Welcome to our blog! I have resolved to document our grand adoption adventure for memory’s sake, so all who are interested can stay up to date. and, my biggest motivator in writing this; so that you all will see how amazing God is, and how he is able to work the craziest circumstances out for His glory, and for our good!
First, little background for you. Christmas, 2011 where we were privileged to be able to host a teenage girl from Ukraine, who I’ll call ‘Rachel’. From the minute we met her, we could see she had a caring and generous heart. With in minutes of her arrival, she was on the couch with our daughter 'S', (the oldest of our four, and the only girl,) trying to communicate with her. Although I think at that point, the only English she knew was “Hello”.
It really was a delightful three weeks – lot’s of hugging, laughing, games, puzzles, and techno music, and such a servant’s attitude! Throw Christmas in the mix, and we had it made. One day, ‘Rachel’ asked if we had a bike. “Sure!” I said. She hopped on the bike, wobbled a bit, and off she went. Only later did she tell me, that it was the first time she had ever ridden one... What??
We are so blessed to live in this country.
Not surprisingly, Rachel picked up the cough that had been making the rounds in our house. Not a bad cough thankfully, but we didn't want it to get any worse. Two nights before we were to say goodbye, I urged her to go to bed so that she didn't get sick. “No, pliz.”, she said. And then on the computer, “If I go to bed, I will have to leave sooner.” (Thank goodness for Google translator). “Besides, if I get sick, I won’t have to go to school when I get back to Ukraine!” Yes, indeed; a typical teen!
Up to this point, I had been careful no to say the “A” word – that would be “adoption” – because this was, after all, a hosting event, and I didn't want to get the coordinator in trouble. Ukraine does not let you pre-pick a child to adopt, and they will not hold a specific child for you. The night before Rachel left, however, she ushered me in to her room to look at the translator. It said, “If you adopt me, I want a new name.”
“What? You have a beautiful name! Everyone tells me that they love your name.”
“No." She typed. "New life. New name.”
“What? You have a beautiful name! Everyone tells me that they love your name.”
“No." She typed. "New life. New name.”
How can I argue with that? Both of us feel that she's a ‘Rachel’ (it means ‘to journey’, or ‘traveler’) - hopefully, she'll love the name as much as we do!
Our goodbye was, of course, littered with tears and I love you’s, lots of pictures, more tears, more I love you’s, and then a wave goodbye, as the van left for the airport; with our girl.
Later that week, we polled the kids bluntly. “Hey guys, what would you think if we tried to adopt Rachel?”
HUGE eyes, and yeses, answered. We all smiled. God brought her here; and He is certainly able to bring her back, isn't He?
HUGE eyes, and yeses, answered. We all smiled. God brought her here; and He is certainly able to bring her back, isn't He?
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