We just got back from the SDA and was told that there are 90 families waiting for second appointments for children under the age of 3. I guess we are family #91! We went to the local Delta office and changed our flight reservations. We asked to arrive in America on the first possible plane! We are leaving midday Thursday and will arrive in Nashville around 9:45 p.m. on Thursday. Fortunately we will gain a day by flying back home, and we will definitely need the extra hours to help ease some of the jetlag.
We are okay. The only time that I can truly remember pouring my heart out to God in such an intense manner is when I was praying for His healing power over my mother's cancer - he answered prayers then and is answering them still. We were told to expect a call from Yuri in about a month. The SDA will contact him with information about our child when it becomes available. At the next appointment, we will only be presented one child but it is supposed to be a healthy child (let's all pray for a girl). Yuri will be able to tell us the child's name, age, orphanage location, and medical information when he contacts us again. At least we will be able to prepare for the coming of this child instead of traveling blind - very, very difficult. We are excited, yes, excited! We know that right now, our child just isn't ready to join our family (for one reason or another). We will be able to spend the holidays with our family in America and enjoy all the festivities that come with this time of year. When our child is ready, God will beckon us back to Ukraine.
We are SO ready to head home. This has been a rather overwhelming experience. Yes, we have definitely experienced culture shock. If nothing else, this journey has helped to bring all of us closer to Christ and to each other. Our families have come together and cared for our child and grown closer together. We have found ourselves in a valley in which the walls were so steep that there was absolutely no way out and then God held his hand down to us and pulled us from the muck! There is so much in America that we take for granted even down to the little things like cleanliness, grape jelly, free refills at restaurants, etc. This Thanksgiving, take a moment to thank God for even the smallest of blessings.
It looks like we will be staying at Elvis' love shack for a few more days. When we get back home, I will update the blog with photos. We haven't really been able to take a lot of photos because it has been dark when we've had the opportunity to sightsee and it is not proper to take photos of most of the churches, trains, landmarks, etc. I do know one thing, we don't care if we EVER see another snowflake!
Holland Family, bring warm clothes! For our next trip, which we are excited about, we will pack MUCH differently. We brought 2 medium sized suitcases and a dufflebag - not next time! We won't bring a laptop next time, only 3 sets of clothes, no diapers, and quiet, mundane toys for the orphanages (not toys that make music or light-up like our agency encouraged because those scare the children). What we WILL DO is tie some funky looking ribbon or cloth around the handles of our luggage for easy identification at the airport. We had VIP service at the airport, and you should have seen the Ukrainian man trying to climb through the luggage tunnel to find our rather ordinary looking bags! Ribbon or cloth is a definite must for easy identification!
Thank you, everyone, for all the prayers, support, and comments. You have NO idea how wonderful it is to log-on and be able to hear from family and friends! Honestly, on some days, that really helped us to make it through. At times, it was hard to read the screen because both of us were trying to do so through tear-filled eyes! We miss everyone so much. If we don't get a chance to update before we get home - see you soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are okay. The only time that I can truly remember pouring my heart out to God in such an intense manner is when I was praying for His healing power over my mother's cancer - he answered prayers then and is answering them still. We were told to expect a call from Yuri in about a month. The SDA will contact him with information about our child when it becomes available. At the next appointment, we will only be presented one child but it is supposed to be a healthy child (let's all pray for a girl). Yuri will be able to tell us the child's name, age, orphanage location, and medical information when he contacts us again. At least we will be able to prepare for the coming of this child instead of traveling blind - very, very difficult. We are excited, yes, excited! We know that right now, our child just isn't ready to join our family (for one reason or another). We will be able to spend the holidays with our family in America and enjoy all the festivities that come with this time of year. When our child is ready, God will beckon us back to Ukraine.
We are SO ready to head home. This has been a rather overwhelming experience. Yes, we have definitely experienced culture shock. If nothing else, this journey has helped to bring all of us closer to Christ and to each other. Our families have come together and cared for our child and grown closer together. We have found ourselves in a valley in which the walls were so steep that there was absolutely no way out and then God held his hand down to us and pulled us from the muck! There is so much in America that we take for granted even down to the little things like cleanliness, grape jelly, free refills at restaurants, etc. This Thanksgiving, take a moment to thank God for even the smallest of blessings.
It looks like we will be staying at Elvis' love shack for a few more days. When we get back home, I will update the blog with photos. We haven't really been able to take a lot of photos because it has been dark when we've had the opportunity to sightsee and it is not proper to take photos of most of the churches, trains, landmarks, etc. I do know one thing, we don't care if we EVER see another snowflake!
Holland Family, bring warm clothes! For our next trip, which we are excited about, we will pack MUCH differently. We brought 2 medium sized suitcases and a dufflebag - not next time! We won't bring a laptop next time, only 3 sets of clothes, no diapers, and quiet, mundane toys for the orphanages (not toys that make music or light-up like our agency encouraged because those scare the children). What we WILL DO is tie some funky looking ribbon or cloth around the handles of our luggage for easy identification at the airport. We had VIP service at the airport, and you should have seen the Ukrainian man trying to climb through the luggage tunnel to find our rather ordinary looking bags! Ribbon or cloth is a definite must for easy identification!
Thank you, everyone, for all the prayers, support, and comments. You have NO idea how wonderful it is to log-on and be able to hear from family and friends! Honestly, on some days, that really helped us to make it through. At times, it was hard to read the screen because both of us were trying to do so through tear-filled eyes! We miss everyone so much. If we don't get a chance to update before we get home - see you soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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