In-country Post # 5: The Boys' Gotcha Day Update

Their Gotcha Day is less than 48 hours away!!

Such happiness all around as our family will officially be joined by our rambunctious Teague and Trenton on Sunday!  Last night, we were given such good news from one of our facilitators here in Ukraine.  She called to tell us that ALL of the children's passports will be in today; sooner than we expected.

We were expecting a significant delay with Maclayne's passport because of regional bureaucracy.  David and I immediately started praying that God would intervene so that her passport would come in with the boys'.  Our facilitator told us that if we didn't get Maclayne's passport with the boys' on Monday, then she would start working on "Plan B".  The last thing she told us on Wednesday was to begin praying now and not to stop until Monday.

To be honest, we were a little nervous about Maclayne's passport being delayed.  But as I posted on my Facebook page, who am I to think that God would allow something as small as a passport get in the way of bringing all three of our children home?!?  Besides, He was the One who had called us to travel to a foreign country and adopt three special needs orphans.

It only took one prayer by David and me to be reminded that He is not only faithful, but He also delights in the prayers of His people (Proverbs 15:8b).  Ironically, I count the following verses from Jeremiah 29 among my favorites:  

¹²Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will

    listen to you.

¹³You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all 

   your heart.

Will I ever learn?!?

In-country Post # 4: Maclayne's GOTCHA DAY!!!!

This post is going to be very short and sweet with a promise to give more details in tomorrow's post.  The adoptions of all three of our children are finalized and we are just waiting for their passports to come in.  With God's grace, they will be in no later than Monday.  Since we have to wait until then to travel to Kiev for the last leg of our trip, we could not wait for our precious daughter's childhood to begin.

Her childhood began at this moment

At 4 pm local time, the emotional journey we have been on for 11 months partially came to the end as a new one started.  The day we and countless others have been praying for was beautifully answered by God as we walked our precious daughter through the gates of her orphanage never to return. 

At 4 pm local time, our Maclayne Faith was carried into her childhood by her mama and daddy.  Tonight she will, for the first time, sleep securely and peacefully encircled in our love.  David and I will sleep securely and peacefully knowing that our daughter will awaken to the love that she has waited three years for. 

Our precious gift from God

[As soon as the children's passports come in, we will have Teague's and Trenton's Gotcha Day.  The apartment we are staying in is too small for two rambunctious boys and we do not know how many more days we will be in this region.  We will continue to visit them and pray that the passports come in sooner than expected.]

In-country Post # 3: Illnesses Update

Oh, what a difference a day makes!  Oh, what hundreds of prayers can do!  I am so happy to report that we are all feeling so much better!  David's antibiotics have done their job and he is on the tail end of his sinus infection.  I am actually feeling better since I've gotten a few more hours of sleep under my belt.  The weather is feeling better; it is sunny and in the mid-70s during the day.  And the most important news, the news everyone honestly wants to read about concerns our precious Maclayne Faith....

Since we knew that Maclayne would probably still be very sick, we decided that during this visit David would, once again, take the boys outside to play and I would stay inside to rock Maclayne and give her as much love as I possibly could during our visit.  However, when we got to the orphanage for our afternoon visit, Maclayne was feeling so much better and you could literally see it in her tiny little face.  We noticed that she also looked better than she has since we got here last Thursday. 

Trenton playing on the slide

True to our visiting hour’s routine, David went to Teague's groupa to pick him up as I went to Trenton's and Maclayne's groupa.  As I entered their groupa room, I called out to “Tihon” and “Leeza” (we decided that we would wait until "Gotcha Day" to use the names we have given them).  Immediately, Trenton ran over to me giggling and pointing to the door as he made his grunting noise indicating, "Let’s go!"  I picked him up in my arms and started kissing his chubby little cheeks and neck while he continued pointing at the door and grunting louder and louder.  He is always on a mission to try to get as far away as he can from his caregivers.  I told him to wait because I needed to see about his sister and that "Papa" would be coming in a little while with his brother to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. 

One of the nice caregivers, who actually has compassion, came over to me and told me through broken English and charades that "Leeza" was no longer sick and that it would be okay to take her outside with the boys.  She continued to tell me that Maclayne actually ate her lunch and was alert.  This was the news that we so desperately wanted to hear.  While the caregiver and I were talking to each other, Maclayne recognized my voice and started screaming, crying, and scooting like crazy in her playpen.  I figured out immediately that this was her way of telling me she wanted her mama to know she was in her playpen and wanted to be picked up! 

A smile truly is worth a thousand words

When I went to her, she gave me the most beautiful radiant smile and, while patting my face, she started cooing.  My heart jumped for joy because I knew the sweet little sounds coming from my daughter were meant just for me.  This sweet moment shared between mother and daughter was the culmination of God's powerful hand at work.  Once again, I was a witness to Maclayne's strong will to live and her ability to fight whatever is thrown at her.  To see how sick she was just two days ago and to see her at that moment, it was almost like I was seeing two different children.  All I could do was smile and whisper to her that God loves her more than her mama and daddy could ever dream of loving her, but that it will be through our love that she will know of His love. 

Teague giggling

David soon showed up with Teague who was giggling and singing because he was with his daddy.  I kissed him on the cheek and it just made him giggle even more.  Oh how the sounds of my beautiful children warm my heart!  And how blessed I am to know that the grunting, cooing, singing, and giggling are meant just for us:  their mama and daddy who cannot wait to bring them home to their brothers, Copeland and Silas.

Having a "conversation" with our daughter

The boys swinging

In-country Post # 2: Illnesses

The past few days have not been that great.  David is sick with a horrible sinus infection.  His head and face are hurting pretty bad.  He went on the internet yesterday and put "antibiotic" in Google Translate to find the Ukrainian word for it.  This language kills us because they do not use standard letters in their alphabet.  Their alphabet consists of symbols and a few backward English letters.  So, there is no way we can even attempt to get a message across!

Anyway, he wrote (actually drew) out the Ukrainian word for "antibiotic."  Then after last night's visit with the children, we walked to the store to buy a few groceries and to go to the drug store that is in the market area.  He showed the clerk his "artwork" and she gave him a box.  In her broken English, she told him to take one pill each day for the next three days.  The antibiotic that she gave him is equivalent to the Z-pack back home.  The pills are HUGE, though!

I woke up feeling a little bad this morning, but I honestly think it is because I am so exhausted.  Our days and nights are still messed up and we've been here almost a week.  Plus, when we do go to bed, I end up tossing and turning most of the night.  If I do end up drifting to sleep, I have really weird dreams that do not allow for a restful sleep.  I did get my flu shot before I left, so I should be protected on that end.

Our sweet precious baby girl is really sick, though.  When we went for yesterday's afternoon visit, Maclayne was burning up with fever.  The caregivers communicated in broken English and charades that she had a very bad cold.  Understandably, they wouldn't let me take her out of the groupa room.  So, David took the boys outside (it was really sunny yesterday, but pretty chilly) to play and I stayed with Maclayne.  It is so pitiful to see my daughter looking and feeling that way.  I wanted so badly to take her with me when visiting hours were over.  She needed more than an hour's worth of loving from her mother.

While I was with her, the nurse came in and gave her a shot; we assume it was an antibiotic shot.  She also gave Maclayne a dosage of oral medicine to bring her fever down.  The caregiver who took Maclayne from my arms to hold her down while the nurse visited was not the most gentle.  Suffice it to say, my baby was screaming not only because of the shot, but also from the manner in which she was being handled by the caregiver.  It took every ounce of my being not to say anything.  We cannot afford to rock the boat and jeopardize our adoptions. 

I just kept praying for Maclayne and reminding myself that in only six more days, we will get to liberate her and the boys from the orphanage to start their new lives with their family.  I also must remember (constantly) that God has held her from the moment she was born and has blessed her with a strong will to live and a fighting spirit to endure whatever is thrown at her.  She will always be my hero.

This morning's visit was worse than yesterday's, but I honestly cannot say anything about it now.  I'm pretty emotional just writing the paragraphs above.  I will write an update tomorrow to give account of what happened today.  In the meantime, please pray for our beautiful tiny Maclayne Faith. Please ask God to heal her quickly and to endure the few reaming days in the orphanage.

Maclayne the afternoon before she got so sick