His First American Christmas

I pulled out the big box of cookie cutters and Andrew was amazed. We must have about 100 because not only did I love baking with Mary Evleyn, but I taught kindergarten and preschool so I have a fine collection.

He looked at me and softly said, "I've never made cookies before."

He was excited to help me, especially when I showed him the cookie gun. Being all boy, just the word gun - so much more fun sounding than cookie press- was a thrill.

Decorating his first tree, shopping at Lenox mall and seeing his wide eyed amazement at the decorations and shoppers, watching Christmas movies ( OK, sometimes I make Mark do that because of hot button issues with Mary Evelyn), anyway it's a lot of fun. Maybe it's a little like seeing a baby's first Christmas through the eyes of a ten year old.

We will be going to church Christmas Eve and then up to Mark's sister Pam
s house for a big, happy Christmas spend the night party .

We can't wait.

Meanwhile, Nadia and Ruslan are waiting for us in Ukraine. We hope to be there between January 10 and the 17th but will not have a date until next week.

We couldn't get a date early enough for the tax rebate so our finances are a little challenged going into this. Thankfully, Promise 686 is giving us another matching grant. If you would like to help us out, here is the info:

Promise 686 is a ministry dedicated to helping children who are orphans or in foster care and is a ministry partner of Perimeter Church, which is where Mark and I met many years ago.

Promise686 (www.promise686.org) has graciously given a Matching Grant of $4,000 to help us with our adoption expenses. If you would like to help our orphans, you can send your tax-deductible gift to the address below. Your donation will be matched by Promise686 on a $1-for-$1 basis up to $4000, thus multiplying the impact of your gift. All gifts are tax deductible as promise 686 is a 501c3 tax exempt organization.

Please make checks payable to: Promise686, Inc. You may preference how the donation might be used by writing “King Adoption” in the memo section of your check. If you don’t write King Adoption, the donation will go into a general fund. Funds donated to “King Adoption” will be matched and are intended to be used to reimburse us for adoption expenses.

Note: per IRS guidelines, promise686 maintains complete discretion and control over the use of all donated funds, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.

Mail checks to:
Promise 686, Inc.
3600 River Ferry Drive
Alpharetta, G A 30022

Thank you for considering helping us and again for your prayers and love through the years.
Mark and Edna King

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families…” Psalm 68:5-6a

Waiting and Wondering

Adoption blogs seem to be about waiting a lot and ours is no exception. We can't cut in line to go to Ukraine earlier in December so will wait until sometime in January and miss the Big Tax Credit.

We also found out that Nadia and Ruslan are visitng their sister and extended family for a couple weeks at Christmas so they won't be ready to leave until mid January.

We wondered if they really understand what adoption is, how far away America is and what their family might be thinking about it all.

We asked Luda to ask Nadia a few important questions the next time she gets the opportunity- everyo so often Nadia getrs access to a cell phone and calls Luda to see if she knows when we are coming!

This extra time and our questions about them spending time with their family gave us reason to to reevaluate our decision. Am I really up to this (Edna)? Are we taking them away from their family? Can we afford this?

After praying, crying, complaining (me, not Mark) and having long conversations on the phone and in person with various friends and relatives, I guess the answer is there are no guarantees in life and when you ask God for clear cut direction, the answer is often still anything but clear.

Great gain always carries great risk.

Nadia and Ruslan have been in the orphanage for at least four years and their family has no legal right to take them home. The kids asked us to adopt them, and we believe they did so out of a heartfelt longing to be part of our family. What they wrote in their notes last summer was all about loving us and wanting a mom and dad, a family, not about getting to live in America.

A year from now, Nadia's life will be much better if she is safe in my home instead of getting ready to leave the orphanage with an eight grade education.

A year from now, Ruslan will be in a more secure place in our home rather than staying where he is.

I am a grieving mom, but also a loving mom who understands loss. Mark and I can empathize with Nadia and Ruslan and maybe we can help each other heal.

We believe that God will give us the grace to cope with the challenges and so are moving forward, in prayer.

We've applied with Lifesong for an interest free loan and are applying to Promise 686 again for matching grant funds.

Thanks for your continued prayers.