwise, we will just have to wait here for a week for their passports. We are hoping to take a train to the capitol and enjoy the sights there. We’ll write more and let you know where we end up.
We also wanted to ask you to say a prayer for the other adopting RDFC family that’s here. They had an unfavorable court date with their judge today. We know that this adoption is not over for them, but this major setback is hard to take. They have been living here for several months with little to show for it.

Pray for energy and good health for Weeks in Ukraine and Weeks in Brea. This is a challenging time and attacks are under way to keep these kids from the love and freedom that is coming to them. May His will be done and may the name Jesus be glorified in all that is thought and said and done. Amen.

Monday, April 27, 2009

4th Times A Charm?







April 26, 2009

Hello from Munchen (Munich) Germany. We left Saturday night and flew here, but we had to stay overnight to wait for our next flight. We were introduced to a lovely hotel called, the Achat, in the town of Friesing, just outside of the city. We enjoyed a rural setting with a quaint town surrounded by family farms. Just beautiful! (See photos). Also we learned that the Munich airport, just six years old, is considered one of the most technologically advanced and service-oriented in Europe. It is a sight to behold, squeaky clean, efficient and the most friendly people you could imagine. It feels as though you are very quickly moved everywhere around this airport, yes even security! It was designed by a famous architect, a German American from Chicago (name escapes us) and includes an all weather Beer garden. Too bad we don’t drink beer!

We are now waiting to board our flight to Lviv, Ukraine. This is the same flight we booked on our last trip here. (see April entry) We will have a short flight in a small plane and land in a small airport. Then our friends will pick us up and drive us to the region, about a five hour drive at speeds of about 45 miles per hour. Hopefully while we are travelling, our facilitator will be picking up our FINAL approved court decree from the judge. Please say a prayer that there have not been any “developments” since our last court date. (We are a little nervous about any relatives or friends that may have surfaced to contest the adoption.)

We are anticipating running around a lot tomorrow getting documents and submitting applications for visas & passports. We are so excited to finally tell the kids that, “Yes, today is the day!” and “Pack your things!” and “Let’s Go to the U.S.!”

We talked to our little guy (our new SON) on the phone before we left and he was so excited. He wanted to start packing immediately (It was last Saturday morning) He wants to bring everything we’ve ever given to him. I hope not! We only have 1 suitcase for him, and that is filled already with a few clothes & toys & books to keep him happy on the long flights home. Our new Daughter will have lots of mementos from friends & family I’m sure. She has two unfilled suitcases. I hope we don’t have to ship too much.

The Swine Flu news story is all over the wires in Germany. I hope our sniffles don’t get us quarantined! According to the European TV news stories they do not seem to be making much distinction between travelers from the United States and those from Mexico. Please Pray for our continued good health and that we do not get the kids sick either.

Can it be that we are finally coming up to the finish line of this first journey? Well of course not; the end of the “process” is just the beginning of the family journey for the seven of us together. We spent last week trying to get beds ready and clothes washed. Our journey is really a marathon and we are only in the first few miles. As Paul said in Hebrews 12, "...let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us..."








Thursday, April 16, 2009

almost home

April 17th I think



We are waiting in the Dulles airport in Washington D.C for the final leg of this journey. We enjoyed our stay in London yesterday. What a nice treat. We boarded the "Tube," went to Picadilly Circus, ate fish & chips and saw Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. All British - all day. Bill is now waxing poetic with a British accent.


Today we had a leisurly morning at the hotel and then flew to DC. Since we had a long layover, we decided to keep the adventure going. We got in a taxi and headed off to the National Air Space Museum Annex (Udvar-Hazy) It is a branch of the Smithsonian. We saw lots of planes & the space shuttle. Worth the trip!


We expect to arrive late tonight. Hope to see you all soon. We are planning on spending the next days preparing our home and our hearts to welcome the kids. We would welcome your prayers and advice to make the acclimation process go smoothly. We realize that it is a process and it will take a long time. PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

What a difference a day makes....24 little hours (or so the song goes)






Well we hoped and prayed that leaving at sunrise on Easter morning would be symbolic of New Life for two special children. Some 26 hours later we blew into the region on Monday night and went to court the next day, on Tuesday. We only had a 30 minute session in the judge's chambers; The judge and two jurors asked some general questions about our approach to parenting, any history of substance abuse, our biological childrens' feelings about the adoption, how we came to be interested in adopting these two particular children, and if this was indeed our "final answer." Before we knew it he was reading his positive decision into the record. Hooray! We even had T there and she said she wanted to be adopted! Wow. PRAISE GOD!!
Afterwards we went to the notary to do more paperwork and then we all went to see our little guy to tell him the good news. His response, "OK let's go." Unfortunately the Ukraine and U.S. governments are not ready for us to take them home yet. We still have to wait out this 10 day mandatory waiting period. This is the time when anyone can object. If all goes well, we will return to finalize the final paperwork later this month. This is a long process in case you haven't noticed.

We celebrated our positive verdict with our new friends at dinner, and then we took an overnight train back to Lviv. This morning, we flew out of Ukraine and boarded a new, hip, airline named, Wizz, and landed in London. (Note the photo of a somewhat fatigued and familiar passenger deplaning.) The only thing we are not getting accomplished on this trip is getting any sleep. We decided we needed a little R & R so we are staying the night in a hotel near Heathrow airport. Hopefully we will have a nice dinner & see a famous London show! We don't really know what time it is anymore. We have crisscrossed so many time zones in the past 4 days. We just sleep whenever & wherever we are when we are tired. (I hope we can stay awake tonight.) London feels like a wonderful dream. We can read all the signs & we can understand the people.
Tomorrow we will board a few more planes and if all goes as planned, return home in the afternoon.
James 5: 10-12 'Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy."
We know that God's hand has been in everything we do. We hope you continue to pray for us and these new Weeks children. We will need help in overcoming their apprehensions and fears in the coming days, months and years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

lets go to court











Just a quick update to let you know we arrived safely at our hotel in Chernivitsi. This place is growing in value, now we know they have a great reasonable breakfast buffet and free wireless wifi! Make a note future travelers of the Magnum Lux Hotel. A short walk from City Hall. We are bushed but grateful that all the connections, baggage, weather, passport checks could not have gone better. This time we flew in Lviv (see small but very comfortable Lufthansa jet in photo) and had our dear friend Vitalik and his pal Igor make the 5 hour trip to pick us up. Five hours in a car beats 15 on the train from Kiev any day. We made contact with our facilitator who is on that train right now. She tells us that T has been prepared for court, that all arrangements have been made and we are ready to go Tuesday at 10 (pray at midnight Monday please!). T will have to appear in court and S will not, presumably because of age. Tonight we saw the other family for literally about 5 minutes as we barely arrived at their apt in time to give them a care package we brought, pick up our suitcases we had left (with our court clothes), hug and say goodbye. They are on the train to Kiev tonight to put some of the kids on a plane back home. They will not be back til Wednesday, by which time we may be gone from the region if all goes well. But to all who sent things for children and the family, all will be delivered before we leave. Thats it for now. We have to get a bite to eat and get to bed so we have some rest before court. Big update coming tomorrow. Please pray for God's will and for us to embrace Luke 12:22 (Do Not Worry). Blessings to each reader

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Parties, Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Rebecca at T's birthday party with friends and familySunset from train On the street where we lived

April 3

Hello from home once again. We have spent the last 2 days travelling on a train, car, and two planes to get here. We are trying to get back on this time zone, but it is not easy. It took us a week to get used to Ukraine time.

We did get a court date before we left, and we will be returning mid month. Our kids at home are glad to see us. And we are happy to see them and to be sleeping in our own bed. Nothing makes you appreciate what you have more than being without it.

We will be spending the next week making more preparations at home. We need to reconfigure the house to accommodate the new kids. Please pray for us as we are making decisions and predictions on how all our lives will be structured so we can live in harmony with each other. The Serenity Prayer comes to mind...

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."

We have been reflecting on our last visit, and we know that there are a lot of forces still at work in the region. There are heavenly ones as well as evil ones. Please continue to pray for us as we get ready to return next week. Our situation is moving forward, but it is always a fragile and delicate process that can unravel easily. We know our road ahead is rough, but we think often of Daniel, or Shadrach, Mechach & Abednigo.... our plan is in place, and we are relying on God to see us through. If all goes as planned, we will be finished with our goals by the end of the month.

Just as on our last trip, your thoughts & prayers have sustained us, and kept us healthy and focused. Thank you, thank you for all your love and support.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

We're on Midway Island

March 31

Hello from Ukraine. We are inching closer to the midway point. We made some progress this week and we are waiting for our judge to issue a court date - hopefully he will tell us tomorrow. Yesterday was a mixture of visiting the kids and gathering documents. I sound like a broken record. There is just not a streamlined process over here. Every time we think we can check something off the list, there is another paper required, or a change has to be made, or a stamp/signature is missing. (Sort of a "2 steps forward, 1 step back" kind of place.). What a delight to take a "vacation" from our work here last night for a 3 hour dinner with the other family here right now working on an adoption. To speak only English, to confirm that we are experiencing the same challenges and that we are not, in fact, crazy was very encouraging. It is the process that is crazy. We were blessed by their good fellowship and generous spirit.


Tonight we had a little celebration at the "aunt's" apartment. She and T hosted us royally. We also met some of T's girlfriends. It was nice to see T so confident and lady-like. They worked most of the day preparing various Ukrainian dishes and they had lots of different breads and salads too. They even had dessert. These people are not wealthy, but they went all out tonight. We had good conversation and took some pictures. We even got to see an old photo of T when she was a baby. Too Cute!


Yes we are challenged on this rollercoaster ride and it can be maddening at times but then there are moments when a child grabs your hand, yells your name in delight or simple receives a bouquet of flowers for the second time in their many years of life and they are incredibly joyful. As with our visit in December, we are reliant on your prayers. We feel them and are grateful. There have been some saints that have come alongside us in an incredibly gracious way. I think of the young Ukrainian couple who have very little materially but are rich in faith and full of life and joy. She has acted as a pinch hitting translator for us and as and English teacher for one of our kids. They have put up with constant schedule changes and they know us only from one chance meeting at a church service. We will never forget their kindness and generosity.


We moved a few days ago from an apartment to a hotel to save money ($50 a night instead of $90 made sense). What we didn't expect was an upgrade in quality. A real shower with real heat and a jacuzzi tub; a full breakfast for about $3 made this decision a real positive for the week. This is one of those things you can only find out after having been on the ground here for a few weeks. We stumbled into this unmarked hotel near our apartment, looked at the room and took a chance. Bill's back loves to the end the day with the spa jets!


Tomorrow we should complete all the business that can be done before a court date is established. We hope to sign some papers and hop on the train for the 15 hour ride back to Kiev before 18 hours of flying time. We are desperate to see our kids (and we hate to leave our kids here). If all goes well we will be in LA by Thursday night. And if all goes well we will be back here for court a week or two later for a very short turnaround trip to make the court appearance. If you have any free airline miles.....

Too tired to write more. We are grateful for the progress and for all the support we receive.

Psalm 91 "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Good Vibrations










March 29th

Hello and hope you all are having fun at the pool/beach/whatever. We have been enjoying a balmy 50 degrees here the last few days. We almost didn't need our coats for a few hours. We have been spending time with T & S alot this weekend. Friday was a busy day getting all of T's medical forms completed. In the evening we went to S's orphanage and Skyped with some folks back home. Saturday was a full day. We started out at S's orphanage then went out to the Bazaar to do some shopping. We walked around & around looking at clothes. T & Rebecca held hands most of the way. This was initiated by T and it was the first time anything like that has happened. Next we ate pizza for lunch with T. & then T finally had her English lesson. She had a good first try. Later we tried to see a movie but we got the times wrong. (It is hard to read anything here) We went out for dessert with T and her Engligh teacher & her husband instead. Hopefully T is getting exposed to a better side of life with us. We think she likes it too. Sunday we went to see S again. This time we brought our computer and went on Google Earth. We showed T & S their cities here in Ukraine and then we "flew" over to the U.S. and showed them our home and their future schools, etc. It was pretty facinating. This afternoon we took T to the cinema. It was a Russian Teen movie. We didn't understand a word but the teenage angst was easy to get. The subtitles were of no use - they were in Ukrainian! Afterwards, T suggested that we go out to the amusement park, just the 3 of us - without a translator. We agreed and we were able to communicate enough to have a pleasant evening. We taught each other words, went on rides, and ate dinner at a restaurant. We feel that we have been making a good connection with T! More hand holding took place at the park. I hope we made some good memories and laid a good foundation.


Proverbs 22:6 "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Anyone good with a Crystal Ball?




March 24
We have been tardy in writing to all of you. Since we last wrote on this blog we have been spending many hours with our Ukrainian kids, as well as filling out documents, traveling in taxis, and going to meetings. Think of this time here as a business trip, and not a vacation.

Sunday we saw our little guy in the morning, and then later in the evening, we attended a Ukrainian church service. The Barkers were also there and set up a sound system for a translator to tell us what was said. (Thank you Jane & Richard) We could not understand everything, but it still felt good to be in church and worship and pray with other believers. We will do it again this Sunday. After that service, we met with a woman who is willing to teach our “girl” some basic English. We are thrilled to get her started this week.

Monday we met with the assistant inspector and also her boss, the director of Child’s Services. Our girl was also there. She told them all that she wants to come to America and make something of herself. We hope that this is true. Later we returned to the Asst.’s office and our girl wrote out a statement telling how she wants to be adopted by us and she wants to go to America. We need the approval of so many people in this city and in the city where our little guy is living. Double paperwork is becoming normal & necessary. We also found out that our girl does not attend school regularly. The Director told her that she needs to go to school or he won’t let her go to America.

Tuesday was a frustrating day of meetings and cancelled meetings – not a very productive day. We did end our day with a nice dessert with a translator friend of ours who has come with the orphans to the U.S. several times. We enjoyed catching up with her, and telling about our adoption process.

Wednesday morning we woke up to a snow storm. Just the day before our taxi driver was declaring that “Spring is here.” (So much for that!) Also that morning, our girl got her Ukrainian Passport. Here it has the same meaning as a U.S. teenager getting their driver’s license. She was so happy. She was also supposed to go to get a physical as required by adoption law. The timing was not right, and so she plans on going on Thurs. Later in the afternoon, we went to our girl’s school - College #8 - to get paperwork, but we ended up having an impromptu meeting with the Assistant Director of the College. He was so kind and talked with us and insisted on sharing the gifts we had given him. In addition to the chocolates and cognac we had given him, he added Ukrainian cookies, coffee and tea. It sure was different literally toasting and drinking cognac in the middle of the afternoon at school with the faculty!!! He really was insistent. We left there warmed by his hospitality (and of course the cognac). We planned on meeting our girl in the evening at 6:00 for her first English lesson, but she cancelled on us at the last minute. It turns out that teens like to celebrate here when they get their passport, and she went out with her friends.

Thursday was disappointing because our girl did not go to the physical. We tried to meet up with her, but she was not at home. Instead, we were able to talk to her “Aunt” who she lives with. We took the Aunt out to breakfast, and with the help of our translator, we learned a lot more about our girl’s present and past. (The good, the bad and the ordinary.) We feel strongly that we need to know as much as possible about our kids, so we can do our best to help them. Later on we visited our little guy and played games with him and with another little girl who will be adopted later by another family. Our little guy signed a paper telling the orphanage director that he also wants to be adopted by us. Then we did more filing of paperwork in his city. Finally at 4:00pm, after waiting three days, we were invited to talk with the Assistant Mayor, and the Asst. Inspector. We had a pleasant and brief chat with them. The Asst. Mayor knew of us and our attempt to adopt back in Dec. She seemed cautiously optimistic about our adopting the older sister. I guess we passed, because she wished us luck and was kind to us. We ate dinner at our favorite restaurant, Reflections.

If all goes well, the paperwork should be completed and in Kiev for approval by the State Department of Adoptions (SDA) by Monday. So far the process is moving steadily forward for both children. We need more time with the children, particularly the older girl, in order to build relationships and better understand what motivates her and to know what her goals are for the future. Please pray for these children and for clarity about God’s will for each of them in this process. As we learn more of the unsavory details of these children’s very sad histories it is tempting to make quick and easy black and white judgments. We need to resist these hasty judgments as we never have the complete perspective.

Matthew 7: 1-5 “Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye”, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Saturday, March 21, 2009

A Cold Spring Morning Surprise

As is often the case here, things changed without any notice, but sometimes they change for the better. Today was one of those days. As we noted in an earlier post, we had been told we would not be able to see our little guy's sister (lets call her T) until Monday. Unbeknownst to us, she expressed an interest in seeing us and her brother (lets call him S) today despite being ill. So we piled into our taxi and headed to T's aunt's apartment to see her for the first time since December. She was very shy at first but smiled and greeted us. We drove the 30 or so minutes to the orphanage where T and S hugged and clearly shared some genuine affection for one another. We shared some photos from the family's visit to the orphanage last December, played a bit with S and some other children, but too soon it was time to go. We stopped for lunch on the way back, shared some stories with one another about travel, different cultures, languages and enjoyed pancakes, coffee and hot melted chocolate together. T and Bill discovered that they know about the same number of words in one another's languages (between one and three). When we returned to T's aunt's home to drop T off, she gave us both warm hugs. she expressed (through our interpreter) her apologies for the way our December visit had gone (when T was under the supervision of the shelter director). It was a delightul surprise and a good first encounter. We hope and pray we can build upon this interaction.



Before we left the U.S., we had a conversation with another family that has been over here. We agreed the trip would not "fail" because of a lack of prayer. We believe there are literally hundreds of people praying for God's will for these children during this trip. What we can tell you, dear friends and family, is that these first 72 hours feel very different from our first trip. For example we were in-and-out of Kiev with everything accomplished in 8 hours. (last trip was almost 72 hours.) We felt alone and unsupported last trip: as a simple example, this trip we had three people just helping us to buy groceries! Please continue your prayers as we are grateful to God for His provision so far, and we pray that our actions would be pleasing to Him, that His will would be done and that any success or glory that results from this trip would be given to Him and Him alone. Our interest is in being obedient regardless of whether the outcome of that obedience is one we can understand fully now.

Oswald Chambers' devotions are often so helpful we offer his recent entry here in its entirety as an encouragement to all.
Abraham's Life of Faith

"He went out, not knowing where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8). In the Old Testament, a person's relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person's life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus was referring to in Luke 14:26.
Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason-a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the bigger traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in this world.
The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles' wings, but is a life of day in and day out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (see Isaiah 40:31). It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and has withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith- a faith, tested and true, built on the true God. "Abraham believed God..." (Romans 4:3).




May it be so with each of us.

Friday, March 20, 2009

We're Back!!!

March 19, 2009

WE’RE BACK!!! Can you believe it? We didn’t think this would happen for a long while. Konstantine, our adoption facilitator, worked his magic once again and he got us a “continuance.” That means we are starting over – as if December didn’t happen (We think) We, Bill & Rebecca only, got on a plane early Wednesday morning out of LAX and flew to NY. Then we got on another flight and landed in Kiev Thursday morning. Boy how time flies. We are grateful for smooth travel, all our luggage is here, Bill’s back is doing ok after the long flights, easy customs experience, quick contact with our driver at the airport and it is probably 15 degrees warmer than our last arrival (today it is in the high 30’s we think).

We are hoping to get in & out of the State Department of Adoptions (SDA) today, Thursday the 19th, and head to the region on the train tonight. This may or may not happen. The SDA could take an hour or a day to provide us the referral paperwork we need and even if we get it today, train tickets are hard to come by, so we will know tonight. Most likely we will need to spend the night in Kiev. Many of you are wondering what has happened to us over the last 2 months. Well here is the condensed version:

We returned to the states at the end of Dec. ’08 without any success of adoption. It was a sad time for our family. Bill worked diligently trying to get our little guy here on a medical visa, but that also was not progressing. We continued to look at every option we could, and prayed constantly for guidance and understanding. Then, about 3 weeks ago, one of the facilitators in the region was finally able to talk to our little guy’s sister – alone. After they talked, the sister changed her mind and she decided she would consider coming to the U.S. with her brother. We were surprised, shocked, concerned, elated and felt the full range of these emotions simultaneously. We got on the phone and talked to all parties involved and decided to give her a chance. We spoke to her and we felt that she was sincere. We decided to step out in faith and invite her to consent to being adopted by us. She accepted and we started the formal paperwork to make that happen. And here we are...back in Ukraine, back in Kiev at O’Brien’s Irish Pub, listening to Motown, classic rock and eating fish and chips and steak. (If only we were here two days ago for the biggest Irish party in town!!)

Flash forward:
Now we are writing on Friday Night at 10:30p.m. Chernitvsi time. (1:30p.m. L.A time -9 hour time difference) We were able to get in & out of the SDA yesterday afternoon, and also get a room on the train. We travelled all night and arrived here in the region at 9:30am. We were met by our facilitator, and a taxi whisked us to our apartment. It is comfortable and and they gave us one hour to clean up before they took us to our appointment at the inspector’s office. There we had to formally ask permission to go and see the kids. We were successfully approved and made our first supervised visit to the Child’s House orphanage. While there we got to see our little guy and get reacquainted, as well as give hugs to an older girl at the orphanage that another family hopes to adopt. We wanted to also see the sister later on, but she is in another area and we need to get permission from a different inspector. Unfortunately, both the 2nd inspector and the sister are sick. We’ll have to wait to see them till Monday but she is aware we are in town. We returned to town, purchased a wireless modem and some local internet time, groceries and made our first video skype call with the kids. Thanks to all of you (you know who you are) who supported us in understanding this technology which lets us stay in touch with the three kids back home. It is wonderful! To round out our day, we had a nice dinner with the Barkers at the German restaurant called, Haus, here in town. It was great to see all of them (7 in all) and see familiar faces and talk about our common experiences. They are also in the process of adopting 3 boys. Successfully approved and made our first supervised visit to the young child’s orphanage. The first day of Spring in Chernivitsi included rain, snow and freezing rain and even a little sun!! We are going to fall over asleep now. Travelling is exciting and exhausting.
Train

TaxiApartment
Bill and Rebecca