Christmas for 115 Left Behind

The Empty Playground.

There are things I saw there I will never fully understand. I knew while we were at Sveta's orphanage God was telling us we were there for more than fulfilling our adoption of Sveta.

There were children literally everywhere. Children of all ages up to about age 5, babies, toddlers, children like Sveta, longing for attention.

They would cling to our hands, begging to be shown any amount of love.

There was a playground - the one above, with swings, a slide, sandboxes, teeter totter, and merry go rounds.

Do you how many times I saw children playing there the three weeks we were there?

Never.

Unless it was another adoptive family or volunteers who had brought the children out to play.

Maybe it was just our experience but I never saw children like Sveta's friend above playing outside unless she was with one of the weekly volunteers. The day the photo above was taken she was so excited by the toys we had for Sveta. Sveta was more than willing to share her bubbles, a $1etch a sketch type toy, coloring books and cookies with her friend.

Small things, simple things that brought so much joy.

Oh, we saw children outside - every day.

But they were being pushed in large strollers or walking in circles around the orphanage.

Sometimes the nannies would stop under a tree for about 45 minutes.

The children would remain in the stroller.

Sitting, staring into space.

Staring at Eli and I with Sveta, on that big playground.

I always wondered why?

Maybe there were too many children and not enough workers.

Honestly, I don't know. I know the children are cared for and clean.

There has to be order and structure.

The empty playground was just a glimpse into the workings of an orphanage.

We watched as Sveta's face would light up over the tiniest thing - things we take for granted. Like bouncing a ball, blowing bubbles, coloring, playdough.

Shoes.

We watched as her face lit up one morning when a nanny tried to put a new pair of shiny red shoes on her feet because her sandals were so threadbare they were no longer keeping her foot inside. Oh how she smiled when she saw those shiny red shoes. Excitement danced in her eyes as the nanny began placing them on her foot.

They were too small.

There was nothing else for Sveta to put on.

We put the sandals back on her little feet as disappointment shadowed her face, but she never shed a tear.

Internally I promised myself Sveta would never, ever be without a beautiful pair of shoes that fit.

It would be easy to just put all this in the back of my mind, to focus on life here at home with Sveta.

But there are 115 other children, just like Sveta,  left in the baby house in Nikolaev, Ukraine.

This Christmas we want to send each one of them a wrapped gift box filled with things that will bring a smile to their faces.

In conjunction with Circle of Hope, a charity located in Huntsville, Alabama, we are working to bring Christmas to the children of baby house 19 in Nikolaev. Local orphanage volunteers will be delivering the gifts to the children for their Christmas which is January 7th.

This is an easy thing to do and we are begging asking for your help!

 Here's Different Ways You Can Help:

1.Create your own Christmas box, decorated if you wish (instructions below) We ask you keep your contents between $5 -$20.

 

 2.You may donate items which we will then assemble into Christmas boxes

3. Consider a small monetary donation using the chip in button located on the sidebar. All donations over $25 are tax deductible. You can also mail your donation to Circle of Hope, P.O. Box 4921, Huntsville, AL 35815. Include your name/address if you would like to use donation for tax purposes.
Monetary donations will be used to purchase toys, clothing, gift wrapping and to cover shipping costs.

3) SPREAD the WORD!! Grab the button, blog it, facebook it! The blog http://www.operationchristmasinnikolaev.blogspot/ has been created just for this project! Spread it around!

4)Follow along to watch as the children get their Christmas gifts! We are hoping to post pictures of the children receiving their gifts.

Due to shipping time, all items will need to be ready for shipping on November 7th .

 In order to meet that deadline, we need your donated gift box or items by October 30th, for packaging and shipping to Ukraine. If you are out of state or not in the Huntsville, Alabama area please ship your boxes/donated items to the following address: Huddle House 1802 Main Street East  Hartselle, AL  35640

If you are in the Huntsville, Alabama area please email me for drop off information! (click on the contact tab above)

                                      

Instructions for shoe boxes:

Decorate a women’s shoe box with the following suggested items, label “boy” or “girl” on outside of box and rubberband box closed. Please do not use a large "boot" box.
Socks – white (girls box), black (boys box)
Underwear (girls or boys or all white for either)
Children's sunglasses,  hats appropriate for warm weather or cold weather (boys or girls)
Small toys – ideas include: barbies, Lego's, puzzles, crayons, action figures, dolls with clothing, hot wheels cars
Children’s gloves
Hair bows/barrettes (girls boxes)
New clothing (inexpensive) all sizes up to age 5
*Please do not include nail polish or candy

Mostly, we ask you to pray for the children. Ask the Lord to reveal to you what it is He would like you to do to help. You may feel compelled to help an adoptive family in process or help children in another orphanage. We ask for your prayers over this Christmas project, we must raise money to cover shipping costs as well as compile 115 gift boxes.

From the words of David Platt "We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. Before you see their faces. It's easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes."

Eli and I have seen them, held them, held their hands, looked into their eyes. Seen the joy they get from the smallest things. We can't give every one of them a home, but this year we are hoping to bring them a smile, wrapped in a simple box.

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18

These Are The Children.

Our beloved Sveta Josie, home two months.

Learning english so rapidly we can hardly keep up.

Causing us to pause and enjoy things we never noticed before - the joy in saying "GOOD MORNING!" to everyone we see.

How grass feels upon our feet in the summertime.

Enjoying a meal with people you love, and who love you.

Saying "God our Father, we thank you..." with such zeal it creates laughter during the blessing.

People say she is lucky.

We disagree.

Adoption has shown our family a sliver of God's heart we never would had known, if not for Sveta.

We are the lucky ones.

Then Esau looked at the women and children and asked, "Who are these people with you?"

 "These are the children God has graciously given to me, your servant," Jacob replied.

Humbled

Sweet baby face that spent too many years waiting to be kissed and loved. Tiny little fingernails she begs to "make pink, mommy"

Oh my soul, I am HUMBLED God gave her to US.

Thankful we will not miss a minute more of her life.

We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.
But those who make their journey home across time & miles,
growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them,
are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us
by God's very own hands.
--- Kristi Larson

Tears. Joy. Heartache. So Much.

I have tried for weeks to put words into a blog post but everytime I hit a roadblock. Nothing comes. It hit me last night...I am simply mulling over all the many emotions of the last month. Trying to mold them into something I can comprehend.

My thoughts and emotions are taken back to the many months ago when we first embarked on this journey. A journey some thought we were crazy for going on. But something amazing was happening in our hearts, a stirring that began slowly and as time went on God showed us clearly He was the orchestrator. So many times I would fall on my knees in prayer filled with emotion at the unfathomable way God loves us. The enormity of Him. And why oh why did he think we were able to embark on such a journey to a child in a far away land? We weren't people who traveled 4,000 miles away and left our children home for a month, we weren't rich, we didn't have the money sitting in a bank account, we were regular, flawed people.

We didn't adopt children from Ukraine or anywhere else we thought. Not that we were against adoption, we just thought OTHER people did that. We didn't feel it was our CALLING. We had two kids and life was pretty normal. We were mostly boring and set into our routines. I volunteered at the school and we led a life group for our church. We balanced kids activities, homework, housework, laundry and remembering to buy dog food. We had never been called to go on a mission trip anywhere so we darn sure knew we weren't ever going to go to another country to adopt.

Not everyone is supposed to adopt.

But we were selfish. Focused on US. Didn't see it, realize it, or get it until God showed us. He showed us His love for children who have no home, no mommy, no daddy, nothing. Not even a single bit of clothing that belongs to them.

He showed us her.

(meeting Sveta for the first time)

A teeny tiny little girl who we didn't even know but loved her like we had known her forever.

A little girl who timidly ate our offering of fruit snacks when we first met her.

And during the month we spent with her she began to bond with us.

She still didn't understand "family" though. She had no idea her whole world was about to change.

                               That we would soon take her outside these gates. Forever.

That there was a whole world waiting to be discovered...and that playtime was more than one small area or being pushed in a stroller with 8-10 other kids for 1/2 an hour.

                                  Soon, she would leave behind friends she had always known.

We couldn't wait to start life at home with our newest little girl. Our hearts were heavy to say goodbye to so many of the children left behind. Children like Sveta's friend in the pictures.....being transferred this week out of the baby orphanage to a place much larger. So traumatic for a little person. Yes, my heart is very heavy over so much. Over the children left behind, over the mothers and fathers who gave up these children. I even grieve over the fact Sveta's birthmother will never see what a beautiful, joyful child she is.

But I see her. And I am her mommy.

I believe all of these emotions have been flooding through my veins for months and today I can't quit crying.

Last night I watched three children playing in the grass in our front yard.

Running, laughing, screaming, hugging.

And I was thankful. So overwhelmed and thankful to the Lord for each and every child he has given us.

Thankful we chose to trust Him and embark on the journey to Sveta. Thankful the heart defect Sveta was born with is completely healed...we found out last week she does NOT have tetralogy of fallot and after a normal EKG and ultrasound the cardiologist said he was amazed...according to her medical records she should have been very very sick. She was born with a hole in her heart (VSD) which she had symptoms of for years, but seemingly it is now gone.

Healed. Our God is an amazing God.

I am humbled. Overwhelmed. Filled with joy and heartache.

Sveta saying CHEESE for the camera!

Happy playing. Learning so much.

As we were driving home from the grocery store this morning I hear her little voice from the backseat...

"So much. So much."

"I. Love. You. So. Much. Mommy."

She worked so hard to put all the words together. And I almost crumbled into a puddle of tears.

                                   Every single child deserves a chance to have a mommy to love. So much.

Wild Kingdom of a Future

Three Weeks. She has been in our family, and our care for three weeks.

Tonight as we were all trailing down to the pool, with Sveta in tow,  dancing and singing in her Dora the Explorer swimsuit, Peyton looks at us and says "it seems like she has been with us forever..."

Yes, Peyton it does.

We can't imagine life without this little girl.

Three weeks ago we took her out of her home, an orphanage - a "baby house" in Nicolaev, Ukraine. That was a long, long night. Sveta was overwhelmed and cried for an hour or more as I tried to calm her. She eventually calmed and fell asleep, completely drained, in my arms.

We wondered how we would make it through the rest of our life with Sveta. She seemed to want to go back to her "groupa"....how would we make her a part of our family..something we desperately wanted for her..and for us? 

The first weeks have been hard, challenging, adjustments on every level. I have fallen asleep at night wondering what God has asked of us. Will we adjust Lord?

Yes!! 

A resounding, overwhelming, with trumpets blaring YES!!!!

But adjustments will come little by little and with more patience than we can muster sometimes. I personally call on the Lord daily for energy ( I am OLD!), wisdom, and for the Lord to continue to use us. Somehow..this happens through our children. Our Peyton, wise beyond his years helps us with adjustments, wisdom and even patience. Ever wonder how siblings will adjust?

Peyton willingly helps out in any way with his little sister. He is helping her to learn to trust her family.

We love this little girl...a love God has placed in our hearts.

She is the sweetest blessing.

                                                      

I am so thankful for all my children.

Children. It's a wild kingdom around here...but blessings abound.

ICE CREAM?????  TOO COLD!!!

Her COLOR is better, her SKIN feels different, her HAIR is growing, she is GAINING weight, she SMELLS different...

She is OURS.

She is home.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Adjustment is for life. It's good, bad, and in between. Tonight we had to call security to unlock a door in the condo...why? Sveta had locked it and despite all attempts we couldn't break into the room. What did she do when security arrived?

Grinned her million dollar smile and shrugged her shoulders.

Adoption has changed our lives. It's not for every family...but if you feel the tug...and answer the call...it's a journey of blessings and trial beyond measure. Worth it?

Always.

It's a Wild Kingdom of a future....Follow Us There!