Hi everyone. First I would like to introduce ourselves and tell a little about our adventure. We are Lee and Shannan. We have two wonderful (and not so little anymore) boys. Jordan is 10 and Chase is 7. Seven and 1/2 if you ask him. Jordan is smart. He is very tender-hearted and compassionate. He is a real leader at school. He has been since he was three years old. In fact, he has big plans to be called "Mr. President" someday. Chase is smart and compassionate also. He is the funniest little guy I have ever seen. We expect to one day see him on Saturday Night Live.
Over the last couple of years we have been really thinking about how the Lord has blessed our lives. We have a wonderful family, nice home, financial security, and the most wonderful sons anyone could imagine. The only thing that God has chosen not to bless us with was a daughter. Well, not a biological daughter. We really decided that the Lord has given us so much, that maybe he has a daughter planned for us. It just may not be in the way we expected. So about this time last summer, we were riding in our car talking about adoption. I was all for it, Lee was not so sure. Then one day at work, Lee (who must have had it on his mind) was talking to a guy who was putting a roof on an apartment. This man started talking about how he had adopted his step-children and how they had been the joy of his life. Lee was shocked because he didn't exactly seem like the family man type. Shortly after that, Lee made up his mind that HE wanted to adopt. I believe God put this on our hearts. Well, we asked our boys what they thought. "Sure" they said. Didn't even think about it. So we posed the question a little differently. We knew they were wanting a built-in swimming pool. We told them that we could get a swimming pool OR we could adopt a little girl. We told them not to answer yet, to think about it, and to be completely honest. They both said that they would rather have a little sister than a swimming pool. We knew then that their hearts were in the right place for this.
Then asked our extended family what they thought. Most of them thought we were crazy. "You've got it beat. Your kids are so easy now." Then, once the idea had time to sink in, everyone was for it. (If not, they sure have us fooled!) You know, if you had told me that we were doing this two years ago, I'd say you were crazy too. So, we started our paperwork in July of 2004. I had no idea how much paperwork was involved. We have filled out application after application, produced marriage certificates, birth certificates, filled out financial statements, copied tax returns, been fingerprinted by THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, the Alabama Bureau of Investigations, and Killen Town Hall! We have had homestudy visits, taken pictures of our home and every room in it, and taken adoption readiness classes. We have applied to the Immigrations Office and applied for passports.
You know, once you are pregnant, that's it. You can't really change your mind without drastic measures. Going through an adoption, you know you want it more than anything if you are going to work for it this hard. You could change your mind at any minute. All you have to do is make one phone call and the whole thing is over. You think about it everyday. Everyday you make the decision that this is what God has planned for you. I don't know how anyone could do this if they didn't think this was all God's plan.
Well, we had to choose a country to adopt from. China? Russia? Ukraine? Where's Ukraine? I had to get a map to find out. Then I did a little research. I found out that Ukraine has only been independant from Russia for about fifteen years. They are a democratic country. They are mostly Orthodox Christians. They are a country that loves their children. They just have many poor people. Think about America when we were independant of Britian for about fifteen years. They have so many children in orphanages because of poverty and a lacking health care system. The fate of these children is hopeless. In America, our children have a much better chance, even if they are in our foster care system. So, we are going to Ukraine.
Ukraine does their adoptions different than anyone else in the world. You never get a picture of an available child. You just have to go on faith that your child is there. After the Ukrainain National Adoption Center (NAC) approves you as an adoptive family, they invite you to come to Ukraine and have an appointment with the NAC. There you look through binders of available children and find the child you want to adopt. All in about an hour. No sweat! Then, you travel to the region that the child is living to visit the orphanage and meet the child and find out more medical information. If you choose to adopt her, you then start the paperwork to adopt. Like I said, this is all a leap of faith.
Well, we are now waiting for our invitation to travel to Ukraine. We think we have an appointment in July. We have not received anything in writing about this yet. Our facilitators in Ukraine have sent word that we have a July appointment. Everyday I run to the mail box, check my messages, and run to the computer to check my e-mail. That's where we are right now. You can tell that we REALLY need your prayers. I need patience. The one thing about Americans is that we are used to having it our way and in our time. The system works. I've just got to have patience to see it through. I've really had to learn that we are NOT in control of this. We have to allow Ukraine's system to work. We just have to believe that God is ultimatly in control of all our lives!!
Please pray for us. Pray for our little girl in Ukraine. Pray that she is fed, taken care of, and loved properly.
Check back every once in a while. We'll post when we find out ANYTHING!
Thanks!
Shannan
