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.”