Today is the day that I take my oldest to college. I can hardly believe that more than 18 years
have gone by and I now have a college student as a daughter. It’s going to be tough to drop her off
and leave her… (Shhh. Don’t tell
her that. I’m a strong mom!) :-)
It’s also gotten me thinking about this adventure we’re on
and how anxious I am to get my Ukrainian kids here with our family. Taking a daughter to college makes you
think about how quickly the time goes with each of your kids. Let’s face it, when Toria was three and
was caught throwing raw eggs all over the kitchen I didn’t think this day would
ever get here… and now I can’t believe that she threw the eggs, I blinked, and
she was gone! I want and even need
as much time with each of these Ukrainian kids as I can get! It makes me sad that I’ve already
missed out on so many years as their mother.
So, here’s the adoption adventure update:
Home study has been finished. I picked it up on Monday.
Immediately following the pick-up of the home study, I
gathered all the paperwork together for filing my information with the US Immigration
office (I600a application). I got
a money order at the bank and mailed that package off Monday afternoon.
So far things have gone smoothly. The expenses haven’t been outrageous and we’ve been able to
take care of things on our own.
However, things now change.
Once we hear from the USCIS (in the next couple weeks), we will have to
come up with nearly $7000. We
don’t have it. So this is our
first major hurdle. I am
completely overwhelmed with how we are going to come up with this money. Can I say it again? Completely. Over. Whelmed! (And yes, I
realize that overwhelmed is only one word.) ;-)
A few days ago I was feeling especially discouraged. Prior to setting up this blog, we had a
few family members and close friends pledge some money (that’s what you see on
the left). This money has yet to
be collected, but we included it in our money raised. Once I started the blog I got many messages congratulating
us and wishing us luck. Lots of
messages saying, “wow”. It was
wonderful to hear that so many people supported our decision to jump into such
a life altering experience.
However, we didn’t receive any donations. It got me down, because I had hoped for some help in that
area (I mean, fundraising is a major part of this adventure!). Then it came: the first donation. $50. It was from someone I’d never met. Someone I’d never heard of. I began to cry (happy tears!). It was a moment that made me feel like WE COULD DO
THIS! Only $50 (a drop in the
bucket when you’re trying to raise almost $70,000) gave me a HUGE amount of
hope.
Last night I saw this comment on Facebook along with a
reposting of our blog:
“Hey My Facebook Family - Here is the blog of one of the
families - that is adopting 3 - count em 3- of the kids that came here from the
Ukraine!!! Every dollar counts - even a donation of 10.00 can help them with 1
document - Look in your couch cushions, and the spare change in the bottom of
your purse - and let's save 3 lives!!!!”
Yesterday was another discouraging day, and I was grateful to
see that someone was going to bat for our family. Thank you!
So, if you’ve looked at the large amount on the left and
felt like you can’t help with such an amount, think again. There is no donation so small that it
will not bless the lives of these kids more than you can even begin to
imagine!
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