Heading Out

We are packing our bags getting ready to get on a train to our region. We have a wireless broadband card but we have heard that we may be heading into no-man's land. We will post up as soon as we can re-establish contact with the "real" world.

Greers are go!

Lastest update, Day 4

The news we have at this point is "D" is definitely not going to be available for us to adopt. There is a new law that starts on November 1st that makes it even harder to separate siblings. Although we are saddened that we will not be able to adopt "D", we will accept it and continue the process with "V". We are being told that the SDA is not aware of any other girls available in our region. However, the local orphanage director may have better information so we will pray we can still find someone. We just go through it one minute at a time; that is all we can do. Please keep praying that God will show us the way. We are at peace over losing "D" and pray that God will find a good home for her and her brother.

We had a chance to meet Stephanie and Zach along with their two new girls from "Beautiful Journey" today. We had lunch at "Papa Ivan's" (John's) pizza where their pizza is a lot better than Papa John's in the states. Their girls are beautiful and they will have a wonderful life as part of their family. They gave us a bag of Ukrainian New Testaments to pass out at the orphanage. We wish them a safe journey home this weekend and pray that we will be able to see them again someday.

We leave tonight on an eight hour train ride to our region where we will be staying at the same place with the Clarks, who are a couple days ahead of us on our adventure. The Clarks have seen their kids and got a glimpse of "V", who gave them a wave so we hope he knows we are coming.

Don't get comfortable!

Don't stop praying! Things change fast around here! Just when you think things are going well....think again. We won't go into alot of detail right now because things could change again in five minutes. What we thought could be doable probably isn't. Pray for clear direction and that God will pave the path before us.

Our SDA Meeting

Pam and I paced the floor of our apartment today waiting for our 2:00 SDA appointment. Yulia told us to go downstairs to take a taxi that she was sending at 1:40. We went down at 1:30 and the taxi was waiting for us. It's a good thing we left ten minutes early because we arrived five minutes late. However, the SDA hadn't returned from lunch so no harm no foul.

The SDA official, Irena, was very nice and asked us why we wanted to adopt from Ukraine. Pam gave an emotional explanation of how we had hosted "V" and "D" last summer and fallen in love with them. Pam was a bit embarassed by her tears but Irena told her that she was much more composed than a lot of the mothers she meets.

Irena told us that "V" had no siblings and was available for us. She then confirmed what we already knew, that "D" has a younger brother, and that unless they can be separated, we would have to adopt her with her brother or not at all. She also told us that since we were pursuing known children, we would not be given a referral to find another girl. This was an answer to our prayers, that God would help us know beyond a doubt which child(ren) to pursue.

We have come this far and will now travel to the region to make the request to separate siblings. The younger brother is not available yet for adoption and they have not been in the same facility since they were brought to the orphanage. We were told that we have a good chance of success. If the judge rules against our request, then we will only come home with "V".

Please pray that God will make His decision clear to us. We are grateful that He answered our prayers today to continue pursuing "D" and not give up on her for an unknown child.

We will travel to our region by train tomorrow night and get there at 6:00am Saturday morning. We will have our meeting Monday morning to get our letter to visit the orphanage and find out if "D" can be separated from her brother. So all in all things are as clear as mud!

Site Seeing in Kiev

Michael the Arch Angel

Wedding Carriage

Notice anything strange about this picture? This is a food court.

War Memorial

Clinton's book next to Stalin




Yesterday, we got a chance to walk around and site see. It was brisk weather and beautiful. We are enjoying our adventure so far. Today is our SDA appointment (2:00pm). We will post again after we find out what is happening!

Kiev in the daylight

We are trying to acclimate ourselves to this new area and apartment. Last night we went to the grocery store, as we told you before, thinking we bought water to make tea this morning. What we bought was soda water so therefore we had fizzy tea this morning. Who would have known. Today we went back to the store to buy water again and got some other funky water that isn't very good water! Next time will probably be Vodka! I now know why you should be able to read the Russian alphabet. I may die of dehydration before I find suitable plain water.

When we got lost last night, we walked by a restraunt. This morning we walked back to it via the grocery store where we made our wrong turn last night. It looked like an ice cream parlor from the outside yet it had a bar in it and a pastry shop. We went inside figuring we could only have dessert. They actually served breakfast off a menu that had English and Ukraine writing in it. We order Americano Espresso (very tasty, I like it better than coffee) and ham and egg omlete, also very good!

Kevin slept like a baby last night snoring as loud as ever. I on the other hand woke up at 11:00pm wishing it was daylight. I should be the one taking a nap right now but Kevin is snoring as loud as ever again!

Thought I would give you an idea of what our apartment is like. I took a picture of the outside so if we get lost again we can remember the surroundings. It all looks the same here.

We're Here (Where Are We?)

After nearly twenty-four hours of sitting in airports, flying and going through customs, we are in Kiev! The flight was uneventful except for Pam spilling a whole glass of water in her seat. To say that we are tired, sore and smelly is an understatement. We were picked up by a very nice gentleman named Igor who spoke no English; he got us to the bank to exchange some money and then to our apartment. He walked us to the supermarket (which was only a block and a half away) and left us after we told him that we could find our way back no problem! We bought some bread, cheese, water and tea, and then proceeded to get lost on our way back to the apartment. Pam stayed calm and we backtracked, got our bearings and found our way.

The apartment is pretty nice and very clean inside; most importantly, it has internet, an iron and a hair dryer! The elevator is the size of a phone booth and the apartments have steel security doors. We will let you know what the outside looks like in the morning. We are anxious to see more of the city in the days ahead.

Our appointment with the SDA is at 2:00 on Thursday. We hope that we will have caught up on some of our sleep before then. Tomorrow we hope to check out the city and leave a trail of bread crumbs from the apartment. We are having a great time so far. Will try and post again tomorrow with some pictures.

Greerwald's Adoption Vacation

It is 3am in the morning not a soul in sight...and the thunder rolls... Well not really, but I have been singing that song in my head since 3am. It is 3:45am now. I can't sleep anymore and besides that is all we will be doing for the next several hours. I am excited to travel. We had a group sleep over in our bed last night with the kids. Garrett said we were going to need a bed upgrade to a king bunk when we bring two more kids home! Morgan got choked up about us leaving and said how much she was going to miss us. That almost made me start crying too. We reminded her that it was only going to be a few weeks. We also shared with her that, that is what "V" and "D" feel all the time. They miss having a mommy and daddy. We reassured her she was doing a good thing by allowing God and friends to comfort her during this time. Garrett will probably throw a party for a couple of days and then he will start missing us too. Funny how they are both so different!

The new chapter in our journey begins today. We will be in Ukraine by 4:20pm on Tuesday. We should have a day to recover from traveling before our SDA appointment if all goes according to plans. We were told someone should pick us up at the airport and if someone isn't there ask someone to help us call him. It just occurred to me we speak English!

We have decided to take Matt's advice and be in the 3rd person, spectators! This way nobody gets hurt. Our vacations always resemble National Lampoon's Vacations and we call ourselves the Greerwalds! Why should our adoption be any different. This time we will call our adventure National Lampoon's Adoption Vacation. We are sure we will meet lots of Cousin Eddies along the way! Sorry this isn't a deep spiritual post but what do you expect at 3:00am. Stay tuned for the adventure, you won't want to miss it.

What!!! The Chicken Pox???

No, I didn't think things were going to go perfectly smooth getting ready but I didn't expect my kids would catch the Chicken Pox right now either! Yes, yesterday my daughter Morgan kept complaining of bug bites on her body. She had the vaccination for Chicken Pox and so did Garrett. I didn't think twice about Chicken Pox but didn't think it was bug bites either. I took her to the pediatrician and she confirmed yes, it is Chicken Pox. We had a very relaxing day yesterday watching Ann of Green Gables (I love those movies). It was a nice day to just snuggle together on the couch. I kept falling asleep. I made chicken noodle soup for dinner. Today Garrett woke up with a really bad stomach ache. He is still laying in bed (very unusual for him). Even though Morgan has the spots, she is reading to Garrett trying to comfort him. Last night I had a fever and today I have a stomach ache too! I have had the Chicken Pox and so has Kevin. Fortunately, I have most things ready to leave so I don't have much to do except clean my house.

I contacted all the people who will be caring for my children while we are gone and they said it was no big deal to them. They have all either had the virus or the vaccine. I was relieved to hear that. I prayed last night that if Kevin or I were to get sick, please let it be before we leave. I certainly don't want shingles or something like that in Ukraine! We plan to take it really easy again today. The doctor put Morgan on an antibiotic to help shorten the time of the virus.

We would appreciate your prayers for our family. I still believe everything will be fine by Monday when we leave. :)

The Time is Approaching!

Our plane tickets are purchased, arrangements for Garrett and Morgan have been made, pantry is full, bedrooms organized, septic tank emptied and waiting on furniture! WOW! I can't believe all the things you have to do to go away for a few weeks. I have two overflowing suite cases on the floor of my bedroom. I planned on packing light! I have been throwing my wish list of items into the suite cases. I will go through it all right before we leave. How do you pack light for three weeks? I figure if I can fit it, why not?

One week from today we board the plane! One week from Thursday we will finally get answers to questions we have had for months. Will we get the children we have been asking for? Soon after our appointment we will get to see the children we have been longing for, for 15 months! We hope to update good news very soon. We would appreciate your continued prayers.

Hands In the Air!

We got to speak with "V" today and tell him we are going to be on our way real soon. He didn't say much. After fifteen months, he must be as numb as we are to waiting. We told him that we would be there in a couple of weeks. This has to be an eternity to him. He is only 9 years old.

We told "V" we should be home for Christmas. Won't that just be so cool?! We can make Christmas cookies together, homemade Polish sausage and pierogies and a Gingerbread House! The Christmas holiday is a big deal in our home. We have many traditions. Kevin is already worried about getting more stockings and downloading Christmas music. He would play it all year if I let him!

Sadly, we tried to speak with "D" just to say hi. She wasn't able to come to the phone again. Not real sure what is going on with her. This is the third time we tried to speak with her and we couldn't. It is not looking very positive with her. Please pray God will give us clear direction as to what to do about bringing home a second child.

I have so much to do in getting ready I don't even know where to start. The hardest part I think is getting everything situated for my two kids being left at home for three weeks. I am getting really excited to go.

Kevin and I have compared this trip to a roller coaster ride with your hands up in the air. We just want to let go and let God direct us. We are going into it knowing it is all out of our control. It is all in God's hands so why fight it! (Good at least in theory I know) I have a feeling God is going to try and stretch us and teach us more.

Hebrews 12:7-11 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it , afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Travel Date!

We leave for Ukraine on Monday, October 27th for our SDA appointment on the 30th!! It feels like a weight has been removed from our shoulders and now we can prepare in earnest. I prayed in our last post, "Please, dear God, set the date" and He has answered us. After fifteen months of pruning, He is ready to let us go.

Pam and I talked about this last night and she said, "can you imagine if we had been allowed to go three months into the process? What a mess that would have been with our impatience and inflexibility!" We are not the same people that we were when we hosted the kids last July. Our joy was in our little family, our home and what the world had to offer. God has used this time to change us.

I am confident that He isn't done shaping us and that we are racheting up for the next curves and loops on the roller coaster. I just pray that I can let go, put my arms in the air and shout for joy when it starts!

Psalm 57:7-11 "My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. For your lovingkindness is great to the heavens and Your truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth."

Happy Birthday "V"

Job 42:2 I know that "You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted."

Today, there is a little boy in Ukraine, turning nine. I know his birthday wish. His wish is to have a family to call his own. He wants a Papa and a Mama who will love and care for him. Today, there is a Mama whose arms want to hold this little boy with all of her heart! I am so sorry "V" that we aren't there to be with you on this very special day. Happy Birthday!

When "V" was here a year and a half ago, we went to a BBQ. I made chocolate chip cookies before we left. You know, this was the first time "V" or "D" had a warm cookie straight out of the oven! I think I could have let them eat all 4 dozen of those cookies. It was so satisfying to watch them enjoy such a seemingly, small treat. We went to the BBQ and brought the cookies. "V" walked around serving cookies to everyone who would take one. He said "My Mama made these cookies" with a big, proud smile on his little face.

One of our friends was able to visit Ukraine a few months back. He took a picture of "V" with tears in his eyes after receiving the gift. He wrote us a letter that said "I wait for you impatiently". He wants a Mama and a Papa. (Kevin adds, "V" also said, "I want to be taken by you as soon as possible." Please, dear God, set the date.)

Today my prayer is that "V" knows "We wait for you impatiently also". Our prayer is that we will have a good word soon and can come and get you. We love you so much. We pray today that someone will show you kindness and wish you a Happy Birthday with a big hug!