It's been quite some time since I've posted here....seems like the hours run into days sometimes, and life gets busy! For those of you who didn't catch my update on Facebook, they have decided to keep Ruslan where he is until we come for him, rather than move him to a special needs facility. That is great news to us! We are so glad he doesn't have to endure yet another transition!
When we first felt a stirring in our heart to host an orphan, we never really thought it would actually happen! We felt the cost was insurmountable, and we would never be able to accomplish it. And then we did, with the help of an amazing church family and group of friends!
We never imagined ourselves going down the road this adoption journey has taken us down. We wrote the idea of international adoption off as something that would be really nice in theory, but unattainable for our family. We never imagined we could be approved by a homestudy agency as a family recommended to adopt a child. And then we were.
We tried to ignore the stirring of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We tried in every way possible to tell the Lord "no", though he so clearly had plans to use us in this journey somehow. Even when we began fundraising efforts, we were convinced that would be only to help another family adopt Ruslan. As the time of Ruslan's visit drew to an end, we were sort of discouraged that a family hadn't been found for Ruslan. And then we realized it had. Us.
We could come up with every excuse possible...we don't have the funds...we don't think we should adopt a child older than Mason...we won't get appproved...it will never work out. The Lord wasn't interested in our excuses. He was interested in our obedience. So, we took a deep breath, and took a step out in faith.
He has so clearly honored that obedience, and His presence and provision have been so evident thus far. He has continually provided physical, emotional and logistical support in the perfect timing that can only be His. He has opened doors, and paved the way thus far, and we will continue to follow Him where he leads. He has surrounded us with a church family, amazing friends, and our own families...all who have been instrumental in us making it to this point in the journey.
We spent quite some time in double mindedness, trying to discern if this was truly "of the Lord" or of our own desires. Then it hit us one day, it isn't up to us to discern that. He will make that very clear by the doors he chooses to open or close. Our job is to seek Him daily, listen for his voice, and be obedient. He will reveal, in His own time and way, if it is His will for Ruslan to be in our family.
With our homestudy finalized and approved, it is so crazy to think this might actually happen? That we could actually bring our son home to complete our family. That we aren't just crazy for believing in the possibility. That truly, all things are possible with God.
The process has been so remarkably smooth, that we are almost worried about getting the "cart before the horse" so to speak. We say that because our homestudy is being sent out in a few days to be registered with the State Department of Adoptions in Ukraine, our immigration application is being sent out in a few days as well, and just a couple months after that, our dossier will be ready to be sent over to Ukraine. At that time, a fairly significant payment is due. And then we get our travel date, and a significant payment is due for airfare, etc. and for fees once we arrive in the country.
Again, a time to remind ourselves that He is the jockey of our "horse and cart", not us....and if the cart gets a little before the horse, we have faith that the horse will follow. We are resting in knowing that the Lord pays for what he orders. And, we can't ignore the tremendous provision he has brought already.
We are thankful for friends and family who support us, and believe in us.
We are thankful for the beautiful child the Lord has already given us, and so grateful that he too has a heart for Ruslan, a desire for a sibling, and is so secure in our love for him that he welcomes the idea readily.
We are thankful for an agency that realizes the heart behind our efforts, and is patient in expecting payments, and lenient with due dates.
We are thankful to Ruslan's birth mother-despite the fact that she gave him up-because she decided to give birth rather than terminate, and that she gave us the gift of getting to know him.
We are thankful to our amazing church family...had someone told us years ago that we would be surrounded by so many ready to walk along side us, celebrate our wins, and hold us up during our trials, we never would have believed it.
We are thankful to friends and family who have offered of their time, treasures, talents, ideas, stories, and more to support us.
We are ultimately thankful for each step in this journey, each high and each low, and the way God is using all of it to draw us closer to Him.
And we are thankful that it is looking, at least today, like this dream of ours might actually happen. That we might actually be able to give a loving home to a little boy who so desperately needs one.
