"I don't know"

If you've talked to me lately you've likely heard me utter the words "I don't know" on repeat. 

What will happen when you get to Ukraine? I don't know.
When are you starting school back? I don't know.
How long will you be gone? I don't know. 
What will the kids at home be doing? I don't know. (lots of hanging with Grandmother)
What happens next medically with Andrii? I don't know.
Where is Amsterdam? I don't know. (But it's in the Netherlands - I had to google it). 

Thankfully some things are google-able. There are REAL answers. Other things we just have to trust God with the details. And He has proven faithful with the details.

"He who calls you is faithful; HE WILL SURELY DO IT." 1 Thessalonians 5:24

He didn't say it would be easy. But in His strength we move forward.

"fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you. I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. " Isaiah 41:10

What I do know... not much at the moment. But I know the One who knows it all. 

Love ya!

Joy Comes

Picked up my phone to see some wonderful news - a dear family, new friends, the ones adopting our hope-for-kids dear friend, got the call today to come over!!! They have to leave next week!!!
I’m so excited for them!!! REJOICING! 
(AND They were just ahead of us in the process and didn’t expedite, so... any minute now...)

But then I saw another message, a heart breaking message. Other dear friends, long time friends, who had hoped to adopt a particular little baby girl, had the door closed on bringing that baby home today. 
I’m mourning for them. Weeping. 

But we can still rejoice! That baby and her family (bio and hopeful) have been lifted before the throne of our Lord by a great group of believers. Daily. 
He hears. And just because this door closed, their home and hearts are still open. Longing. 

Oh what a torrent of emotions! 

That’s adoption. 

APPROVAL!!!

Today we received APPROVAL!!!! (happy dance!!!) 

This means that in Ukraine we are "registered as candidates for adoptive parents" - WOOHOO!

This is a HUGE step in the right directions! 

Travel between our two nations is aaaaahhhhh.... possibly opening back up soon.... perhaps VERY soon....


In other news:
We parents had a wonderful anniversary - ALONE! 

Love Birds

And then celebrated our Familversay with a cookout with our brood and some grand-folks.

this is a BAD recreation of my favorite picture
- I still love my little weirdos -

 A majority of us went to visit the Alabama relations and celebrate Baby Erin's First Birthday! She is the sweetest! And a total ham for a camera...

Baby Erin & Aunt Erin

My minions with their GREAT Uncle John

me w/my Aunt Carolyn and my Mama

Continue to pray for Andrii. He was supposed to be done with his radiation treatment but didn't pass all his blood test and had to put off several treatments. Hopefully he will finish soon and get a break. He seems to be in good spirits and messages us often.

Anastasia seems to be doing well and having fun hanging out with her friends. We don't get as many messages from her. Makes them all the more precious!

And I'm wearing myself out doing my own little happy dance over our approval!  

So here's a Happy Dance song so you can celebrate this adoption milestone with us.

Love ya! 

SUBMITTED

Good NEWS!!! 🥳

Just got word our dossier has been submitted to SDA (aka the great Ukrainian powers that be). This is where we get approved or rejected (and if rejected, we alter and resubmit).
Pray for all that - correct paper work, government officials, and our dear facilitator who has “followed” our story since the beginning.

And pray for these grant people to get on the ball and for new opportunities for us to fundraise in the midst of all this shutdown mess!
I feel a little like a scared contestant on the Price is Right, “Come on Big Money!” 🤣

I’ve created some google sheets to help explain the financial bits. If your on a PC they are linked under “Pages” at the bottom right of the home screen. On a mobile device go to the search bar near the top and find them there. And I’m working on Another post about all the money things and I’ll link the sheets there also.

Grants and Birds

Here's an overdue update about our Mother's Day "flash sale" of the Fly Home Fundraiser prints - we raised $250 in just few hours. Thanks to everyone who got something pretty for their mama!

AND... (drum roll)... this week received another grant from Katelyn's Fund for $3000! 

I cried. 

They sent us the nicest note - HUGE encouragement!  I'll share it here (so one day I can come back and cry again).

Dear Harold and Erin, 

We wanted to share with you how very blessed we were by your testimonies and trust in Him during the interview time together last week. We were moved by your willingness to share with us and know that He is going to continue to work and give you wisdom and strength through all of this. We were struck by your desires to listen to His voice, to follow His plan, and to see His kingdom go forth, we were blessed as you shared how He is growing and stretching you and showing His faithfulness during this time.   We are confident He has such a good plan for your family, and loves the ways you both serve Him so selflessly.  We know that He will show His faithfulness to you.

We were struck by your genuine faith, your desires for your children to know the Father as their personal Lord and Savior, your commitment to follow His plan, and your persistence to examine ways to live for Him.  We love your hearts and the ways He is creating new ways for you to know Him. You have a powerful story to share of His speaking and leading. He loves the way you are listening for Him, that you are living in new ways to grow in Him…we trust He has and is giving you discernment in decisions, He is faithful. We will continue praying for each of you, for His grace, wisdom, and presence.

It is with joy, we share, that we have approved your family for a $3,000 grant, which will be sent directly to your agency.

It was followed by some directions for getting it to our agency and whatnot. Fun stuff.
That is the biggest grant that fund doles out - so it's a huge deal. What encouragement! 

Praying a few more come in. Several have contacted us that because of this virus mess their meetings and doing are postponed until into the summer months. 

God is providing. 

There's still a lot going on. Even when we feel like it's standing still. He is moving. 

Please continue to pray for Andrii's health, he continues radiation and his platelet count was very low this week. 

Learn to do good;

seek justice,

 correct oppression;

bring justice to the fatherless,

plead the widow's cause.

Isaiah 1:17

I'm looking for a way to share  info - like grants and expenses and timelines - perhaps google docs. Look for that soon. Maybe. Hopefully.

While we wait

Last April we were busy compiling all the things for our homestudy. Our first home visit from the social worker was April 20th, 2019. Easter (my favorite holiday) took a back seat to this important task. Our Passover meal was skipped entirely. We celebrated birthdays and mourned the loss of a dear young friend.
That first goal, to complete the homestudy took a LONG time to reach. One piece of paper held us up for months. Like much of this process, it was totally out of our hands.
Last week, despite slow downs and total shutdowns, our Dossier was shipped to our facilitator in Ukraine.

This week Andrii celebrated his 16th birthday. We thought we'd be celebrating with him. A year ago we thought our biggest concern for him would be if he should get a learners license. We were looking forward to the happy "honeymoon phase" and watching the two of them relax into a huge new normal. I thought by now I'd be hugging them good morning and kissing them goodnight.
We thought by now life would look different than this. 

Ukraine hopes to reopen offices April 24th. What will that mean for us?
Will travel open back up? Next month? This summer? Could we go if they called us?
What will the timeline look like now?

We long to wrap these kids in love and hugs.
It’s hard for this mama to stay focused on task. I’m working in circles.
Psalm 91 continues to be a comfort. As well as our continuing study of Genesis.

Joseph was in some terrible trouble. “The Lord was with Joseph...” (Genesis 39:2) and made him a successful slave. But more trouble came “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor...” (Genesis 39:21) as a prisoner. The Lord never left Joseph, but prepared him for the responsibilities to come. The Lord had Joseph wait two long years before he was brought before Pharaoh (Genesis 41), but God was still with him, it was evident even to Pharaoh. And He was promoted and continued to succeed.
God is with us too. Tenderly loving us. Preparing us for what is to come. We are challenged to remember that God holds us in his hands, for His plans, in His timing. And “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)