Happy New Years Day from Ukraine!
Blessing to all
our family and friends as we welcome 2012! I have been thinking back at the last 10 years of our family
and I am amazed at all that has occurred and the blessings that have gone with
it.
10 years ago, back in the early spring of 2002, Clarke and I
had the seed of adoption planted in our hearts. We always knew we wanted a big family, whether that be
through foster care or adoption.
Amanda was 11 and Alex was 9 at the time that the seed of adoption
started to grow. People often will
ask us why we decided to adopt. We
tell them the story of Mr. Matheson, known as “Mr. M” who is the world’s best
gym teacher at Ivy Stockwell Elementary in Berthoud, Colorado. Clarke and I were finishing up our Cub
Scout meeting one Tuesday night at Ivy Stockwell, when we ran into Mr. M doing
some last minute equipment clean up.
In his arms he was holding the most adorable little girl named Katherine
whom was recently adopted by Mr. M and his wife Brenda. We said hello and met Katherine who was
a sweet little girl from China about 18 months old with a smile that would melt
your heart.
That night as Clarke and I drove the 10 minute drive from Berthoud to our house, we had made the decision to start the “adoption” process. I remember looking up into the night
sky gazing at the moon and stars and told Clarke “Just think, our child we will
adopt is alive right now, looking at the same stars and moon in the night
sky!”
So the word “adoption” began to resonate in our house. We did not know the first thing about
adoption and began to pray about it as well as search the internet for any
resources. We dove into a world of
the unknown. So many questions
that pre-adoptive families have. Who, what, where, when, why plus so much more! We attended workshops, talked to
adoption agencies, made our lists of questions, did more research and so
on! When I look back, I am always
so thankful to know that Gods hand was all over the process. After months of research and questions,
with open and closed doors, God led us to adopt from the country of
Ukraine.
And so the journey began…
We decided on Ukraine for many reasons and began the process
of figuring out how to go about and adoption from Ukraine. We had assumed that in order to adopt
that we would need to hire an adoption agency and headed down that road. Six months into the paperwork process,
and with many hurdles and frustrations, we met the Weston family. They were our life savors as Wade and
Julia were adopting from Ukraine too and were doing their adoption
“independently”. We changed course
and headed right behind them and an immediate life long friendship was made
with our families. Our
dossier followed theirs and both our travel dates were only 3 weeks apart. Both families had wished for 2 school
aged children, possibly a girl and boy.
Preparing for our travel date we were slammed with the
Blizzard of 2003! Our challenges
to get out of Denver were abundant, roads blocked with 3’ drifts, electricity
out for 3 days, stores closed and still trying to get our last minute
items. Two days before our flight to
Ukraine, the United States government had decided to start bombing Iraq. It seemed like so much opposition just
to get off the ground. I remember
someone asking me “are you still going to adopt?” I answered with a sure fired “YES! I am in labor and there is no stopping these children from
coming!”
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At DIA at departure-Alex, Amanda, Kris, Clarke
|
Upon our arrival in Kiev, we were quickly shuffled to the
“Tourist” hotel on the left bank of the Dnieper. Our hotel room down the dark hallway was 100% Ukrainian
style and honestly we were in culture shock. Everything was dark, the room, the hallway, the clothing
people wore, the atmosphere, it was heavy and dark and dreary. Our facilator was abrupt and stern,
asking us “and now for my money!” As adoptive families know; you have to travel
with many thousands of dollars.
Our facilitator asked us to put it in a grocery sack and hand it over
along with his gifts of soymilk and gladiola bulbs. He quickly grabbed his goods and left us in the dark hotel
room, we watched as he walked down the dark hallway and he was gone! I remember Clarke and I just looking at
each other saying that we hope we have not just been had. We sat on the beds and just waited and
about 10 minutes later a knock on the door and in entered our new friend and
translator, George! He was a
bundle of optimism and sunshine as compared to people we had met since our
arrival.
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Clarke and Kris with the Weston family.
Wade, Julia, Alex, Sonja and Nikita |
We were able to meet up with Wade and Julia and to meet
their newly adopted children.
Sonja and Nikita, a brother and sister from Kharkov. The Weston’s were successful, ready to
soon head back to the US with their adorable children, they made it look so
easy and we were really happy for them.
Our sites were set on the same “family” for us, a school aged sibling
group seemed like no problem!
Our NAC (National Adoption Center) appointment did not go
the way we had wanted it too. We
wanted a referral for 2 children, school aged, possibly boy and girl. That did not seem so difficult, did
it? After over 1 hour of looking
at binder after binder in the office, we were starting to get discouraged. The day was coming to a close, the
clock ticking and approaching 5:00 pm.
Our 75-year-old psychologist sitting on the other side of the desk was
patient with us as we looked at so many sibling groups of 3-5, special needs
children, or children much older than we had felt called for. We were looking for elementary aged set
of siblings. As the minute hand
approached 4:58, the psychologist held up his shaking hand gesturing us to
“wait”. We waited and watched as
he opened up the bottom right drawer of his desk and brought out a sheet
protector with a page inserted that would change our life forever.
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| Natalie showing us her bed |
The 1”x1” picture was a sweet smiling girl with eyes that
would light up any room. She was 3
years old and wore a blue sweater with white snowflakes. George translated her history and an in-depth
medical review to us. She had a
long list of ailments and conditions but her eyes and sweet smile still called
to us. She had been in this
orphanage for 9 months (come to find out later that our little girl had been
institutionalized since the young age of 13 months) There on the page was our
sweet “Natasha”, soon to be called Natalie. We willingly accepted the referral to go visit this little
preschooler in Lugansk.
We took the longest possible train ride in Ukraine to a far
off land of Lugansk, which is the last stop before you enter Russia on the
east border. We spent about 12
days visiting Natalie at her orphanage while the paperwork process was in
motion to adopt her. We fell in love with our sweet Natalie the
moment we laid eyes on her as she shyly walked into the Director’s office. She was a curious, neat, organized, funny, beautiful,
sweet 3 year old that would gaze into the camera for a picture anytime we
wanted a picture.
On April 3
rd, 2003, we were granted the official
notice that we are now Natalie Anne’s parents. We were thrilled, excited, scared, and filled with joy as we
headed to pick up Natalie late in the day on the 3
rd. She would not have to sleep in an
orphanage one more night. Now she
had a family that would tuck her into bed every night. Upon our arrival to the orphanage,
there on the outside wall was a beautiful miracle from God. As the sun glowed low in the sky, the
rays of light streamed through the crook of an old tree. On the old beige brick wall was a bright
heart shape of sunshine. Both
Clarke and I stopped to catch a glimpse of what we believe was God blessing our
adoption. Confirming that what we
are doing is not crazy but was pleasing to Him. My own heart cried with joy as we rescued our little Natalie
that day.
It is day and a moment
in my life I will never forget.
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| God's heart of love shining on April 3, 2003 |
Our adoption trip was about 3 ½ weeks long and we returned
home on April 11, 2003. Upon
our return home our life, as we knew it would be filled with giggles, sticky
hands, sweet singing and loads of smiles.
Natalie quickly adjusted to her new family and it took us about 3 months
to fill like we were not baby sitting anymore! Natalie was a trooper and
quickly was immersed into our busy life of activities. Watching every single football,
basketball, baseball, track meet, soft ball game that Amanda and Alex would
play, she captured the hearts of so many of our family and friends.
As time went on, we could not stop thinking about all the children left behind. Their faces haunted us in our dreams. We found ourselves advocating for orphans and mentoring many families that had an interest in adoption. We told our story over and over. Our passion for orphans had been sparked into a wildfire. This burning passion and desire to care for orphans burns brightly still today.
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| Children left behind |
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep
oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27 (NIV)
Today is January 1, 2012 and looking back 10 years is
surreal to me. I am grateful,
blessed and in awe of all that has happened in our lives. Tonight we go back to Lugansk, back to
where it all started with our little Natalie. We will take the 15 hour train ride back to Natalie’s native
home to visit with her Grandma and Aunt at the village where Natalie played, slept, ate and spent her first 13 months of life. In addition we will visit the orphanage that had God's heart on the wall. I imagine the moment will again be a reminder of God's love for us, taking us back to the afternoon of April 3, 2003 when Natalie became part of our forever family!
Adopting Natalie was more than just an adoption.
Adopting Natalie planted the seeds and started the grass roots of
Ukraine Orphan Outreach.
Praising God in all that He has done through UOO!
