Christ Our Pattern

What a journey! How AMAZING our God. I am still brought to tears each time He steps in and showers us in little miracles. Put all together, they have become BIG miracles! The most amazing part of this experience has been seeing how each one of us can be used, if we just follow His calling. Yes, some people can help in larger ways, and we have been so blessed by family and friends that have the means and are willing to be part of this journey with us. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. We know that every donation is a sacrifice and a heartfelt gift. It isn't just blessing me, but mostly Kristina. It is events like church on Sunday, when people we don't know just walk up with folded dollar bills and slip them into your hand and say, "buy something for the kids at the orphanage." It is complete strangers from other churches that hear our story and are moved into action. It is an anonymous friend that leaves an envelope on my kitchen counter, wanting no attention for it, with $100 bill inside, saying "use it for the orphans, whatever they need." Here is God's special moment yesterday. Just as I was opening that envelope and reading the note inside, a friend calls me and said, "Linda, you won't believe this but K-Mart is having a huge sale!" She filled me in on the items she picked up for the orphans, and I was listening to her and trying to read the note in my hands at the same time. I was overjoyed, because here was this huge sale, (jeans for $1.19 a pair), and money to bless these kids appears in my hand at just the right time. I asked her if she would want to meet me and help me shop for the kids. We took the money donated at church and the money God handed us at that moment, and headed to town. We were able to purchase over 100 items for the orphanage! AMAZING! I was so blessed being able to share this experience with a friend, and she was overjoyed as well, to be part of it. So, with that being said, I came home to a phone call of a large donation towards our trip that left me speechless. I try not to mention too many names in my posts, but you know who you all are, and please know that you have blessed us in ways we can't always express in words. Bringing Kristina home has not only helped Kristina, but has grown us Spiritually as well. It has been so many people working together, showing us all, that when we depend on ourselves and our own abilities alone, we limit what God may have planned for us in our lives. I am going to share Scripture that has spoken to me lately below. I hope it means something to just one other person. It is titled "Christ Our Pattern" in my New King James version Bible.

2 Corinthians 8:8-15
I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.
For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack--that there may be equality. As it is written, "He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack."

In the side notes in this study Bible, it said, "He was not advocating an artificial equalization of property but rather the relief of need."

If you have been following our journey, and have seen the part you can play in helping the orphan find a family who will love them and care for them, you may be interested in checking out Orphans Ransom. It is a newly founded 501c3 organization and I have been blessed to be asked to be on the board of directors. No one on the board will benefit from the donations, so this is not a way to benefit our adoption. It is again following scriptures that show us if everyone does just a little, God can put it all together to work for His plan. This is a prayerfully led group that wants to remove the financial barriers that keep kids from being placed in families because of the expense of adoption. Check it out at http://www.orphansransom.org/ and they have a facebook page as well.

Keeping you all in our prayers as we are blessed to have you praying for us as well. Grace and peace to you and your families on this blessed day!

His church is so awesome!

What a weekend. God never ceases to amaze me with His love. Today we were blessed by a video that John Hileman made about our journey to the Ukraine. After church, many people came and gave donations or asked what they could give to take to the orphanage on our next trip. We pray that this will bless these children and speak to the hearts of the workers as well.

I am trying to get all things straight in my mind tonight so I can be ready to tackle things in the morning. I am going to list some items here for anyone wanting to donate to the kids. Our own personal journey needs are still funding for plane tickets. We are still needing $4000 for this second trip and the time is ticking down. Please keep this in prayer.

Orphanage:
Clothing sizes 8-18
Hand santitizer
sports balls, pump and needles
sidewalk chalk
jump ropes
nurf toys
Glow in the dark bracelets from dollar store or walmart

We also were blessed by Geoff Moore's concert at Calvary Chapel last night. Please take time to listen to his music. Not only is he a gifted song writer and singer, but he also has the heart for adoption, as his family has grown by 2 through this gift. Pray for his work, as he has a powerful message to share. Jon and I were both blessed by his personal stories he was sharing throughout the night.

Grace and peace to you and your families,

Linda

WHAT AN AWESOME GOD!!!

WOW . . . I woke up to this message this morning.

"CONGRATULATIONS MY DEAR FRIENDS!! This is a GOOD day! We have your daughters birth certificate."

Now we just need the $ to go over and bring her home. This entire experience has gone so fast. It is amazing how often we put our trust in mans ability to make things happen. I believe with all my heart that our God has had his hand upon this since he called us to step out in faith to bring a girl we didn't know into our home to be part of our family. Thank you Lord for showing us You CAN move mountains and You will be with us through the good times and the difficult times still to come. Your word has been our focus and our strength right from the start. This morning I just want to Praise You!!!


This is way faster than his best case scenario. It is very exciting. We should confirm our travel date today. Please pray with us for provision to fly over and get her. The sooner we can purchase the tickets, the less expensive they will be. Thanks! Also, there are three more steps that need to happen to get her on the plane, a new passport, medical exam and new visa. I hope you are all as excited to meet her as we are to bring her home!

Other exciting news, our brother in the Lord, Konstantin, is coming to our church to speak about the hosting program on July 25th! He will stay and visit Maine a few days as well. We are very excited to be hosting him here. The connections God has been involved in giving us with others has been awesome. So many new friends from near and far.

When we share our lives with Jesus, His likeness is stamped on our spirit and soul. When we plug into Him, the fruit of His Spirit is manifested in us. -
Stormie Omartian

PLEASE KEEP PRAYING . . . UPDATED NEWS

I am very excited today, as I received news that our papers have made it to the hands of the hired help in the capitol of Kazakhstan. Tomorrow, he will be personally taking it to Kristina's birth town, and walking it from office to office in hopes of getting everything done to get her new birth certificate. Please . . . pray for this to go smoothly, as each country seems to have their own requirements, and ways of doing things. Pray all the documents are considered appropriate and everything needed is there. Also pray for no corruption and that this be a quick process. I am very hopefull we will hear something by the end of this week.

Secondly, because we have to take this second trip, we need to raise close to $5000. Please attach our blog or tell our story to others, and pray to see if the Lord wants to use you in big or little ways to help bring Kristina home. Every donation, $10, $20, $50 or $500 has added up allowing us to move forward when needed. It has been difficult for Jon and I to humble ourselves and ask for help, but we are truly in belief that God has used this journey to affect many others, and give us a chance to share His love along the way. We ask once again, please seek the Lord and see if He is asking you to be part of this journey with us. We thank you for your prayers and support.

We still have a hot tub for sale $4000. We will have yard sale soon if you have donations. I will post the date as soon as I am sure. We are collecting bottles and cans at JR Redemption center in Brewer. If you can't drop them off, please let us know and we will collect. If you have any other ideas, please let us know. We are willing to put these hands to use in any way we can.

Grace and Peace to you and your families as we prayerful wait to complete ours!

PLEASE KEEP PRAYING . . .

Well, it has been a while since we last posted, and I need to be reminded sometimes that we should never cease in our prayers and our efforts to continue doing what the Lord calls us to, or to become lazy in our prayerful conversations with God. As we sit and wait, (something we aren't always so good at), we are reminded that NOTHING is ever official, permanent, or complete in the Lord's eyes, as His world is eternal. It is so easy to let ourselves become comfortable with "man's" laws and rulings, but what we know here in the United States courts is very different then in other countries, AND . . . even here in the U.S. things that used to be final and official now can be overturned with appeals and completely unreasonable arguments. I guess that brings me back to my first thought, we need to stay on our knees and in communication with the only One who understands all the plans. He can use human errors and still turn them to good if we let Him. He can strengthen those going through very difficult times, and keep us focused on a task if He calls us to it. I pray that we all surrender, drop on our knees and live for Him. Let Him direct our paths, and even when things seem dark, keep seeking His guidance and direction, for He will grow us through these trials and He sees the bigger picture. Sometimes that is the only way He can get us to something even greater, by putting us through the fire.

We believe our adoption of Kristina is going well at this time. We miss her terribly right now and have not had much contact since leaving Ukraine. Our situation is still out of our hands, we are getting used to that over the years. We wish we had more information coming, but truly we just have to wait. We are praying for a speedy paperwork connection in the other country and an email or phone call saying "come back and get her!" We still need to raise more funds to complete this journey. We are looking for some new ideas, and if you have yard sale items, we could really use donations again.

We need to raise money for the return trip and her ticket to come home. They are very expensive during this peek travel season over there. Also, we don't have much travel notice this time. I can't purchase anything in advance.

I ask for continued prayer support in all officials doing their jobs and having no surprises along the way. Thanks for all your support.

We are back . . . but Kristina is not with us!

Amazing trip . . . something we would never have imagined from day one till we arrived back home. I don't think I can type all about it tonight, but will try over the next few days to take you on some of our experiences with us. We are so thankful for all your prayers and support. Unfortunately, now we need to save and prepare for a second trip back in about 4 - 6 weeks. We are going to have another yard sale, so if you are cleaning your house, give us a call.

Please pray for Kristina. She is still at the orphanage, and I am trying to just think about the day she gets to leave. It is hard to think about what life is like there, the "pecking order" of the kids, and how hard it was for her to watch other friends graduate and age out of the orphanage on the day we also left to come back home. I know she has hope and a future and a new family, so I ask that we all keep her in our prayers. I will try to post more photo's this week, but trying to readjust to the time, and not feel tired at 3:00 every day.

We were able to buy 90 pairs of shoes and the kids were so proud to show them to us the day after we delivered them. On this next trip, we hope to collect clothing from sizes 8 - 18. These children really need them. Summer shorts and shirts would be great. The other item for fun that is in great demand is glow in the dark bracelets. Sidewalk chalk was the other huge hit, and it really made the kids and teachers smile. It brightened up a very dull area. It also brought many children out of their shells, and they began to work at communicating with us through pictures they were drawing. One particular little girl was curled up in almost the fetal position, rocking back and forth by herself. I could see she was watching others with the chalk. I went over and gave her a piece. She slowly decided to come over and tried to copy a smiley face another child was drawing. Eventually she completed it, it was difficult work for her. No smiles for days, but she did join us. Then she began to follow us more and watch what we were doing. By the end, she let me take a photo of her and show it to her. She smiled. I wish you could see the smile, but here is the photo. You would never had known she was a little girl. It was moments like that we will never forget. Knowing that just spending a little time loving these kids can and will make a difference in their lives. I hope others will join us in trying to send some care boxes over to these kids. God bless and we will write more soon.