5 Days

We leave in five days - only five. I know that we will be forgetting something. I just hope that isn't anything important. We can probably get most things that we need in Ukraine and our dossier should have the necessary documents. Most of the stuff at home is done. It is amazing how much unnecessary stuff has accumulated that probably should have been thrown out years ago. Well. most of it is gone. Omaha will probably need a new landfill after the last three weeks. Sleep has been in short supply as we stretch the days to get more things done. If I sleep all the way from Chicago to Kiev, it will about three nights of sleep based on the past few nights.

Well this needs to be short, so I can get more things done.

Ready or Not

We are continuing to prepare things at home for our departure. It seems that, no matter how much we get done, the amount left to do still seems overwhelming. We have been sorting through boxes in the garage that haven't been unpacked since we moved here years ago. It is about time we got rid of a lot of this stuff. We have also been purging things that belong to our grown kids. We need to make room for all the stuff associated with three new teenagers, so we're sure that any space that we empty will fill rapidly once we return home. We web-cammed today and the girls seem excited and a little nervous - kind of like we are. Two weeks from today we will have our appointment - wow. After over a year of anticipating that day, it doesn't seem possible that the time is here. We have our airline tickets, our apartment arranged for in Odessa and arrangements are being made for an apartment in Kiev.

Well, better get back to work. It seems that no progress is being made while I sit here typing. At this Thanksgiving time, we can't help but marvel at the many ways we have been blessed - wonderful children and sons-in-law and the cutest, smartest grandchildren in the world. We also marvel at the fact that God is now trusting us with three precious teenagers to become part of our family. Please continue to pray that we will be the parents that these kids need and that we provide them with the love and support to help them become secure, confident, successful Christian adults.

But That Doesn't Give Us Much Time

The news we have been waiting for has arrived. We have our appointment date - December 7! (Check out the countdown at the bottom of this blog.) We have been ready for this for a long time, but when it finally arrives, we discover that there are a lot of things we still need to get done around the house even if "WE" are ready. We leave Omaha at 10:55 am on Tuesday December 4 and fly to Chicago-two hour layover, Frankfurt, Germany-four hour layover, and arrive in Kiev at 1:05 pm on Wednesday December 5. (Remember the eight hour time difference.) Yes, this is a day earlier than we have to be there, but we want to allow for travel delays, recovery from jet lag, etc. and have an opportunity to see some of Kiev. Now it is time to really get serious about what we plan to take with us. Make sure we don't miss anything. Get the phone and plug adapters from Jeri and Charles, make sure the camera, batteries, charger, memory cards, etc. are packed. Christmas presents for the kids, both in the US and Ukraine need to be taken or taken care of. Oh yes, we better pack the clothes - nice warm winter clothes. Well we better post this and get back to getting ready. I guess a few 30 hour days might do it.

Waiting

We continue to wait for our appointment date. Our facilitator has said that SDA has said it will be in December. We are praying that it will be in early December, but God knows the best timing. One of the girls we plan to adopt asked in an email, "Why is it taking so long?" We wonder why it is taking so long to find out the appointment date, but we know why it has taken nearly a year to get to this point. When we began the process, we discovered that one of the girls had been in the orphanage for over three years, but she had never been put on the adoption registry. She won't be available for international adoption until the last week of November, so we wait. We are ready to go. That doesn't mean that everything at home is ready, but we will get done what we can and the rest will wait until we return. We can have some "family bonding" projects. We want the kids to have a say in the decorating of their rooms, so we haven't finished them. We are getting things ready to go and deciding what to take. Whenever we go, we will be thankful for God's timing, guidance and protection.