Hi Everyone!First we want to thank you all for your prayers and support in the past 6 months through this wonderful but crazy journey we have been on. God was faithful in providing just what we needed to do everything that needed to be done to get Kristina to the United States, but we still have to finish paying for her adoption expenses. We were blessed by a Christian friend who was willing to wait for his payments and the payments to his staff of which he covered in order to bring Kristina to safety. Now, since we have taken a month to settle in as a family, we need to focus on paying these expenses as quickly as possible. It is very hard to fund raise after bringing home your adopted child, but I am praying people will still understand that we need to continue with our efforts to raise funds. Also, if you would join us in prayer, that the Lord will continue to show us His plan for these expenses being covered, either by donations or work, we are ready to do whatever we can.
We thought our total was going to be $3500.00 left to raise, and hoped to have a yard sale and sell our hot tub to cover it. Today we found out that the form for the reimbursement grant we were told we qualified for through UPS, and took time to submit for an additional $3500.00 was only for supervisors, not employees. So, now we need to raise $7000.00 to complete this adoption. We believe our God is big and can move mountains and will continue to show us how to finish this strong and give Him all the glory. So we are again humbling ourselves and letting everyone know the need. Our hot tub is now being reduced to $3000, so if you know anyone who might want one, please send them our way. Please share all our information with anyone you wish.
So . . . to start with, we are collecting as many items as we can for a yard sale. I am not sure of the date yet, but I believe it will be early September. We made $2000 on our other yard sale, so now we will see what we can do for this one in Carmel. I have another idea that came to mind, but need to run it by my friend. If you have any Godly inspirations, please don't hesitate to let us know.
PS: Just a side note, Kristina is in need of immediate oral surgery for infections and tooth issues from years of neglect. She goes in on Thursday for her first one, removing 5 teeth. Please keep her in your prayers about this for the next month or so. It will be a long process and it can't wait. Thanks.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
It has been one week . . .
Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 4:56am (posted on facebook)
Wow, it has been a week, and sometimes it feels like we just arrived, and other times I can't wait to get out of here. We have had so many experiences that you can't fully put into words. We have been told we have no water for the next two days, and yet, the water still runs? Not sure what is up. Really want my home shower right now. Jon took photo's of the "squatty potties" and he has used them, I have not! Avoided in any way possible. ;0) We have eaten the same food for a week now. We are running out of things to give kids at the orphanage. We were invited to a school down the road from the orphanage, a dance school, for a performance last night at 5:00. We took some video and photo's. It was really special. We were taken up to the front row to sit, which made us feel funny, since all their parents were there to watch them. After it was over, I had a woman come up and ask me where I was from. She was very pleasant. I told her Maine, and she said she had visited Florida. Her English was pretty good. She was very welcoming, which we don't experience often, so it is nice. After this beautiful dance concert, we took Kristina and four friends back to hotel restaurant to have dinner together. That was an experience! We had fun and they finished their ice cream and headed back at 9:15. Right now Jon is at the open market with friends, trying to find a special cooking pot we want to take home with us. The pollen is terrible here and it is giving me a run for my money. Claritin D is not doing the trick, so I am staying in a little extra today. We have not had any luck changing our tickets to come home early, so looks like June 5. ;0( Will admit very upset and disappointed for a few hours, but will make the best of it. Just frustrated that airlines are so willing to take advantage of people, when they clearly have room in the same class seats we booked before, but want to say it is a higher class and therefore it will be $2000 more each ticket above what we already paid. Frustrating! We will use this time to do what we can to bless others and teach Kristina English. Please keep us in your prayers. Court day is Friday at 1:00. This can be intense questioning, so really want the Lord with us and working and answering through us. We pray for His will to be done, so if for any reason He didn't bring us here to bring Kristina home . . . we pray that is clear as well. I don't believe at this time or see other options for her life, but only God knows all this. Please keep praying her papers don't take months after we leave, but are processed in God's speed. ;0)
Love you all! Linda and Jon
Wow, it has been a week, and sometimes it feels like we just arrived, and other times I can't wait to get out of here. We have had so many experiences that you can't fully put into words. We have been told we have no water for the next two days, and yet, the water still runs? Not sure what is up. Really want my home shower right now. Jon took photo's of the "squatty potties" and he has used them, I have not! Avoided in any way possible. ;0) We have eaten the same food for a week now. We are running out of things to give kids at the orphanage. We were invited to a school down the road from the orphanage, a dance school, for a performance last night at 5:00. We took some video and photo's. It was really special. We were taken up to the front row to sit, which made us feel funny, since all their parents were there to watch them. After it was over, I had a woman come up and ask me where I was from. She was very pleasant. I told her Maine, and she said she had visited Florida. Her English was pretty good. She was very welcoming, which we don't experience often, so it is nice. After this beautiful dance concert, we took Kristina and four friends back to hotel restaurant to have dinner together. That was an experience! We had fun and they finished their ice cream and headed back at 9:15. Right now Jon is at the open market with friends, trying to find a special cooking pot we want to take home with us. The pollen is terrible here and it is giving me a run for my money. Claritin D is not doing the trick, so I am staying in a little extra today. We have not had any luck changing our tickets to come home early, so looks like June 5. ;0( Will admit very upset and disappointed for a few hours, but will make the best of it. Just frustrated that airlines are so willing to take advantage of people, when they clearly have room in the same class seats we booked before, but want to say it is a higher class and therefore it will be $2000 more each ticket above what we already paid. Frustrating! We will use this time to do what we can to bless others and teach Kristina English. Please keep us in your prayers. Court day is Friday at 1:00. This can be intense questioning, so really want the Lord with us and working and answering through us. We pray for His will to be done, so if for any reason He didn't bring us here to bring Kristina home . . . we pray that is clear as well. I don't believe at this time or see other options for her life, but only God knows all this. Please keep praying her papers don't take months after we leave, but are processed in God's speed. ;0)
Love you all! Linda and Jon
DAY 3 . . . Dedicated to Liz!
Friday, May 21, 2010 at 5:01pm (posted on facebook)
Well, we could not have begun to guess what God had in store for us today. We got to the orphanage at 11:45, went into the "special room" and Kristina was not there. We talked a few minutes, and then in the door comes Kristina, with a woman. The moment I looked up, I instantly knew who it was, it was her biological mother. I couldn't believe it. Kristina could not wait to introduce us. There was not facilitator or translator present, so it was very difficult to communicate. We called our facilitator who was at court, and she came running over. This visit was not scheduled in any way and would not have happened if others had known. Jon and I had prayed for information and wished we could have some contact. Kristina and her mom talked and hugged and cried together. Kristina gave her some photos and we exchanged addresses. Her mom is ill, and is not able to care for Kristina. It gave her such peace to meet us and to see our family photos. She gave us her blessing and we felt Gods presence the entire time. Both Jon and I were at complete peace with this meeting and everyone around us was totally FREAKING OUT!!!! As most of you know, we have been being prepared for this over the years, so it was all OK, and a complete blessing to us and Kristina and her birth mother. PRAISE GOD! So, even though that can't begin to explain our day, we also got to spend time giving gifts to the orphans today. Beautiful children, beautiful spirits. Longing eyes, needing lots of hugs. We will be coming back, as we found out today that papers for her will not be quick enough for one trip. It is OK. We hope our church and friends will rally around these kids and help us bring back more clothing and items to bless them. They are in real need! Your small gifts are like a million dollars to them. A simple glow bracelet, was in huge demand and the excitement was overwhelming. Got to go to bed. We head to Kirovograd in the AM to purchase shoes for as many as we can.
God bless and thanks for all the prayers.
Love, Jon and Linda
Well, we could not have begun to guess what God had in store for us today. We got to the orphanage at 11:45, went into the "special room" and Kristina was not there. We talked a few minutes, and then in the door comes Kristina, with a woman. The moment I looked up, I instantly knew who it was, it was her biological mother. I couldn't believe it. Kristina could not wait to introduce us. There was not facilitator or translator present, so it was very difficult to communicate. We called our facilitator who was at court, and she came running over. This visit was not scheduled in any way and would not have happened if others had known. Jon and I had prayed for information and wished we could have some contact. Kristina and her mom talked and hugged and cried together. Kristina gave her some photos and we exchanged addresses. Her mom is ill, and is not able to care for Kristina. It gave her such peace to meet us and to see our family photos. She gave us her blessing and we felt Gods presence the entire time. Both Jon and I were at complete peace with this meeting and everyone around us was totally FREAKING OUT!!!! As most of you know, we have been being prepared for this over the years, so it was all OK, and a complete blessing to us and Kristina and her birth mother. PRAISE GOD! So, even though that can't begin to explain our day, we also got to spend time giving gifts to the orphans today. Beautiful children, beautiful spirits. Longing eyes, needing lots of hugs. We will be coming back, as we found out today that papers for her will not be quick enough for one trip. It is OK. We hope our church and friends will rally around these kids and help us bring back more clothing and items to bless them. They are in real need! Your small gifts are like a million dollars to them. A simple glow bracelet, was in huge demand and the excitement was overwhelming. Got to go to bed. We head to Kirovograd in the AM to purchase shoes for as many as we can.
God bless and thanks for all the prayers.
Love, Jon and Linda
DAY TWO WITH KRISTINA!
Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 3:59pm (posted on facebook)
Today is Thursday, and we slept in!!!! First time Jon and I have slept well since last Friday when we left. We couldn't go to the orphanage until 11:30 today because the kids had appointments for medical checks. Once the driver picked us up and dropped us off, Jon and I went to the side of the building and began to go up the walkway to the front when out of no where came Kristina, running, arms open saying "Mama, Mama, Papa!" big hugs and then took us with her to the room our friends were in with their new son. We spent until 3:00 there, finished last documents for court, and then were brought back to the hotel . . . WITH KRISTINA! She got to spend from that time until 8:30 tonight with us. We all had lunch and dinner in the restaurant, we played her favorite sport in the room . . . volleyball, with a punching balloon. I used to do that with preschool, so thought we would bring them and give it a try. She loved it. I have video of it to post tomorrow if the computer if free long enough to download. She helped put together gift bags for people at the orphanage, and she modeled all her new clothes and made me take photos of it. ;0) She had me braid her hair and just had an amazing day together. She speaks more and more English all the time, and isn't afraid to try or make mistakes. We got our court date of May 28th, next Friday. She will be ours and then we need to pray for the fast papers to get her home. She needs new birth Cert. from birth country. It sounds like we are going to Kirovograd this weekend to buy the new shoes for the orphanage with the kids. Tomorrow we get to pick them up at 11:30 as well. Hope you will enjoy photo's if I ever get them up. I am paniccing every time she uses the camera. Got to go, write again when I can.
All our love,Jon and Linda
Today is Thursday, and we slept in!!!! First time Jon and I have slept well since last Friday when we left. We couldn't go to the orphanage until 11:30 today because the kids had appointments for medical checks. Once the driver picked us up and dropped us off, Jon and I went to the side of the building and began to go up the walkway to the front when out of no where came Kristina, running, arms open saying "Mama, Mama, Papa!" big hugs and then took us with her to the room our friends were in with their new son. We spent until 3:00 there, finished last documents for court, and then were brought back to the hotel . . . WITH KRISTINA! She got to spend from that time until 8:30 tonight with us. We all had lunch and dinner in the restaurant, we played her favorite sport in the room . . . volleyball, with a punching balloon. I used to do that with preschool, so thought we would bring them and give it a try. She loved it. I have video of it to post tomorrow if the computer if free long enough to download. She helped put together gift bags for people at the orphanage, and she modeled all her new clothes and made me take photos of it. ;0) She had me braid her hair and just had an amazing day together. She speaks more and more English all the time, and isn't afraid to try or make mistakes. We got our court date of May 28th, next Friday. She will be ours and then we need to pray for the fast papers to get her home. She needs new birth Cert. from birth country. It sounds like we are going to Kirovograd this weekend to buy the new shoes for the orphanage with the kids. Tomorrow we get to pick them up at 11:30 as well. Hope you will enjoy photo's if I ever get them up. I am paniccing every time she uses the camera. Got to go, write again when I can.
All our love,Jon and Linda
MEETING KRISTINA ANNE GOODNESS!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 3:28pm (posted on facebook from Ukraine)
Hello everyone, typing errors likely because I have short time to post. Today was an incredible day! I will leave out all the crazy details, but thank you for being on your knees praying. Please keep it up, and add that we want to bring her home this trip. So many things that usually take days to complete, all happened today. People are working together in ways that blow our minds. God is so good. We were to go to first meeting at 8:00 this morning, but orphanage director picked us up at hotel and took us to orphanage first. We were to take gifts and drop off from someone else, but little did we know, the director wanted us to have a few minutes with Kristina before the paper chase was on. The social worker asked Jon to carry bags up to his office with him. He was talking Ukrainian and Jon had no idea what he was saying except he repeated Kristina several times. The next thing he knows, a line of kids were going by and the man mentioned something with her name and then Kristina came into the hallway. Jon said she looked, big smile, two slow steps and then ran to him and gave him a big tight hug. He had tears in his eyes telling me. He asked her if she was ready to see "Mama Linda" and she shook her head and took his hand and they came down to the office I was in. Same thing, tight, tight hug, big smiles, and grabs our hands wherever we go. After the paper chase, we were able to spend hours with her today. Took lots of photo's and videos with her today, and then she took the camera and deleted our entire trip! ;0) First teenage moment of many I am sure. lol. We will have to play catch up tomorrow. Food is OK, some very good. Learning how to speak in Ukraine to all the kids in the orphanage. Miss all of you, especially the kids, but know they are going to love their new sister. Mom, Kristina chose to take on yours and my middle name. ;0) She has a sweet spirit you will love. David, it is crazy how many things you both have in common. Matt, she is hoping big brother is going to teach her music. She said she is not good.Naomi, she is waiting to dance with you. She is young acting, around 13-14 and would be a sophomore in Sept. She wants many new friends, and is worried about that and learning English, but wants to leave NOW for our home. Please continue to pray for good communications and working relationships among all officials involved. Can't get into details, but some really amazing paper work details were accomplished today and we are still holding out hope that she might come home with us. God can make anything happen. Love you all and will post new photo's if I can tomorrow.
Hello everyone, typing errors likely because I have short time to post. Today was an incredible day! I will leave out all the crazy details, but thank you for being on your knees praying. Please keep it up, and add that we want to bring her home this trip. So many things that usually take days to complete, all happened today. People are working together in ways that blow our minds. God is so good. We were to go to first meeting at 8:00 this morning, but orphanage director picked us up at hotel and took us to orphanage first. We were to take gifts and drop off from someone else, but little did we know, the director wanted us to have a few minutes with Kristina before the paper chase was on. The social worker asked Jon to carry bags up to his office with him. He was talking Ukrainian and Jon had no idea what he was saying except he repeated Kristina several times. The next thing he knows, a line of kids were going by and the man mentioned something with her name and then Kristina came into the hallway. Jon said she looked, big smile, two slow steps and then ran to him and gave him a big tight hug. He had tears in his eyes telling me. He asked her if she was ready to see "Mama Linda" and she shook her head and took his hand and they came down to the office I was in. Same thing, tight, tight hug, big smiles, and grabs our hands wherever we go. After the paper chase, we were able to spend hours with her today. Took lots of photo's and videos with her today, and then she took the camera and deleted our entire trip! ;0) First teenage moment of many I am sure. lol. We will have to play catch up tomorrow. Food is OK, some very good. Learning how to speak in Ukraine to all the kids in the orphanage. Miss all of you, especially the kids, but know they are going to love their new sister. Mom, Kristina chose to take on yours and my middle name. ;0) She has a sweet spirit you will love. David, it is crazy how many things you both have in common. Matt, she is hoping big brother is going to teach her music. She said she is not good.Naomi, she is waiting to dance with you. She is young acting, around 13-14 and would be a sophomore in Sept. She wants many new friends, and is worried about that and learning English, but wants to leave NOW for our home. Please continue to pray for good communications and working relationships among all officials involved. Can't get into details, but some really amazing paper work details were accomplished today and we are still holding out hope that she might come home with us. God can make anything happen. Love you all and will post new photo's if I can tomorrow.
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