In The Beginning...

In the beginning... there was a blog! And this is, indeed, the beginning - of a grand adventure to be sure - of which I have resolved to document for memory's sake, and so all who are interested can stay up to date. Oh! Lest I forget, my biggest motivator in writing this; so that you all will see how amazing God is, and how he is able to work the craziest circumstances out for His glory, and our good!

First, a little background for you. We are one week out of a 3 week long Ukrainian orphan hosting program, where we were priviledged to be able to host a teenage girl, who I'll call Elle. From the minute we met her, we could see she had a caring and generous heart. With in minutes of her arrival, she was on the couch with our daughter Sophia (the oldest of our four, and the only girl,) trying to communicate with her. Although I think at that point, the only English she knew was "Hello".

It really was a delightful three weeks - lot's of hugging, laughing, games, puzzles, and techno music, and such a servant's attitude! Throw Christmas in the mix, and we had it made. One day, 'Elle' asked if we had a bike. "Sure!" I said. She hopped on the bike, wobbled a bit, and off she went. Only later did she tell me, that it was the first time she had ever ridden one. What?? 

We are so blessed to live in this country.

Not surprisingly, Elle picked up the cough that had been making the rounds around our house, thankfully not a bad one, but we didn't want it to get any worse. So, two nights before we were to say goodbye, I urged her to go to bed so that she didn't get sick. "No, pliz.", she said. "If I go to bed, I will have to leave sooner." (Thank goodness for Google translator). "Besides, if I get sick, I won't have to go to school when I get back to Ukraine!" Yes, indeed; a typical teen!

Up to this point, I had been careful no to say the "A" word - that would be "adoption" - because this was, after all, a hosting event, and I didn't want to get the coordinator in trouble, seeing as Ukraine does not let you pre-pick a child to adopt, and they will not hold a specific child for you. The night before Elle left, however, she ushered me in to her room to look at the translator. It said, "If you adopt me, I want a new name." 

"What? You have a beautiful name! Everyone tells me that they love your name."

"No. New life. New name."

Couldn't argue with that, could I?

Our goodbye was, of course, littered with tears and I love you's, lots of pictures, more tears, more I love you's, then a wave goodbye, as the van left for the airport, with our girl.

Later that week, we polled the kids bluntly. "Hey guys, what would you think if we tried to adopt Elle?"

HUGE eyes, and yeses, answered, and it was confirmed. God brought her here; and He is certainly able to bring her back, isn't He?

And that brings us back to the beginning - of our grand adventure - to go and bring our girl back home.