More Than We Can Ask Or Imagine

When we began this adoption journey a year ago, we thought we would do the necessary paperwork, go to Ukraine and return home with two new daughters. Needless to say, we knew it would try our patience, prove frustrating and take a long time to complete. What we didn't realize was that apparently, God had more than that in mind for us. It has been a year, our dossier has been submitted and we are waiting for our appointment. But, the last year has also brought other changes to our routine. Even though there have been about 12 children from Ukraine adopted in the Omaha area, we were some of the first to attempt to adopt children that would be over 16 by the time of the adoption. This meant that some of the paperwork that is normally submitted to the US Embassy in Kyiv after the adoption, instead had to be submitted to the USCIS office in Omaha, before the 16th birthday. After much research and after asking many questions (and occasionally even getting an answer) we have made it to this point. During this process, the number of children we are planning to adopt has changed to three. This has resulted in having our home study amended and some additional paperwork. As we have progressed through the process, we have been getting questions from other families who want to adopt children that are "aging out". It is a little overwhelming to think that we can be of assistance to others, even when we have not yet completed the process ourselves. Steve's first comment was,"Why are we giving you advice, we don't have any kids yet, so we don't know if we are doing it right." So far, we have had nearly one request a month for information on adoption. When we came to the crossroads in September 2006 and decided to follow the call to adopt, little did we know that God would put on our hearts a love and concern for not only the children that we will adopt, but for all the orphans in Ukraine. He has shown us a way that we can make a difference in the lives of people that we don't even know, in the US and in Ukraine. We have met so many fantastic people, both here and in Ukraine that have a love for these kids and are working to provide a future for them, the ones who are adopted and the ones who are not. Check out www.YouthOfUkraine.org for other ways that people are helping these kids.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20