Oh my goodness, my head is spinning and I'm struggling to get my act together. I miss blogging, but for now other things are taking priority. I have so much I'd like to document on the blog, but it's just not a reality. (birthdays, anniversary, crazy boy stunts!)
In the meantime though, I've been asked a lot lately about our status with adopting Irina. You can read more about it on the adoption blog HERE.
Our homeschool year is gearing up to start very SOON! Just as soon as I can get planning done. Hopefully in the next week!! There are going to be a lot of late nights in my future because I just can't plan while the boys are awake. We need to get an early start on our school year because of the interruption we'll have traveling to Ukraine. All 5 of us we'll be there for about 3 weeks. I'm hoping to continue our math, grammar and phonics while we're there, but we'll need flexibility. After we return from Ukraine for the 10+ day waiting period, Darin and I will go back alone for 3-7 days to bring Irina home. I'm thankful that homeschooling will allow us to take this trip of a lifetime and not worry about getting too far behind with our studies.
I'd love your prayers as we wait for Irina and prepare for the changes in our family.
Thanks!!
Showing posts with label Irina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Irina. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Sweet Girl
Remember that sweet girl from Ukraine we hosted for three weeks over Christmas?
Well... she's the reason I haven't spent much time blogging lately. Or rather, filling out paper work for her adoption has been keeping us rather busy. Did you catch that?
I am thrilled and excited to finally announce the news. We've been pretty quiet about our journey, but oh what an exciting journey it has been. I hope that over the next few weeks I'll be able to carve out time to bear witness to how God has been at work. He has been at work in so many ways!!! I'll be blogging over at Our Christmas Guest to share the story of our last four months to keep a record of God's faithfulness. We are hoping to travel to Ukraine and bring her home this summer, so the count down is on. Can you believe it? I am nesting like crazy. ;)
Will you join us in praying as we prepare for this special girl to become a part of our family? Will you pray for Irina as she waits for us? She knows we are coming and has accepted our offer to become a part of our family. Will you pray for her safety and protection these next few months? Will you pray for us as we complete final paper work and training? Thank you in advance for praying. Can't wait to blog more soon!
Well... she's the reason I haven't spent much time blogging lately. Or rather, filling out paper work for her adoption has been keeping us rather busy. Did you catch that?
WE ARE ADOPTING IRINA!
I am thrilled and excited to finally announce the news. We've been pretty quiet about our journey, but oh what an exciting journey it has been. I hope that over the next few weeks I'll be able to carve out time to bear witness to how God has been at work. He has been at work in so many ways!!! I'll be blogging over at Our Christmas Guest to share the story of our last four months to keep a record of God's faithfulness. We are hoping to travel to Ukraine and bring her home this summer, so the count down is on. Can you believe it? I am nesting like crazy. ;)
Will you join us in praying as we prepare for this special girl to become a part of our family? Will you pray for Irina as she waits for us? She knows we are coming and has accepted our offer to become a part of our family. Will you pray for her safety and protection these next few months? Will you pray for us as we complete final paper work and training? Thank you in advance for praying. Can't wait to blog more soon!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Practical Lessons
Here are some things the boys are practicing and learning around here this week as we prepare for Irina. Since I'm the only girl in the house, we've gotten a bit slack... and I don't really count because I'm just the mom. Of course, these are things they should be aware of anyway.
1) Treat Irina like a lady. Always let her go first and be mindful of showing her respect.
2) Raise the toilet seat before and lower it after.
3) Flush the toilet!
4) Close the door when you are going to the bathroom.
5) Close the door when you are getting dressed.
6) Don't run around in your underwear.
7) No potty talk or loud bodily functions.
Anything else I'm forgetting???
Thankfully the boys are generally very sweet with their close girl friends, so I think they'll be on their best behavior -- at least for the first week! ;)
1) Treat Irina like a lady. Always let her go first and be mindful of showing her respect.
2) Raise the toilet seat before and lower it after.
3) Flush the toilet!
4) Close the door when you are going to the bathroom.
5) Close the door when you are getting dressed.
6) Don't run around in your underwear.
7) No potty talk or loud bodily functions.
Anything else I'm forgetting???
Thankfully the boys are generally very sweet with their close girl friends, so I think they'll be on their best behavior -- at least for the first week! ;)
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Getting Ready
Irina arrives in 26 days! Hooray! We've been busy getting ready.
(Read more about Irina HERE and HERE.)
(Read more about Irina HERE and HERE.)
I've mentioned before that people have been so generous. Here is a huge bin of outfits I matched up for Irina. (sweaters, turtlenecks, shirts, pj's, jeans, pants, sweatpants, fleece, socks, undies, undershirts, toothbrush, hair brush, toothpaste, dresses, gloves, tights) Most of it was donated from several different friends and strangers! I had fun hitting a consignment shop and found some adorable dresses and skirts for church and some other necessary girl items. (I can't tell you how much fun I had doing this!)
The top bin is the outfits we picked out for Irina in the size we're guessing she wears. The bottom bin is extra larger clothes! She is not used to having more then one outfit at a time and possibly only one outfit per week. So instead of putting all the outfits in her closet -- which would likely be overwhelming, I'm going to set out a new outfit for her each day and then wash them once a week.
I have some Russian books from the library and I'm working on making
flash cards and labels for items around the house.
My sister in law found this great dictionary at her library, and I was able to order us a copy on Amazon. I think it will be VERY helpful!
I think we're almost ready. We'll need to borrow some church shoes once we know her shoe size and purchase her a pair of everyday shoes, probably sneaks, once she arrives. I found a great deal on a warm winter coat in case she doesn't have one and a friend lent us snow pants, in case of snow. Maybe we'll need boots, but we'll cross that bridge later. I have almost all her Christmas presents wrapped and a new stocking to fill.
Please continue to pray for sweet Irina as she travels soon. It will probably be scary for her at her young age to go live with a family she doesn't know who doesn't speak her language. Not only will there be cultural differences, but also hurt that she has suffered which resulted in her living in an orphanage in the first place. Please pray that we would love her well and share Jesus with her. Please pray that while here she will be connected to a forever family!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The Great Weaver
How cool is it that God is giving me glimpses into how He is weaving His tapestry? Seriously, I'm exploding with excitement at how He is at work. Can I share it with you? This is just too good to keep to myself. :)
First of all, we were led into hosting because we were drawn by two teenage sisters, one of whom was getting ready to age out of the orphanage. Because of their faces and their story, we were led to consider hosting. God orchestrated all the details and after speaking with the director of the hosting program she felt our family was better suited to 9 year old Irina. We weren't sure of God's plan, but we agreed. In the meantime, the two sisters already had their trip planned but still no hosting family. This was put on the back burners in my brain, but not forgotten.
As we have stepped out in obedience to the Lord, He has blessed us exponentially. It has opened up amazing spiritual conversations. Many I would have never expected and those conversations have left me worshipping Him.
People have given generously for Irina (tubs of clothes, care packages, undies and socks, a promise to knit her a winter hat, special sewing projects, a girly bedspread on loan for her bedroom while she is here, a stuffed animal, etc, etc.) The joy I see as these friends and family share these gifts are beyond words. It blesses me to see them excited to participate in the Lord's work. How cool that I get to watch?
Prior to hosting, we felt led to give financially to another family hosting. Once they learned of our plans to host Irina, they graciously offered to return our check to us. We felt strongly that they should keep the check we had written. We were certain that God would provide everything we needed financially to host Irina. Three days ago, someone unexpectedly gave us a check towards Irina's travel expenses. Wouldn't you know, it was the SAME amount as the check we wrote prior to hosting??? They had no idea about the check we had already written. Can you not see God at work here?
Friends and family have boldly shared Irina's story and have advocated for her. As a result, there has been interest from a couple families in getting to know her and possibly consider adopting her. God, You are good!
My sister-in-law has used her homeschool message boards in a neighboring town to spread the word about Irina and to gather bilingual resources. She connected me with a family (that she didn't know) who responded to her message board posts. They had interest in learning about Irina, about hosting and about adoption. Now, here is the kicker... this family was so curious about hosting that they contacted the hosting program, Journeys of Joy. They are now signed up to host the two teenage sisters that I mentioned in the beginning of this post. Do you see this tapestry He is weaving?
I've been obsessed about all things Ukraine. I've been searching online, checking out dozens of books from the library, and beginning to try to attempt to learn Russian. (I love languages!) As I've searched online, I stumbled across a blog of a dear young women who works with orphanages in Northern Ukraine. I emailed her and she quickly connected me to a warehouse in the states where I could buy a "Jesus Storybook Bible" in Russian. Guess what arrived today?
Stay tuned for more testimonies... Irina arrives in five weeks and four days!!!! We're so excited.
First of all, we were led into hosting because we were drawn by two teenage sisters, one of whom was getting ready to age out of the orphanage. Because of their faces and their story, we were led to consider hosting. God orchestrated all the details and after speaking with the director of the hosting program she felt our family was better suited to 9 year old Irina. We weren't sure of God's plan, but we agreed. In the meantime, the two sisters already had their trip planned but still no hosting family. This was put on the back burners in my brain, but not forgotten.
As we have stepped out in obedience to the Lord, He has blessed us exponentially. It has opened up amazing spiritual conversations. Many I would have never expected and those conversations have left me worshipping Him.
People have given generously for Irina (tubs of clothes, care packages, undies and socks, a promise to knit her a winter hat, special sewing projects, a girly bedspread on loan for her bedroom while she is here, a stuffed animal, etc, etc.) The joy I see as these friends and family share these gifts are beyond words. It blesses me to see them excited to participate in the Lord's work. How cool that I get to watch?
Prior to hosting, we felt led to give financially to another family hosting. Once they learned of our plans to host Irina, they graciously offered to return our check to us. We felt strongly that they should keep the check we had written. We were certain that God would provide everything we needed financially to host Irina. Three days ago, someone unexpectedly gave us a check towards Irina's travel expenses. Wouldn't you know, it was the SAME amount as the check we wrote prior to hosting??? They had no idea about the check we had already written. Can you not see God at work here?
Friends and family have boldly shared Irina's story and have advocated for her. As a result, there has been interest from a couple families in getting to know her and possibly consider adopting her. God, You are good!
My sister-in-law has used her homeschool message boards in a neighboring town to spread the word about Irina and to gather bilingual resources. She connected me with a family (that she didn't know) who responded to her message board posts. They had interest in learning about Irina, about hosting and about adoption. Now, here is the kicker... this family was so curious about hosting that they contacted the hosting program, Journeys of Joy. They are now signed up to host the two teenage sisters that I mentioned in the beginning of this post. Do you see this tapestry He is weaving?
I've been obsessed about all things Ukraine. I've been searching online, checking out dozens of books from the library, and beginning to try to attempt to learn Russian. (I love languages!) As I've searched online, I stumbled across a blog of a dear young women who works with orphanages in Northern Ukraine. I emailed her and she quickly connected me to a warehouse in the states where I could buy a "Jesus Storybook Bible" in Russian. Guess what arrived today?
The boys are so excited to be able to sit side by side and look at this Bible together, theirs in English and hers in Russian. Let's just hope they can keep it a secret until we give it to her as a Christmas gift. :) That might not be so hard since she can't speak English. yikes!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Abundance
When we decided to host Irina, I didn't think much about how people would respond. Let me just say, the outpouring of prayer, love, support and generosity has been ABUNDANT. People are already blessing us by gathering clothes and sending care packages. A special 8 year old friend wants to get Irina a stuffed animal and help with clothes! It makes me a bit choked up. Isn't that a picture of how He loves us??? Actually, His love for us is even greater because He knows all our thoughts and the condition of our hearts (all the good and bad) and yet He still pours out His abundant love on us. I need to sit on this truth today... this rainy day with the impending storm and stir crazy boys. The circumstances haven't really brought out the best in us and yet God's love for us never fails.
Oh sweet Irina... I hope you know how much people are already welcoming you and praying for you. The boys talk about you non-stop. We pray for you and can't wait to meet you and enjoy our three weeks together.
Here is a quote from an email I received that was so encouraging.
"I'll pray now for the grace of the Lord to cover all of this and for you guys to know the joys and the blessings of following him--even and especially on that day or two when you wonder why you did it! Thanks again for how you're walking with the Lord into this opportunity to love this little girl who needs to know a Father who will never leave or abandon her."
Oh sweet Irina... I hope you know how much people are already welcoming you and praying for you. The boys talk about you non-stop. We pray for you and can't wait to meet you and enjoy our three weeks together.
Here is a quote from an email I received that was so encouraging.
"I'll pray now for the grace of the Lord to cover all of this and for you guys to know the joys and the blessings of following him--even and especially on that day or two when you wonder why you did it! Thanks again for how you're walking with the Lord into this opportunity to love this little girl who needs to know a Father who will never leave or abandon her."
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