Great News!

Well . . . things appear to be moving right along!  We have been speaking with Lydia, the Director of the Ukraine program at MLJ Adoptions in Indianapolis.  The facilitator has selected the children that will be hosted this December.  These children will be available for adoption thereafter.  Lydia sent us pictures of a sibling group that she had in mind.  All four!!  After Rick and I caught our breath, we decided that four would be too many.  She then emailed us to let us know that she was gathering more information on a sibling group of three that she wanted us to consider.  The children that she was presenting to us were children that were cleared for adoption, but not available immediately.  We told her that we would pray about the three children.  We were feeling somewhat ambivalent, as we felt that three might be too many for us to handle.  God gave us our answer.  We learned that two of the children were adopted by a Ukranian family.  The other was not yet available for adoption as she needed a minor surgery.

Lydia also mentioned that there was a sibling group of two (one boy and one girl) that would be available in the near future.  Rick and I both had a strong feeling about these two.  We asked that she send us pictures and we would pray about it.  After much prayer, we have consented to pursue adoption with these children!  Their names are Michaylo and Katyrina.  Michaylo turned 8 in September and Katyrina turned 10 in July.  Lord willing, we will host Katyrina in December.  Only one representative from each family travels, and it is always the oldest.  Lydia communicated to us that she would call us back when she found out when the children will be available for adoption.  She contacted us a few days ago to tell us that they will be available between February and April of next year!  Wow!  This is earlier than we thought!  We are awaiting a call from the home study coordinator to get our home study underway.  While we are excited, we still have some hurdles to jump over.  Please pray that the host program will stay in tact, and that we will be able to meet Katyrina in December.  Please pray that Rick will get medical clearance.  Please pray that our home study gets completed soon so that we can start applying for adoption loans and grants.