This Week at a Glance

Our days have been quite busier than we ever expected.  Our mornings are spent travelling to appointments to sign more documents.....will it ever end???  Then our afternoons are spent visiting Vanya and "the boys".  Our visits have been sweet.  We have done a little English, played some Chinese Checkers, gone out for pizza, and have done some some shopping so that we may bless his close friends with shoes, groceries, and cell phones to keep in touch!

Friday at 10am (3am EST), we will have court.  After some formalities and questioning, we will wait about 30 minutes before we hear the official decision of the court regarding the adoption.  Upon hearing their decision, we will enter a mandatory 10 day waiting period.  Jim will travel back home on Saturday and I will continue visiting with Vanya and preparing for all the transitions to happen on the other other side of the Atlantic.  Then, on the 11th day (November 1st) we will pick up the court decree and will also celebrate our first "Gotcha Day" with Vanya!  He will be declared our son and we will grow to be a family of 7 Moynihans!

Once we have the court decree, we have about another week's worth of travelling and paperwork before Vanya and I return home!  Our flight is scheduled for November 9th and we're praying that we can make it!  I was hoping to leave before the snow and severe cold comes, but I'm not counting on it.  It was actually snowing yesterday, just a few hours north of us!!!

On a more personal note, I have to let you all know that tonight my heart is breaking.  We have rubbed shoulders with some amazing young men these past couple of weeks.  Tonight, we talked more extensively with 2 of the boys, Genna and Kirill.  Both of these boys live in a totally volatile environment with alcohol, sex, smoking, and drugs readily available around every corner.  Neither of them have parents to offer any direction, encouragement, provision, or protection.  They both came to know Christ through an orphan ministry through a local church.  They told their salvation story freely.  They found Love and embraced Him.  God is Love.  Their reciprocated love, devotion, purity, and prayer lives would put many of us to shame.

How is it that a toxic environment + no way out + no family + a traumatic childhood + very little money + not even knowing where they'll sleep over the Christmas holiday in the dead of winter = a dynamic love for God?
These are honorable boys.

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?  Though she may forget, I will not forget you" (Is. 49:15).

Not only has God not forgotten them, but He is preparing their forever home.  He is making ready their reward.  He is pleasured and glorified by their faith.

Enjoy some pictures from Novamykolivka

I just thought I'd give you a quick tour of our recent visit to Vanya's previous orphanage.  We very much enjoyed everyone we met here.  Vanya has not been here for a while, since relocating about 30 minutes away, and he received quite a welcome from his friends and teachers!  He was so excited to be at "Nova" and he gave us all the details of the years he spent here.  It was a precious memory to walk these rural grounds and to see the sites of the many stories he has shared with us.   We were thrilled to experience what his life was like during his years at Novamykolivka.  It was obvious that this place was "home" to him and it made for a difficult goodbye.

                        These 2 loving caregivers have known Vanya for 3 years.  They were happy to hear that he is being adopted.  They had a beautiful little museum in the orphanage, which included some traditional Ukrainian dress that they insisted on seeing me in!      

                             Vanya took this picture of us with some of his closest friends.  

                          Vanya described the kids at this orphanage  as being one big family.
                       

                         This older couple lived right next to the orphanage and had developed
                         a very sweet relationship with Vanya.  They kept saying what a good
                         boy he is.  They said they were happy to know he was being adopted
                        and in good hands.

Our 2 Top 10 Lists

Our Top 10 Favorite Things About Ukraine

1. VANYA
2. Orphan Smiles
3. The Dynamic Evangelical Church Here - "Grace Melitopol"
4. Sergei - Our Amazing Facilitator
5. The Loving Teachers, Caregivers, and Directors of the 2 Orphanages We've Visited
6.  Fall Foliage & Brisk Air to Remind Us of Home
7. Vanya (just thought we'd sneak that in)
8. Restaurant Adventures - Last night we ordered Borsch & got 2 vanilla milkshakes (lol)
9. Cherry Pierogies?!?!
10. Did we already mention Vanya????

10 Things We Hope Never To Take For Granted Ever Again

1.   Family
2.   A Place to Call Home
3.   The Hope That We Have In Christ
4.   Our Washing Machine and Dryer
5.   Brushing Our Teeth With Tap Water
6.   Starbucks Coffee
7.   Toilets (as opposed to "squatty potties")
8.   The Ability to Communicate
9.   Paved Roads
10.  A Mounted Shower Head

Praises and Prayer Requests:

• Praise the Lord we got a court date.....Friday, October 21. Unfortunately, this was the same day that Jim was scheduled to come home. It was later than we expected as well as more costly and more difficult for Jim's return trip, but we're still so very thankful.  
• Pray for the salvation of Sergei, our facilitator. He will be moving in with us today. With as much time as we spend with him, pray that we will be able to impact him for Christ.
• Pray for the continued deepening of our relationship with Vanya and for all the changes he is currently anticipating.

A favorite song to share with you all:

Sweet, Sweet Reunion

After getting all the necessary paperwork and referral from SDA, we BARELY caught our 7:00 train out of Kiev.  We were with a facilitator and we all got separated in a VERY crowded train station, with less than 5 minutes until our train was scheduled to leave!  A little stress, a little adventure, but we made it.  The stairs were already up, but they made an exception and let us on anyways.  The train itself was really fun!  Jim and I have never done anything like it.  We had our own little compartment with 2 beds, a table, and a tv.  Jim was especially excited.  I was too, it just took me a little longer to get over the stress of the train station.  Anyway,  I told Jim that he was like a kid in a tree house!

10 hours later, at 5am, we arrived in Melitopol and were met by our translator, Sergei.  We found a hotel and were able to get a shower and a little rest before going to the inspector's office at 9am.  The inspector carefully reviewed all our documents and then accompanied us to the orphanage to meet the director as well as to see Vanya.

When we pulled up to the orphanage, Vanya was banging on the window!!!!  Our hugs were as sweet as I had expected!!!!  We didn't have much time for all the "lovey stuff" as we were escorted into the director's office.  During our meeting, we got to show them our pictures from over the summer, which proved to be a very important part of them realizing that we already had an established relationship with Vanya.  They asked a few questions, filled out more paperwork, and then asked Vanya to write a letter stating his desire to be adopted by us.  I had hoped to capture this moment in a picture, but we weren't allowed.  It really was beautiful, though!

Upon leaving, we were told our "visiting rights" and they said we could come back at 2:00, when Vanya was done school.

So, from 2-6:00 and then again today for several hours, we visited with Vanya, his close friends (whom we adore), and many other children.  We played soccer, mancala, battleship, and more.........all with Vanya as our translator!!!!!

Tomorrow, we will meet a bunch of "the guys" and go to the large evangelical church here.....the one where Vanya actually got saved as a result of their ministry.  We are really looking forward to our visit with these believers.

Please continue to pray for the smooth and efficient processing of all the necessary documents.  There is even more ahead than we realized!  Thank you all for your love and faithful prayers.

SDA success

Were you all up in the middle of the night praying?  Because at 9:00am this morning our time (2:00am EST), we arrived at SDA for our scheduled appointment and everything went very smoothly and very quickly.  They had all of Vanya's paperwork ready and they shared all the information they had about him.  We didn't really hear anything he hadn't shared with us already.  After this, they asked, "Would you like to see more referrals or have you made your decision?"  We smiled and of course replied, "We've made our decision."  And that was it!  We go back tomorrow between 4 and 5 to officially receive the referral and then hop on the 12 hour overnight train ride.

I gave Jim dibs on being the first one to hug Vanya!  I figured that if I can't keep my word, it will just end up being a group hug kind of a thing :).  Thanks for staying up to date with us.

First Day Out

A good friend once told me never to blog about what I had for breakfast.  However, I think this morning qualifies as an exception to that advice.  This morning, I woke up to yogurt parfait, chocolate torte, kefir- dipped french toast, and most importantly, VIA Starbucks!!!!  The Starbucks should clue you all into that this was a completely homemade breakfast prepared by my "One and Only".  If you DO know what kefir is, you'll get a laugh out of realizing that after mistakingly thinking it was milk and putting it on our cereal, we had to come up with another way to use it!  If you DON'T know what kefir is, it makes for an interesting google search!

Today, we ventured out into the city.  We figured out the Metro with only one mistake, we were blessed to have lunch with a wonderful woman here doing various ministries, and to top it off, we got "snuckered" into paying WAY more money than we should have to Garfield at Freedom Square.  This evening was spent on a stroll to St. Sophia's, dinner out, and a rather involved process of exchanging money at the bank.  It was a great time getting to know our surroundings, but we feel ready to move on and are looking forward to getting the ball rolling with the SDA (State Department of Adoptions) tomorrow morning.

2 items of prayer.......
1.   That all goes well with SDA the next 2 days.  They tend to be quite unpredictable and picky.
2.   That our process in entirety goes smoothly and quickly.  We were recently told that it rarely takes only five weeks to complete everything here.  The Lord knows how much our young family can handle, but we've still chosen to pray that things will go efficiently.

Thanks for your faithful prayers and enjoy the pics!!!

( This is primarily for my brother, Mark.....this graffiti is right outside our apartment.  I thought this was hilarious...)

Safe Arrival........

We just wanted to let everyone know that we landed safe, sound, and on time today in Kiev.  We even survived a first trip to the downtown grocery store.  I did  realize. however, that I should have brushed up on some basic Russian with Kristen and Karmen before we left.  I also realized that I forgot to pack all my mini skirts to blend in :).  Thank you all for your prayers that got us (and our luggage) here in such good shape.  As a reminder of our schedule:

Tuesday, Oct. 4 -  experience more of Kiev and catch up on some sleep.

Wednesday, Oct. 5 - SDA appointment at 9:00am

Thursday, Oct. 6 - 2nd SDA appointment, take overnight train to Vanya's region

Friday, Oct. 7 - SEE VANYA

Thanks again so very much for sending us off with all your love and prayers!

Up, up, and away.......

We leave tomorrow and know that we are going with a lot of love, prayers, and support.  Thank you for these gifts.  We can't wait to tell Vanya how dearly loved he is by all of you already.

5 Days and Counting.....

Well, it has been almost 3 weeks since we have been able to talk to Vanya.  We did receive an email from him the other day that said he was getting increasingly sad as he misses us and is wondering when we will arrive.  It was so wonderful to be able to email him back and tell him that we'll be seeing him in just 1 more week.

We thought we might give you all our tentative schedule of events while we're in Ukraine, but please do "follow" us there for all that awaits as we finalize our adoption.  We 're planning on giving lots of updates while we're there and we look forward to continuing this journey with all of you.  Again, we would ask that you cover us in prayer as we go.

Sunday, October 2 - fly out of Philly
Monday, October 3 - arrive in Kiev
Wednesday, October 5, 9:00am - Have our SDA (State Department of Adoptions) appointment to identify Vanya as the child we wish to adopt and be interviewed
Thursday, October 6 - receive and accept the official referral for Vanya.  Receive the necessary paperwork that allows us to visit with him at the orphanage.
- Take an overnight train to Vanya's region
Friday, October 7 - SEE VANYA and try not to hurt him when we hug him!!!!!
approx.  October 19 - 1st court hearing in region
Friday, October 21 - Jim comes home
approx.  October 19-29 - Mandatory 10 day waiting period
approx. October 30 - 2nd court hearing declaring Vanya as our child!!!!  We officially become 7 Moynihans!
approx. October 31 - Vanya and Wendy take a train to Kiev
approx. Nov. 1-8 - Vanya and Wendy process medical exams, documentation, Visa interview, etc.
Wednesday, November 9 - Vanya and Wendy return home!!!

Specific prayer requests include, but aren't limited to :)...

• Smooth and safe travelling
• Smooth and efficient processing of all documentation
• For the well being and stamina of our kids at home and those watching over them while we're away
• For Vanya as he brings closure to his life and relationships in Ukraine and anticipates his life in America
• For us to share the love of Christ with all those we'll have the opportunity to interact with including our adoption team, Ukrainian officials, orphans, and Vanya's loved ones. 

Lastly, we'd like to share a song that has recently both ministered to us and challenged us.  We'd like to share this in honor of Wendy's sister and brother-in-law, Kristen and Karmen Friesen, who for almost 2 decades have worked tirelessly in the name of Jesus for mercy and justice on behalf of many worldwide.  They have also played a major role in our adoption process and we thank God for them!

Flights are booked!!!

WOW......We're leaving in less than 2 weeks to go get our boy.  Today, we were able to firm up our travel plans and we're scheduled to leave on Sunday, October 2nd.....after Jim preaches, of course!    We will have time to visit with Vanya, but will also have lots of appointments and paperwork to complete as well.  Our trip will be divided between time in Kiev and time in Vanya's region, which is about a 12 hour train ride away from Kiev.

We would covet your prayers for a smooth, safe trip and for our kids back at home while we're away.  We also want to take the opportunity to thank each of you for your love, support, prayers, encouragement and financial gifts to our family these past few months.

Please continue to follow our blog as we hope to share the many experiences yet to come.

We got our due date.....I mean....We got our court date

We just found out about 25 minutes ago that we have been invited to meet with the SDA in Kiev, Ukraine on October 5 at 9:00 to begin the final portion of our adoption process!  We are thrilled to share this with you all who have been faithfully praying to this end with us.

We will be working out travel details in the next couple of days and will be sure to keep you all updated.  We thank God for His continued blessing on our adoption.

"Strength" or "Stress"?

For those of you who know our family really well, you might be able to guess the 2 males in our family who have the ability to change the lyrics to songs, whether for the better or for the worse.  You can all guess the one, and the other one, is Jonathan.

So, we're all at the breakfast table this morning and a few of the kids broke out in singing one of our favorite songs, "Everlasting God".  We got to the part that says, "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord.  We will wait upon the Lord."  Jonathan belts out, "Stress will rise as we wait upon the Lord.  We will wait upon the Lord".  I looked at him and after some laughter realized that this was EXACTLY how I woke up feeling this morning!   (I also thanked him for the inspiration I needed for this new blog post.)

We are definitely in a quiet time of waiting.  The majority of the time, God has been good to lead me into a quiet trust in Him.  However, somewhere between yesterday and today, my heart has chosen to start worrying about our adoption process again.....worrying about Vanya's welfare right now.....worrying about all that is ahead.  Worry is sin and it rejects the very character of God....His power, His goodness, His faithfulness, and His sovereignty.  I have confessed it as sin and as I continue to choose to trust, I do ask once again for your prayers.

The times where I have felt my strength rising as I wait upon the Lord as opposed to my stress rising as I wait upon the Lord have been when:  1) The Holy Spirit ministers deeply to my soul, 2)  You, our friends and family have given your love, support, prayers, and encouragement, and 3) When I have simply made the volitional choice not to worry.

Are any of you waiting?  What a gift we have to pray for each other!  If you could use a little encouragement, I've included the link to this song.

Thanks again to each of you for your gifts of love in all the aspects of this journey.  We will be sure to keep you up to date as we get any news from Ukraine!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhMdWjL2kiU&fmt=18

We actually DO KNOW what Vanya is thinking!!!!

Ok, you all might not even believe this, but we got to talk to Vanya on the phone yesterday. Didn't I just say 2 days ago that we had no ability to communicate with him? God has been so very good to us. A friend of ours (whom we've actually never met), has a boy at Vanya's camp who just acquired a cell phone for his birthday. Well, she generously offered us to call his number and see if he could locate Vanya. Within minutes, we were talking with him.....awesome.

Our conversation was so very sweet, as they all have been. He said he wishes we could come sooner and he was so excited to have us come to Ukraine....especially having a Papa in Ukraine, because he has never had that. As I got to thinking about this statement, I really wanted to identify from his perspective what it's like going from "no Papa" to "Papa". I concluded that besides the relationship itself, having a "Papa" means having a family identity. Having a "Papa" means having protection. Having a "Papa" means having provision and being taken care of. Having a "Papa" means having a forever support, affirmation, and love. When Vanya was here with us this summer, I told him that Jim is a good man to call "Papa".

During this time of difficult waiting, we thought we'd get Vanya thinking about all that he can expect when he gets here. We told him of the many preparations we're making. Then Jim asked him if he would like to play on our church's volleyball team with him. Vanya practically giggled and very sweetly replied, "Whatever you say, Papa. I'm with you". You could hear the sheer excitement in his voice. It was priceless.

Along with the phone call, would you also believe we got an email from him today? We have no idea how he accomplished this, but he did. I want to share his tender and personal words with you:

email 8/28/11

"Oh my family. I really miss you. I can't wait until we meet. With God's help, we will meet a lot earlier. I pray every day that everything would go well with my adoption. Love to everyone. Tell everyone "hello" and give kisses until we see each other again. Vanya"

Please continue to pray with us and with Vanya that all does go well with the adoption and that with God's help we will be united even sooner than expected.

So, I'm beginning to accept the fact that I actually have very little ability in this process, but GOD IS ABLE. Who knows what tomorrow might bring?

What Could Vanya Be Thinking Right About Now?

In my previous post, I shared a lot about the process that our family is going through as we prepare to graft Vanya into our family. Has anyone wondered what the process is like for him right about now?

Sadly, it has been almost 2 weeks since we were able to talk with Vanya, and at this point, we have no ability to be able to talk with him again until we see him (sigh). When we were able to Skype, however, we did get a sense as to what he might be thinking during this time of temporary separation. He said things like, "I wish you could come sooner than September or October", "The officials are just reviewing my documents, right?", "I miss you" and "I love you". In many other ways, he expressed his desire to be with us.

You know, as Jim and I have talked about adoption over the years, we always knew that if we were ever given this privilege, we would also receive the blessing of a deeper understanding of what it means for us to be adopted into God's family. (If you need a refresher, check out Ephesians 1:5-14.......AWESOME passage of scripture.)

Couple thoughts...

Before Vanya left, we gave hims LOTS of pictures, letters, gifts, memorabilia, etc. Yes, these things were meant for him to enjoy, but they were more intentionally given to him as a deposit to remind him that "we are coming back for you". Similarly, as children of God, we have also been given many deposits.....things that remind us that God will make good on His promise to come back for us. The greatest of these deposits is the Holy Spirit, which guarantees our inheritance until the Day of Redemption (Eph. 1:13-14).

Having been adopted into God's family, we anxiously await Jesus' return so that we can be united for all of eternity. We wish it could be sooner.... In the same way, what an incredible day it will be when we can look Vanya in the eye, give him a great big hug, and say, "You are ours! You are not an orphan anymore! You are a forever part of our family".

Finally, after our adoption is finalized and we travel home to the U.S.A, as soon as Vanya's feet touch U.S soil, he becomes an American citizen too!!! What a picture of Ephesians 1:5-14.... We are adopted as God's children through Jesus according to His pleasure and will. In Him, we were chosen. In Him, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin, and the riches of God's grace. We have been given the Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. And lastly, as said in Philippians 4:20, "Our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ."

So, what could Vanya be thinking right about now? He's probably thinking a lot of the same things we are thinking as God's adopted children. Check out this video.....



We'll be smiling, Vanya. We will definitely be smiling.....

"Pre-Adoptive Pregnancy"

My kids and I recently had a conversation about Vanya. Nathanael said, "Mom, you're pregnant with a 5'8", 120 lb. baby"!!! I laughed, but then realized, that it is true! Having been through 4 pregnancies, I recognize the feeling. The anticipation, the preparation, and yes, even some morning sickness. Although we don't know for sure, it appears that I am in my 3rd trimester and am still awaiting to hear an official due date.

Jim has noticed some weird behaviors too, like sorting my silverware drawer and re-organizing clothes closets. He shot me a funny look and my response was a sheepish, "I think I'm nesting". (lol) Check out this description of "nesting" from Pregnancy Weekly:

"Around the fifth month of pregnancy, the "nesting" instinct can set in. This is an uncontrollable urge to clean one's house brought on by a desire to prepare a nest for the new baby, to tie up loose ends of old projects and to organize your world.

Females of the animal kingdom are all equipped with this same need. It is a primal instinct. Just as you see birds making their nests, mothers-to-be do exactly the same thing. The act of nesting puts you in control and gives a sense of accomplishment toward birth.

Nesting brings about some unique and seemingly irrational behaviors in pregnant women and all of them experience it differently. There seems to be no end to the lengths a nesting mother will go to prepare for her upcoming arrival."

Along with the strange behaviors comes the pure excitement of a new family member. So far, I'd have to say that adoption feels a lot like pregnancy and the rewards will prove to be the same too, as is promised by God. "CHILDREN ARE A BLESSING FROM THE LORD".

Praise The Lord!

We are thanking and praising the Lord today upon hearing that our dossier has been successfully submitted to the SDA in Kiev, Ukraine. We will probably not hear anything for about 2-3 weeks while our documents are being reviewed. But then, upon acceptance of the paperwork, we will be invited to travel and go get our boy! Don't underestimate your prayer in this process and thank you so very much for the prayers on our behalf. Even though this is a long process, our agency told us today that we are fortunate to have it moving along quickly and relatively smoothly.

So, what do the next few weeks have in store? For us, we will be preparing for Vanya's transition into our family.....everything from heating his room downstairs to figuring out the best education options. And yes, more paperwork to be working on too! For Vanya, however, these next few weeks may be very difficult for him. He will most likely be moving to a Tech School on Sept. 1st and be living rather self-sufficiently in a larger city. Also, since we have no way to communicate with him, he won't have the luxury of knowing that indeed things are moving along just fine. Please pray for his safety and also that he would have no fear or doubt set in. Pray for him as he begins to have closure with his friends and family in Ukraine. Pray that he would get connected with the evangelical church in the city where his school will be.

You all have been a tremendous support. Thank you so much for "owning" this with us. We will be sure to give an update whenever we get some news.

Documents Delivered......

5 short days ago, I complained about the $123 paid to FedEx to deliver our 5 precious papers to Kiev, Ukraine. Today, however, I'm thanking God for FedEx. We got delivery confirmation that our documents successfully made it to Ukraine today (even earlier than expected). Our current request: Please pray that our dossier can be submitted this Monday to begin it's review. Pray too, that the review goes quickly, smoothly, and ends in a travel date that isn't too far away.

We covet your prayers.

"Thank you, Lord for each lesson learned and for each miracle experienced in this process. Thank you for the prayers of our dear friends and family. We praise you for being both sovereign and good. We trust you with all that remains, with all that we cannot see, and with all that You have planned. Thank you that Vanya is Your son......that he has already been adopted into Your family and is being loved by You every day."

What's Your Best Guess?

Well, Monday was a rather long, stressful day full of pending phone calls, emails, and decisions on how to best fix the 2 errors in our paperwork. By 3:00 though, we were able to manage a solution for the one error and we were also able to drive to pick up another needed document, get it notarized, apostilled, and mailed off to Kiev. Would anyone like to take your best guess as to how much it costs to send 5 sheets of paper to Ukraine? $123. I almost fainted in the FedEx store after hearing that and not having eaten anything all day.

So, we are thanking God and praying that all will be correct and arrive on time for the dossier to be submitted in Kiev on Monday. Please pray with us towards this end.

On another note, we were able to skype Vanya for the third and last time yesterday. The American couples who were at the camp have now left, so we no longer have any means of communication. We had a very sweet conversation with Vanya. He seemed especially soft and sincere and expressed a lot of love to the family. After he leaves camp on August 30, he moves to a city to begin a Tech School on Sept. 1. We are concerned about this transition for him and would again ask for your prayers for God's protection over Vanya.

Prayer of Protection and Perfection!

Today, we had the precious opportunity to skype with Vanya again. I wanted to share a small bit of inspiration with you that came from Vanya's own words to us today. Jim and I were telling Vanya how excited all of our friends and family (and even some strangers that we've met recently)are about his adoption into our family. His response was a very clear smile and then he said, "I've never had that before". Is anyone crying yet? Here is a 16 year old boy who has never consistently been loved, supported, and celebrated! Thanks to each of you for doing this with us!

As an item of prayer, we received news today that our dossier, which was to be submitted in Kiev on Monday, has 2 errors. This is most certainly a set back as it can sometimes take a lot of time to make even make minor corrections to these types of documents. Even in my disappointment, I am choosing to trust in God's timing. "Sooner" may not be "Better" for reasons we don't understand. However, we NEED PRAYER FOR THIS PROCESS. I haven't mentioned it before, but we are actually on a ticking clock of about 4 months remaining to complete this adoption. After this allotted time, the United States will stop the process because of Vanya's age. We really don't have any time to lose.

Please pray for speed, protection, and perfection of our documents! We will be tackling the corrections on Monday and would very much appreciate being covered in prayer.

Thanks to each of you and don't underestimate your impact!

A surprise "Hello" from Ukraine!