"Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth." Isaiah 43: 5-6
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:8
This is Aunt Bo Bo's (Leigh) account of Ashton's escapades and adventures during our absence. So far, it is rather humorous!
Why Ukraine?
After hearing of our Ukraine adventure, many people have asked us, "Why Ukraine?". Over the last year, international adoptions have been covered by the media more than I can ever remember, and as a result the general public is familiar with adoption from China, Russia, Guatemala, and Vietnam - however many people do not even realize that Ukraine is no longer part of Russia much less know how the adoption process operates.
When we began this journey a year ago, we prayed a lot about which country to choose and everywhere we turned, we came face to face with Ukraine. From our nurse practitioner who had actually worked in Ukrainian orphanages to episodes of Mr. Roger's, Ukraine was ever before us. God shut doors to other countries and opened then to Ukraine - so, that's where we decided God was leading us.
In the beginning, we had no idea how unstable international adoptions can actually be. In reality, it wasn't until we were ready to submit our paperwork that the instability became apparent. Laws and political leaders are ever-changing, therefore the adoption process changes as well. We have discovered that what may be the law today may very well change tomorrow. For us, we find peace in that no matter what tomorrow brings or what changes are implemented, our Lord is not taken off-guard because He already knows what tomorrow holds because He holds tomorrow.
We are requesting a little girl under the age of 38 months (3 years 2 months) with minor correctible medical needs - that's a close to a healthy child as you can get in the Ukraine adoption arena. We have a biological son who is 39 months old, and we want to maintain our birth order if at all possible.
At the time of our appointment on Nov. 14, 2007, there were 90 families waiting for second appointments for children matching our request, so we did what we could - we got in line as family #91!
As of January 1, 2008, there were approximately 125 families waiting for second appointments for younger children. Supposedly, the families will be invited back to Ukraine between January 14 and February 29, 2008. Your prayers for all of us are very much appreciated!
Our Adoption Timeline
· 11/22/07 – Returned to America · 11/19/07 – Requested 2nd appt. with SDA · 11/16/07 – Rejected referral of sibling girls · 11/14/07 – SDA appointment · 11/11/07 – Arrived in Kyiv · 11/10/07 – Left Nashville, TN · 09/06/07 – Dossier registered · 07/23/07 – Dossier submitted to SDA · 05/14/07 – Mailed dossier to America World · 04/21/07 – 171H received · 03/20/07 – Homestudy report completed · 03/09/07 – Mailed I600A application · 03/06/07 – Began homestudy · 02/20/07 – Appplication approved by America World · 01/31/07 – Switched from China to Ukraine · 11/17/06 – Mailed preliminary app. to America World · 11/07/06 – Attended America World seminar · 09/16/06 – Watched America World video and confirmed our desire to adopt
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