Jodi Speaks Her Mind

Appointment No. 3 Update 8/20/2005

Sorry for the delay in getting this out. As it turned out, we spent pretty much the entire day at the Adoption Center. We arrived at 10:30 am, got into our appointment at 11:30 (surprisingly quick!) and didn’t leave the Center until 6 pm! We weren’t reviewing files the whole time. They broke for lunch while we were still looking, but when we returned, they had moved on to other families. We finally were allowed to continue at 4:45 pm and that’s why it took us until 6. The whole day was really difficult and not quite what we were hoping for. The first thing the psychologist said to us when we sat down for our appointment is that her recommendation is that we go home and come back in a few months. She said there simply aren’t any new files to show. Well, needless to say, we weren’t ready to tuck tail and run just quite yet, so we pretty much ignored this suggestion. But she spoke the truth, as most of the files shown to us that weren’t in the books were ones we’d seen before or that we know others had seen and even visited (and subsequently rejected for various reasons). After a total of about 3.5-4 hours of poring through the books and files, we did end up choosing a referral - this time for a little girl age 4. If the timing goes well, we will pick up a referral for her on Monday and be able to meet her on Tuesday. So, for now, we just wait and wonder if she might be intended to be in our family forever.

There is a lot more I could say, but for now that is about as much as we have processed. We’ll take the weekend to pray, regroup, and seek the Lord. As always, thank you for following along and for all the great support and encouragements!

11:00 am Friday 8/18/2005

Our appointment tomorrow is scheduled for 11:00 am. This means it will probably happen around 2:30 or 3:00. Actually, our first appointment was at 11 and we got in around 12, so you just never know.

We’ll post an update tomorrow. Most of you - those in the states at least - should know not too long after you get up. Lucky you that we are 7-10 hours ahead!

We are such a mixture of emotions - hope, excitement, anticipation, dread, fear, doubt, and so on. Our desire is that we will keep our eyes fixed on the Lord and not allow the atmosphere at the NAC affect us. Furthermore, we wish to bring God glory regardless of the outcome, and when you desire something as much as we desire this, that becomes quite challenging. God is good, faithful, trustworthy, and worthy of all praise and honor regardless of what happens at our appointment tomorrow. “I believe! Lord, help my unbelief!”

My plea on behalf of the little ones…

I actually wrote the paragraph below well before we left for Ukraine, but never got around to finishing and publishing it. Last night we had the privilege of dining with 14 people (there were 16 of us total) who are all directly or indirectly involved in the work of Life 2 Orphans. It was wonderful to meet them and learn more firsthand about the work that this amazing organization is accomplishing and get to know some of the individuals carrying out the work. Well, one of those individuals is our own dear Sveta, but there are many others, too! I’m afraid the few pictures we took came out badly, but maybe it’s just as well. To get a feel for what Life2Orphans is about, read the paragraph below and follow the link to their site.

I want to take this opportunity to encourage all of my readers to consider doing something to make a difference in the lives of these precious children! You don’t have to adopt to have an impact. There is an amazing organization called Life2Orphans that I know from personal testimony has a huge and direct impact on the lives of the children living in Ukrainian orphanages. Their website has a lot of information about the orphanages, the children, the needs, and they have a ton of pictures, too! Please check it out and consider subscribing to their mailing list, which will give you a good feel for what they do, how hard they work, and how constant it is!! Donations are easy to make via paypal and other easy methods (you can always just send a check) and they will welcome even the smallest donation! You will be amazed when you read about how far $5 will go in a Ukrainian orphanage. They are careful to make sure that EVERY DOLLAR goes directly to impact the lives of the children. They have donors from all over the world. I promise you they are making a difference, but they still have so far to go. If everyone can work together, maybe we can help just a little. Thanks for letting me share this, but please pray about taking some action, even if it is just sending a few dollars their way.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to consider the orphans!

Appointment No. 3 8/17/2005

We have great news! We are on the list for our third appointment. It will be on Friday!! We do not know yet what time, as the times are not posted until the night before, but we are really thrilled we won’t have to wait for 10 days like last time.

We are fluctuating between some understandable nervousness and some real excitement that God is about to come through for us. Please pray that we can keep our eyes fixed on Him and not pay attention to what is happening around us or with anyone else’s process.

Another round of waiting 8/15/2005

We submitted our request for a third appointment today. It should be granted some time within 2 weeks, but we are praying it will come faster. Really, though, the Lord’s timing is perfect, so mainly we just want it to be exactly when it is supposed to be. We are at peace and have been incredibly encouraged by the Lord both directly and through other people to trust Him and have faith that we will not return home with our arms or hearts empty.