A surreal reality

It is hard to believe that in 10 hours we will be flying out of Ukraine, and three stops away from having our house become a home for 4. I am so excited to be back home and am so thankful for all the prayers and support we have gotten throughout this whole process. We have met some truly incredible people along the way and made some lifelong partners in the fight for the fatherless. Everything is packed up and our clothes for tomorrow are already laid out. Ayla is taking a bath, as I sit here and reminisce on how huge our God is and how he calls us and carries us through situations that none of us ever thought possible. Soli Deo Gloria has been my mantra for this whole adoption, because truth be told we deserve no credit at all, and to be honest neither does anyone else, because God alone is the one who orchestrated this adoption and we will forever direct all glory to him and him alone.

It has been a fun journey for our family, and though Ayla is adopted, no one should ever question the pure and holy love that we have for this child. We will look at her the same way we look at our Chandler. Speaking of, I can't wait to hold my daughter who will be 7 months old tomorrow, 7 has been my number for years and it is just an added bonus, plus Kate and I have been together for 7 years, wow I am not one for superstition but you have to admit that it is kinda cool, or providential for you reformers.

I am going to sum up our Kievan experience in one paragraph, or at least try. We left for Kiev late tuesday night after getting Ayla's new passport and riding an express train ride from Dnipropetrovsk and immediately engaged in a craving I have had since I arrived in Nikopol: McDonalds! We went to our apartment then passed out, to quickly awaken for our 10 a.m. Embassy appointment. For the most part it was uneventful to just turn in all of our papers and pay $400 for her visa. We were able to meet a beautiful 4 year old boy Ivan who was being adopted by a couple from California through Reece's Rainbow. We then went to the Immigration Office of Medicine and received the clearing on Ayla's health and a packet to turn into the Embassy the next day. We came back to the house then went to Solo pizza with a fellow youth minister from Illinois who was here to adopt a little boy who was blind, Mark, Joni and their son Jimmie. Great talks about the ministry, the opposition to adoption, but most of all the glory God gets through the Gospel fight. Next day we went back to the Embassy, swore that all my information was accurate, signed some papers, then waited to pick up the passport with her new US Visa printed in it. Today we went to Hillsong and picked three CD's of kids music in Russian, which she loves, ate some pizza for the third time, then bought some memorabilia then came back to watch a couple movies we bought also in russian. Done!

Tomorrow we fly and face the amazing group of people who have supported us in prayer and encouragement at the airport along with the local news and the students who I love ministering too. I plan on kissing my wife in front of everyone, holding my daughter for a good while, then taking my family home for good. I get the awesome opportunity to join with our faith family Sunday morning and worship then it is off to lunch at the park with my entire family. So "Do Svidaniya Ukraine." It's been a joyous ride but it's back to living my faith at home with my family and faith community.