Wednesday, Jan 10th

The end is in sight. We will head home Jan 20th...the three of us...a new family that began on Christmas Day when we told the orphanage director that we wanted to adopt Alex. It has been quite a story that began approximately 2 years ago, and now will soon enter a new chapter (no blog included).

Our blogging will probably end on Monday because Tuesday begins the 24 hour days of Alex. We are continually amazed and encouraged by the support we receive on the blog comments. So many family and friends and friends of friends actually keep up with this thing and care about what is going on in our little lives on the other side of the world. Seeing those comments from people, some of whom we never thought were reading, has encouraged us to blog more often and in more detail.

As most of you know, we are committed to following the path that we feel God is leading us on. When God said we should adopt from Ukraine, we said O.K.... Two years later, along a road full of trials and triumphs, here we are. In these last few days in Lugansk, we will try to post some journal entries telling the story of how we dealt with God on some issues we faced since we've been here. Hopefully you will be enriched and encouraged in reading them.

We'll start with a small portion of one entry...

Chris - Dec. 20th (written after being in Ukraine 7 days and turning down our first referral)
Today I read Colossians 1:9-14, which talks about Paul praying for the church asking God to give them wisdom and understanding so that they may live a life pleasing to God, that they will be strengthened with his power, and that they will have great endurance and patience. These are things we need and pray for at this time. I don't understand what God's plan is for us. He seems to only give us small glimpses of His plan at a time. I'm O.K. with the decision we made yesterday, and I look forward to finding out who we will end up adopting.