Proper Boys  <3


I was thinking today that I cannot wait to have more than the 2 pictures we have of Dennis and Max.  They are the pictures we recieved of them from the host program- sitting on the couch -Dennis is smiling, and Max is smiling, but looks kinda nervous. 

I was thinking I cannot wait to see more sides of them!  Their goofy silly side; their "boy" tree-climbing-mud-stomping side; their pouty cranky "I want more candy" side;  their "don't make me take a bath" side, their brotherly looking out for eachother side;  Their snuggly movie-watching side. 

I wonder what they are like!!  And I really don't know!  And it is very exciting, almost like pregnancy when you just cannot wait to know what your baby is - boy/girl, dark hair/light hair, husband look-alike, or your mini-me!  This is even more intrigueing than waiting on a baby, because these are KIDS!   These are kids with already developed personalities and we get to really figure them out.

sidenote: (This is funny coming from the person who never thought she could get into the whole older child adoption idea.  I always thought, hey, awesome, but I don't think I could do that.  Now I see how neat it is!  Loving someone for who they are.. not saying hey give me a baby and I will make them who I want them to be.  In a sense: I will make them fit me.  People who adopt older kids must say "I'll grow and stretch and ache and bend over backwards to meet you where you are and love you selflessly.  That is a.ma.zing.  Y'all people who have adopted older kids... let me know who you are.  I am going to bake you a cake or something cause dang, y'all are inspiring!) 

----to get back on track----

As I was thinking about this, and about the picture thing, it hit me!

(duh)

I do have more pictures of them! 

When we committed to host them, a woman who adopted her two sons, (same age as Max and Dennis), from the same orphanage, sent me a few pics of the boys in an email.  She had taken some pics of them when she had traveled to Ukraine to adopt her little guys.  OH YAY!  I looked at them multiple times that first week or two, but then I completely forgot they existed! 

wanna see?

I especially like this one.  (Max is on the left, and Dennis is on the right)  I am assuming this is the proper picture taking stance?  Right hand over left.  These guys are going to teach Jacob and Ellia a thing or two about propriety.  ha!

Wanted to share another awesome thing going on!  The program we are hosting through is a nationwide program.  Which is cool!  There are just over 100 kids coming and they are going to be scattered all over the US, spending time in our pretty awesome country.  All different parts of it!

 

When we signed up for hosting, we were told that if they didn't end up with 10 kids coming to the Northeast, we would have to fly elsewhere to pick up the boys.  It meant that we would have to fly to Georgia, and pick up our boys, and then fly back with them.  After an already grueling 16 hour flight, the LAST thing we wanted to do with them was pop them on another plane.  Not to mention the price of flying us to Georgia, and then all of us back to Pa.  Well, we ended up with 10 famililes flying into the Northeast!  Woo hoo!  We were definitely relieved! 

So, anyway - these kids are scattered all over the place.  But there are some families that are hosting that have a friend in town who is also hosting!  I think that is so neat.  I whispered to God more than once how neat I thought this was.  And how much I really wished I had a friend who shared this passion with me.  Most people, even the encouragers were less than "woo hoo" when I shared with them this awesome thing we were going to do.  I secretly had my fingers crossed with a few people I told about hosting that the light would flick on and they would say

 

"WOO HOO!  Where do we sign up!?" 

It didn't happen.  No, not once. 

So, I kept sharing it with God, and secretly getting jealous ;) when other hosters were scheduling playdates with their host kids.  I wanted someone to lean on when things were difficult, someone to celebrate with when the kids arrived, someone to just be in the boat with us!  Someone real... not just people on our yahoo hosting group.

God showed up!

Bam

I got an email from a hoster who signed up that lives just 45 minutes from me!

That was great God!

Thanks, God!  I am always impressed when you show up.

We could do little trips with this person.  Meet at the zoo or something!! Call eachother up!
And then...

I got an email that another family  in. our. church. family. was hosting!  WHAT!  No way! 

Not only was another family in our church hosting....they were hosting from UKRAINE!  They could have been from Russia, Latvia, China. 

Nope.

ukraine!

How cool! our little buddies will be able to speak to each other in Ukrainian at church!

Some people would say "oh, cool coincidence."  I say... Listen... God actually cares about our desires.  He loves us.  He provides!

Whisper to him!  It is more than awesome realizing he listens and wants to meet our needs.

Lacking nothing.

Psalm 34:9

Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.

I did a quick post about how amazingly God provided for us recently, but I wanted to elaborate a little more on God's goodness and give you a little glimpse into the kind of God he is!
When we decided to say yes to summer hosting we knew that the $money$ would be a challenge. After we responded to the call to host 2 boys, the expense doubled, our financial situation changed, and we were definitely worried, nervous, stressed, FEARFUL that we wouldn't be able to do it!
That ended up being the truth. WE could NOT do it.

God had something better planned. He wanted to show us who could do it. He wanted us to realize that we are in a relationship with the one who owns it all. We knew this principle in our heads, but there is just something about seeing it in real life that reminds us of his tangible promise. Phillippians 1:6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will CARRY it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 

(even when your bank account is empty).... you can take that promise to the bank!  hahah cheesy

On our last day to send in payment for the boys' tickets and visas I woke up stressed out!  We were still $1,400 short and had absolutely no means to come up with the money.  I truly believe God wanted the glory for himself.  He didn't want us to be great fundraisers or have a successful yardsale!  He wanted to show how much HE LOVES MAX and DENIS.  That he was the God who would carry this process through to completion.  So, on our final day ....money came pouring in!  People we did not know, or had not expected to donate were emailing, texting asking how to give!  It was crazy!  We had people give from Alaska, Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee (all people I do not know at all), people from Florida and a couple family members suddenly giving.   He was completing the process, in his time, and for his glory.  He wasn't joking when he told me that he loves those boys more than i love my baby girl.  He is a good father.  Good fathers provide completely.  It is that simple. 



I am going to be resting on that verse above, and that completion word... because we are not through yet.

We said yes to having 5 kids in a townhouse for a whole summer.  We said yes to having 2 orphan boys who do not speak English here all day every day, no breaks.  We said yes to attempting  to show a kind of love that we definitely do not have mastered, or perfected, because we are not perfect pretty people.   (do they exist?)

hmm...

Psalm 34:9

Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.

Today has been our best day yet for fundraising for the boys of summer!  Can't help but smile knowing the GOD of the universe is working behind the scenes... all across the country... to achieve HIS purposes.  

 

 

Our breathtaking God.  Always full of surprises, excitement and beauty. 

We passed!

Sorry it took me a few days to let you all know how the homestudy turned out.  It was awesome!  Everything went smoothly, the kids were in great moods, and we were able to meet a sweet amazing life changing social worker on top of it!  Thankful to have a connection in social work now so next time it won't be so hard to find someone.  Which really was hard people! 

Maybe it is true that the harder you have to work for something, the more you appreciate it when it finally happens. 

Finding a social worker willing to do this for us was not easy.  But meeting Cathy, and finally achieving this is SUCH a relief. 

Not to mention, it is just nice to hang with people who are like-minded and have a passion for kids. 

Home Study Countdown!

The countdown to the homestudy is on!  Monday night at 7 pm a complete stranger is going to judge our home and declare our family as "good enough" or "not good enough". 

Nothing like THAT to get you cleaning every nook and cranny. 

The past few days have been a little stressful.  No matter what activity I am doing with the kids in the back  (front) of my mind I am thinking about what nook is dusty and what cranny needs fixing up.  Eyes darting from toy to toy... about. to. snap.

Thankfully we have had 2 rainy days in a row, so staying home and getting work done has been possible. 

The attempting to perfect things around here doesn't just apply to the house.  Kids have gotten haircuts, momma's working out...(as if abs are going to make a difference! ha!) 

.....maybe they will........... I will let you know on Monday!

The boys of Summer

Orphaned. 

Institutionalized. 

 

Familieless.

                                                              

Alone.

       

Waiting to be loved.

     **** Waiting to be recognized. ****

Maxim and Denis.  Not only have you been recognized, you have been chosen! 

Chosen to be created by The Most High

Psalm 139:13 For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

And chosen to be a part of a family this summer. 
  Our family.

Psalm 68:6 God sets the lonely in families

LUCKY US!!

We are praying everyday that GOD will place you in your forever family.


Welcome to our blog.  We are dedicated to advocating for our "boys of summer" to find their Forever Families.  Let's wait and see what surprises God has in store for us.  We feel pretty honored!