Well, today as I said good-bye to 3/5 of my boys, tears flowed freely and heavily down my face. I am so thankful my Mom is coming today so I have that to look forward to. Not just her coming, but introducing her to our new boys and showing her around Kiev together.

Thanks to all who have been praying. Please pray especially now that our process would continue to go smoothly, but that also it would be extremely efficient. We all LONG to fly home July 30th.

Thank you, Lord, for this process. It has humbled and grown us. Thank you for increasing our family; for adding arrows to our quiver. We pray for safe and quick travel for Rick, Charlie and Andrew. We also pray that Mama's trip would continue to go smoothly and that she would get a lot of sleep on the planes. Lastly, for our time here, we pray that you would move among us, bonding us, and helping us to grow in faith and love. Please expedite our process, Lord, that we may be re-united as a family very soon.

Saying Good-bye

Today is the sad day that prefaces the very sad day, tomorrow, when I have to say good-bye to Rick, Charlie and Andrew. And, I won't be saying good-bye for a week or even two weeks, but rather anywhere between 17 and 23 days. My heart is burdened as I prepare to say good-bye. Please pray for me.

Also, today Charlie made an analogy to his new life that astounded me. He asked Rick and me, "Why do I now have to be your whipping boy?" If you know anything about fifteenth century England, you know about whipping boys. Unfortunately, Charlie's analogy rings partially true in our new life. Bohdan often does things to Charlie that should elicit punishment, but instead of punishing Bohdan (which we indubitably would do with either Charlie or Andrew), we have been trying to deal with him in love and understanding (as instructed by all of the adoption books I read before we came). Charlie, in his own understanding, takes this to mean he is bearing the punishment when Bohdan hits him, yells at him, etc. He is right. However, Jesus was the ultimate Whipping Boy, and are we not to follow His example? This will be a lesson in humility, sacrifice and depth-of-love for all of us. Please pray for all four boys and their relationship.

Our hope and prayer now is that the Lord would grant Rick, Charlie and Andrew safe passage to America, and that he would allow the rest of us to return July 30th. Thank you for supporting us in prayer, love and support.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLIE!

I almost forgot, Happy Birthday to our now-eight-year-old son, Charlie! We love you SOOOO much and are so proud of the Godly boy you are turning out to be. We pray you would continue to grow in the love, grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray we would be good examples to you, and that you would grow to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. May God bless you with many more years of life!

Much love from...Mommy and Daddy : )

Family of Six!

We are now officially (at least we think it's official -we were the receivers of many congratulatory handshakes!) a family of SIX! We went to court today, which was actually way more intense than I expected. It wasn't too bad for Rick and me, but it was intimidating for the boys. Taras did great, he didn't waver at all, and was very confident and relaxed. Poor Bohdan was a nervous wreck. His whole body was shaking as he tried to answer the judge's questions. In the end, it all worked out and we got a favorable decision!

Now we have a ten day waiting period, and then we will try our hardest to RUSH through the rest of the process in only 8 days! Please pray HARD for this, as it is unlikely that we will finish without help from God. According to our legal facilitator, the biggest obstacle will be getting the kid's ID numbers changed in a timely manner - something we have absolutely no control over. Our returning plane tickets are scheduled for July 30th, and our ten day waiting period ends July 20th. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to get home on the 30th. REALLY, REALLY!!! We've already been here 3 weeks and we are ALL wanting to get home. On the upside, my Mom will arrive on the 14th of July, and I have a lot to show her. On the downside, Rick, Charlie and Andrew will return home and I will miss them all terribly. We all will. We covet your prayers!

With much love to ALL our followers, friends and family...
Rick, Erica, Taras, Bodie, Charlie and Andrew PENNY (!)

Andrew

Today was not a great day. U.S. Embassy in the morning went well, and then in the afternoon we went to visit the most beautiful "lavra" (monastery) Rick and I had ever seen. (Mom, it will be a definite, "must see". We will leave the boys at home.) However, neither Taras nor Bohdan were thrilled with being there, and complained practically the ENTIRE time to "go home". Currently "home" consists of an 800 square foot apartment, which with four boys, was clearly out of the question. Finally I called our legal facilitator to translate what we had been trying to get through to the two boys for at least TWO hours...we are NOT going home! It worked for Taras. He stopped complaining and cheered up immediately. Bohdan was another story...

Anyway, as many of you know, our little Andrew is one of the funniest children I have ever met. And, today, he made, perhaps, one of his all-time funniest comments:
Andrew: "Daddy, I hope I'm not dreaming"
Rick (looking around at the totally unsanitary bathroom): "No, I think this is pretty real, Andrew."
Andrew: "Because if I'm dreaming, I'm pooping in my bed right now."
Don't know if it was the day or what, but Rick and I were rolling around on the floor when he told me...we were laughing so hard. Andrew has truly been a blessing on this trip. He walks around the city humming and picking up coins. I think he has collected at least 20 gryvna in coins by now (a LOT of coins). He is such a joy. Please pray for Charlie and Andrew as Bohdan has been an "unexpected interruption" in their lives. He was "expected", but his attitude wasn't. It's been hard on them. Fortunately, Taras has showered them (particularly Andrew) with love. And, that has been a blessing to watch.

Charlie turns eight tomorrow. I ordered him a beautiful (and EXPENSIVE! - don't tell Rick!!) all chocolate cake from a wonderful "patisserie" around the corner. Happy birthday, Charlie! I'm sorry we'll have to spend the whole day in court... We love you very much and are so proud of the boy you are and are becoming.

Thanks again for all your prayers. I cannot overemphasize how important they are to us.

Amazing Grace

So, last night we got no sleep. Bohdan was coughing uncontrollably the entire night. I don't think any of us slept well, particularly Rick and me. First thing this morning, I told Rick we needed to ask someone at church if they knew of a doctor around who could check him out. Also, perhaps due to my tiredness or perhaps not, I was doubting everything this morning. Bohdan has continued to be hard, and I have been doubting my ability to care for two difficult children. (Taras has still been great.) Not only will I be parenting them, but home-schooling as well, and this morning it seemed that he answered "no" to EVERYTHING I asked him to do or "yes" to EVERYTHING I asked him NOT to do. My doubts and fears were running high. Then we went to church...

We arrived, made the usual greetings, then took our seat in the back near the English translator. Soon after we were seated an American missionary couple came in and sat in front of us. It didn't take us long to figure out we were all Americans. It also didn't take long to discover the husband is a pediatrician. One prayer answered, thank you God! But this was just the beginning of what God had in store for us today. The pastor prayed a LOT during the service (awesome!), but his first prayer was about the children. (Claiming people do not have a lot of children here is an understatement. Ukraine's birth rate is one of the lowest in Europe, and Europe has the lowest birth rates in the world. Those who do have children are often alcoholics; consequently their children end up either abused and neglected or sent to an orphanage or both.) I can't tell you how fitting it was to our new family. I wish I could have recorded it, because it was so Spirit led, and it touched both Rick and me deeply. The words perfectly captured, and reminded us of, our first sentiments: the reasons we were in Ukraine adopting and the reasons we had to persevere through all the ups and downs. Last, but definitely not least, came the sermon. We were blown away! It was based on Psalm 127:

"Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat - for he grants sleep to those he loves. Sons are a heritage from the Lord, the children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate."

Need I say more? God truly spoke to us. He spoke loud and clear. My doubts have receded and my fears have subsided. Rick and I are not building this house, God is. He has given us a heritage, and we will not be put to shame.

Court Date

We got a court date - next Friday. Was hoping it would be early next week, but we got one nonetheless. Hoping and praying we will not have the full 10 day waiting period; that perhaps they will cut it short and give us 7 days or something. (Not sure if that is even an option, but with God anything is possible, so I'm still praying.) I just really, really, really want to be able to come home on or before our flight date of July 30th, and I'm a bit worried that having only two weeks after the 10 day waiting period to finish everything is not going to be enough. I think usually 2 1/2 weeks is standard. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pray that we will be home by July 30th. The boys want to go home (all 4 of them), and I really want to go home to my shower, my bed, American food, and the luxury of living in my OWN HOME!!! Living in a tiny apartment with 4 boys is exhausting to say the least (not to mention the LONG days of paperwork when we've been sitting around waiting in a car for 8 long hours - thank goodness we brought a soccer ball with us!)! I can't wait to get home to our large yard and house where they can run around and expend all of the God-given-typical-boy-energy they have. Now I totally understand why people who live in a large city have only one or no kids!! Rick says he could stay much, much longer, but then he doesn't have to spend 6 weeks here like me, only 3 1/2... Not trying to complain, it really is beautiful here, and everything really has been going well for us. Just longing for home and our normal life together (and another bathroom so I don't have to share a toilet with FIVE boys - YUCK!).

On another note, there is a VERY, VERY cute boy in the orphanage who I would LOVE to see adopted. He is ten years old (kind of short for his age), smiles all the time, and is so friendly and kind. He is REALLY, REALLY sweet. He is also extremely good at soccer. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please let me know!