Burn the Ships...

First, I want to pause, and think I am well due... for a spoiled American moment...
ahhhh I love wireless... clean air (my lungs do not know what to do)... and not seeing a single person with a bottle in their hand of anything other than water or soda. Thank you Jesus.

As I write this I am sitting on OUR BED in OUR ROOM listening to the kids howl "Papa!!! Papa!!!" & the sound of soccer balls bouncing in the foyer. Mark meandered in to hunt batteries and let me know they are board... welcome to life Pop ;) & Co. & Please do not tell Nanny that, b/c I made that mistake ONCE as a kid LOL. Toothbrush and floor cleaning keep that from happening ever again... I digress...

I am so thankful to be home. I am so thankful that you all have prayed us through. The trip was good. It was miserable to say "see ya later" to Lori... Girlfriend I say it again NEVER could have done this with out you... Thank you for ALWAYS deferring to Jesus as the one that got us through, but remember my sister in Christ that you were willing to be OBEDIENT to HIM and therefore you are a HUGE part of our family cherished forever. The kids got to New York and asked me if you would have to do this too when going through immigration when you come in May. NO DOUBT HONEY... THEY ARE EXPECTING YOU... We are too!

Had a 20 min round with the dude at Customs just cause he could make us wait... not b/c anything was out of order. Thankful for the team getting the wetseals they made all the difference. No questions just took their time. The parting Ukrainian gift.

Got seated and then no kidding heard, we will begin boarding now for flight 89. ROLL TIDE. Kids were up and we went through the normal jazz and waited to get on. Blessed to have them all sit with me on this flight. First 5 hours they were great... the next 4 Anna ate her fake fingernails... I was thinking of eating my real ones. :)

NY... THANK YOU FOR PRAYING US THROUGH... 15 min early arrival! NEEDED THIS TIME... awesome customs lady, saw us and snatched us slam out of line and into a window with only one dude ahead of us. Interview at window, opening of "the packettes" from The Embassy. And ushered into the secondary processing interview room. Kids all had to sign a paper with their name and get a finger print made. End of 45 min. story.

RUNNNNN to find gate...... TCBY for kids, Starbucks for Mom... and board.... breath... Max's TCBY didn't go down well... but came up just fine in Atl. :)

ATL..... Got off plane, asked nice lady where our flight would be. We were in Terminal A. Gate 6 where we got off plane. Nice lady said B3 is your gate. Left. Got on subway, kids thought they were home... Hiked down to B3 Nice lady says, no you flight is takes off from Terminal A... & pray tell what gate? Ummm hummm Yes you got it... Gate 6. can you say happy Mother? Can you say precious exhausted children?

Got (back) to our gate and settled in. The kids started in about 8:30 they wanted to eat. Youth Group from Bay Community Church where they do Merry Christmas Baldwin County at our gate was there and all talking about getting Chick Fil A. Sounded good. It was. :) Max liked it and only once as a bonus. :) They fell asleep all over the chairs at the gate, and Anna attempted to snuggle with a nice older man's carry on suit case. They were the talk of the gate. I tried not to fall asleep in my sweet tea and literally cried when we got on the plane and fell dead asleep. I woke up on the decent into "Pepsicola" which is what the kids call Pensacola.

We had a lot of loving folks meet us at the gate when we got off the plane. Ya'll blessed us and we know it was hard for you to get out so late at night and have to be up so early this morning to be in His house. Thank you for another sacrifice of time and love for us. It was a blessing to see you all. Thank you to Mama and Papa Hall & Miss Beautiful for your trip to come and see us and love on our kids and encourage me. 4 more home Hope family... FIVE MORE TO COME SOON!!!! We are praying for your appointment date to come QUICKLY... Can not wait to be on the giving end of encouragement to you guys for all you have done for us.

... so many of you have called, written, given, sacrificed and most importantly prayed... PLEASE know that you are NOT TAKEN FOR GRANTED... NOT ONE THING YOU HAVE DONE NO MATTER HOW "SMALL" YOU THINK IT IS IS LOST ON US... NOT ONE...

The Steven Curtis & Mary Beth Chapman Adoption Foundation called Shaohannah's Hope gave us a grant of $3000.00 to help with our adoption. I mention this again to offer hope to you guys coming behind and encourage you to APPLY NOW for a grant. It really helps. I also mention this because last night when Pop was getting the kids settled, and I was finally "alone" for a few minutes one of his songs went through my mind.

In the spring of 1519
a Spanish fleet set sail
Cortez told his sailors this mission must not fail
On the eastern shore of Mexico they landed with great dreams
But the hardships of the new world make them restless and weak
Quietly they whispered, "Let's sail back to the life we knew"
But the one who led them there was saying

CHORUS
Burn the ships, we're here to stay
There's no way we could go back
Now that we've come this far by faith
Burn the ships, we've passed the point of no return
Our life is here
So let the ships burn

In the spring of new beginnings
a searching heart set sail
Looking for a new life and a love that would not fail
On the shores of grace and mercy we landed with great joy
But an enemy was waiting to steal, kill, and destroy
Quietly he whispers, "Go back to the life you know"
But the one who led us here is saying
(Chorus)
BRIDGE
Nobody said it would be easy
But the one who brought us here
Is never gonna leave us alone
(Chorus)

It is 9:30 am ... I am going to rescue my husband, who rescued me 9 years, 4 months and 1 day ago from a life that would have been so much less of an adventure and surely not as beautiful and fulfilling as the one that we share now...

To find and follow this family as it continues on it's adventure remember to tune into:

www.fourukraineteens.blogspot.com

Not promising for daily digests :) but will keep you up to date on our clan's newest adventures.

Thanks for the company on the journey. ( & Lori... looking forward to hearing what your new land looks like as you burn your ship. Praying for you... & thinking Sunflower thoughts... )

Love from all the Smiths Here... finally here...
Mark, Jenn, John, Anna, Kevin, Max, Rolly & Pohlee....