And then there was 4

It is 11:03 as I start to write this blog. I look up from the kitchen table to my now quiet house. A half finished horse puzzle lay scattered across the family room carpet. Princess high heels by the kitchen sink. The living room table has 4 empty new shoe boxes, a beach bag full of damp towels and pool toys on top of it. The laundry hampers piled high next to it (which is not unusual in this house) but tonight, it seems unbearably larger among all the other mess. 

"Why is this house such a disaster?" It was spotless two days ago...

Adam and I were talking about it this evening after everyone went to sleep, and we both came to the conclusion that we both are doing the same thing. While I teach summer school from 7:45-12:15 everyday, Adam has used that time to bond with the kids. And when he goes and works in the afternoon, I am doing the same thing.  We have unconsciously made the same choice; the time usually spent on doing the breakfast dishes has become time spent investing in these kids. These really, really awesome kids.

The last 2 and half days have been an incredible roller coaster. The kind that you don't want to end.

Yana, is this sweet smiley little girl. We knew this immediately, when they first arrived we took "family" pictures. Yana instead of going to the edge of the picture squeezed herself in between Adam and I cuddling up to me, someone she met only a few minutes prior. 

And she is the best helper, like a little mommy. Lily and her have really connected. "I love Yana." Lily said to me while I was reading stories before her nap today. Maybe it's because she has done every puzzle we own with her, or because she played tick tack toe on our patio 20 times this afternoon with her (the evidence is in pink and orange chalk) or maybe it is because they like to swim in the pool together. Yana showing Lily how to swim like a dolphin and how to do back flips and hand-stands in the water.  Not to mention, Yana has some awesome hiding places when playing hide and go seek. This little girl is a gem and only wants to fit in and be loved.

Alex, (AKA Sanya) Mr. Cool Guy. I ask him "Alex, you like pool?" (This is how I talk now) He replies "Small," Really?!? Small?!? Our pool is not small.  "Alex, you like store?" "Small" Seriously kid? Aren't you from a small orphanage in a small town? I guess America is not that impressive to him so far. Now that being said, he was really excited to get a hand-me-down shirt that says San Diego on it. Da, (Ukrainian for yes) that shirt ended up in the “Da, I want to keep” pile. Alex has shown some seriously amazing qualities. He is such a pleaser. He does whatever you ask, and he is just a good kid. Alex will not let me carry a single thing. He is always taking items out of my hands; laundry baskets, groceries, plates...this kid even opens doors for me. Also, he can do some killer tricks with a soccer ball. 

Tonight, he is not feeling well, and this is the most I have seen him put his guard down. He is asking me to get him water and allowing me to bring him medicine. He is very gracious and kind about it, as though he appreciates that someone actually cares that his stomach hurts.

Communicating has been better than expected, they both know a lot of words in English. Alex is much more confident and willing to ask questions or say he doesn't understand. Yana does not want to pronounce anything wrong. She will try to say a word, but, if I don't understand it immediately she will put her hands in her face and put her head down as if saying "please don't make me try again." I have purposely (and not purposely) made a fool out of myself trying to say new words in Ukrainian, in hopes to show Yana it is OK to make mistakes, that's how we learn. However for those complex issues like, "What’s wrong, show me what hurts?"...thank you God for google translate. 

We have been busy...We have gone to the park to feed the ducks, we have been to the pool every day. We have also run a few errands.  For instances, I took them shopping for groceries yesterday to see some items they would eat. Alex picked carrots and Yana picked bananas and when we walked by the meat department, they both looked at each other and said in English "STEAK!" I ended up buying a family steak, you know the kind you put in the crock-pot, it might as well been prime rib or a new york t-bone the way they went on and on about steak. Even after we got home, they took it out of the bag and showed Adam, "STEAK." 

We have also made it a point to cook and sit down as a family for every meal. This may not seem like much, however, Yana and Alex now know how to use a can opener, peel carrots, mash bananas, cut veggies safely and crack an egg!

 

I am hopeful that before this hosting experience is up in August, I will be able to find 10 minutes prior to 10:15pm to do dishes from this morning, but for now, we are having fun just bonding with these kids!

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.  Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
1 Peter 4:8-11

Preparations

The kids are on the airplane headed our way!

 Tomorrow is the big day.

I remember laying in a hospital bed holding a 6 pound peanut, a little over five years ago and talking with Adam, and saying "this little girl is the most amazing gift that we will ever know." But then it happen again, less than 2 years later, we had that overwhelming feeling which was almost exactly the same. Like I could not imagine loving anything in the world more than what I was holding. God’s plan for our lives, laid out for us to see. We are to be parents to these little girls... He has entrusted us to care for something He created. And we will do everything in our power to love them, help them, and protect them. Two different days,  that would change our lives forever. 

A friend told me on Sunday, “I feel like I am anticipating your due date!” 

Tomorrow?

Is it going to feel like it did at the hospital? Am I going to love these children as soon as I meet them? An overwhelming feeling of knowing that this is God’s plan for our lives, entrusting us with His creation (even if it’s for just a short while)... 

Or is it going to be a blur? Full of translators, and crowds, and rushing around, and airport traffic, so quick, a whirlwind, something that we are glad we just got through... 

Or is it going to be super awkward? Imagine us in the airport, waving two welcomes signs around as two exhausted teenagers walk up, who don’t know us, don’t speak our language and are wondering “Who are these weird American’s and why are they so ecstatic to see us?” 

The kids have not known that they were (definitely) being hosted until a week ago. They only know us from an introduction letter we wrote with our pictures on it.  I believe they gave it to them on the plane.

Our preparation was a bit more intense. There were the trainings.The time spent communicating with three different agencies. The hidden facebook information page. The yahoo group. The two and half hour webinar. The social worker visits. The fingerprints. The sign up sheets. The multiple forms we signed stating, yes, we will send the kids back to the Ukrainian, And no, we do not have mental health issues. 

But then there is the time spent looking at their pictures and praying as a family. Buying a mid-century modern dresser from craigslist for Yana’s room (it's super cute). Buying cheap Sponge Bob and soccer wall decals to make their bedrooms look more inviting. Going Russian grocery shopping, Perogies, YUMMO.  And of course cutting out English/Russian labels with my daughter’s Lily and Elliot and then taping them all over the house.

The preparation stage is almost over, and we can soon meet these kiddos that we have prayed for, planned for, and talked about to everyone we know and everyone we don’t. 

During this entire preparation process, I have witnessed God tug at so many peoples hearts... “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." Phillippians 2:13

One facebook post and we had over 4 bags of hand-me-down clothes at our door step in a week. And the clothes continue to come in. We received another bag for Sanya on Sunday, and another bag for Yana tonight (randomly I ran into a friend at Chick-fil-a who was just driving it around in her car).

After emailing a women on craigslist to see if her bike that was listed for 20 dollars was still available? She told me yes and that we could just have it!  

We have also had so many people just give to us financially, something that has been a struggle for me to accept. But, I know the money is going to something bigger than me. "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." James 4:6 

I have witnessed people "pick up" items at the store for these kids, simple things,  like deodorant and tooth paste. Just to be able to do something. 

Backpacks and suitcases, just given to us so we can pack up all these goodies, presents, and memories to send home with them. So they have something in this world that they can call theirs back at the orphange. So they have a reminder that there are people that know they are there and are praying for their future. 

Phone calls, text messages from people asking us what they can do. Letters coming in the snail mail saying that they are praying for these kids. 

These kids, who do not have a family to care for them, who are forgotten, abandoned, lost, and forsaken by this world, are not by God. I witnessed true giving from love and from hope. And I am beyond grateful for this experience.

Thank you to everyone who has donated. I have been blessed by each one of you.

I pray that the Lord takes away our fears. That we love/live through Him. That we trust in him, and praise him for all the blessings that he has bestowed on our lives and the lives of Sanya and Yana.

Bring on the kids!!!!

A Life Uncommon

Common. The same. Normal.

 My life, my family, my everything is common. In my life, I have a husband who is a teacher, and I am a teacher. We have two little girls, two dogs, two cats, a mini van and to top it off, a pink house in the suburbs.  Does it get more common?

I have been blessed by God, He has given me everything listed above and so much more. And our life is the impiety of a common life. A safe, comfortable, easy life. Where we love our friends and our family but do not reach out to neighbors in our neighborhood. Where we go to church and praise God on Sunday and live our life the rest of the week. Where we spend our money on frivolous things but do not have a dollar or a snack to provide the man standing on the corner next to the Walmart shopping center.

I love my life, I love my husband, I love my kids and I love God. I love God. I want to live for God. I want to live a life uncommon. So uncommon. Doing more for Him than just working in the nursery at church once a month. It is a leap of faith, it is a terrifying but yet thrilling leap of faith. This blog was started today because our two huge leaps of faith are coming to stay at our home in 5 short days. This will be my journal, our journey, of how we made our common life into a life uncommon, a life for the Lord. I know it may not be pretty, or well written, but it will be our primary source for our family. To show my sweet little girls that loving your friends and family is easy, but loving people you do not know, people who are not perfect is what we need to do. To love everyone, especially those who do not have love. The forgotten ones. The least of these.

Why? Everyone keeps asking me why? Why are you guys doing this? Honestly, I don’t have an answer, but we feel called to do this. A month and half ago, I had no idea where  Ukraine was even located. But now I am learning phases in Ukrainian and Russian. “Good morning?” “How are you?” “Do you understand?” “Are you hungry?” 

This all started about 6 months back. My daughter’s Pre K teacher was having a shoe fundraiser and we brought in a couple of pairs of old shoes last December. What were they fundraising for, adoption. Adoption of a super cool 15 year old kid that they hosted last summer from the Ukraine. We would pray for him and her family and had them on our prayer wall. We would talk to her teacher briefly about it in the morning while dropping off our then 4 year old, but then we’d go on with our own life. 

 I have to admit, I am not a blogger, obviously since this is my first post, but I will sometimes read a distance friend (an acquaintance really)’s blog. She is a girl my husband was in the credential program with a few years back. Her blog was always intriguing to me, she and her husband adopted a 9 year old girl and 10 month old boy from Russia three years back and it was mostly about that. But, around January one of her blogs popped up on my husband’s Facebook page. "Kimmy look at this, isn’t that....?” “Ya! That’s Lily”s teacher.” 

The blog was all about their adoption and their need to fundraise.
It is funny how God puts people in your life, then He takes them and hits you over the head with them a couple times. Got it God, thanks! We became better friends with Lily’s teacher, and then about a month ago she asked if we wanted to host. We said that sounds nice. We had no idea (still don’t) what we were in for. She called some people, helped us fill out the application, set up our donation account, wrote a few letters of recommendations and BAM, just like that, we are hosting. 

Who are we hosting? A 12 year old girl named Yana and her 16 year old brother named Sanya, both Ukrainian orphans. 

What is hosting? Not sure yet. I will let you know if 5 days when our common life gets twisted ally-ooped into this awesome adventure. Into a life uncommon, but a life for God. His hands, his feet. His strength, His love pouring through us. 

Please pray for our host kids, pray that they feel safe and that healing can begin to happen in them.