I'm an Aunt!

My sweet, beautiful niece Carys was born tonight. I don't have all the details yet, but I'm praising God for her healthy, safe delivery.

My Driver

Well, I just got word from our agency that our documents are on their way to Ukraine! Our coordinator told us that it was completed in record time...only God...again.

I continue to be amazed at how much I'm learning about life during this whole process.

Yesterday Miles and I set off for Springfield to get our documents apostilled - the final step before they get sent overseas. I had heard we were going to get a big storm later in the evening and into today, but was told I'd be able to beat it if I left around noon. And if the snow and ice were on their way, I didn't want to miss my chance to get these documents sent off before the end of the week because of bad road conditions. So we began our little trek and I was telling Miles, "Buddy, we're gonna beat this storm!" He thought that was such a cool idea. Well, about 15 minutes into our trip, the sky turned the strangest, gray/green/pink/orange color and the wind began picking up. And then the rain came, and the hail, and the giant lightening strikes and I felt like we were the only car on the road, driving through farmland and feeling like we were going to blow away. After a few minutes into this storm Miles said, "Mom, I think we 'losed.' It's raining." ha ha ha (Thank God for my little travel buddy!) He just watched, peacefully, and through the craziest part of it, fell asleep. As soon as I got to Springfield it slowed down considerably and I was able to call Ross. I told him about the crazy weather and Miles' reaction and he and I both marveled at how trusting he was in the back seat, seeing and hearing the pounding rain, wind, and lightening, and yet feeling so safe that he could just fall asleep. It made us think that if God is in the driver's seat of our lives, we don't need to stress and get distracted by the storms howling around us, but can trust and rest in Him.

Driving home the weather continued to get worse. In fact, the rain turned to ice and the howling wind was blowing the snow/ice mixture all over. It was the worst I've ever personally driven through. And the craziest part? Today is sunny, calm, and beautiful (although freezing cold). I was almost ticked when I woke up and saw that the "big storm" they had predicted for today was nonexistant. But now, I'm wondering if God allowed me to drive through that storm just to get my attention. Because it reminded me that although the storms of life will keep coming, I just have to continue to trust in my Driver...

Our Golden Ticket

I've felt like Charlie looking for his golden ticket on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory everyday this past week as I expectantly scrounged through the bills and junk looking for our immigration approval. And today I was not disappointed...we're approved! Hooray!

We notarized 5 documents at the library tonight and are waiting on just one more from the bank - they had to redo it because the document identified us as "Ross and Erwin." ha ha ha

So....Lord willing, I'll be able to get all of these apostilled and sent off within the next day or two. I can hardly believe it! It's been a blur the last couple of days...I'm tired, I'm thankful, I'm blessed beyond belief by all of the prayers and encouragement from you guys. I love you all!

I Love Human Resources

Great news! The form we thought would be the toughest to get is going to be unbelievably the 1st we get! Only God...
Ross called his regional office twice and I e-mailed once, and we were told we would have to obtain his employment letter from PA - without exception. I then called and e-mailed the PA Sec. of State only to find out there is no expedited service for apostilles, and I must allow at least 15 business days to wait for my request to be processed. This was sad news indeed, seeing our goal is Feb. 4th and we still hadn't even gotten the letter yet! Well, I continued to pray like crazy and Ross called one last time. His regional office was able to get in touch with the corporate office in PA and work out an ingenious plan. To make a long story short, we'll have our completed, notarized (in Illinois) letter at our door by 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. Wow. And thank you Lindsay!

Just something too cute to ignore....
Maggie was adding her touch to a thank-you note from all of us and she wrote, "Wii love you." She's just learning to read and spell simple words, and that's the only "we" she knows at this point. ha ha ha

Paper patience

Well, it's the middle of the week and still no word from immigration about our approval. But we did hear from the coordinator in Ukraine and he needs an updated marriage certificate, letter of committment, employment verification, and proof of home ownership. So, add these to the "divine-paperwork-intervention" prayer list. Ross had to get the first employment verification letter from Pennsylvania and then after we received that, we needed to send it to Pennsylvania's Secretary of State to get apostilled. It took close to a month to complete that process alone and we're still shooting for a February 4th send-off date for ALL of these documents. We're praying that the regional office (and new boss) will be willing to compose and notarize this document so that we don't need to go the PA route again. God speed the postman and this crazy paper chase!

God is My Strength

Today I was remembering a "God-moment" I experienced towards the beginning of our adoption process....
Before I began searching different adoption processes extensively, my heart was drawn towards Ukrainian adoption because of my family history. My Great-Grandpa Havelock immigrated to the U.S. at age 16 or 17 from Ukraine. His daughter, my Grandma, spent some of her first years in foster care, then in the care of her grandparents. There she learned and spoke only Ukrainian until age 7 or 8, when she was first enrolled in public school. Her life consisted of being shuffled around from one relative to the next, never wanted, never loved the way each and every child needs and deserves to be loved. Her story ends with hope, though. She encountered so much hardship and so much pain in her life, but was able to leave a legacy of love and triumph. So, the thought of being able to adopt from Ukraine and offer that same love and hope my grandma was denied as a child was (and IS) absolutely thrilling to my soul!

But after researching different countries' adoption processes, I was most intimidated by Ukraine's. I wasn't sure about the "blind referral" process, or the length of time we'll have to be there to complete the adoption. So we went against our gut feeling, and began the Guatemalan process. Interestingly, problems with the Guatemalan adoption process seemed to intensify right as we finished our homestudy and dossier, but had not yet received a referral. Ross and I prayed and talked some more , and felt like God was closing that door for us, but leaving the door and our hearts WIDE open to Ukraine. So we began the dossier process again. :)

As I began doing research online about Ukraine, I also dug deeper into my grandma's "memoirs," or letters she wrote to my dad in response to questions about her life, etc. I found that my Great-Grandpa Havelock's name was changed when he entered the U.S. It originally was "Hawryluk." I did a name search online and couldn't believe what I found. Way at the beginning of the Guatemalan adoption process, Ross and I talked about possible names for our new little guy, and we agreed "Gabriel" was a great name. Guess what? "Hawryluk," my Grandma's original family surname, means "Gabriel" in Ukrainian. And "Gabriel" means "God is my strength."

God was my Grandma's strength, He continues to be my strength, and I know He is our little one's strength as well. I thank God for the clear, undeniable little glimpses of Him when everything else seems to just not make sense or is so blurry at times.