Bockisch Ukraine Adoption

Please Watch 104.7 FISH ATLANTA, Michelle Vernon, Celebrate Freedom, Mighty to Save

2010-08-10T03:28:00.001+03:00

Eliana Esther Bockisch

2010-07-30T01:36:00.000+03:00

It is with great joy we introduce the newest Bockisch…..
Eliana Esther Bockisch
Eliana אֶלִיעַנָה
Hebrew name meaning “my God has answered”

Born June 3, 1999 in Lutugino, Ukraine
Lovingly adopted on July 6, 2010

Eliana at Saint Simons Island, GA beach

Some favorite activities: collecting sand dollars at the beach, dancing, swimming, gymnastics, jumping at Monkey Joe’s, drama (both acting and directing), reading and playing Uno!

Weight soaking wet: 67 pounds
Height without shoes: 4 feet 4 inches

Celebrating God’s Faithfulness

“The LORD’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness”. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I have hope in Him’. The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him”. Lamentations 3:22-25

Eliana's Name Story

2010-07-30T01:08:00.001+03:00

During the hosting period (December/January), we mostly used Eliana’s Russian name. She has a Ukrainian and a Russian name, however she identifies more with her Russian name since her orphanage is located just 30 miles from the Russian border. She agreed to being called by the name Elena for her new American friends since she liked it and it was very similar to her Russian name. However, the first time that we heard she did not really prefer the name Elena was AFTER the court date in Ukraine. That was most unfortunate since the name is official once the court date is complete. All the documents with her new name were notarized and legally official at that point. The only way to change it would require a lot of new paperwork and lots more money! Jay and I decided that we would give her a list of names to choose from to pick as her nickname or the common name by which she would be known as. Out of a list of names similar sounding to her Russian name (some starting with E and some starting with L), she chose the name Eliana. However, before that happened, the Griggs’ family (whom were with us at the orphanage since they were also adopting an older orphan), called her Eliana by mistake several times. That reminded me of how we have always loved the name, loved what it meant and gave us the idea to add it to the list.

What is most amazing to us is that our daughter did not know anything about the name Eliana or its meaning. For us, we can see how perfectly fitting that name is for her and the entire journey surrounding her adoption! We have cried out to the Lord time and time again (and continue to) on her behalf. Eliana in Hebrew means “My God has answered”. Indeed, He has answered our prayers in magnificent and mighty ways, and has answered the cries of our heart and her heart. Additionally, He continues to answer our prayers. Since He is outside of time, He has already answered our prayers for her salvation, complete restoration and healing on every level as well. What a testimony for Eliana throughout her life and to all who know her!

The new name was chosen, however it would not be official unless we went through more layers of paperwork and paid a lot more money. In God’s sovereignty He allowed that our last name would be incorrectly spelled on official documents thereby requiring the re-issuing of official documents including the notarization. This allowed us to easily change the first name at the same time! Yet, by the time the mistake was realized it was very late in the day. It was the very end of Lauren’s last day in the region where Eliana was born and where the orphanage is located. It was only the grace of God that all the necessary changes were officially completed in time. That is a story unto itself though especially given many of the typical attitudes, work ethic and corruption pervasive throughout the land and that particular region. It is clear that the LORD had His way in the selection of her name, accomplishing this name change and making it official from the start! Praise and glory to His Holy Name! Baruch Ha Shem!

Now That We Are Home.............

2010-07-14T03:13:00.000+03:00

We know it is going to be a while for our family to get back into the swing of things. We are praying God will work in the hearts of each family member to unite us as one heart, mind and body centered in Him. As with any blended family, we know there is potential for division amongst the troops, but we are going to work through it all with the Lord's help and encourage all to be family. Elena will need to learn what that even means).

The Higgins' Family recently adopted a sibling set of 3 girls from Ukraine and also adopted an older girl from Russian prior to that (and they also have a girl near Hannah's age along with a boy near Micah's age). They have equipped themselves over the years and have first hand experience with multiple adoptions. They comprised a summary which we felt was so excellent that we asked if we could use it with permission which they granted us. Please take the time to read this since it is so well written and so very critical!

"Our top priority from an adoptive standpoint will be bonding and attachment with Elena. This will not be an easy process for many reasons including the fact that she is an older child, and she has been in an institution for about 4 years. Hopefully, she develped the ability to bond as an infant, toddler and very young child. If so, this process will be much easier for us all. If you have parented an older adopted child, you probably understand what we are talking about . If not, you might wonder why in the world would we make a big deal over this or you may even think we are crazy (I know I might have a few years ago)!. We are not asking that everyone agree with us or even understand the process we're going through, but that as our friends and family you would trust our heart, respect our decisions and support our parenting. If you would like to understand more about this, please feel free to ask us questions or for some books that can help you understand what we're embarking on.

So, what can you expect now that we are home?

- She will be very tired (maybe for a while as she adjusts to her new life). Please greet her warmly with a hug, but do not be offended if she does not respond. She might not hug you back or even speak to you. She will be overwhelmed with emotions and might not warm up to you easily. Please respect her boundaries.

- Keep in mind that our goal is for her to bond with us as Mama and Papa...it's what life will be centered around her. Please let us do all of the care-giving (offering food, consoling, disciplining, offering choices, helping with tasks, etc.)

- Please do not give her anything she asks for without first telling her to "ask Mama or Papa" - don't ask for her. She needs to ask! This applies to food, permission, help, anything! She is learning English and can do this herself.

- Back us up. If we direct her to do/not do (or eat/not eat) something, please go along with us even if you would do things differently. When she sees you respecting our words to her, she will learn from that example.

- Please do not allow her to hang on you or cling to you. She might want to sit in your lap, hold your hand, or just lean on you, but she must learn to cling first to Mama and Papa.

- Gifts: If you have something to share with her, please give it to us first so that we can hand it to her for you...or ask her to "ask your Mama /Papa" if you can give her something. It's important that the permission always comes from us.

- While she is learning to be a part of a family and follow rules and respect our authority, she will have days she is frustrated with us. We will be the ones saying "no, you can't do that" or "I know you don't want to go to the store, but we are all going as a family." In times like these, she may turn to others outside our immediate family as a way of pushing us back. Please do not allow this. It might seem mean, but you need to push her back towards us! For her sake, she cannot bond with people outside of Mama and Papa right now.

- Bearing these things in mind, please do not ask her if she would like to go places, do things or attend events. You can ask us about these things, but do not be offended if for the next several months we don't attend much -- we will be staying home a lot! Also, she will not go anywhere without us...not until she has attached to us as her Mama and Papa. We do look forward to the day that she can attend parties and events just as other "normal" children can, but that will have to take a back seat right now.

She is learning what it means to be part of a family, to trust and obey us as her parents, to rely on us for everything she needs (emotionally and physically), and to bond with us as her Mama and Papa.

It is imperative that she learns to seek all permission, affection, guidance, attention, provision (for every basic need), affirmation and acceptance from us first. Only after she has truly bonded with us as her parents will she ever be able to develop healthy relationships in the future. Right now, think of her as in the "infant" stage -- she has just come home to our family. Only with her, she NEEDS to LEARN to rely completely on us just as an infant relies on his or her mother. This is not something that will be instinctual for her. Our desire is for her to come to know God's love and to develop into a healthy adult who has healthy relationships with her spouse, children, friends and family. Thank you for supporting us in this! It will help us all transition smoothly as we become a family."

Home Sweet Home!!!

2010-07-12T22:10:00.001+03:00

We are overjoyed to be home united as a family! Slavabogu (Praise the Lord) for His tender mercies toward us all in every way! One way includes a safe 23 hour total journey (including time in the airport and time in the air). Another way, includes no jet lag once again (that homeopathic remedy really does work)! The time in the Frankfurt airport was not what I expected. On our way TO Ukraine, the Munich airport was relaxing and delightful. On our return home, in the wing of the Frankfurt airport there was virtually nothing but a couple of food stands, one very crowded and small restaurant, duty free stores and tiny restrooms, waiting areas that were not large enough to host all the waiting passengers, etc.. Those 5 hours were very long but His grace sustained us through it all!

Our first full day together we went to church in the morning and then went swimming in the afternoon at the YMCA. It was a great time of fun together. Next to us was a Russian family who has children similar ages as our children and Eliana enjoyed conversing with them in Russian. They plan to show us around the Russian community in Atlanta. They also already invited us over to their home so in time we look forward to getting to know them better.

Just a few snapshots of our reunion and time swimming during our first full day together:

All together again at last!!!

Hannah and Micah wearing their Ukrainian soccer jerseys for this festive occassion!

Time at the pool together (notice Hannah's new missing bottom tooth)

Just off the slide

Papa and Elena

Elena standing up on Papa's shoulders

The glare from the sun was intense

Lauren and Elena Are Traveling to Atlanta

2010-07-09T23:18:00.003+03:00

In a few hours, Lauren and Elena will be getting up and traveling to the airport in Kyiv. They will have to go through immigration, which is not always easy. They catch a 5:30 am flight to Frankfurt, Germany and have a 5 hour layover. Thankfully they have a direct flight from Frankfurt into Atlanta. If all goes as scheduled, they will arrive at 4:25 pm and then have to go through immigration and customs before traversing the Atlanta airport to get to the main terminal. Hopefully by 6 pm Saturday we will all reunited as one family. We will keep you updated and take pictures of their arrival.

Photo Gallery of Last couple of days in Ukraine

2010-07-09T22:15:00.000+03:00

Lugansk Airport

Oleg our loyal driver throughout much our stay in Lugansk

Unloading at the airport

Kiev from the car

Looking down the street toward Independence Square

The cars parked on the street of our first apartment

Mama and Elena

Two very tired girls -Emilee and Elena (both adopted from the same orphanage at the same time)!

Sleeping beauty!

Last few days in Ukraine/Departure Day Tomorrow!!!

2010-07-09T19:54:00.000+03:00

Elena sitting at the photo studio while waiting to pick up her passport photo

After a very hectic past the past three days, we are now getting ready for our departure day! Slavabogu!!! In just a few hours, we awaken at 2:15 am and leave at 3 am to fly out of the Kiev airport to Frankfurt, Germany and then home to Atlanta! Hallelujah!!!

The past 3 days have been full of rushing all over Lugansk applying for her passport, getting the passport photo, etc, and flying out to Kiev and running to the American Embassy twice, the children's hospital for Elena's medical exam and moving in a new apartment, moving out the next day and into another apartment (yes, it was that awful)!

Now, with all the official documents in hand and Elena officially being our daughter, we are packing and preparing to fly home! Oh my, I am really looking forward to going home!

I don't have any pictures of our past two days in Kiev since my batteries ran out and we were rushing around so much and never found a store with batteries. We have been in 3 different apartments the past 3 nights and 2 different regions of Ukraine (Lugansk and now Kiev)!!!

Praise God for His sustaining grace, under girding us, overseeing us, and for His constant kind care. He is SO good! Praise Him for the way, things went smoothly especially toward the end. Now, I am ready to finish packing and try to get a little sleep before awakening in a few hours!

Elena and Rita (now Emilee) have enjoyed one another these past few days. Now Elena will be leaving her last connection to her past few years at the orphanage so please remember her in prayer as she transitions to a totally new life!

Getting Elena's completed passport

Passport office in Kiev where we picked up Elena's passport

Alexey ready to enter the passport office in Kiev. This is Nastya's husband

Leaving the passport office along the walk back to our apartment

We spent nearly 2.5 hours at the travel agency's office-still not sure why!!!

Landlady in Lugansk and Elena -our last day there

Out in the rain

Elena ate exactly one rice chip and nothing else- by far the pickiest eater I have ever met!

An old buggy

Our First Day Together

2010-07-07T12:30:00.001+03:00

We spent the morning of our first day together going to the market area getting money exchanged and looking around for something Jane wanted me to buy for her. It was fun to see Elena enjoy this time out together and trying kvass for the first time. Later today we plan to go to the Passport office. Elena also enjoyed making bracelets with a beading kit. I got caught up on laundry today also. The little washing machine fits in the corner of the bathroom and has very long cycles. The dryer is a rack that is outside on the balcony. Since it is about to rain, I plan to hang all the clothes all over the inside of our apartment.

The front area of the outside market

Where money is exchanged

A woman who has a booth at the market and who has been to America before

A Kvass stand (a cultured drink made out of rye bread)-one of my favorites

Elena decided to try it for the first time and wanted to buy it herself

Lots of flowers

Elena wearing her clothes Mama brought for her and drinking kvas

A view from down the street

Elena eating her favorite sunflower seeds (cyemyechi in Russian)

Our little washing machine

Our drying rack

Elena is Officially our Daughter Now!

2010-07-07T12:08:00.001+03:00

Hallelujah and Glory to God! Elena is officially our daughter now! Look for an announcement in the future with her new name. : )

We started at 8 am yesterday and ran non stop for 12 full hours before we were able to go pick up Elena at camp. Over 95% of the running was by foot in the heat with very little water and no food. I didn't want to drink much since it is very challenging to find a toilet (especially one that isn't a "squatty potty"). We went to the orphanage and then from office building to office building all over Lutugino and then back and forth to make unexpected changes (including the mispelling of our last name). Then when a storm blew in and the wind was blowing the dirt and dust from the roads and pollution we finally took a taxi late in the day. We were able to make the change to the wrong spelling of our name just in the time before the notary office closed. An official at another government building waited for us after hours for us so we could complete our paperwork. What a blessing and mighty answer to prayer!!!

We had gone without eating a single meal when it was time to finally pick up Elena from Nevertheless, I was abounding with energy and excitement! It was incredible to reach this moment by God's grace! The director of the camp, counselors, and all the other campers were huddled around us saying goodbyes with tears! Elena didn't have many friends left from her orphanage and age group but there were several older kids there from the Lutugino orphanage. It was a bittersweet moment for Elena and the other girl being adopted by the Grigg's.

After a tearful parting with lots of hugs, Oleg drove us back to Lugansk city. We dropped off our things at the apartment and then walked back to the city center to try to find something to eat however it was already 9:30 pm by then! Nothing was open except for Mandarin Market (a large grocery store) so we bought some food and then went back to eat and then call our families! It was so much fun watching Elena look with such childlike wonder at so much for what seemed like the first time. Going shopping and walking the streets in a bigger city isn't something she has done much of in her life and especially without a large group!

Today we are going to get Elena's new passport and then book our airline flight to leave very early tomorrow morning for Kiev, God-willing! Then we will have 2 more days of paperwork and medical examination in Kiev and hopefully be on schedule to leave Kiev to go home early Saturday morning! We are very eager to return home!!!

Mama and Elena after a LONG day finally leaving Elena's camp. Looking weary but elated!

The children walked us to the gate to say goodbye and exchange more hugs (tearfully)!

Just a few of Elena's peers (most are away somewhere else)

The birth certificate office

Building after building in order to complete documents (some of the buildings didn't look like government offices like this one).

Alexi entering the building where the government official stayed late for us to complete a very important document with the correct spelling of Elena's name (we went back here 3 times)

Ukraine!

Little elderly woman with a cart full of vegetables

This went on and on for 11 hours in Lutugino (there was some in between waiting time also of course but not time enough to stop to eat)

Finally on the way to the market (Mandarin Market at the Lugansk City Center)

Elena and all of us finally able to eat dinner at 10:00 pm!

The Adoption is Complete

2010-07-07T01:04:00.000+03:00

Lauren and our Ukrainian facilitators (Nastya and Alexi) had a long but successful day. They were able to get the court decree and Elena's birth certificate. Tomorrow they will get her passport and then fly to Kyiv to finalize the paperwork at the US Embassy on Thursday morning. Needless to say we are all excited. Both Lauren and Elena were extremely tired after such a long day. As time permits, Lauren will provide more updates and pictures.

Today is the Day!!!

2010-07-06T00:59:00.001+03:00

With court decree in hand, Lauren and our Ukraine facilitator will go to Camp Sunshine and finally obtain Elena. She will finally legally be our child after the 10 day appeal period. Once that is complete, Lauren, Elena and our Ukraine facilitator will finalize the paperwork needed to Elena to come to the United States. This should be complete by Friday. If all goes well, Lauren and Elena will be coming in to Atlanta on Saturday, July 10th at 4:35 pm. Please pray that all the paperwork will be completed so they can return on Saturday.

Tomorrow is another big day!/Lugansk pictures

2010-07-05T23:16:00.001+03:00

Tomorrow is the day we pick up our court decree and then get our girls!!!! This is the day we have been waiting for................halleluujah!!! We plan to go to Lutugino and get the court decree, then up to the countryside to get Elena and Emily (the Griggs' girl). Then we travel back to Lutugino to apply for the birth certificates and whatever else we can get done. It is going to be really hectic and exciting! It is hard to believe that it is nearly official now! Today we were able to go back to the orphanage and get some information and paperwork from the orphanage attorney.

I genuinely hope and pray the Lord enables us to rejoice together in person over all that He is doing and all that He has done! Praise Him for His kind care for the beautiful people of Ukraine and for making the many rough places smooth! There are many rough places here (including the roads)! I know that the roads are going to seem like a dream when I return back home. Jane and I have grown accustomed to the rough rides here although we really think our driver is doing an excellent job!

Today it rained a lot and the roads flood after one rain fall. We nearly stalled in the road with water up to the bottom of the back window and we are so grateful to have made it back to our apartment in Lugansk in a timely manner.

Jane and I enjoyed some time in Lugansk near our apartment over the weekend. We spent some time at the outdoor market however there are too many narrow and crowded aisles to take photos. We walked around a nice park and ate at the Kazbek restaurant- the first Soviet Georgian restaurant we have ever been to and it was wonderful! We were so thankful the menu was in Russian with English on the bottom which helped us a lot. Without that we may have ordered the fried bull testicles!

Lauren outside a big hotel in Lugansk (it is walking distance from our apartment)

Jane and I ate at a Soviet Georgian restaurant called Kazbek. It was recommended to us and was definitely the nicest restaurant we have eaten at during our entire stay in Ukraine.

We ate inside what looked like a Sukkah (or booth).

We ordered Shaslik (at the top of the page) -tasty and seasoned chunks of chicken

We did not order the Fried Bull Testicles with Onion and Spices (no kidding)!

Authentic decorations

Shaslik, kartoshka (potatoes) with dill, and beet pickled onion

View of the hotel on Souvyskiyala street in front of monument (exclusive area and park)

Monument on Souvyskivala street in park

Large television screen, hotel, with outdoor market in the back

Ukrainian Flag

View looking down the street toward our apartment

Full view of the monument

Highlights of Camp Sunshine

2010-07-05T22:39:00.000+03:00

Elena has been at Camp Sunshine for 6 days. Elena is having a good time but is ready to leave to be with Mama tomorrow (yes, tomorrow July 6th)! It is in the beautiful countryside and has a very Soviet look. I visited Elena at camp a few times however the visiting hours have been rather restricted.

Mama and Elena on the swing

On the drive to and from camp we pass beautiful fields of Sunflowers (the Ukrainian national flower)

Elena at Camp Sunshine

Elena in front of her dorm building at camp

A craft the kids worked on

Very nice sleeping area

The front gate to Camp Sunshine

A lovely billboard at camp

Elena hanging upside down on the playground

Going down a slide

Look at the steep incline of this metal slide!

Eyeglass clinic

2010-07-05T22:20:00.000+03:00

Anna, Lauren and Rebecca at the eyeglass clinic in front of the Ukrainian Flag

The examination chart

Many of the eyeglasses with a young volunteer helping

Bruce MacDonald

The eye doctor with one of her patients

Leyena and the woman Oleg (our driver) drove to the clinic

The eye doctor with another patient

Paper each participant completes to be seen (helpful for follow up)

Adventures in Missions!

2010-07-02T23:08:00.004+03:00

Elena in a favorite spot-one of the many cherry trees

The cherries are very different than what we are accustomed to in the United States

I spent the past week visiting Elena in the morning before she went to camp and the remainder of the day with the Adventures in Missions team and MacDonald Family who are doing an amazing work in Eastern Ukraine. In the near future, hoping to catch up on my visit with Elena at her camp today

Right now, to sum it up without many words since it has been an exciting and unforgettable week and one without much sleep or rest.

Summary for now.....................more to come!!!

High Adventure, Exciting times and wonderful opportunities to help serve and reach the unsaved, very long days and nights, faces, smiles, shared memories, experiences being stretched in ways that I never imagined, smells and tastes that will last a life time. A collage of people form a picture frame in my mind all of whom need the Lord and all of whom have received seeds of the Gospel. Part of that collage includes some who are believers and a precious vibrant living portion of the body of Messiah whom will be dearly missed. Our paths crossed as we served our Lord together for a brief moment in time and this fleeting time was incredibly precious!

Praise God for this amazing journey and for His good works prepared beforehand for me to walk in Christ Jesus!

Following is a summary of last week:

Thank you for praying as His Spirit has led you and reminded you! It truly is my lifeline and always is (yet is ever so much more evident when on any missions trip or "a trip with more than one mission" as I like to refer to it.   Last week was overflowing with activity. I visited Elena in the morning and then joined Bruce MacDonald and the World Race Team of Adventures in Missions. I had dropped off my suitcase that morning before visiting with Elena at the oprhanage.   The MacDonald Family hosts teams that serve the Lord in different ways. This past week and this week it consists of softball clinic Mon-Thurs and then Eyeglass clinic on Friday. By working with the local church they are able to be very effective in different villages that would otherwise be difficult to reach and perhaps even more challenging to follow up. The entire experience was wonderful and inspiring and such a blessing! The six young people (in their very early 20's for the most part) were abounding with energy and a passion to see Jesus lifted up high and His Word to go forth with power.   It was a joy to meet with each team member and family member and co-labor with them! The softball clinic (or camp) was in a village called Avitratsit. The local church we worked with is House of Prayer in Russian. They are the most hospitable people I have ever met. Hospitality in this culture (and many other cultures) is more true to hospitality in Jesus' Day and very different than how it is typically defined and demonstrated in the United States.

The first day of softball clinic we warmed up by throwing the ball and catching in pairs, practicing with grounders, pop-ups and then broke up the children into a younger and older group.   In between different activities testimonies were shared, the Gospel was shared in different ways but one of the most successful was the wordless (or salvation) bracelets (with the explanation given verbally and handed out on a sheet of paper in Russian).  Each team player was instructed in the proper batter stance and holding the bat. I worked with the younger group and we engaged them in other games and activities to keep them focused and engaged. As the week progressed there were different ways to introduce the Good News and just love on the kids.   I stayed with the younger ones (8-11) and after the first day they were eagerly greeting us with warm smiles and hugs. One boy, Yirat, commented as we were leaving the first night "you Americans are all SO happy"!~   I said to him that we were very happy to see him smiling and happy!

The days lasted longer and longer it seemed each night as the children all wanted their picture taken with each of us and they all wanted us to sign our names on the arms. Later in the week, they were asking each of us to write notes for thand em in English in their little notepads and came prepared.   We gave out cross necklaces and more salvation bracelets. The neat thing is that here everyone of all ages were eager to recevie everything we were handing out (including the bracelets, necklaces,and small New Testaments etc. toward the end of the week).  One day I helped Pia (Bruce's wife) and some people from our host church make a huge pot of chili for the entire crowd that showed up that night. We prepared whatever would fit in the pot and God is so good to allow us to feed each person (young and old) that night -over 200 people a yummy bowl of chili. Then the pastor of the church preached while they ate and we showed them a picture slide show with a large screen set up on the field with Christian music (Russian of course).   There was an electricity about the whole night and lots of smiling faces and many more requests for autographs and pictures with us. We know they are intrigued with us being American however each of us wanted them only to see a glimpse of Jesus. We tried to shower them with extra loving touches and hugs and just playful gestures. They seemed to enjoy practicing English. Starting the next to last night, they started asking us if we would be there on Friday also (they already knew it was only through Thursday night), but they were all sad that it was going to end so soon!

The last night, there were so many people out and we had a final game of the Americans versus the Ukrainians. It was a really close game and were it not for Bruce MacDonald's amazing homerun (the ball hit a metal roof and you could here it quite far away), the Americans may have lost however we did win. Earlier in the game, a teenage boy came up to me and asked me the score. At the time, it was tied 24 to 24 and God gave me grace to tell him that in Russian.    He looked stunned since he had mocked me and the Americans at the beginning of the game. After the game, he came up to me and introduced me to his girlfriend and was proud to tell me he was a "sex boy" and she was his! I asked him in Russian to please be quiet since I was in the process of giving his girlfriend a salvation bracelet. She was very happy to receive it and he did go away for the moment.   I believe there was another short time when someone spoke and sowed more Gospel seeds. Then  after another electrifying time of sharing hugs,smiles, autographs, taking more pictures, there was a showing of a movie in Russian called "Rodeo" or in English "The Ride" (a Franklin film). The crowd was very excited to watch it!   I enjoyed watching it in Russian and can't wait to see it in English too!  Praise God for the many whom heard the Gospel and for the work of the ministry that goes forth in this remote region of the world!

The World Race Team encouraged all to come to the church the next night.   That is a critical thing since here if one is not part of the Orthodox Church and identifies him/herself with the born again church, it is (they are) considered evil.   I met one sweet young lady, Kate, whose mother refused to allow her to continue to participate after the first two nights (even though she is 24).   The first night, I stayed off to the side later in the evening since I wasn't feeling well but the Lord used that time since I had one on one time just with Kate!   I showed her the magazine of testimonies and was asking her about it and she became intrigued and started to read it on her own. Please pray for Kate, Yirat, and the countless young and older people who were exposed to the Good News and God's love through this outreach! Please pray for the MacDonald's and the World Race Team as they continue with intensive outreaches in Eastern Ukraine. Eastern Ukraine is the type of place that people come to with a mission! There is very little here that would attract people to come see otherwise!

On Friday, Jane Griggs (whom I am currently sharing an apartment with and who is adopting an older orphan girl from Lutugino as well), and I asked Oleg (our driver) to take us to the village where the eyeglass clinic was being held. Oleg asked a hunched over elderly woman for directions to where the eyeglass clinic was being held. Then she got in the front of the car and he drove us all to the clinic. The clinic was awesome to see operating in full swing! Bruce told us that by 9 am that day there were already 85 people signed up. They each fill out a slip of paper, are seen by the doctor and given eyeglasses. The church then has the ability of following up with each person. They are also prayed over, given a Bible, and learn about the church in their village. It is really an amazing and efficient way of reaching and blessing individuals in these remote places of Eastern Ukraine! We are eager to hear more of an update from Bruce. Bruce and his wife gave me a tour of the children's hospital just across the street from Elena's orphanage. There are many needs there and the MacDonald's have helped tremendously over the years. Right now there is a special need for replacing an important piece of equipment. I was introduced to the director (who is a sister in the Lord) and they showed me around. It would be difficult for you to fathom how this "hospital looks and operates" which is the antithesis of the hospitals I am familiar with!

Bruce leading us at the House of Prayer Church (the Russian above says God is Love)

Several nights after hours of softball clinic the church hosted us with tea and sweet treats

A few of our younger team

Sergei speaking and some of the people at the softball clinic

More young people listening to the message

This is our outside sink where we wash our hands at the church

Working outside of the outside all purpose little hut (where we cut the onions and garlic)

Our pot of chili on a small stove in an outside shed!

The outhouse (I will definitely bring nose plugs if the Lord sends me back here)!

A few typical homes in the region

A few young people listening to the pastor

Our nearly bottomless pot of chili which fed over 200 plus people!

All set up to watch the movie (Rodeo in Russian/The Ride in English-a Franklin film)

Lauren and Yirat (the one who commented on us being so happy)

3 children on our team showing off their autographed arms!

Answering questions about the wordless bracelet (many received baseball hats as a prize)

Yirat with his wordless bracelet and winning smile!

Lauren and one of the young ladies at the softball clinic

Yirat and his friend with their New Testaments

Four of the older women who were watching and SO happy that I offered them New Testaments

Spectators watching the big game (Americans versus the Ukrainians)

The squatty potty at the church (one of the best ones I had the pleasure to experience)!

Joy in The Journey!

2010-06-27T16:23:00.000+03:00

I have had a great time bonding with Elena and spending precious time with her. With so many of the younger ones gone, I have had more focused time with her alone (although there are always other older children who hang around). Elena has enjoyed learning to knit and is very determined to make it perfect! She has picked it up so fast! Jane Griggs (the other family also adopting) has been so kind to teach her and I have learned a few things along the way also. We are missing Jay however we are SO glad he is home with Hannah and Micah! They are very excited to see him and be home again with him and Grandma Sharon! Praise God for his safe journey home and sweet reunion with the children!

Remembering the old Michael Card song, "Joy in the Journey", it brings to mind to enjoy each passing moment. This waiting time is precious and there is a distinct joy even in this part of the journey.

Psalm 30 also comes to mind when reflecting upon Elena's life up to this point and knowing the bright hope she has now according to God's great grace. "I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up..................weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.............You have turned for me my mourning into dancing, you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD, my God, I will give thanks to you forever"!

Elena is so happy with her hard work. She did a great job for a new beginner!

Spending time together-more knitting

The main monument in Lutugino which is at the entrance of a park

A kids park in the center of Lutugino (Elena and her class went there one morning)

Elena focusing on her knitting project

We have been given more freedom since court is over. The Griggs and one of their daughters and new daughter, our attorney, and Elena and I were able to go off the orphanage grounds to lunch for the first time on Friday.

Elena was moved to a new dorm since her peers are gone. This is the dorm where older kids sleep (13 years and up).

Elena's bed in her room (the one she just moved out of). It is a hard bed made out of particle board with little cushion on top.

Elena's new dorm (just for the waiting period). This is where the older girls sleep and they are the nicest rooms in the orphanage. Four girls share this room together.

A shower (suitcases are also stored in this small area). This shower is just next to Elena's room.

Shared sink area

Elena's dresser

Elena and I spent a lot of time talking via google translate yesterday (Saturday). One thing we talked about is the possibility of changing her name. She liked her name (Elena) before and never expressed to us that she didn't like it until after court. We went through some possible names and she picked one out that she likes the most! So, at the right time, we will share that with you all but for now we will hold off until a later time. We will continue to call her "Elena" for now though.

The director of the orphanage has made a decision to allow Elena to attend camp from Wednesday June 30th through July 5th. Our facilitator has informed us that she should know more details on Tuesday morning. I am hoping the camp isn't too far so I can continue to visit Elena in the mornings and continue helping the team the remainder of the day. Elena will be having lots of fun with softball and other fun activities. Elena is very excited to go to camp and sleep there for nearly a week!

Lauren has been sharing an apartment with the Grigg's Family since Thursday. Very early tomorrow morning the Grigg's leave until Jane returns late Thursday night. I (Lauren) will be joining the family we know in Lutugino and the missionary team starting tomorrow. I plan to continue to visit with Elena in the mornings and then from early afternoon through 11 pm join the adventures in missions team through Thursday night and stay the next few nights in their home (with lots of others). On Friday, the team participates in the eyeglass clinic which I plan to participate in at least part of the day. I will not plan to update the blog since this week will be nonstop on the go. Sometime next weekend, I hope to have a new update completed.

Thanks for following our journey and for your support and prayers!

It's a Girl!

2010-06-24T23:11:00.000+03:00

Mama, Papa and Elena just following court

Mama, Elena, Sergey, and the orphanage attorney

The official court in Lutugino

After moving out of our apartment early this morning, we were on our way to Lutugino and met Elena at the orphanage. Due to some last minute re-arranging Lauren needed to move in with the Griggs so we were up late packing last night and got up early to finish packing and then move. A few minutes later we were on our way to court. We waited for our case for about 35 minutes and were given specific instructions regarding proper protocol. After the series of questions by the judge, we were dismissed and the judge and jurors met privately Then we were called back into the courtroom and were given the official statement that the petition to adopt Elena was officially accepted. Glory to God!!! Hallelujah! Elena should formally and officially be our daughter 11 days from now. The judge extended it by one day since the 10th day was on a Sunday. Immediately following court we signed papers at the notary and then Jay said goodbye and left for the airport. Then Jane Griggs and I bought cake and arranged for the girls goodbye party. The party turned into a time when all the children stood up and gave their farewell wishes, they sang songs and ate cake and special drinks. It was a memorable time for all!

Here is a snapshot of Jay and Elena just before Jay left for the airport

The goodbye party for Elena and Rita (the girl that the Grigg's Family are adopting)

Elena next to Rita and seveal of her classmates

Photo Gallery of the past two days

2010-06-22T22:31:00.001+03:00

We thought to put up a photo gallery since the days are running into each other with the long hours at the orphanage every day. We are gearing up for court and the many changes which follow. The past few days have been full of playing with the kids as much as possible. Many of the younger children left on Monday which gives us more focused time with Elena and the few children who remain. The children remaining are being hosted for the summer and leave for the United States on Thursday to stay with their host families for approximately 5 weeks. There are many more older kids and one older girl, Diana, has attached herself to Lauren. Since she is 16, she cannot legally be adopted.

Jay, Lauren and Elena on the play ground

Elena and Mama

Pizza restaurant near the orphanage

This sign shows the city of Lugansk on top where our apartment is (about 30 minutes away)

Walking back to the orphanage we see all kinds of interesting things including this car.

Elena eating Kielbasa meat (we know she doesn't eat much at the orphanage so we bring her food)

Elena playing with a friend

Lauren giving out wordless bracelets (Elena took this photo)

We explained the wordless bracelets on google translate and gave them out one at a time

4 More Days until Court!

2010-06-20T21:03:00.002+03:00

Papa holding Elena

Elena's photo of herself (do you see that new knot on her forehead)!?

Just four more days until court! Slavabogu (Praise the Lord)!!! The court date is set for Thursday June 24th at 11:00 am. We are trusting God with the many details surrounding that big event! We are savoring our time with Elena and enjoying the rare opportunity to spend most of the day with many other children also! How thrilling to know God set this unique schedule so we would have such plentiful and unexpected time with Elena and many of her peers! We can see they are loving the time and attention we give them. As soon as siesta time is ended, the children flock around us and instantly engage us to play with them. Though scrawny and dirty their bright eyes and wide smiles radiate joy in spite of less than ideal circumstances. It will be very sad to leave them behind when in our hearts we want each of them to be in a loving home. Will you join us in praying for each of these precious children?

Jay playing with some of the precious children

Immediately following court, Jay must leave to begin his journey home so he can get back to Hannah and Micah as soon as possible! First he will get another indescribable race car 2 hour ride from Lutugino to the Doneskt airport. Following that he flies into Germany and then onto Charlotte, NC. He and Grandma Sharon drive back to Atlanta for the last portion of his trip home. Lauren will stay in the region for the 10 day waiting period and continue to visit Elena at the orphanage in the morning and then join the Adventures in Missions team from early afternoon through the night! It is exciting to be able to pursue what is already in her heart to do! We are in awe of how God worked out the timing perfectly and had it all set up before we even knew that was a possibility in this remote region of the world!!!

Our day started with a new adventure on Friday. Our driver's (Oleg) car broke down on our way to the orphanage.

Our broken down car on the way to the orphanage

Scott trying to hitch us a ride to the orphanage

Since we arrived at the orphanage later than usual, Elena had been outside in the play yard looking for us. Even though the gate was closed, Elena saw us and before we got out of the car, she came running up to the gate and ran into Mama's arms with her usual scream "MAMA"!~ Of course, she gave papa a huge hug and he lifts her up and spins her around.

It wasn't long before Elena needed to join her class to eat lunch so we walked to town and called a local family who helped us find a local restaurant which sells pizza, kvass, salads, etc. Definitely Ukrainian style and excellent (though very different) food! We enjoyed the fellowship and then returned to the orphanage refreshed.

We usually start in the morning and leave the orphanage between 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm. Saturday we stayed until 7:30 pm. We play games, do crafts, etc. with Elena and her friends for hours. Jay and Scott were picking up the kids and hanging them upside down and spinning them -all in fun like any dad would do with his kids. However, the caretakers didn't like that one bit. She came over and "spanked" Scott on his bum with her empty water bottle. She also gave Jay a stern reprimand! So, we came up with other ideas to engage the kids and especially the boys who are starved for good male influences. Jay started thumb wrestling and arm wrestling with the boys and before long, all the boys and girls wanted to thumb wrestle with us both! Then Jay took some of the kids and spun them around with their arms (instead of hanging them upside down). This seemed to be acceptable and the caretakers didn't give him a "spanking"!

Jay and a boy arm wrestling (this is the strongest boy in Elena's group)

Scott with one of the boys

Before we knew several of the children were leaving tomorrow (Monday) for camp at the Black Sea, it was on our hearts to bring the fabric squares and fabric markers for Elena and her friends to each decorate a square in order to make a memory quilt for Elena. What a blessing to have completed that especially while Elena's closest friends were still at the orphanage. Those who are not leaving for camp at the Black Sea are leaving for America to be hosted through the New Horizons for Children hosting agency (the same one we hosted Elena through). We tied the squares with colored ribbons and showed it to the children and caretakers. The caretakers were nodding their heads with approval! They LOVED it and even helped a few of the younger boys add nice details to their picture squares. We look forward to completing this project in the future in order for Elena to have a memory quilt/decorative wall hanging with all her friends unique designs and names in Russian.

Elena and Mama holding up the memory quilt

"My Parents Told Me They Were Going To Visit Me..."

2010-06-18T09:51:00.004+03:00

Elena and her cousin Natasha playing cards

Yesterday we had another wonderful day with Elena and her friends. We had several highlights:

Elena, Lauren and Jay spoke to our friend Natalia, who is from Ukraine, on skype from the orphanage (we have a wireless modem that works in very remote areas here). Natalia has been a great blessing, helping us translate and communicate with Elena during the time we originally hosted her. The first thing she told Natalia is that her parents (she meant us) said that they would visit her and now they are here. Natalia told us that she clearly was talking about us. This is a great blessing to us as we transition Elena from orphanage life to our family. It is great to see that she considers herself as part of our family.

Elena and her "Mama"

We are continuing to bond well with Elena. Everyday we spend about 5 hours with her at a lake or the outside area by the orphanage. Since there is no school we are able to spend extra time with her. In the morning she is waiting for us and runs up to Lauren and gives her a big hug. When we leave in the late afternoon/early evening she asks us to stay longer.

The main orphanage building

We have been given a rare opportunity to interact with many of the kids here. Yesterday we brought crafts over for the kids. They enjoyed making necklaces, bookmarks and a special memory quilt for Elena. Many of Elena's closest friends were given a white square piece of fabric to write their names on and draw a picture. Lauren is going to assemble them together into a quilt for Elena to remember her friends. This will also allow us to remember to pray for these precious kids after we leave.

The kids having fun making a memory quilt

Elena's friends making bookmarks

Sasha shows off his bookmark

Kolya shows off his bookmark

Elena continues to surprise and bless us with her wonderful photography skills, she loves to take pictures and really seems to have an "eye" for good shots.

Picture of a flower that Elena took

Another flower picture

Kids playing football (soccer), taken by Elena

We Have Our Court Date

2010-06-15T21:54:00.000+03:00

Elena having fun with Mama and Papa

Yesterday we signed a few official papers at the notary office in Lutugino and found out our court date is Thursday, June 24th at 11:00 am. Elena will also need to go before the judge and state that she wants to be adopted. We will also be asked various questions. After that time, there will be a 10 day waiting period. On the 11th day, July 5th (if all goes smoothly) then Elena will officially be our daughter!

Entrance to Notary Office

We went to the lake two times with Elena and her group of children yesterday. We spent most of the time outdoors in extremely hot weather. One of our main goals now is to bond well with Elena and spend as much with her as possible. It is going really well and we are enjoying our time with Elena although we never have time with her alone at this point. Elena prefers to sit with us instead of the large group of kids after their nap time. When it is time for us to leave, she gets sad (that is a good thing).

Elena and her friends at the Lake

While we are there, we can see how hungry ALL the children are for a loving family, so we try to dote on them as much as we can also. Several of the children surrounded Lauren on one bench and then a few others surrounded Jay in another part of the play yard. Little nurturing gestures mean the world and any time a child is singled out, he or she feels like they are really special. Elena is enjoying the unusual attention she is getting from us and from the other children.

Elena's friends playing Bop-It

Yesterday late in the day we joined the children at the lake for the second time in one day. It is a long walk especially when we have smaller children in the group and stop at the well for water and stop when anyone misbehaves (rare in this setting). However, one boy did act up and after a strong reprimand, the children were instructed to hold hands starting with hands together up high. So we did the same thing as them side by side with them. Then we held hands for a while and the children were so happy to see us walking hand in hand. We think it gives them hope since there are not a lot of role models for whole family units. Several of the children stared at us with hopeful smiles and eyes!

Today, the children had a hard work day around the orphanage. We went to the lake first and were told Elena and her group of children were not there due to a new breakout of lice! We were able to spend a good amount of time with Elena before lunch and then again after her nap. When Elena was called in for lunch, we went in the building where they eat and sleep and waved to the children eating. Then a caretaker insisted we eat some borscht with the kids. They were so kind to serve us borscht, bread and a milk product. The children thought it was funny when we ate their food. Their giggles were echoing in the cafeteria.

Borscht Soup at the Orphanage

Later in the day, we spent more time with Elena and called Hannah and Micah via Skype. It was fun for the kids to see each other halfway around the world! Micah had Elena laughing very hard (just with hand motions). We played games and handed out cross necklaces to each child making sure they knew (in Russian) that Jesus loves them. We also treated about 30 kids to their own ice cream stick or cone. They had a hard day of work carrying heavy pails of water across the play yard in the 94 degree heat (and many did not get to swim at the lake today). We are thankful for the special time we are having here with Elena and the other children. Our hearts are breaking for these other children so if you have never considered hosting or adopting, please consider it!

Jay playing games with the kids

Tank Monument on the way to the Lake

Another Blessed Day with Elena and Her Friends!

2010-06-12T23:26:00.002+03:00

Elena eating sunflower seeds at the lake

We started the day at the lake with Elena and many of the children. Once again Elena spotted us first and ran to us screaming "MAMA" and we exchanged big bear hugs. Before going to the lake we made a quick stop at the local market and bought water and sunflower seeds. Elena and her friends LOVED the sunflower seeds! Our friend, Natalia, encouraged us to try the sunflower seeds. The children are accustomed to eating them shelled. Elena enjoyed her inflatable water ring float and pink towel. We are thrilled that today as soon as Elena ran over to us, many other children flocked around us with little and big grins, "hallo's" and bright eyes.

We decided to walk back again with the children rather than drive. We can see how meaningful this is to the kids and the workers. On the way back, we stopped and a childcare worker sent 3 children to help her fill up empty bottles at a well. Later on in the day we learned that the water is shut off for a day or longer at a time this time of year. Then the worker filled up one cup which was then passed from child to child to take a sip. Soon it was time to continue our walk back to the orphanage. We walked through an outdoor small market with fresh produce and the kids started laughing when they saw a loose baby chick. It's owner ran after it and held it up for the kids to see. Elena urged me to give her the camera and she took a great shot (see below). Another little incident which occurred is that a little boy named Daniel (he is 6 but looks about 4 years old) was walking and his plastic sandal broke. The caretaker held the shoes and he walked back without any complaining with his bare feet. We were impressed since it is very rocky and hard ground. Lauren asked the caretaker for the shoes and before lunch we stopped at a store and bought him new ones.

Elena takes a picture of baby chick

The children went for lunch and we headed to lunch with another family from America who is also adopting an older girl. We went back to the cafe on the lake and enjoyed the fellowship and break from the heat. It is such a blessing to be here with another family with similar values! They arrived after us but with the delay we experienced, we are at the exact same point in the process.

A wonderful cafe on Lake Lutugino about 5 minutes from the orphanage

After lunch the other family went to the orphanage and we spent some time visiting with a local family here in Lutugino. That was a really blessed time! To preserve their privacy, we will refrain from going into further detail. After a short visit we returned to the orphanage. It was a laid back day since it was Saturday. The kids get up from naps around 4 pm so we got there just in time. We asked a boy to please go get Elena and in a couple of minutes, she came down running to us with an ear to ear smile.

We played ball with a new soccer ball, played games, and talked via the Google translate site and movements. Elena played with mama's hair and we broke out the sidewalk chalk and then all the kids came down. We just played with them-jump rope, tic tac toe and hopscotch with the sidewalk chalk, tossing the ball, etc. Jay and Scott engaged the boys with thumb wrestling, bop it, and other boy oriented activities. We were especially glad for the boys since it seems that Ukraine (and Russia) is dominated by and oriented toward women. The boys seem to be sorely lacking in interaction with men and especially God fearing men of strong leadership. The kids are looking forward to seeing us each day and seem to be so happy that we want to spend time with them! Little Daniel was given his new shoes and what a thrill it was to see his face light up!

Elena braids Mama's hair

They were each given an apple and a cookie (some even shared their cookies with us). We bought each of the children ice cream and then it was time for a show the workers and children had been preparing for. The show was right outside in the play yard and we stayed for over an hour watching it. Elena and her friends recorded most of it and we have a little video of it as a sweet memory.

Jay and Scott play games with the boys

It is going to be hard to leave all these precious children behind. Our hearts melt and break more for these kids each day!

We piled into the car with the other family and our driver took us over to a restaurant for dinner. We ate and then stopped at the market and then walked back with a few groceries to our apartment. Thank you God for a truly blessed day in every way!

DA, DA, DA (YES, YES, YES)!

2010-06-11T19:48:00.006+03:00

Da (yes) were the precious words we heard without hesitation 3 times in a row from Elena in the official meeting with the regional director, orphanage director, and others this afternoon. Elena is not officially our daughter yet until after the court date though. Thank you all for your prayerful support through the roller-coaster rides this week! Elena was required to verbally respond as well as write the answers in paragraph form. When Elena was asked why she said no initially, she responded that she was afraid to leave and afraid to overcome obstacles such as learning English. We learned today that Elena was born in Lutugino.

Elena writing the official letter saying she wants to be adopted

Today was special since it was so much more relaxed than the previous past few days. We were able to spend most of the day (7 hours) at the orphanage with Elena today. We had a quiet visit with Elena throughout the morning and then another family joined us with their new daughter in the afternoon. We played with the kids, had lunch, and then went back to the orphanage and hung out with Elena and LOTS of other children in the play yard. Elena ran all over the orphanage taking photos of all her friends. In the play yard, Elena took many more incredible photos of her friends.

We took a big bag of silly bands and passed them out to each of the children. Then we showed some of them how to play bop it. That was a huge hit! We got the kids ice cream and enjoyed hanging out with them. We introduced ourselves and smiled at the children all the while praying that God will make a way for each child to be adopted in a loving and God fearing home. Since we were out there with them for so long, we also showed those who were interested the videos of Elena and her visit with us (on Jay's computer). They were all very curious and intrigued and surrounded us.

The kids enjoyed the silly bands

Ksenia our Ukraine Facilitator

Elena surprised us when she said here is my cousin and introduced me to a 12 year old boy. Then she introduced us to her 14 year old cousin, Natasha! We took a few photos of Elena and her cousins, but Elena took many more on her own. We didn't know until then that she had any relatives in the same orphanage. Pray for Elena's cousins. Maybe God would have you host or adopt them!!!!

Elena and her two cousins

Our notary work was not completed by 6:00 pm, so it was time to return to Lugansk back to our apartment. Thanks for sharing in our fullness of joy!

Glory to God/Hallelujah!

2010-06-10T23:11:00.007+03:00

Since you all have been praying, we want to give you a real brief summary first and then go into detail. Praise God, by the end of the day today (Thursday) Elena said YES to us privately about being adopted. Tomorrow afternoon (our time- about 6 or 7 am East Coast Time), Elena will be asked before several officials and us if she wants us to adopt her. This is the 'make it or break it' meeting so please keep up your prayers.

"For you shall go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off". Isaiah 55:12-13

Now for a more detailed summary of today:

We greeted the sun early this morning knowing that we had been held before God's holy throne of grace and mercy in deep intercession. Additionally, we had full confidence that the Holy Spirit has been interceding with groanings. What a deep comfort that is to us! We had a calm assurance and readiness to accept whatever outcome the Lord would accomplish. On the drive to Lutugino, Lauren listened to Arise and Shine as this song keeps coming to mind. May the glory of the Lord shine upon the people of this desolate land. We were both praying silently as the driver, Oleg, likes his Russian music LOUD! Being able to listen to great worship music through an ipod was a wonderful blessing.

We stopped to buy the ice cream we promised Elena yesterday and then walked to the orphanage. Did we mention that we have been putting miles on our shoes and getting sorely needed exercise? We found out the children were taken to a lake to swim this morning. Since the government assistance could not provide the funding for most of the children to attend camp in the Black Sea area, they try to let the children go swimming at least once a week. You cannot imagine our fullness of joy when we were trying to spot Elena among the many children and she ran screaming "Mama!" up to Lauren and gave her a huge hug with an ear to ear smile! Then she gave Jay a really big hug too and was obviously very happy to see us. She also stayed with us the entire time when it wasn't her turn to swim.

Elena took great delight in showing the other children who gathered around us the photo album we had brought. Many of the photos were from the time we hosted her over the winter but we had also added photos of her room which is ready for her, the new bunk bed, and the garden with the prolific crop of lettuce God granted this Spring. She preferred to sit with us and not with her usual friends, however she did enjoy introducing us to several of the children.

When it was time to go, the caretakers had each child hold hands with a buddy as they walked back to the orphanage. However, Elena preferred to hold Lauren's hand the entire way back. She also told one little girl that she lives in Georgia and asked us the name of the city where we live.

We were told to return at 2 pm so we explored and found a nice cafe for lunch a few minutes away. Oleg, our driver, asked several folks walking along the way if they knew where the cafe was that was on the lake. We drove along many narrow dusty and unpaved "roads" and found this tiny restaurant with several caribbean style huts outside. It was very refreshing to be there since we found in Lutugino the townspeople openly stare at us. Since we are out in "no man's land" we really stand out!

When we returned Elena was woken up from her nap. All the orphans nap from 1 pm to 4 pm. We are allowed to meet with her in the front room area. We exchanged hugs and then gave Elena a coloring book with markers and showed her the blue nail polish we bought (she said she likes blue). Lauren then asked her if she wanted her toe nails polished and she nodded her head while grinning happily. Then Lauren polished her own toe nails the same color so they would match. Elena also wanted Lauren to French braid her hair the same way Lauren had hers done so they could have matching hair styles. Jay showed Elena more home videos until it was time to go. Ksenia was able to talk with Elena and ask her again (after we did) if she had made a decision. Elena said YES she wanted to be adopted and agreed to go before the officials and us tomorrow afternoon (Friday afternoon).

Please keep up your prayers as Friday is another big day for Elena and for us. A local family who knows much about the area and the adoption and orphanage world emailed us this comment which was very insightful:

Know, too, that often these children who can be adopted are made to feel guilty for abandoning their friends, often by those who cannot be adopted. Also, they are subject to physical abuse by older kids who are, too, jealous of the potential of being adopted. Finally, these adoptable children are often filled with lies that the adoptive parents want them only to make them servants, slaves and in some very extreme circumstances will live a life of abuse at the hands of the adoptive parents. Unfotunately, I don't think the orphanage does a lot to head-off these situations. I pray that God will break through these demonic barriers so she can think and decide clearly....tha the voice of God's Spirit will pierce the darkness that surrounds her.

Elena, Lauren and Jay at the Lake

Lauren paints Elena's toe nails blue

Lauren and Elena

Elena in front of her favorite Cherry Tree

Urgent Prayer Request

2010-06-09T18:59:00.001+03:00

Things today took a very unexpected and sad turn. Everything was going well, we flew from Kiev to Donetsk, took a 2 hour car ride from Donetsk to Lugansk (Lauren did not like the ride at all on bumpy narrow roads with our driver passing everyone right and left), checked into our new apartment (very nice) and went shopping, all by 12 noon). We then went to the regional directors office to pick up paperwork before going to the orphanage, again no issues. We then walked over to the orphanage to meet the orphanage director and then Elena. The orphanage director asked a few questions of us, none that were very difficult.

Elena was then brought in. She was asked in Russian if she wanted to be adopted and she said "NO". This is a radical change of heart since she was last asked by Ksenia (our regional coordinator) two months ago. Needless to say we were both in a state of shock and disbelief. She said that we would like to continue to come visit us but wants to stay at the orphanage. The regional director and orphanage director both tried to get her to change her mind and at least visit with us before making a final decision. One thing that stuck out was the orphanage director saying that Elena is confused.

We had a great visit with her. We gave her birthday cards/gifts, played her favorite game (Connect 4), hugged one another, visited her favorite part of the orphanage, watched videos of her trip to visit us last Christmas and then we video skyped the kids, so she could see Hannah and Micah.

She wanted us to come back tomorrow and visit again. Based on discussions with Ksenia we will be asking her hard questions tomorrow and having to make decisions that will have a lifetime (and beyond) of consequences.

This is the third time in a row at this orphanage that something like this has happened. We just found out that the Ukraine coordinator and her husband will be coming to the orphanage next Monday to try and resolve this situation. While we leave things in man's hand, we are trusting God for His perfect outcome.

Urgent Prayer Requests:

The the author of confusion (see 1 Cor 14:33) be hindered from impacting Elena's earthly and eternal future
The orphanage director would not try to stop the adoption
God's perfect will
Peace for us during this trying time
Elena's salvation

Video of Elena from Christmas 2009 Hosting

2010-06-08T13:21:00.001+03:00

We purposely did not post any pictures of Elena before we got the actual referral for Elena. We are on our way to pick up the referral from the Ukraine government in a few hours, so we are posting a video from when we hosted Elena. We will post pictures of her tomorrow or the next day.

We just came back from SDA with the official paperwork that we will bring to the orphanage. We leave tomorrow morning at 4:30 AM to catch a 6:45 AM plane. With car travel we should be at the orphanage by 11 am or so. We will be meeting with another government official, then the orphanage director and then finally with Elena. This should be about 1:30 pm (or 6:30 am east coast time).

More Pictures

2010-06-07T23:27:00.000+03:00

Here are more pictures from us walking around Kiev:

We Were So Blessed Today!!!

2010-06-07T15:37:00.004+03:00

Entrance to SDA Office

We showed up for our appointment with the SDA (Ukraine government) to receive the approval to adopt Elena. Everything went great. The woman from SDA brought out a large red folder with our names on it in Ukrainian. She then pulled out Elena's file, the moment we have been waiting for. She showed us her file and told us a little about her background. She comes from a single mother family and has a younger brother that was adopted by a Ukrainian family. She told us that she has minor psychological delays (very common in orphanages) and mild scoliosis. Both of these are not major issues considering that she has been in institutional care.

Now for the real blessing. The woman asks us (via Nastya our translator) how did we know Elena. We told her that we had hosted her last December. We did not think anything of the question until she said that several other families had gotten referrals for her and Elena said no to other families that wanted to adopt her. In Ukraine while you can request a child you can't put them "on hold" until your meeting with SDA (which for us was today). During the time we were finishing our paperwork she was available for anyone to adopt her. Also in Ukraine, Elena has the right to say no to any adoption request. It was such a blessing to realize that not only did we choose Elena, but Elena chose to be part our family. The SDA worker wondered why Elena wanted to be with us when she could have already been adopted by several other familes. She then offered another girl for us to consider adopting in addition to Elena. This is highly unusual as they are not related. Given her age (15) we felt that the age differences were too great for us.

We see the hand of God and answered prayer. Every night Micah would pray "Lord please let us adopt Elena". God was so gracious to answer our prayers and Micah's simple prayer from his heart. Elena seemed to really bond well with Micah when she was here and Micah really liked her. It turns out that Elena's biological brother is the same age as Micah.

On a lighter note, we are really enjoying the wonderful weather. Today is another sunny day in the mid 70's. Everyone seems to be out and about enjoying the weather. We are typing this post from a cafe called "Double Coffee", which is one of the few (besides McDonald's) places in English.

Highlights of Our Second Day

2010-06-06T22:19:00.002+03:00

The Lord gave us great rest today and wonderful blessed sleep last night, praise Him! Neither one of us has jet lag (yay)! Looks like the homeopathic remedy worked which is a huge help in getting acclimated.

As we were leaving, we heard a man in the apartment across from us and down the hallway a little bit speaking English. Jay asked him if he was from America. He said yes and asked us if we were adopting too? Terry and Jennifer are from Virginia and adopting the 14 year old girl they recently met on a missions trip here! They had just arrived to their apartment with their facilitator when we met them. We hope to share a meal with them in the next day or two. Their appointment with the SDA is exactly one day later than ours. Our appointment is at noon tomorrow (Monday) which confirms we are getting a referral for Elena. The following day we return to get the official referral needed in order to adopt.

Once outside we did a lot of walking and exploring. The weather was delightful-sunny and mid 70's. When you look at the video and slideshows you may capture the many sights we were able to see today. It was wonderful but since we were on our own, we really don't know about the history of much of what we saw. Directly up the street from us is a large Catholic Church and the church bells rang quite a bit earlier in the day. We observed the famous arch, cobblestone streets, a monastery, many government office buildings, stumbled across a tram with a steep incline, a riverfront area, and lots more. We were intrigued with and tried to absorb the experience of meeting and seeing lots of Ukrainian people in their rich very rich culture.

Jay had a strong sense to go to this one restaurant though we really didn't know anything about it. Many Americans prefer to eat at TGIF or McDonalds, but we really prefer good Ukrainian food! Well, we were not at all disappointed! The borsht along with all the traditional food was fantastic! The workers were very authentic and so were the "turkish toilets"! We even picked up the popular carbonated water by accident which is very popular here and in Europe.

That's all for now.

Second Day in Kiev Video

2010-06-06T21:42:00.000+03:00

Pictures of our Apartment

2010-06-06T21:32:00.006+03:00

Here are some pictures of our apartment in Kiev. As you can tell it is very small by American standards. However it does meet our needs for the few days we will be here.

First Day in Kiev Video

2010-06-06T08:10:00.000+03:00

First Day Pictures

2010-06-06T07:31:00.002+03:00

Here are some pictures from Downtown Kiev (Independence Square)

Priviet (Hello) from Kiev

2010-06-05T21:53:00.000+03:00

We made it with no major issues except a few items removed from our carry on luggage. No big deal. Here is a quick summary of the past 2 days:

6/4 Morning - drop Hannah and Micah off at the Tea's. We had a time of prayer with Brenda and all the kids before leaving. We left very sad but knowing that our kids are with a great family.

6/4 Early Afternoon - arrive in Charlotte airport thanks to John and Sharon. Much easier than the long lines in Atlanta. We had no problems with the weight of our luggage but TSA took 2 large jars of peanut butter that we had in our carry on luggage.

6/4 Late Afternoon - arrive in Boston. We had to take a shuttle from one terminal to another. The traffic in the airport was crazy at 6 PM on a Friday. Thanks to free wifi we were able to video skype the kids. It was great to see their faces and smiles. Micah was trying to cheer us up by making funny gestures on the video.

6/4 Evening - We board our Lufthansa flight. The service was great but we were crammed in so it was hard to sleep. One major blessing was being able to watch "The Blind Side". It is about an older boy who was taken in and then adopted by a family. It was great to watch the movie while on our way to adopt Elena.

6/5 Morning - arrive in Munich (6 hours ahead of east coast time), it should be night for us but it is early morning. Very nice place to stay over. We enjoyed a good German restaurant in the airport terminal. Only bummer was no free wifi.

6/5 Afternoon - arrive in Kiev. Tonya our American facilitator arranged for us to get priority service in customs/immigration. We were processed through immigration, got our bags and when through customs in about 5 minutes. We actually had to wait for Nastya, our Ukraine translator to get to the terminal.

6/5 Late Afternoon/Early Evening - Nastya takes us to our apartment and gets us set up. We experience our first Ukraine blackout, as we lose electricity in the apartment about 30 minutes after we arrive. She shows us around Independence Square, shows us the market and a few restaurants and helps us exchange some money. After she goes back home, we spend some time walking around and enjoying the beautiful day. It was sunny and in the mid 70s.

6/5 - Evening - We go shopping and return having electricity (yeah!!!), skype the kids again and then Lauren goes to sleep. I said good night to the kids and they laughed and said you mean afternoon.

Independence Square

Children singing and dancing in the Square

No Parking Sign (The traffic engineer geek in me comes out)

The current exchange rate for Ukraine money "grivna"

Market where we went shopping

Almost There!

2010-06-03T05:58:00.000+03:00

Had to run out tonight and get a luggage scale. A good friend found one at the Container Store. The closest store is down by Perimeter Mall about 25 minutes away. We have a 50 pound limit on our one checked in bag per person. There is also a limit on our carry on luggage but we do not believe that this is a strict limit. We are bringing a lot of items that we will be leaving there like crafts for the kids and gifts for different people we will be meeting in Ukraine, so hopefully the weight will not be an issue on the way back.

We got a call today from Tonya our American facilitator (she has been such a blessing, we would highly recommend using her if you are planning to adopt from Ukraine) that the Ukraine parliament (Verkhovna Rada) had a vote today on putting a moratorium on all foreign adoptions in Ukraine. Thankfully it was voted down. We could not find out any more information about this and we do not know the details, but we will pass on information as we learn more. This is a huge praise report.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is Elena's 11th birthday. Hopefully Lauren and the kids will call and get through to her to wish her a happy birthday and let her know that we are leaving the next day to adopt her. We are all getting excited but a little edgy with one another. The kids are having a hard time sleeping and keep coming in our room at night.

Jay has one more item to complete at work tomorrow before leaving. He is working on a 100 page report for the City of Roswell. The report is a plan for the implementation of leading edge technology related to traffic and transportation within the City of Roswell (it is called intelligent transportation systems or ITS). It is about 97 percent complete. Jay will be much more relaxed once this is submitted tomorrow afternoon. Jay also has to meet with Tonya tomorrow to get a few last minute items to bring over and a final list of instructions/tips.

Tomorrow night is our last night with the kids before leaving. Both Hannah and Micah said that they wanted to have pancakes for a special last night dinner. We will then follow that up with ice cream and games before going to bed.

The next time we post it should be from the Ukraine. We will take plenty of pictures and video to post on the blog. Please keep us in your prayers for safe travel.

7 Days and Counting.......

2010-05-29T03:52:00.000+03:00

What a blessed yet whirlwind of a week! The highlight was finally getting to speak with Elena on the phone. We are excited to actually be able to see her and adopt her SOON, God-willing! There are many details that we are hoping to finalize this weekend since next week is sure to fly by at the speed of light.

We were able to get our airplane tickets and were also able to get inexpensive airplane tickets for travel in Ukraine so we won't need to take the 17 hour train ride (one way) -that is a huge praise and answer to prayer! Another huge praise is God's provision of Lauren's eyeglasses with clear vision. Sounds simple, however in this case, it took 9 separate trips total with the kids to either the eye doctor's office and/or lenscrafters (and a lot of extra time). Rejoicing in God's goodness and provision in this way!

By His grace, we were able to start packing, start getting miscellaneous and requested items for the translators/helpers in Ukraine, and a good friend helped us by making Elena's birthday card (in Russian). Elena's birthday is June 3rd (she turns 11). Natalia (whom Lauren has known for 20 years) made a beautiful card for Elena and we are excited to hand deliver it to her along with a snickers bar! While we were hosting Elena, Lauren would ask Micah to get his sneakers on. Immediately, Elena's eyes lit up and she said SNEAKERS! To this day, Micah still calls Snicker's bars "sneakers"!!! Apparently, over the summer hosting period last year, Elena discovered Snickers.

One more bit of great news we learned today is that the orphanage director is holding Elena back from going to camp which shows she approves of this adoption and is cooperating with the necessary proceedings! This is an unbelievable praise unto the Lord. If Elena and Lauren return home in a timely manner, we will be able to accompany Jay on a business trip in South Georgia on a lovely beach. This would be a special treat for our family and provide something better than the orphanage camp for Elena.

Another bit of encouraging news is that Promise 686 offered to have a special prayer time for us before we leave, and help with coordinating meals and various needs when we need it! For us, that is incredibly encouraging and helpful (and a refreshing first time experience)! By the way, if you have not taken a peek yet, please check out the Promise 686 web site at: http://www.promise686.org/ This is an amazing ministry!

Lauren took the kids to Lake Lanier today (Friday) to a fun birthday party. It was a gorgeous day, the lake was clear and cool and it couldn't have been a better opportunity to set aside the adoption stuff and just have fun with them. They even had a chance to ride on a motor boat that the birthday boy's parents rented. The kids were able to swim or dip in the water when they were hot, play games, toss water balloons, eat lots of goodies and just enjoy being out in this really nice lake park! I didn't have the camera with me (oh well)!

We are enjoying putting the finishing touches on our preparations at home. It is a nesting of a different sort but nesting nevertheless. The bunk bed is ready to go (another praise story), and just a few minor details are left. We had a sweet surprise though when Lauren called Amy at Promise 686 one day. One of their volunteer workers, asked Amy if we could use a desk. Since she doesn't know us and never met us before, only the Lord knew that we had been using a very old desk (made out of pressed "wood") and had been something we discussed replacing before we hosted Elena. Since we started pursuing the hosting/adoption track, it took a backseat and we never gave it a thought again until Amy asked us that question. Well, we would have been eager to get any desk at this point if it didn't cost much money. This kind woman, had no idea of any of this when she asked if we could use a desk at no charge since she was downsizing and wanted it to be in a good home. Well, Jay went to pick up the desk and we had no idea from the picture how nice it was! It is by far the nicest desk we have ever had-and appears to be solid cherry wood! Now, we had to re-organize the schoolroom/office. This forced us to do what we had needed to do but were dreading doing. It is just so much better to have this done before Elena arrives. It has just been another reminder of the Lord's gracious and generous kindness toward us!

Seven days and counting.........stay tuned! If you wish to receive more detailed email updates just email us now and we will add you to our Ukraine prayer list.

We're going to Ukraine!!!

2010-05-20T02:14:00.000+03:00

We heard this morning that our dossier was approved and we have our appointment with the Ukraine government on June 7th. We are in the process of booking our airplane tickets, but we should be leaving on June 4th. This will have us arriving in Kiev on June 5th. This gives us one day to rest and catch up on sleep before our appointment (we are looking at 17 hours total of travel time including layovers just to get to Kyiv [Kiev])! We are so excited and praising the Lord!!!!

This gives us about 2 weeks to finalize our child care arrangements, get last minute items, pack and mentally/spiritually prepare ourselves for the last phase of the adoption process. Our heads are spinning with all the details.

Still Waiting

2010-05-14T13:34:00.000+03:00

Although we expected to hear by yesterday (Thursday) on our appointment date in the Ukraine, we are still waiting. The earliest we expect to hear anything now would be Monday since appointments are not given on Friday. If we don't hear on Monday, it is not likely we will make it to Elena's orphanage on her birthday (she turns 11). We are confident though that the Lord will orchestrate all according to His perfect will and timing!

We did find out that the orphanage director at Elena's orphanage was told that we are planning on adopting Elena. The director was pleased with this and said she would tell Elena. She also asked when we would be adopting her. She was told that our dossier has been submitted. This is very good news to hear that Elena's director is positive regarding the adoption.

Update

2010-05-08T07:30:00.000+03:00

We have several praises in this update. First, we want to thank everyone who gave toward Elena's adoption! We wanted to let people know that we reached our support goal for money raised through Promise686! Praise His Holy Name!

We received word today from our facilitator that we should probably hear back from the Ukrainian government next week with our appointment date. Our appointment should be about 2 weeks after that! We are very excited yet also very, very busy!

Additionally, we have received our packing list. What is a packing list you ask? Well, it contains many detailed items of what we are to bring along with us. There are many items that need to go in one bag for each of us! We were told to bring LOTS of crafts and games so we can play with Elena along with the other orphans interested in joining in the fun. There will be plenty of down time, and we will definitely be bringing books to read (we are avid readers) but must be careful not to exceed our 50 pound limit. We will also be bringing Elena's things since we can expect that she will be sent off by the orphanage with the clothes on her back. We would like to find room for birthday goodies and much to share with her friends there. Yes, if all goes smoothly and on schedule we should be there for her 11th birthday! That has been our prayer if the Lord wills! What an amazing birthday gift for Elena-a forever family! Can you just imagine that?! "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

We also have incredible help lined up to care for our kids as well as a very dear friend staying in our home to help care for our kids. That is an absolute huge help and answer to prayer!

While we pack and prepare, excitement fills the air. Yet, we have detected a bit of our youngest being extra clingy. We must remember that 2 weeks being apart from both of us is almost like a year or more to our precious little ones and a month might seem even longer! We must also remember that as much as we are overjoyed to be bringing Elena home, we can expect her to feel a bit conflicted and her departure may be more of a bittersweet one as she leaves behind all she has ever known and enters into the "unknown".

Please stay tuned in, and get ready to fasten your seat belts with us on this incredible journey ahead!

Smoke grenades, eggs & tomatoes turn Ukraine parliament into battlefield

2010-04-28T07:03:00.000+03:00

While not related to our adoption, it seems that a fight broke out in the Ukraine parliament over a treaty with Russia. I have embedded a youtube video of the fight.

Paperwork Submitted!!!!

2010-04-28T07:00:00.000+03:00

Our dossier (along with our friend's the Trumps) was submitted to the Ukraine government today. This is a huge milestone. We should hear back in the next 2 to 3 weeks on an appointment date to meet with the Ukraine government. Our appointment date should also be 2 to 3 weeks from when we hear. So if everything goes well, we will be there in about 5 weeks. We are so excited. We have so much to do in the next few weeks to prepare for our trip.

Paperwork Update #2

2010-04-22T14:07:00.000+03:00

We have been watching the situation in Europe to see when air travel would resume, so that our final piece of paperwork could be delivered to Ukraine. We heard yesterday from Tonya (our US facilitator) that our paperwork will be going over on Saturday and arrive on Sunday. The paperwork will be delivered by another family that is going over to adopt. The good news is that our dossier will be submitted on Tuesday, April 27th. We should hear back in about 2 weeks after that with an appointment date.

Elena is eagerly waiting for us to come and bring her back with us to America. We are so excited that Elena has made it clear she wants to be adopted. There have been a few recent children that have changed their minds and did not want to be adopted. In Ukraine, children over 6 have to publicly say that they want to be adopted in front of several officials including the judge who will make the final decision on the adoption. We continue to call her each week and send her two letters each week.

We will update you once our paperwork is submitted.

Paperwork Update

2010-04-17T17:53:00.000+03:00

Flights to Germany will not start again to at least Sunday (tomorrow). Our paperwork is scheduled to go over to Ukraine via Germany with one of several adoptive families that are going to Ukraine this weekend. If our paperwork can get to Ukraine with one of the adoptive families by Monday, it will be submitted this week. If not we will have to wait another week. Please pray that our paperwork can get to Ukraine as soon as possible. After waiting since January to get our paperwork approval from the USCIS, we are looking forward to our paperwork being submitted to the Ukraine government as soon as possible.

Our Paperwork is All Set to Go to Ukraine

2010-04-17T00:44:00.000+03:00

Jay picked up our final piece of paperwork from USCIS this morning and delivered it with our friend's (Rusty and Cheryl Trump) paperwork to Tonya our facilitator. Tonya is suppose to give it to another family to hand deliver to Ukraine. This family should be leaving tomorrow, but they may be delayed due to the volcano eruption in Iceland.

If our paperwork is able to get to Ukraine before Wednesday our dossier will be submitted this week. If not it will have to wait one more week to be submitted. Once our dossier is submitted, we should hear back from Ukraine in 2 weeks. Our appointment should be 2 to 3 weeks from the day we hear back (for a total of 4 to 5 weeks). There could be a slight delay in getting our appointment due to holidays in Ukraine in May. They have 8 holidays this May.

Hopefully we will be able to go over to Ukraine at the same time as the Trumps. We will then be able to spend the first few days with them in Kiev and on the train ride to Lugansk.

We will keep you posted on the status of our paperwork and our appointment date.

Our Paperwork should be picked up TOMORROW and be hand delivered in Ukraine this weekend!

2010-04-16T05:10:00.000+03:00

We are overjoyed and overflowing with gratefulness over God's abundant mercy and grace! This week we have experienced a breakthrough due to God's sovereign and divine intervention. We know that many have been praying and it is as a sweet fragrant aroma unto Him and certainly brought forth a move of His Spirit in ways beyond men could accomplish! We finally heard back from the INS officer that our paperwork has been approved. Friends of ours, the Trump family, had gotten permission to pick up their paperwork today. Jay had emailed the INS worker repeatedly and additionally, when Cheryl picked up the paperwork for her family today, she inquired and asked if we could pick up ours today or tomorrow also.   Both of our families have clearly been given divine favor since last night our adoption facilitator says that NEVER happens-picking up the approval paperwork in person- perhaps with one or two emergency exceptions.   Well, Jay needed to leave for a meeting over an hour North and the appointment notice from the INS worker arrived just as Jay was walking out the door (as the administrative assistant ran after him with the appointment notice in hand as it had been faxed just in the second it was needed)! It is a really big deal that this is all happening right now because on Saturday someone is traveling to Ukraine to adopt and our paperwork will be hand delivered to the Ukrainian adoption facilitator!

The next step is that once our paperwork gets submitted, we should be traveling in about 5 weeks or so, and we will need to spend a total of 4 weeks in Ukraine until we can come home with Elena.

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support! The prayers of a righteous man avails much! To God be the glory for His provision and blessings upon us and our friends! Speaking of His provisions, He has encouraged us mightily and not only matched our grant but provided bunk beds as well!   If it is still on your heart to give, it is still very much welcomed and would help a lot. There are additional expenses we have incurred and will incur (including some hidden expenses necessary for travel) but some that are not so hidden (the $1,500 remaining of the placement fee due to the hosting agency for one). Most of all, we are just in awe of what the Lord has done and is doing in our midst!   Thank you all for being His hands and feet, the living expression of our Lord!

This journey is a step by step process. The next step which requires prayer is that our paperwork would get submitted this coming Wednesday in Ukraine (they only submit once a week, so if they can't squeeze us in this coming Wed., we'll have to wait another week.) My prayer has been if it is God's will that we could be at Elena's orphanage before or on her birthday, June 3rd (she turns 11)!

Thanks to those who expressed concern over the Russian adoption situation. Please keep praying for Russia and the families far along in the adoption process currently.   There are many precious people this could impact so let's pray for this to calm down quickly. Praise God, it doesn't seem to be effecting the country of Ukraine (or other countries)!

We spoke with Elena this morning very early but she couldn't talk much since they were having lessons later than usual. Also, we sense she is struggling more the English language and probably lost quite a bit since she has been back in Ukraine.
Thank you Lord, thank you friends and thank you all!   Blessed be His glorious and mighty Name!

__._,_.___

I will review it tomorrow

2010-04-15T00:24:00.000+03:00

This is the exact email I received from the person at the USCIS who is responsible for approving our I-600a application. This is the last form we need before submitting our dossier to the Ukraine government. Hopefully we should receive our approval in the few days and then have it sent over to Ukraine.

Hannah's Missing Tooth

2010-04-11T05:41:00.000+03:00

We spoke with Elena this week/Still waiting for the Immigration Form

2010-03-26T15:37:00.000+02:00

This week has been uneventful regarding adoption. We have been plenty busy otherwise with various unexpected things to deal with though. It was wonderful to speak with Elena again on the phone. Her orphanage does not have the set up (or allow it) for skype VIDEO capacity however it has been a blessing to be able to talk regularly. We have been sending letters with gum via her Ukrainian address and she has been receiving them in about a week's time. She did ask for "pasilka"- which means package which we plan to send her.

We are still awaiting the form from Immigration services. It is taking longer than we originally thought it would. We have contacted the appropriate person and still have not heard back. Please keep praying for the Lord's perfect timing. We will post again when we hear about the form.

Support and Fund Raising Update

2010-03-20T15:18:00.000+02:00

First we want to thank everyone for their prayers, support and financial gifts. As many of you know, adoption is a very time consuming and expensive undertaking. We would not enter into this without fully trusting in God to provide the support and funds needed to adopt Elena.

Our first praise report is that a wonderful home school family has offered to take care of Hannah and Micah while we are both in the Ukraine for the first two weeks. That is a huge relief as our families share many common values and live out our lives in similar ways. We are extremely grateful and blessed that this family is planning to sacrifice their lives to help us in this way! We are also confident it will be a great experience for both Hannah and Micah. In an ideal world, we would prefer to take them with us; however, since this is not possible we have His peace and rest about the loving care and nurture this family will provide. We are still working on and praying about definite help when Jay returns to work and Lauren is still in the Ukraine for the past 2 1/2 weeks. Once we know our travel dates, we hope to finalize these plans.

God has also provided a significant portion of the matching funds for the promise686 matching grant! Praise and thanks to the Lord!!! Through various fund raisers and gifts from friends, we have raised a total of approximately $2,800 so far. We still have approximately $1,200 to raise. This represents approximately five (5) percent of the total adoption cost of $26,000. Below is a pie chart that shows the source of funds that God has provided.

We are still seeking one or more families to help sponsor Elena's education through the Georgia Private School Tax Credit (only those that live in Georgia can help with this). Doing this does not cost anything, but requires filling out paperwork to direct your state income tax toward the private school that Elena will be attending. Elena has been accepted to Veritas Classical School. This is a hybrid school, where Elena will attend for two days a week (part of one day and one full day) and be homeschooled for the remaining three full days. This will provide Elena with a structured environment while allowing Lauren to stay closely involved and prioritize a focus with Elena on character, language and other transitional issues. We have His abundant peace for this change to our homeschooling routine for this upcoming extremely transitional year.

Last, but not least, we are looking for several people who have a heart to pray faithfully while we are in the Ukraine. We plan to send out daily prayer requests to those who are committed to prayer. We already have someone who has offered to coordinate the prayer emails. Please consider praying for us during this time. Notify us please if you are interested and we will put you on a list to receive daily updates for prayer and praise while in the Ukraine. Thanks again for your kind loving care!

"Me Come Back?"

2010-03-11T01:31:00.000+02:00

It has become our new normal to get up very early on Wednesday mornings to call Elena. That is how our morning began today. Sleepy eyed and barely awake we went through the necessary chain of command and within a few minutes we were speaking with Elena. We could hear there was at least one other person nearby for whatever reason. Elena seemed more reserved than in the past. This time Elena said one thing in English, "Me come back" ? Though she cannot speak "freely" in any language and nor can we, she has expressed her eagerness to come back here SOON! She received our letter with goodies in it, but clearly seems impatient and unhappy with being in Ukraine especially in the orphanage.

We are still awaiting (and trying to be patient) for the necessary form processed through Immigration Services. Nothing moves forward without that form. However, it should be coming any day now. Once that is received, it will be sent over to Ukraine and submitted with the rest of our paperwork which is already there. Once all the paperwork is submitted it should take about 10 days until we hear from the Ukraine about the date when we need to be in Kyiv (Kiev) for the initial meeting. The entire process may take 2 months from the time we receive the form we are awaiting. So, it may be the middle of May or so before we are traveling, but we know the Lord's timing is perfect!

Please be praying that if the Lord wills, we may be paired up with another couple to be in Elena's remote region of Ukraine at the same time especially while Jay returns after the first two weeks and Lauren must remain for the additional 2 to 3 weeks or however God leads for His purposes.

Stay tuned as we wait upon Him. ..................Isaiah 40:31

Lauren

Got our last paperwork/form today!

2010-03-06T05:50:00.000+02:00

Today we received our last form to fill out here in the United States. It is the interpol form which is the brand new international background check required as of January 2010. There will be more paperwork in Ukraine. For those who are familiar with international adoption, you know what a milestone that is!

We are still waiting for the approval form from U.S. Immigration. That will set the schedule for the remainder of the adoption process. Once we receive that form, it should be about 2 months from that point when we go over.

A few other highlights from the past week: we spoke with Elena again early Wednesday morning. It was awesome to hear her voice again. Hannah was still really sleepy at 6 something in the morning (the best time to reach Elena her time) and didn't say much. Elena kept saying, "Hannah, Hannah..........." since Hannah is usually so sweet and easy to talk with and they bonded so nicely. I was rushing off very early that morning to a very special conference called LCJE which was a huge blessing and gift to me. Typically they don't meet annually in Atlanta and God worked out this gift for me to attend one of the three days. I am still flying high from that wonderful opportunity! However, having started the day talking with Elena was really very special for all of us.!!!

God directed and provided for the perfect dresser for Elena's room. When we look at it, it is a reminder of God's faithfulness! That is another really neat story which reminds us of George Mueller praying specifically and having a very specific answer. It daily encourages us when we see it as a testimony of our living God!

Paypal Donation Link

2010-02-25T03:55:00.000+02:00

Here is a direct link to Paypal if someone would like to make a tax deductible donation toward the $4,000 matching grant from promise686. Each dollar you give is matched dollar for dollar up to $4,000. These funds will be used to cover a portion of the cost to adopt Elena.

We Talked to Elena Today!

2010-02-25T02:24:00.000+02:00

We all got up at 6:30 am this morning to call Elena via Skype that Jay set up to call her. We had our Russian script all prepared and ready to go, and after a couple attempts, we called back and were able to talk with Elena. It only took a few minutes which amazed us. She was giggling and SO HAPPY and so were we! Hannah shared a little joke partially in Russian that she remembered from Elena's visit. Micah was his silly self. Elena told us she got the "Pasilka" or package we had delivered through New Horizons. We told Elena we saw her picture at the orphanage school taken a week or so ago by New Horizons. Elena told us "Family, I Love You" in English! We reassured her of our love for her and how much we miss her and that we plan to call her at the same time each week.

Ladies Lunch

2010-02-25T02:15:00.000+02:00

Finally I am sitting down to write on this blog that Jay has labored to create. I haven't started our adoption story yet, but my goal is to complete it before Elena is with us! Saturday was very special for me (Lauren) as I had a chance to spend much of the afternoon with a very sweet group of ladies. Sue, a dear friend of Flora's, hosted a woman's luncheon in her home which is like being at a lovely retreat center. It is just a lovely home but not as lovely as the person inside it! Amy Rider of Promise 686 attended and shared a bit about Promise 686. Among friends I was able to share Elena's story, our story, God's heart for adoption throughout the Scriptures and even three key lessons learned (so far)! For the 3 lessons, please see below. Additionally, I shared a wonderful video that Jay worked hard to prepare. We will send it out individually when we have completed a letter we have just begun. I haven't done any public speaking in a very long time, but the ladies were incredibly gracious. A highlight was meeting Flora's sister-in-law (a Greek Jewish woman) and seeing Kim again after way too long. Actually sitting for a long stretch of time without constant interruptions, with delicious homemade food, sweet fellowship in such a beautiful setting truly was like a retreat for me! I enjoyed hearing some ladies bare their hearts with me,sharing challenges and prayer requests individually was a joy. At the end, praying with Julia was a special delight and highlight as well! Three lessons learned in a nut shell are 1) Submit to the Lord and to your husband (if you are a married woman). Let your husband lead and praise him when he does! 2) When you have prayed for years and years and trusted and waited, keep trusting, and praying! He IS faithful! 3) There is greater living through faith.........Hebrews 11:1 Often I get questions such as "what if.......", "have you considered.............." and they are good questions, but the equalizer of it all is YES and what if we trust the Lord as we continue to entrust it all to Him! I have much to thank the Lord for and much to thank three lovely ladies for a very special day; Sue, Flora and Julia. What strikes me the most about that day also is how amazing these ladies poured out their lives in humble service. You may ask what is so special about that. Well, besides that being special enough, two of these three ladies are widows. How incredible it is to me that these widows are eager and excited to bless the orphans!!! Lauren

Ukraine Orphan Statistics

2010-02-15T04:35:00.001+02:00

One Easy Way You Can Help

2010-02-13T04:30:00.001+02:00

Over the next few weeks, we will be doing several fund raisers and will post on the different opportunities for you and others to help us bring Elena to her forever home. Amy at promise686 let us know about a fund raising idea that does not cost any money for the participants. We will be collecting empty computer printer ink cartridges and sending them to empties4cash.com. They will send us a check which will then be doubled by promise686. Please consider collecting empty ink cartridge (sorry no laser ink toners are accepted) from people you know and giving them to us. If you can provide us with inkjet printer cartridges, please let us know.

For cartridges to qualify for payment, they must:

Be OEM, original manufacturer's brand such as HP, Lexmark, Dell, Canon and Sharp only.
Have a print head.

Atlanta Snow Storm

2010-02-13T03:32:00.000+02:00

Not exactly an adoption post, but a rare event in Atlanta. Since we moved to Atlanta in February 2005 we have had only two minor snow showers, both were less than an inch and were gone in several hours. (We did enjoy some snow this past Christmas with Elena when we took her to the Smoky Mountains.) Well today we got between two and three inches. While this is nothing like what our friends in the DC area have received over the last week (2 snow storms totaling 45 inches), this is very unusual for the Atlanta area.

We had so much fun with the kids and our next door neighbors. We built a snowman and had a real snow ball fight. Micah did not like getting hit by snowballs. Hannah and our next door neighbor Jakob enjoyed the snowball fight and kept running away from me. Here are some pictures:

Micah enjoying the snow

Snow in Atlanta

Our neighbor Jakob and his snowman

Our own snowman

Hannah making a snow angel

Biometrics Appointment Part 2

2010-02-12T14:15:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we went to our biometrics appointment. Before leaving we had a situation with Lauren's car which is still under warranty. The day before the car would not start due to the battery not holding a charge Mazda sent roadside assistance to charge the battery. The morning of the appointment Lauren and I were going to take separate cars to my office, drop my car off at my office and then go together to the appointment (at 8 am near downtown Atlanta). Well Lauren's car would not start so we had it towed to the Mazda dealer. To make a long story short, we got our third car battery installed in less than 26,000. Not happy, but at least we have a new battery.

When we got to the appointment, we were the second car there at about 7:20 am. It was cold (for Atlanta) and Jay stood in line until the doors opened at 8 am. Jay's biometrics seemed to go okay, but they had a hard time getting Lauren's fingerprints. Please pray that all goes well and both of our fingerprints are accepted.

This is the last step that we need to complete before filing our paperwork to the Ukraine. If everything goes as planned, we should get our approved I-171H form in about one month. Within one to two weeks after that our dossier should be submitted in the Ukraine.

promise686 Grant

2010-02-12T14:06:00.000+02:00

We are so blessed to have been chosen to receive a matching grant from promise686. They will match dollar for dollar all money we raise up to $4,000 toward Elena's adoption. All gifts are fully tax deductible and are truly a blessing to us and Elena. If you would love to help us bring Elena to her forever home, please either let us know or you can send a check to promise686. For tax purposes all checks need to made out to promise686. Please let them know it should be directed toward the Bockisch's. The address to send the check is:

Promise686, Inc.

3600 River Ferry Drive

Alpharetta, GA 30022

Biometrics Appointment

2010-02-03T06:04:00.000+02:00

We received our letters today with the information on our biometric appointment at US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Our appointment is scheduled for Thursday, February 11th at 8 am. We are in need of someone to watch our kids since the notice says not to bring anyone with us. Lauren will be calling several people to see if they can watch our kids that morning.

Meeting with promise686

2010-01-31T06:42:00.000+02:00

Last Sunday night while our kids were at Awana, we met with Amy and Tim R. from promise686. promise686 is a christian non-profit organization that helps families with the adoption process through mentoring, networking and matching grants. We had submitted our application paper work for the matching grant and this was our interview. It went well and we are hoping (and praying) that we will be approved for a $4,000 matching grant. Of course we will need to raise the match part, but we are trusting God for this. We have already seen God work so may times in raising money for us but every time it is still a faith walk. We have several ideas for fund raisers and will be sharing these with folks over the next few weeks.

Progess to Date (Part 3)

2010-01-31T06:31:00.000+02:00

During the time Elena was here, our American facilitator Tonya was busy compiling our Ukrainian Dossier. We gave her all the needed forms including medical forms, certified warranty deed for our house, apostalled copy of our marriage license from the State of New Jersey (this cost over $100), employment verification letter and various other forms. This allowed Tonya to finish our Home Study paperwork and almost all the Ukrainian Dossier. Our almost complete dossier was sent over to Ukraine with the team heading back to the Ukraine with the host children. The dossier will be translated and ready for the two additional forms that are required to submit our application to the Ukraine government.

At the same time we submitted our I-600A form to the US Department of Homeland Security/Immigration to get our pre approval to bring an orphan (hopefully Elena) back to the USA from Ukraine. We Fedexed the forms on January 13. We received a letter stating that they got our application but then received another letter saying we need to submit our Home Study (we of course did submit it). I called Tonya who made a new notarized copy of the Home Study and gave it to me the next day. I went straight to the Post Office and mailed the Home Study out again. Hopefully we will not lose more than a few days in the process. We are still waiting to get a letter with the date and time of our last set of fingerprints (hopefully).

The last form that we need to complete is a new form for the Ukraine. We are now required to submit to an Interpol background check. Originally Tonya thought that this would add 40 days to our time horizon to get Elena. However she told us that the background is only needed for the court hearing which occurs later in the process and that the Interpol background check should not delay the process.

I will provide a post in the next few days with our estimated schedule for bringing Elena home to her forever family.

Progress To Date (Part 2)

2010-01-31T06:05:00.000+02:00

Elena's visit was full of fun, learning to communicate with someone who understands very little English and trying to find food that Elena would eat. This was not always easy, as she would not eat the typical foods that we eat. Thankfully our friend Natalia came to the rescue numerous times, translating for us and explaining things to both Elena and to us.

We spent the first few days celebrating Hanukkah and getting ready for Christmas. Lauren and the kids went to a play that a friend was in and enjoyed getting to know one another. Hannah and Elena really hit it off. They both wanted to sleep together in the same bed. They were so cute that it was easy to say yes. We had fun putting up the Christmas tree especially with a wonderful ornament that Elena made for Jay.

Ornament that Elena made for Jay

At the end of the first week, we took the kids to the Smoky Mountains to enjoy a special time away together. On the the way back we stopped in Chattanooga to enjoy one more day together away. The following is a list of the fun places we went:

Swimming in the wonderful indoor pool and water slide at the Resort at Governor's Crossing
Watching a play about Jesus at the Miracle Theater
Picking out ornaments at the Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge
Rides, shows, lights, parade and more rides at Dollywood
The Chattanooga Zoo
Chattanooga's Creative Discovery Museum
Ice cream at Clumpies (Elena loved ice cream)

The rest of our visit with Elena was a wonderful adventure getting to know her. This was not always easy given the language and culture barriers. She also had a hard time trusting us, which is normal given her background as a orphan. Special times included reading to her and Elena reading to us, playing games (Elena loved Connect 4), watching Elena and Hannah dance and play, fun times eating ice cream and Jay and the kids wrestling.

It was very hard to see her go back. She asked us to send her a package because she said she has nothing in the orphanage. We just put a package together for her and sent it to the staff at New Horizons, who will hand deliver it in early February.

Progress To Date (Part 1)

2010-01-30T17:36:00.000+02:00

Since this is our first post, we wanted to give a brief summary of the progress toward adoption through the end of January 2010:

Early November 2009: Contacted New Horizons for Children about hosting from the Ukraine. Completed application, reviewed pictures/bios of children, we all fell in love with Elena and asked if we could host her.

Late November 2009: Begin the Home Study process with Tonya from Options 4 Adoption.

Early December 2009: Continue with all the paperwork for the Home Study and prepare for Elena's visit with us beginning December 13th. We are so thankful for the many people who donated money and clothes toward Elena's hosting visit. Our goal was to be finished with all the interviews and paperwork for the Home Study before Elena's visit. We were able to meet this goal. We also begin complying paperwork for our Ukraine Dossier, which is needed to make an application to the Ukraine government to adopt a child.

December 13, 2009 - We are all excited as Elena's flight arrives in Atlanta at 8:30 PM. First we were blessed to watch Hannah and Micah in our church's (Genesis Bible Church) Christmas Play. They were both ornaments. Micah was a baseball "slugger" and Hannah was the Statue of Liberty. Given all the time we spent preparing for Elena, we did not put the best costumes together for our kids. The play was great and all the kids did wonderful. That night we were off to the Atlanta Airport (about 35 to 40 minutes from our home in Johns Creek) to wait for Elena.

Here is Hannah as the Statue of Liberty

Micah and Daddy waiting at the Atlanta Airport

Hannah playing games with friends at the Airport