Summer Update

As many of you know, we have been blessed this month to have Bogdan, our soon to be adopted son, visit us.  This was all made possible by the very generous gift of a family that loves Bogdan just as much as we do.  They also met him while working at The Ark (the orphanage that he stayed at last summer).  We are eternally grateful for all that they have done for him. 

We have enjoyed getting to know Bogdan while he has been here.  He is such a joy to have in our home and our hearts have knit with his far more than we ever imagined.  He is a very bright and lovable boy and knows far more English that he lets on to know.  He likes to say "I no understand English", which is better interpreted "I don't want to talk".  He LOVES cars and especially Mustangs.  He is constantly trying to get us to speed as we drive down the highway.  He loves all the foods that we were told he wouldn't like - spicy, Mexican, corn on the cob, etc.  He loves Root Beer, which he keeps calling "Blue Beer", (not sure why).  He loves his bedroom and his queen size bed that he gets to sleep in all by himself.  Since he has been in Michigan he has been able to enjoy swimming in lakes and pools, tubing, horseback riding, go karts, 4 wheeling, motor cycle riding, going to the movies, car shows, playing arcade games and much more. 

We cannot even imagine saying good bye to him on August 31st when he must return to Ukraine.  Our paperwork (dossier) is finished, but we cannot submit it without having the funds for his adoption on hand.    Many of our friends have asked how they can help.  First of all, we need your prayerful support.  International adoptions are not easy.  As we have watched others go through this journey, we know that first and foremost we need an army of prayer warriors to lift us up before the Lord as we will encounter many hiccups and roadblocks.  If you would be willing to pray for us, please let us know.  We may be calling on you day and night until all of our feet are firmly planted on U.S. soil. Secondly, if you feel led to financially support us, you can use the Paypal link located on the right side of this blog.  The total cost for the adoption will be approximately $14,000.00. To date we have already spent close to $3,000.00, leaving us about $11,000.00 to raise.  It was while Tim was laid off (for 14 months) that we felt God calling us to adopt.  We knew that this would be "Our Walk of Faith" because humanly speaking we couldn't see how we could afford this commitment.  God has showed Himself to be faithful thus far, and we know that He will continue to provide in ways that we can't even imagine.   

Please pray with us right now as we wind down our visit.  This week Justin will be with us. After Justin goes home we will have just 4 more days together .  He is already talking about how he doesn't want to go back.  It is going to be a hard day for all of us.

We appreciate so much our friends and family who have been so supportive thus far. May God richly bless you!