Adopted By God

When Mary Evelyn left us last October, she took only her spirit with her as she entered heaven. She left behind her toys, her fabulous wardrobe, her friends and her family. We prayed that her spirit would find peace and joy in heaven, and we hoped my (Edna's) parents would be there to welcome her. We realized that, in leaving behind her "home country" and everyone and everything she knew, and starting a new life in an entirely different place, her experience was similar to that of a child being adopted internationally: in a moment, they forever leave behind everything and go to a strange and new—albeit better—place to begin a new life. Mary Evelyn, in this sense, was "adopted by God".

In November, I (Edna) visited Mary Evelyn's second grade class. I wanted to thank them for being so kind to our family, so I brought Oreos in for them. It was hard to be there because Mary Evelyn's absence was so heavy on my heart, but God had a greater purpose for the visit than we dreamed. During my visit, Mary Evelyn's teacher told me about a program for hosting Orphans from Eastern Europe for a holiday. Hosting orphans seemed like a wonderful way to fill up our empty home while blessing children who otherwise wouldn't have a home for the holidays so we signed up to help.

We attended a training program for hosting families and decided to make the leap from hosting to simply adopting. Adopting is not a new idea for us. While Mary Evelyn was in remission, we were approved through DFACS to adopt American children, but it never worked out and naturally we dropped it when her cancer returned. After learning about the availability of children and the sufferings they endure in other countries, we decided that we would pursue adopting from Ukraine. We are hoping to adopt a sibling group of 2 or 3 children in the age range of 4-10. We will pick out children from a file at the government office in Kiev when we travel there in April.

Due to a lack of economic resources and entrenched societal problems left over from the Soviet Era, there are an estimated 100,000 orphans in Ukraine, many of them living in state run orphanages. The conditions at the orphanages are difficult and the children face challenges that we can hardly imagine. When they reach the age of 16 or 17, they leave the orphanages, often with no one to help them, nowhere to go, and few skills. Approximately 70% turn to lives of crime or prostitution.

Adopting children who are already several years old and come from a different culture will bring unique challenges. We are still dealing with our grief from the loss of our sweet girl and hope that this will help us understand the loss experienced by the children even as we build our new family. The Ukrainian children we're adopting have already experienced huge losses in their young lives; the loss of family, belongings and friends. When we adopt them, they even leave their clothes behind because the clothes they wear belong to the orphanage. They will leave everything to go with new people who can't even speak their language, but there is one important place where they will feel at home and that is our church. Ukraine is a predominately Orthodox Country so the children we adopt will almost certainly be Orthodox. They will have the opportunity to grow in their Orthodox faith, be a treasured part of our family and ultimately to have opportunities for a future they could hardly have dreamed of.

We are grateful for your faithful prayers for our family during Mary Evelyn's battle with cancer and after her death. We hope you will continue to intercede for us during this time. We are praying that God will lead us to adopt children that will fit in well with our family and who we can be a blessing to. We have been praying that God will protect them while they are at the orphanage and give them hope. We are hoping they will be sweet and have kind hearts that will blossom and grow in our home. We know that there will be many challenges as our family blends and are praying for grace during those times.