Family

6 Things

Posted on by kimnjed

1.  Thanksgiving was a fabulous road trip of the ginormous variety.  We drove to visit Jed’s side of the fam and to deliver a small U-haul of his parents’ stuff and a few totes of our keepsakes to store.  I think we ended up driving 35ish hours over the course of about 5.5 days.  We are gluttons for punishment. Hehe.  But, it was so fantastic to see the family that I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. 

Cracker Barrel stop!

 
2.  While we were with the family for the holiday we got to see someone very special…ALBAN!!!!  I don’t know if I’ve shared here before that Jed’s parents are missionaries in Kosova…have I?  Well, they are, and they rock.  Anway, Alban is one of our dear friends from Kosova that works with Jed’s parents.  It’s been 5 years since we’ve been to Kosova, so it was high time we saw our Alban again.  He just happens to be in the States doing an internship for the school year and we got to spend the weekend with him at Jed’s sister’s house. YAY for family reunions!!!! 

Alban and Addy.  I love this picture.  It pretty much sums up their relationship 🙂

3.  We thought we had lost our camera in our move.  Then we thought we found it, only to discover it really is lost.  Boohooooooo.  Now we’re saving up for a new one.  Anyone have any suggestions on a great camera?  

In the meantime I’ll have to keep using my semi-lame phone pictures to spruce up the old blog.  Forgive me?


4.  MAJOR NEWS!!!!!!!!  Sasha, one of the Lost Boys we love so deeply is found!  A family committed to adopt Sasha.  I am blown away.  The kids and I were FREAKING OUT when we saw the news.  Havalah has prayed for Sasha faithfully every night since he became a Lost Boy.  We are so thankful that he is lost no more.  WAHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!  Now if we can convince his lucky family to scoop up an extra kiddo while they’re in the neighborhood we’ll be in business. 😉 Hopefully they’ll blog so I can introduce you to them at some point.


Sasha!

5.  Thank you , thank you , thank you to each and every one of you who has shared Samuel and Sara’s story.  Hundreds of people have seen their faces this week!  We know that we know God’s plans for them our good.  Now we get to see those plans unfold.  Aren’t we lucky?  Front row seats!

Samuel
Sara

6.  I know I owe everyone a Ukraine-Move update.  Well, the update is that there’s nothing to update!  Ha!  We are waiting on the Lord for our next steps.  We are working our tails off at paying off student debt and trusting God that He will show us what to do next.  We know that we need to start working on support-raising, so that will kick in to high gear after the holidays.  Your prayers are so appreciated on how to tackle that beast.  We aren’t interested in our own good ideas, we are only interested in God’s strategy.  So, until He tells us how to move we wait on Him.

That’s all I got folks! God is good, He is faithful, I just want to fall more in love with Him every day.  I’m confident the rest of the pesky details like where we‘re going to live, and how He plans to make all this happen will fall into place in His perfect timing.  🙂




End of an Era

Posted on by kimnjed

Along this journey to Ukraine there are many things we have had to let go, or will have to let go.   This month we are letting go of something very important, and along with that comes the end of an era.  We are letting go of our foster care license.  Of course we know we can’t still be state-certified foster parents while living in Ukraine, and we haven’t been open to taking any kiddos since we made the decision to move our family to Ukraine, but…we still held on to our certification.  We were still foster parents. 



We ran into our certifier (our fabulous assigned “go-to” person at DHS) at the store a week or so ago.  She mentioned that she has been following our story through our blog and is excited about what God is doing in and through our fam.  Hi Judi! 🙂  She asked if she should just go ahead and close out our file, and we had to tell her yes.  If we were to stay certified we would have to have DHS come out and check out Luke’s house, Luke would have to be fingerprinted and all that jazz.  That would all be okay, except for a promise we made to ourselves when we first started fostering.  

Back in 2006, when our foster parenting journey began, we promised ourselves if we took a child into our home we would keep them in our home, no matter what, unless someone else decided they should move.  We wouldn’t give up on a child when the going got tough.  That was tested a time or two, but with God’s help we kept our word.  If we were to take a child at this time I’m not sure we would be able to keep our word.  When you receive a child from DHS you never know how long they will stay with you.  Seth was supposed to be a “short placement”, and here he is, 2 1/2 years later, our son for life.  🙂  We plan to move in a year, so we just know we can’t take any more foster kiddos at this time.  

Foster Baby #1- always extra special to us

So, I guess this is so long to an era.  Our foster parenting era has been life-changing, to put it mildly.  I’ve said it before and and I’ll say it again, foster parenting is one of the best and definitely the most difficult thing we’ve ever done in our lives. (Yet!)

 It shaped our family, it grew us as people, it taught us reliance on the Lord instead of our own strength (still learning that!), it built our faith, it gave us a son.

Yes, there are problems with the foster care system.  Yes, it is tiring.  Yes, it is putting yourself out there, knowing your heart will be broken.  Yes, it is infuriating.  Yes, it is worth it.  

 

Because if you can look past the broken system and see the broken lives that God has given us, the church, to care for, it’s a no-brainer. 

The children are worth it.  They are worth fighting for.  
The parents are worth it.  They are worth loving and believing in.  



 
The system is broken and it fails people every day.  That is a problem.  But the bigger problem is that God has given the responsibility of caring for these lives to His Bride, the church, and we have passed them off to the state.  People will fail.  BUT God’s love never fails, and no matter who they are and what they’ve done or have failed to do- no one is beyond hope.  No one is beyond His grasp.  The state can’t fix these lives and these broken situations, but God can.  He can mend, heal, lift up, restore- and He asks us to be His hands and feet.  


We have come to the end of our fostering journey (for now!).  As we exit stage left, I would just ask you to prayerfully consider your part in caring for the orphans in your town.  How can you be His hands and feet to the broken lives around you?  

Could you foster?
Could you give respite for a weary foster parent in the thick of it?
Could you bring a meal to a foster family?
Could you donate clothes or gently used children’s gear to your local Child Welfare office?
Could you pray?

Our torch is being set down, will you take it up?  
Trust me, if we can do it, broken and human as we are, you can do it too! 

Just be prepared to never be the same.  🙂


You can read more about our story of foster care here:

Foster Care Ponderings: Part 1, Our Story

Foster Care Ponderings: Part 2, Our Story

Foster Care Ponderings: Part 3, Biological Parents

On My Brain

Posted on by kimnjed

Poor, neglected blog; sitting here alone and forlorn.  I realize I’ve been absent.  Today you’ll have to settle for the random contents that have most recently been on my brain. 

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Havalah got her first hair cut last week.  Our friends Eric and Hannah were in town, and in a moment of silliness, we decided Eric should chop off Hava’s baby hair.  She is about to turn 4, after all. 🙂  With promises of leftover Halloween candy, Hava sat still like a pro for the whole 6 minutes it took Eric to snippety snip. 
I think the results are pretty stinkin’ adorable. 

All dressed up in her “work clothes” to head to work with Daddy

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Addy learned about acrostic poems today and this is what she came up with:


“Mummy”

Moldy stuff is on it
Us, we are so different but the same
Mummies are quite gross
Mom is happy I don’t have one
You are so lucky not to be one!

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Seth learned how to use the microwave!  Without me noticing he managed to move a chair from the kitchen table to the counter, climb up on the chair, stick MY KEYS in the microwave, and set them to cook for 74 minutes.  I came in to the kitchen, noticed Seth, standing in front of the microwave, opened the door and in a moment of sheer stupidity- grabbed my burning hot keys out of the microwave with my bare hand. 
I don’t recommend that reaction, if your 2 year old learns to use the microwave.  It didn’t go well for me. 🙂  
Waahh waaaaaaaahhhhhh.

On another note, Seth is talking up a storm these days.  At this moment in his development he seems perfectly on target in all areas.  Praise God!!!  He is our little miracle boy and I thank God for him every day.  (That’s a good reminder to myself in the midst of the 2-year old naughtiness)

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Our friend that we live with is out of town for work so we get to take care of his awesome black lab.  The kids are in heaven.


Ezra loves cameras.  I never know what pictures I’ll find when I pick up the camera or my phone.  This one made me smile.  Ez Pez Dominez took this pic of a doll’s demise at the teeth of the dog.  



Poor baby.

Thank You Borscht.

Posted on by kimnjed

Monday is our big day.

Monday we take our biggest step yet toward Ukraine.

On Monday we move in with our friend Luke and say good bye to our house.  I can’t believe it!  We’re not leaving for Ukraine for about a year, but we’re staying with Luke while we rent out our house and pay off student debt. 


I had a little bit of an emotional week.  It’s so strange to pack things up knowing some of these things may very well stay packed up for years.  We have no idea how long we’ll live in Ukraine.  We could live there for 2 years or 20 years.  We just don’t know.  We know the dreams God gave us and that’s all we have to go by- the voice of God. 


We aren’t committing to a certain number of years, we’re simply committing our lives.  We’re committing our ears to hear God’s voice, our hands to do the work He asks us to do, and our hearts to be soft to His leading.  So I pack some things knowing I don’t want to get rid of them, but knowing they can’t come with us to Ukraine.  Things like hospital bracelets from the births of our babies, programs from our wedding, name tags from mission trips to Kosova.  I just can’t bring myself to part with things like that.  Not yet, anyway. 


I felt myself getting a little melancholy this week, considering all the changes we are facing and will face.  I even started to have a bit of a pity party.  Ha!  But yesterday I decided enough is enough!  This is NOT about me!  This is not about my comfort.  This is about joyful obedience.  This is about joy in the fact that we are called and that God is making a way. 

I made a big vat of borscht last night in remembrance of why we are doing this.  As I chopped, sauteed, boiled and stirred I remembered the faces and lives that touched our hearts when we were in Ukraine.  I remembered the boys who sit on benches surrounded by nothingness every.single.day.  I remembered Slavik and Alyona serving and loving with too many needs, not enough hands.  I remembered it is my joy and my honor to sell my things and leave my house for  Him.  What do I have to complain about? 


ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!  I HAVE EVERYTHING TO BE THANKFUL FOR.


Oh my, once my attitude adjusted I started to get really excited.  We are taking ginormous step toward our dream!  This is really happening! 

 Then I thought of friends around us also stepping out into their destinies and I was filled to overflowing with faith and joy.

God’s got this and it is our joy and complete honor to follow Him. 


What’s Next + The Kids

Posted on by kimnjed

At the very beginning of this journey when we still thought this journey was about adopting “Jonah” a friend was praying for us and God spoke some words to her that have guided a lot of our process thus far.  This was at the stage in the game when no one knew what we were considering.  It was just between God, Jed, and me.  We believe that God can speak through His people, and boy has this word struck the nail right on the head!  She said “God’s calling you and Jed to something very difficult.  Fear not, fear not, fear not.  The path looks really narrow, but just keep walking.  As you walk the path is going to widen and God will make a way.  Just keep walking and fear not.”

Of course we thought those words applied to the adoption process and raising a child with special needs.  We had no idea what those words really meant.  Now we’re starting to get an idea.  🙂

Back at the beginning of September we knew that we needed to trust God to provide free housing for us.  We can’t pay off student loans in any decent amount of time if we’re still paying our mortgage.  Why don’t we rent out our house and let someone else pay our mortgage?  Then we can live somewhere for free and put money toward student loans so we are more free when we get to Ukraine!  Great idea…except that finding free housing for a family of 6 sounded a little tricky.  Yeah, we learned it’s not that tricky for God.

We asked the Lord to let us know where we were going to be living before our garage sale.  I was starting to get a lot nervous as the garage sale quickly approached and we had nowhere to move.  Yet we knew we were to keep walking and God would make a way.  The night before our garage sale a friend came over to help Jed move the heavy items downstairs for the sale.  I was gone at a home school meeting and when I got home and our friend left Jed turned to me and said “He just offered for us to live with him in his house for free.” 

HOLD THE PHONE.  WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?????

God made a way!  He did it!  He kept His word.  He did a miracle.  He moved our friend’s heart and that generous friend is opening his home to 6 people.  I don’t think our friend realizes what he just agreed to. Hehe.  Holy bachelor pad invasion Batman!

We are just absolutely blown away by the goodness of God.  We are blown away by His promise-keeping.  We are blown away by His way-making.  We are so very thankful.

In a couple of weeks we’ll move out of this house and into our new digs.  Then we’ll spend the rest of the month getting this house rent-ready.  Please pray for a great renter for our house!  Thanks!

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“So, how are the kids with all of this?”

 

The kids are awesome, as usual. 

Taking Queen Havalah on a tour of the neighborhood

They are taking all of this in like champs.  The kids know we are moving to Ukraine.  Of course they have no idea what that really means! 

They know where Ukraine is on the map and they’ve seen many pictures.  They join in on skype with our friends in Ukraine, so they’ll meet some familiar faces when we finally arrive there.  They know we are going to Ukraine to help the special kids who have no mommy and daddy.  They know that those kids have bodies that work different than theirs and look different than theirs.  I think they understand as much as they can at this point, and they are excited.

 

What we’ve learned about our kids so far in this process is that however Jed and I present this to them, and however we process it is how they live it.  We are taking this in like the big fat adventure that it is.  So, the kids think of it like an adventure.  We are excited, they are excited.  We have some fears and uncertainties- so do they.  We just pray that God will give the kiddos peace through this process.  We pray they learn in a very tangible way what it means to walk in faith.  We want them to live radically for God- then we better live it!


Thank you again and again for all your prayers and support. 


God is opening doors and clearing paths!  
We stand amazed.  





Sweet Heath still waits for a family to step up for him.  His adoption is nearly paid for by a loving group of Heath-fans.  Please continue to share his face and his story.  Heath needs his family asap!!  Please ask away if you have any questions at all about Heath.  🙂