So we finally got news from the Ukraine.  The children received the package we sent them in November.  They loved the gifts, and are very excited to be adopted.  I was also told that the Director of the orphanage is ready to sign over guardianship once our paperwork gets to the Ukraine. 

The package is in the Ukraine

So I have been tracking our package to the Ukraine and today it arrived!  The children should have it by the weekend. I am so happy and sad at the same time. I am happy that they will soon find out we want them to come home to us and sad they are  not yet home with us.   Soon soon soon that is what I tell myself.

More Paperwork

I mailed out more paperwork today! 
I get overwhelmed sometimes when it comes to all the paperwork, but then I remind myself of the kids waiting for us. 

Our package is ready to go

So we packed the box today and will be shipping it tomorrow.  I can't believe in about 2 weeks our children will know we are coming to get them.  Thank you again Mr. Alexi and Svetlana for translating our first letter to our children.  We love you.  You are both beautiful blessings to everyone around you.

Our Brothers and Sisters

Last night was awesome, we finally announced to our congregation.   Everyone was so excited.  These children will be covered in prayer until they get here, then they will be covered by love. 

Our Faith is in the Lord, his plan is great. 

I trust he will provide.

Our Family

A message to the Ukraine

We have great news, Olga told us we can send a letter to the children and tell them they are being adopted.

Our Children



Sasha Alina and Masha

Vika 

This picture is a couple years old, Vika could not come to America because she was too young at the time. 



OUR CHILDREN

Danny and I were walking around the house over the weekend talking about our home, and some of the changes that need to be made to the house as well as our schedules to support our new family.  After walking through the house and deciding which child will go in which room, and what construction will need to be done,  I asked the question-  Are these our kids, are we going to claim them in the name our Holy Father?   One by one I heard-  Danny- Yes,  Kate-Lynn -Yes, Kyle Yes…. Then in the name above all names, we claim these children to be ours.  

AMEN

THE HOST FAMILY

I left a message for Kelly and she called back within the hour.  The tears started almost immediately, I think we were both amazed by GOD and what he was doing.  Kelly told me about the children, and told me how her and her family have been praying for the children and for the family that would be adopting them.  I thanked her for the prayer and told her we are the family, God is confirming it through our conversation.   Kelly offered to send pictures of the children which I gladly accepted.  Here is the email I received back from Kelly.

Danielle,

It was amazing to speak with you yesterday!!  Jay and I have just stood in awe of how faithful our God is as I think about the journey He had us on with the children and the prayers prayed for them and you (without knowing you).  As we are walking through our own adoption and needing to depend on Him and not our own understanding, the e-mail and your call came at His perfect timing.  Again, standing (or shall I say hitting my knees) in awe!!  Here are some photos of their time here.  

Kelly

P.S. As I looked through the pictures I was flooded with joy thinking of them:)  And remembering how much they LOVED fruit, how silly they were, how much Sasha and Alina loved to ride bikes and how much Sasha loves video games (which we had to give a limit or he would play forever:) hahaha), how much Masha loves to cook and be a help.  I know they will be blessed to have you but you will truly be blessed to have them!!  Know you have this family on our knees praying for you and this journey!!  Please keep us updated, we are just so over the top excited!!!:)

Our children when they arrived in the US to stay with Kelly and Jay for the summer! 

 

THE CHILDREN CONTINUED

The following day I could not get these beautiful faces out of my head or my heart, so I sent an email to Olga telling her that we saw two sets of 4 sibling groups and my husband and I are willing to take one of them, however there is one group that has stood out in our hearts, and I told her about Poptart and her brothers and sisters.   Olga responded back and told me she was familiar with the children and that 3 of them were here in the United States last year and hosted by a family in Georgia.  She asked me if I would I like to talk to her?…… Talk to someone who met these kids,  YES!  YES!  oh my GOD-   Olga immediately emailed me back with “I thought you would say that”.  Within 2 hours I was placing a call to Kelly.. the host mother.   

(SIDE NOTE) I received this email response while at a red light on my way back from my lunch break…  When I read her response I immediately broke down and starting sobbing, good holy spirit sobs, thanking God because at that very second I knew he was confirming these children were ours.  

THE CHILDREN

So after God told us which agency to use, we started the paperwork… the application went in and approved…  ( this is just the initial application, the rest of the paperwork comes to us later)

We received access to the agency website where we are able to see available children.  That evening my daughter and I sat together to start looking at the children.  They are all beautiful, but one little girl caught my daughters eye, she had pigtails with a little pink bow in her hair, and was holding a cookie, which to my daughter looked like a Poptart, so my daughter started calling her Poptart.   We read her bio and saw she had 2 sisters and a brother.  My daughter and eye searched to try and locate the others which happened to be two pages down from Poptart…. We began reading their bios as well.  All 4 have been staying in a Christian orphanage.  Some little alarm bells ( good alarms) started going off inside, where these the children?????  I went to my husband and told him about the kids, I told him these may be the kids.  He smiled and said ok, if these are the kids, then God will give them to us.  I prayed that evening and asked God to please show us the children he wants us to care for, please God you know I am someone who needs to prepare for this stuff.  I have construction to do, and painting to complete... Please Lord confirm for me these are the kids.  

Still looking

During the weekend, I received a response via email from 2 out of the 3 agencies.  Nothing exciting, just an auto response email.  On Monday morning, I received a phone call from an agency, she was a very nice lady who I asked a bunch of questions to..  Things like if I go to the BBB website what will I see... crazy right, I know but I needed an agency and I did not want them to take our money...  the women on the other end did a great job, she was kind and answered all my questions.  My final question was are you a believer, she said yes... I said ok, then I need to pray about this and get confirmation from God that your agency is the agency we are going to use to get our babies from the Ukraine. 
REWIND ONE DAY.... the day before which was a Sunday, we had Mr. Alexi, Svetlana, Michelle and Alex at our house to talk about the adoption and the ministry and what we do next.  It was a great day, we laughed and ate and shared....  During our conversation about the adoption I expressed my frustration that I have not yet found an agency, and that is a crucial part of this process.  Svetlana reminded me that a few weeks prior to this meeting she sent me a video about a man who had a dream about a little girl, and when he woke from his dream he knew God was calling his family to adopt.  The most amazing part of this testimony is how he found his daughter.  He had a friend draw a picture of the girl he drempt about and sent it to an agency to do a search.  Now nobody knew who she was, and where she lived.. So the man sent the picture to an agency and they began their search.. of course soon after that they found the girl.... I told Svetlana I did not watch the video yet, but I would make the commitment to watch it tomorrow, "maybe the agency is in that video"  So the next day I brought my iPad to work and during lunch I began watching the video.. SIDE NOTE-- remember this is the day I received a call from the agency --- so I started watching the video and within a few minutes the name of the video came up on the screen. AN OPEN DOOR ADOPTION AGENCY..... here is the BINGO moment.  that is the same agency I received the phone call from earlier that day...... I sat back on my chair and looked up and PRAISED GOD... he told us the agency. I immediately emailed Olga (she is the person I spoke to earlier ) and told her I am so excited, God showed me you are the agency and we will be working together to get our children,,,,,, WOOOO HOOOO

Still on the Lookout for the agency

Later that day after my "friend" helped to get me back on track, I was telling someone at work the great journey God was having my husband and I take, she said, you should go reach out to "DT" ( i am not going to use her real name because I haven't ask permissionn yet) she is in the middle of adopting and I am sure she can help you.  I was like ok, we will see...SIDE NOTE... remember in the beginning of this calling when God put 3 faces in my head ....another BINGO moment is about to happen........ about an hour or so later I was talking to another person and told him about the journey, he then proceeded to tell me, "Hey, you should reach out to DT she is adopting and has a lot of great info... Well, if that is not a direction from God I don't know what is.. so I reached out to DT and told her, God has told my husband and I we need to adopt, and I believe you have information for me, can we do lunch?  As you can image, I was very happy to hear on the other end of the phone, PRAISE GOD, I would love to do lunch.... so off to lunch we went.  DT had a lot of great information, she said when she gets back to work she will send me a website that may help in my quest for an agency.  Before we got up to leave, I told her about the 3 faces God put in my head and I could not understand why he put this one person in my head, so I said his name and DT was like, oh I know him, we go to church together....BINGO...  I was suppose to reach out to the person in my head so he could redirect me to DT....  I guess God knew I was uncomfortable reaching out to this person, so he sent me 2 messengers so I would call DT..
Later that day DT sent me the wesite and after work I began to search, I cant remember how I got to this one site but I ended up on this site with a list of agencies.... I sat back in my chair and asked God, how am I suppose to pick an agency from this list, do I contact all of them?  I knew their was a better, faster way, so I said a prayer, God I know the agency is on this list, I need you to direct me please.. so I did not get a DANIELLE GO TO THIS ONE, instead I scrolled up and down the list and chose 3....  I sent emails to all 3 agencies and hoped God would have the right person contact me back.