In 1997 on Christmas Eve my precious husband took me to dinner at Carrabba's, and then to a party at a friends house. We had some time before the 11pm service at Hendrick's Avenue Baptist Church. Mark and I spent time at my parents house and while we were there he asked me to answer one of the most important questions of my life. Would I marry him? I had been thinking about this question to be honest for a long time. I was ready to answer him. Ready to belong to him. Ready to, in effect, change each other's lives forever by both his asking and my answering the question.
We have been struggeling with our adoption to some degree. In Ukraine there is no preselection of children. You can however preidentify a child you have met in a hosting program. We are so excited about the kids that we met in the 2006 program sponsored by Reach Orphans with Hope. We had the privilage of meeting kids from two different areas that summer. By fall of 06 we visited four different orphanages in UA to share love, and aid, and hope with the children there. We met so many children with such amazing personalities, you can see their desire for a family in their eyes. You can feel the love they have to share with a family and their desire for a Mama and a Papa. We wish we could adopt them all. We are faced with the reality however that we can't. We are thankful to be approved for five children. We know that because there is no preselection in UA we are only able to ask the government if they will consider our request to allow us to adopt the children that we spent time with and feel like are a fit for our family.
We have asked God to watch over each part of this journey. We know that He has. He has allowed us to meet amazing people. Not the least of which are the children that we are praying that He will add to our family. We have been asking all along that He will show us who these children are and that they would want to be ours as much as we want them to be in our family. We have been struggeling with the fifth child for a long time. We have had several kids that we hoped would be a part of our family. Each time there has been something that has happened to get in the way of us saying yes in our hearts to who that fifth child might be. Today, I got a call from a friend who wanted us to talk to another couple in Ukraine who is adopting from one of the orphanages that we believe one of our sons lives in currently. She advised me to call this family and hear what they had to say about one of the children they met. I called. I listened. I remembered. Now, we pray. We are at a place where I understand what Mark went through when he asked me to Marry him. He had to think about the fact that the question he was about to ask me, the committment he was ready to make to me, would change my life and his forever. One question would change a dynamic. Our marriage would be born. With it our family. Our family. One question would make a shift in the way that life is lived and the way we share our faith in Christ with others. We are praying for each of the children that we think belong in our home. Praying that when we ask them if they would like to be a part of our family that they will be able to answer with confidence, "yes."
Today, as a Christmas present, I think God has blessed us with another son. Time will tell. God will show us. We are so excited to see how this journey continues.
Merry Christmas.
Mark & Jenn
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