WE HAVE A TRAVEL DATE

I've dreamed of typing this post, and can't believe it's finally here. We have an appointment date in Ukraine for Monday, April 27th. Woo-hoo praise the Lord!!!! Thank you for your prayers and support. Please be praying for our children "here and there" as this all approaches. We love you, Jenny

Psalm 145:3 "Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom."

"The Cost of Adoption"

No new news to share. We're still waiting on a travel date. I did want to share something I read in a devotional provided by Shaohannah's Hope foundation. They are short devotions, but very powerful. I think if you inquire on their website, they will send you one. This is from Scott Hasenbalg:
"Adoption is costly. Whether in the realm of finances, emotions, relationships, time, or effort, adoption will cost. But think of what it cost God, and yet He was willing to undergo that cost. And not simply undergo it, but to undergo it with joy! It gave Him pleasure!...In our world of risk-averse, safety-first, immediate gratification, we often lose sight of the truth that some endeavors are worth the cost...Jesus came to be a ransom for many (Matt 20:28) and if God was willing to pay that ransom for us, how much more will He be willing to lead us in ransoming His beloved children form their state as orphans? And it is His love that compels us onward in obedience whatever the cost, for He who calls us is faithful."
Ephesians 1:5,7 "God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ...and it gave Him great pleasure...He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son."

love, Jenny

Dossier Officially Submitted

Wanted to share a quick update:
Our dossier was officially submitted yesterday. They had no problems with it at this point. Hallelujah! This means by their law they will issue us a travel date within the next 20 days. So, we don't know when that date will be, but at least we know we will have a date soon.

Please pray:
--That nothing or no one will hold up the travel date for us.
--Our minds and hearts will stay focused on the TRUTH, and not let fear, doubt, the world have any place in this.
--Good friends are traveling to adopt Friday. Please be in prayer for them and their adoption.
--All praise to God who so marvelously shows His glory! We talked to the kids Saturday through a translator. Of course they want to know when we're coming. We told them it could be soon, maybe even April or May. Alona was like, "ugh, that's forever!" They are so anxious. The great thing was that Makc seems to be finally letting himself believe we are really coming.
--God continues to provide--make no mistake, there are still some VERY generous people in this world. We are only $13k away from having the adoption covered. That is a HUGE hallelujah! David's company is being absolutely fantastic and supportive of this whole undertaking. Again, all praise to God who does provide! This whole experience makes me sorry for the many times I've said, "I can't, or we can't, or we would but..." God is Jehovah-Jireh, our Provider! There is no room for excuses in faith-filled living.

Finally, I wanted to share this verse with you that the Lord placed smack-dab in front of me in my Bible study. It's particularly meaningful as I think of traveling and being away from my three precious ones here. "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring LORD, and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes." Nehemiah 4:14b Love, Jenny

Notes from Makc and Natasha

This is the most recent picture we have of the kids. Natasha (5) on the left, Alona (8) in the middle and Makc (10)
Picture we sent over email to kids this week! These are our bio children: Isabelle (5), Keely (13) and Max (8). They really are so excited and eager for the kids to be with us.

Since the blog is private now, I feel comfortable sharing these pictures and notes with you. The notes came through email from a great family that's been in the Ukraine adopting a little boy they hosted this summer. They have had mountain after mountain to climb over, but sweet victory, as of today they have their boy now! One of the blessings in their struggles and long time there was their influence on the orphans, particularly Makc. It seems Makc has had a hard time believing we are really coming for him. We've sent him letters, and this family has been great to tell the kids we are coming for them. Makc still had a hard time believing. Praise the Lord it seems Sunday it finally settled in his bones. David got to talk over the phone with the kids on Monday. Here's some of the email the family sent us:

"So, we were able to reassure him that your paperwork has already been sent to Kiev and that you will come for them and it won't be long! He kept asking how we know and we told him that we had talked to the agency director and that we email you guys and that you have sent us many emails while we've been here. We told him that he could write you a letter and that we'd send it to you today and he got really excited and ran for the paper and sat down and wrote this all by himself:

Hi Jenny and David,
This is Makc. I want you to come to us. Natasha sends you a big 'Hi!' We miss you very much. I study well. How are you? We miss you very much. We want to live with you. We love you! From Makc"

This is from Alona who has seemed quite confident we're coming! (The doll she talks about is a Barbie we sent through the mail recently. Not sure about the Women's Day--I'm thinking a Ukrainian holiday coming up :))

And Alona wrote this:

Mother and Father,
I love you very much. I am waiting for you! I liked you very much. I miss you very much. I like dolls in pink dresses like a princess. We have winter right now. We have 2 parrots. We can skate. I love you very much and Natasha loves you very much too and Makc. Congratulations with the Women's Day on the 8th of March.
Love,
Alona

The mountain has moved!

Praise God! There was a real potential issue that came about Monday. It's just too long to tell on the blog, but the great thing is the issue was lifted up in some bold prayer and it is an official NON-ISSUE now. Oh, I'm so amazed by God! How He works, how He loves, all of it! The thing is we've got to trust Him to then see His Hand. I suppose sometimes we can see a situation and recognize that God was in it, but how sweet the victory when we see it in faith (1 John 5:4 "Every God-begotten person conquers the world's ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith.").
God asks us to actively believe Him and come before Him with praying boldly.
I thought of this verse when I was praying this week: Matthew 17:20 "For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." I'm so thankful I claimed God's Word for what it is--the Truth! For those of you who knew the situation and prayed in faith thank you.
Let's take God at His Word, amen?! Jenny

Blog going Private

For the best interest of the adoption, we're going to make our blog private by the end of this week. I tried to send an email to all the email addresses in my Outlook. If I don't have your email and/or if I missed you, and you want to continue to view the blog please leave a comment with your name and email address. Thanks so much for praying.
We believe our facilitator is going to register our dossier in the next day or two. After that it will be officially submitted (maybe next week), and then they will give us a travel date. Please pray for God's perfect timing in this! Thanks! Jenny