Admitting Failure

Not too many blogs ago I titled one writing, "Momma is Stronger" although this is an accurate statement when compared to my new son, it wasn't the best strategy to show him what Brandon and I know he needs most. From the very beginning of our adoption journey, we decided that the reason we wanted to adopt was because God called us to show his love, grace, and mercy to one of his children.  This is a call that required us to make many sacrifices but it wasn't a call to a journey of conjoined misery, but a call of learning what true love is. 
Our 3rd day home, the battle of wills began.  Following my past parenting experiences, I was determined to show this child that I was stronger than he was and that I wouldn't tolerate his outburst and vile disrespect.  This parenting felt so wrong and so impossible with this new child of mine.  We were both exhausted, frustrated, and overwhelmed.  I thought that if I could just keep it up long enough that he would eventually succumb to our authority and follow along with our normal. This is the advice I had read so much about from "experts" in the field of kids with trauma histories.  After a second day of repeat performances in both of us, I knew that something was not right.  This kid had a history of trauma, so why was I trying to create more trauma?
That night as I showered, I asked God what I was doing wrong and how to show our son the love that God showed us.  Almost immediately, I felt like God was bringing to my mind how He called us to Him.  Although God is indeed stronger and has the ability to force people to follow Him, He wants us to choose to follow him in submission and trust.  How does He call us to follow Him in submission and trust?  Certainly not by showing us that He is stronger.  He bids us to trust him and submit to His authority by showing us that His Love is Stronger!
Why would I expect this child who has never been shown how to control himself, this child who has had a history of adults that didn't care enough about him to show him that they would love him always, this child that thinks he was taken to the orphanage because he was bad, this scared and delicate child?  Was it our job to force him to behave and be respectful, ie make him mind?  The Holy Spirits words of wisdom, said no. 
What was our job then?  To love him when he is unlovable, to give when he is undeserving, to show kindness when he shows disrespect, to give great measures of patience and understanding when he wants nothing to do with us, to stay calm when he is out of control, to speak softly when he rages, to allow ourselves to be available in the most inconvenient times because that might be when he is ready for some acceptance, to give up the things we want so that he can catch glimpses of our willingness to sacrifice for him. 
There were several reasons that I refused to follow God for so many years.  Some of the reasons included having bad things happen to me that I had no control of, seeing bad things happen to others that I knew to be good, having been judged and treated horribly by persons that claimed to be Christians, seeing others judged and abused by persons claiming to be Christians, watching glimpses of TV evangelists and knowing right away they were frauds, natural disasters, and an overall distrust that if God was a real God that He was either all powerful and mean, or weak and kindly.  Neither of those options settled well with my heart.  What I longed for was a God that was All Powerful but also All Loving! 
I have the understanding now that is exactely what our son is longing for.  Parents that are both powerful enough to ward of evil but also loving enough that he can feel safe.  Are we capable of being these parents?  Not on our own!  Everyday I have to prepare my heart to be a servants heart.  We have to choose to love him, we have to choose to stay in control of our own emotions and not expect him to control his, yet.  We have to choose to follow the example of our both powerful and loving King and sacrifice our desires for the love of our children.  We rely moment by moment on our Lord to give us the wisdom, grace, and mercy to be the parents that He has called us to be. 

2 Peter 1:1-4 The Message
I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ.  I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God's straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.  Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God.  The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you-your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.

Our lust was having a picture perfect adoption story with a obedient and grateful son.  This is so unbiblical and impossible that we have to turn our backs to our wants and turn our eyes to Jesus, the only one who can love us while he shows us how to love our son. 

First Week Home

We have been home exactly one week and one day and WOW what a week! 
When we left Ukraine on Saturday, we were taken into the customs office and spent at least 30 minutes going over all our documents and the guards making copies of many of the papers.  We were ready for a similar inspection once we arrived in Italy.  The guard barely turned away from his conversation with his friend and we flew right on through.  Relieved, we hurried away to claim our luggage and get out of the airport.
We arrived in Italy in the early morning and were picked up by friends.  We were greeted at our home by more friends and of course our daughters.  It was so wonderful to see our girls again after such a long time.
Vitaliy had the same experience entering our home as he did in the home we stayed in, down in Simferopol. He literally spent this entire first week opening every closet, drawer, cabinet, and box he could find.  Carefully inspecting each and every item with careful attention and curiosity.  This insatiable curious appetite has been both humorus and irritating.  Watching him open every game box in the house, dump out the contents and then put it all back in the box is fascinating for us to watch.  On the other hand, he has required constant supervision because everything he finds he wants to know how it works.  For instance, the battery operated circular saw was a bit frightening!  Thanking Jesus that the battery was dead!!! 
If something requires or even has a spot for batteries, he wants to put in new ones and watch it work.  He has a love for all things that run on batteries.
Some of the things he finds strange.
1. Our cats are indoors all the time and they poop and pee in a box of sand that we keep in our house.
2. That we tell him he can bath naked.  He always wears his undies. 
3. That we watch him constantly. 
4.  That so many people of the AFB wear the same outfit that his papa does.
5.  That we girls request that he please lift the seat to pee. 
Overall, he thinks we are a bit weird but seems content to roll along with us.
Sunday was our first time at church.  I warned him that many people would be very happy to see him but it was still all a little overwhelming with the attention he was receiving.  Saturday and Sunday went well though just out of sheer distraction by all things new. 
Monday morning the girls went off to school and Brandon had to return to work.  Oh dear, stuck home all alone with the momma again.  It was a rough day for both of us.  I was sticking to my previous mantra of Momma is Stronger and it wasn't going well. The title of my next blog post will be, "Admitting Failure" stay tuned you don't want to miss that one.  Anyway, Monday through Wednesday were very hard and I was so happy when the rest of my family returned home.   Thursday I changed tactics and saw some improvements.  Friday was a rough day but for other reasons.  Saturday and Sunday we have spent time together as a family!  Ah Family, this word provokes so many thoughts and emotions. 
So what have we done, we've ridden our bikes around the neighborhood, we've played hundreds of games, we've battled, we've tried to figure how to turn off activated fire alarms (no it wasn't a actual fire), we've cuddled, we've cried, we've just sat and looked lost, but we've done it together.  I haven't been able to do much of anything except spend time with my son but I am so thankful to have him home with me.  Home, where we can love and protect him, where we can show him a better way, where we can die to ourselves daily in order to show our son that he is welcome and safe. 
Everyday is better, everyday there are improvements in ALL of our attitudes, and everyday I get to give all my kids hugs in the morning and tuck them in at night.  What could be better than that? 

Finally Going Home!!!!

We have our tickets booked and are leaving Kiev airport at 0620 arriving at Treviso airport at 0800 tomorrow morning!
Here is what we know:

1.  There is a completely different procedure for Americans that are stationed abroad to naturalize their foreign born adopted children.  No one thought to inform us during the entire 16 month prep process.
2. We paid for a Visa that we didn't need.  More paperwork is more fees, but we are on the right track now.
3.  The Italian Embassy in Kiev has given Vitaliy a 6 month tourist visa in his Ukrainian passport! Special Note: We asked for 90 days and were given 180! Super Sweet!

4.  We have more forms to fill out once we arrive in Italy but Vitaliy will be able to become a US Citizen without having to first touch US Soil.  (The base is not considered US Soil)

5.  We may have to make a trip to Rome but that is a lot cheaper than all going to the USA.  

6.  SMSgt Pearson, our First Sergeant Rocks!
7.  Amber H. at the State Dept deserves a Congressional Medal for her work in investigating, coordinating, and bringing together multiple government agencies to assist us!
8.  Brian and Christen Humphreys deserve a vacation after playing the parental role for our girls.  THANK YOU!
9.  Bella Vista Baptist Church in Edgewater, Florida deserves a VERY heartfelt thank you and praise for all their prayers lifted up on our behalf.
10.  Serenissima Bible Church deserve a plaque on the wall for having to deal with, praying consistently for, and financially helping our very needy family.  Thank you, our church family!  We are so grateful for your love.
11. Special Thanks to our coordinator David Avilla for his encouragement, expertise, and over site on our life changing journey.  Never doubt the integrity of this man.
12.  More special thanks to our facilitator, Sasha Nemchenko for being our very knowledgeable and persistent Ukrainian adoption expert.  He has definitely gone above and beyond what was expected in helping us get all that we need to get our son home.
13.  Thanks to our many drivers we have had during our time in Ukraine.  We now value our lives so much more after having the experience riding with you!  LOL
14. And MOST importantly, Thanks be to our Heavenly Father for hearing our pleas, giving us abundant Grace and Mercy, and moving mightily on His children's behalf.

We pray that our experience will shed light on American's Stationed Overseas that are adopting.  That this will pave a smoother path for those that follow.  These kids need families, no matter what the price is to be paid, it is a price that has eternal value.   
Oh and yes we would do it all over again.  :)  We Love our Son!

We will continue to post on this blog for a year to let you know and see the good things our Lord has in store for our family! 

Psalm 107:29-32 - He caused the storm to be still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they were quiet; So He guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving kindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people, And praise Him at the seat of the elders.

Psalm 95:1-6 - O Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth; The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

Who's to blame?

Our last post give just a glimpse of the hurdles we are tackling in order to get home. 
I, Kim, am going to give you a very honest and in depth look into my heart as we travel this thorny path.  
Upon arriving into Ukraine for the very first time I knew that this was not going to be a cut and dry procedure.  Every time we spoke with or met a person that was vital for the process, we were given different information.  This happened even before entering Ukraine, but was made worse in country. The country of Ukraine is not to blame for the battles we are facing, it is a much greater and more sinister agent at work.  For those who can not fathom anything greater than your eye can see, you may not understand who I can assuredly say is the evil that lurks in the details.  Human beings.
Maybe the more church attending folks thought I would blame Satan, or those who hate my Heavenly Father, might have thought I would say God.  My heart is heavy knowing that it is what is in the hearts of man, that have made this journey so ridiculous.  Why am I so sure of this? It is because I can easily see the evil of laziness, indifference, ungratefulness, irresponsibility, selfishness, pride, and manipulation in my own heart. 
When Vitaliy had been my son for only 3 days, it was a only by a miracle that I didn't take him back to the orphanage.  (I think I heard you just gasp!)  The miracle was that God had laid on my heart that Vitaliy was my son and not just a random kid.  This is an actual real miracle, as real at the parting of the Red Sea!  My son was so hateful, ugly, and down right mean that if God had not placed a mother's love in my heart for him, I would have taken him back.  Why after 16 months and all the pain and struggle would I even have considered that?  Because my heart is still the heart of man.  I still want what I want, when I want it, how I want it, and as easy and as comfortably as possible.  Here was this little boy, my son, and the hate that poured from his broken heart, out of his mouth, were shards of glass tearing into what I wanted to happen.  Even though I read all the books and knew that this was a likely response, it was still a shock to watch it happen. 
As the days rolled along he softened, when we left his town for Kiev, I could see more layers of fear fall away.  Every day in little ways I can see that the hate, which is evidence of fear, beginning to subside.  Oh we definitely have a long, LONG road ahead but God has proven faithful in healing his heart while chipping the sin away from mine. 
My God knows my heart more than I do, He knows what keeps me from fully submitting to Him, He knows that I still want things my way because I doubt that He knows what is best.  More times this week than I care to admit, I have wondered where my God was.  Was He still listening?  Did I do something wrong? Do I need to do something more?  Maybe I am not praying as much as I should, perhaps I need to read more chapters of the Bible each day, could be that I am being punished for something I did? 
Then I remember that His promises are true and His love is real as demonstrated on the cross.  Vitaliy is having to find out what having parents that truly love him is really all about.  Our coordinator recently told me something an adoption expert suggested parents tell their children,"There is nothing you can do that will make me love you less and there is nothing you can do that will make me love you more".
When you are adopted by the Creator and Savior of the world, that is His promise to us as well.  Grace is God giving us something that we can never deserve and Mercy is God saving us from what we do deserve.  And His Grace and Mercy is telling His children, "There is nothing you can do to make me love you less, and there is nothing you can do that will make me love you more."

Jeremiah 31:2-3 Thus says the LORD:”The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

 Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

As Paul Harvey said, "And now you know the rest of the story."

Why are we still in Ukraine?

This is a blog post that is difficult to write and even more complicating to try to explain to everyone why we are still in Ukraine.  I will do my best.
It all started 16 months ago when Brandon and Kim felt called by God to adopt a 9 year old orphan boy that was living in a Ukrainian orphanage.  Because of our unique situation of being a American military family stationed overseas, we knew that it could be more complicated than most families seeking to adopt.  We went and spoke to all the legal authorities we had available to us and were assured that once Vitaliy was our son that we would be able to return to Italy and process his Official, No Fee, passport and then proceed through to obtain an Italian Visa.  Many factors have played into the fact that it has taken 16 months to adopt our now 11 year old son. The fact that we were married at the American Embassy in Seoul, our home-study provider didn't think that Americans should adopt older children from Ukraine, that Ukraine won't accept any documents over 6 months old (our documents expired once because it was taking so long and we had to redo many of them), our military doctors were reluctant to sign off on our medicals because they were afraid of the unknown, we had all of our documents notarized by JAG but Ukraine wouldn't accept them until they were apostilled at the State Department, and on and on and on.  The worst of the problems have stemmed the our counsel from our legal office and passport office at our military base.  Many of the things we were told was simply not true. 
Now we are here in Kiev, our 37th day in country, we have our son, he is legally our child but we can't get to our home in Italy where our daughters are. 
We have been given a IR3 visa in our son's passport that allows us to bring him to the USA.  Once he touches American soil he will become an American citizen, not before.  This is where the problem begins.  Italy will not allow a military dependent to come into Italy to live without first obtaining an American Official, No Fee passport, and then applying to the Italian Consulate for a Missions Visa.  The American government will not expedite an Official Passport for dependents.  Expedited Official passports are only reserved for Active Duty personnel that are on orders for deployments.  This process is expected to take 4-8 weeks.  Once we receive this passport, we then must send it to the Italian Consulate to ask for a missions visa.  This process is expected to take 2-4 weeks.  At best that has us in the USA for 6 weeks, at worst for 3 months.  Meanwhile, we have our 14 and 12 year old daughters being cared for by friends and our son is living in a transit world. 
The US Embassy here has been reluctant to help us and says that it is the Italian governments responsibility. One official suggested leaving our newly adopted son with friends and family in the USA for the 3 months and having us return to Italy without him and then come back to get him when the processing of the paperwork is complete.  This is not an option.  Our son has been in an orphanage for 5 years, doesn't speak English, and he needs to bond with his real family in a stable environment.  We were finally able to speak to a sympathetic person who contacted someone in the state department.  We have been contacted by the representative from the State Department but she seems to think that there may not be any legal way to expedite this process.  Since Monday is a Federal holiday, we are waiting until then to hear if there is a way. 
This trip has been so challenging, in so many ways.  A broken laptop, a broken foot, a process that seems to never end, but at the end of the day we look upon our new son and are grateful that he is ours.  He doesn't understand many things but the question he asks everyday is, "We go home today?"  We just don't know the answer to that. 
We don't want everyone to think that this blog is just to complain, but we do want others to know who plan to adopt a child while being stationed overseas, that there are many more challenges than are necessary.
We know that God is in this story, we know that He has a plan that will bring all the Glory to him.  We are sad, we are frustrated, and we are struggling to hold onto the promises that we know to be true.  God doesn't promise that the road to follow His ways is easy.  He actually promises us that it will be difficult.  So why follow Him?  Because His ways are always the best, His love and devotion to His followers was demonstrated to the full degree on the cross.  There was no greater sacrifice and cost paid than that.  It was given to an ungrateful, undeserving, and angry people.  A man may die for one that has proven to be deserving but only God dies for a people that curse His name and nail him to a cross.  This is the God we know and we know that His Story will be told through this adoption.  
 1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

---

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

---

A family?

Vitaliy is doing well!  He is learning all that he can about being in a family.  What does it mean?  I can see this question roll across his face several times a day.  What does a momma do?  What does a papa do? What is my role as a son?  These are questions that we, who have never been orphaned, just don't think about.
The first few days Vitaliy wouldn't let me do anything for him, then he wanted me to do everything.  First I didn't exist then I was his slave.  He is searching the boundaries to the question, what does a momma do?  Probably the hardest quest for him, is what is he supposed to do.  Without Grace and Hanna near to model a child in a family this question is simply impossible to figure out.  We are getting him to learn to ask when he wants to do something, i.e. eat a fifth banana in 30 minutes!  Last night we were Skyping with Grace and Hanna and Hanna asked me over Skype if she could have some ice cream.  Vitaliy's eyes got wide and he looked at her and me for a response.  I asked her if she ate her dinner and if she had some fruit.  After I was satisfied with her answer I told her she could have some.  Hanna then did a triumphant "YES!".  Vitaliy laughed and I saw a flash of understanding in his eyes.  Praising God for these moments!
We arrived in Kiev yesterday after a very early morning.  Vitaliy was packed and ready to leave Simferopol!  After getting off the plane, we went to the hospital for a physical for his US Visa.  The doctor asked him what my name was and he looked confused and said, "Momma".  lol  Then he asked what he would tell the police if he got lost and couldn't find me.  He said, "Momma Thompson".  This kid cracks me up.  (yes, he does know my name)  After the hospital, we were off to the US Embassy.  It was the closest I have been to home in 2 1/2 years!  The red, white, and blue and English speakers was a beautiful site to behold!  I almost cried.  The Embassy was new looking, clean, big, and welcoming.  Ah bliss!  No pictures though, because our cameras and phones were not allowed inside.  After filling out many documents we were off to the Italian Embassy.  Unfortunatly, things weren't as wonderful there.  The people were very kind but English was a problem.  After speaking and learning Russian for so long, I had almost completely forgotten Italian.  It was very confusing!  The poor woman was trying in English and then forgot a word I told her to try in Italian and then she forgot her Italian because she was trying to speak in English.  LOL  We had a good laugh.  Vitaliy was looking at us like we had lost our minds.  In the end we were told that they were unable to issue a Visa to enter Italy without first entering the USA.  Brandon and I are going to work on the details of this new, complicated, information today. 
We are off to the US Embassy today at 1400 to find out all that we can so we can get this boy home were he belongs, with his family.  He may not know what family really means yet, but God is showing him a better way.  Being part of a family has been God's master plan for all of eternity, after all, God first adopted us. 

Ephesians 1:5
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. (NLT)
Ephesians 2:19
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. (NLT)

Running the Race

Isa 40:31 (NIV) But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

While Vitaliy was in the orphanage we noticed that although Brandon and I were welcomed warmly each time by him, that he was much more interested in what we brought to entertain him.  As we looked on at our new son, as he ignored us, I started to meditate on what this looks like in my life.  God has always been there, calling me, gently prodding me to experience His complete grace and mercy and for years I held up my hand in His face and demanded that if he treated me kindly by cleaning up all the things in my life that I thought was unfair and uncomfortable that I would then give Him some attention.  At one point, a long story in itself, I fell deeply into His open arms and embraced all that He was.  Even after that life altering experience, I still find myself being much more involved in things that have nothing to do with the gospel.  And I put up my hand again in God’s face and say, “Not now God, can’t you see that I am busy? Don’t you understand that if you gave me the things I want that I would be able to spend more time with you?”. God repeatedly tells us that He is ALL we need, but we doubt this on every turn.  God says I am your supply, your strength, your hope.  

I see myself in my angry son.  I see it in the way he rejects me.  Fearful if I, like all the others, will get tired of him and turn away.  I see me in the way he gets so frustrated when I try to restrain his wants for his needs.  I see me in the way he sneaks to obtain things he wants because he doesn’t trust me to actually provide what he needs.  I see me in the way he lies, trying to protect a wall and identity without  the humbleness to accept himself as he is.  I see me in the way he sometimes smiles and snuggles in, hoping that maybe this isn’t really a fantasy but that there is someone that can love him unconditionally. 

This is the race that God has laid out for our family.  He paved the way, He has provided the means, He will never leave or forsake us. 

I am constantly reminded of Luke 9:23-25 (NIV) Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" 

Those who do not follow Christ as Lord and Savior, look at us and see that this is foolishness.  Why would we want to take this thorny, troubled path when the one we were on was so nice?  Why? because, I can not reflect the love and sacrifice of Savior if I refuse to take up my own cross.  This is not a means of self-mutilation but a coming to a greater reality of who Jesus is and a freer life to life without the burdens of my own ugliness.  I have sin, ever crouching at the door, and I need a reminder of what I am like unrestrained.  As followers of Christ we can easily be lured into the “I have arrived” mentality.  My life is cleaned up now, I go to church, I don’t smoke, I don’t curse, (most of the time), I know how to dress, walk, and talk like a Christian; but as I have been reading through 2 Chronicles, the major theme is kings of Judah who walked in the ways of the Lord, only to become strong and proud and fall so far from God.  So far, that they are not even allowed to be buried in the royal cemetaries.  God is giving me grace and mercy by bringing Vitaliy in my life so that I can see that it is never by my own strength that I can carry on living a life for him.  Only complete and utter dependence on Him everyday keeps me in a proper position to receive the reward promised to all true believers. 
I praise God’s love for me and for Vitaliy.  It is a beautiful thing to watch the grace effect played out before my own eyes. 

Eph 1:18-20  And this is my prayer... that you may receive that inner illumination of the spirit which will make you realize how great is the hope to which he is calling you--the magnificence and splendor of the inheritance promised to Christians--and how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God. That power is the same divine energy which was demonstrated in Christ when he raised him from the dead...

Momma is Stronger

Let me start this blog by first saying that Vitaliy is doing amazingly well with all the changes that he is going through.  He is a brave boy that took a gigantic leap of faith in choosing to be adopted.  There is really no way to explain to a child that has grown up the way he has, what being in a family is really like.  Everyday he is learning who is in control and what being truly loved means.  That it is possible to be told “no” and hugged at the very same time.  To be denied what he thinks he really wants only to be given what his soul truly needs.  This is going to take time.  I am up for the challenge!  God has been most gracious in allowing me 16 months to prepare for this time.  I am surprised at how easy it has been to both love him and guide him.  I don’t know if this makes since to you but I was afraid it would feel a bit like babysitting an unruly child, but instead, to GOD’S GLORY, it has been like Vitaliy has always been my son and it is easy to love him.  I know he is confused, sad, happy, and just plain befuddled, this has been my way of offering grace. 
I can almost guarantee that he will have put on at least 5 pounds before we even leave Ukraine.  He has been a veracious eater!   I haven’t limited anything at this point because he can definitely use the calories.  Besides, he has been eating fruit, yogurt, breads, sausages and drinking milk, juice, and water.  These are all vital for his nutrition and right now I am letting him stock up.  I know it helps to lower his anxiety about whether or not he is going to be fed so we will continue this trust cycle of food.  J He is very smart and competitive.  The competitive nature is a blessing when getting him to do what I want him too.  For instance, we are learning animal names in English.  For every animal flash card he names right, he gets to keep the card and the ones he gets wrong, I keep it.  This morning, I had 4 cards and Vitaliy had 26!  Amazing!  Today I started him on ABC’s.  We started with just “a” “b” and “c”.  Learning to recognize what they look like and their name.  I sat out 3 picture and word cards that started with different letters and asked him to identify words that started with a, b, or c.  He ended up with 35 and I had 2!  

So I will continue to press forward with the charge that God has called us too.  Love the least of these?  Yes, I think I do!  Is it easy? No, but my God is Greater, My God is Stronger, My God is Higher than any other, My God is Healer, Awesome in Power, that is My God.  In His strength, He will equip us to do the work He has called us to.  

Vitaly's is Officially a Thompson

So much to report but the most important is that Vitaliy is now officially our son.  I arrived in Kiev the evening of the 7th and was taken to the first apartment that Brandon and I stayed in on our first trip.  I realized then that I brought the wrong cell phone charger and my phone was almost dead.  Irritated at myself for making that mistake, I set up the lap-top to access the internet.  After 2 hours of trying it still wasn’t working.  I left it on a small table and went to the kitchen to make some tea.  While in the kitchen, I heard a thump.  My heart sank because I just know that sound was my laptop hitting the floor.  I was correct. The table I sat it on broke and my lap-top’s screen is busted.  L  So no phone and no internet, I sat in my apartment cut off from the world and cried.  God was there to comfort me as always and I eventually was able to get a bad connection on Brandon’s ITouch to let him know I was alive and that I made two costly mistakes.  With the great love and sincerity, my husband told me that it was ok that I have ended up making the cost of this trip increase.  A tough night of barely 3 hours of sleep, I woke up on the 8th ready for the second part of the trip.
I was picked up at 5am and we were off to Kiev airport for our flight to Simferopol.  Our facilitator and I were picked up and immediately taken to the city, about 2 hours from the orphanage, where Vitaliy was registered at birth to pick-up his new birth certificate up. I was able to get a picture of me with his new certificate in front of a statue in the city.  Our facilitator let us know that this certificate is the one that says he is Officially Ours!  Hooray!

 The agenda for the rest of the day was supposed to be full so I was told that we probably wouldn’t be able to get him, so I prepared myself for that.  As we drove back towards Simferopol, I was told that we were heading to the orphanage to pick-up Vitaliy to take him to get his passport photo taken and that we would have to take him back to the orphanage afterwards.  I was just happy to be able to see him.  When we arrived at the orphanage, I was led to a room to sign some more documents.  This is a normal event.  Then in walks Vitaliy with a bag.  He was packed and ready to go, forever.  I looked at the director concerned that he had been given the wrong information, but in-fact, the documents I had just signed was signing him out of the orphanage FOREVER!  Vitaliy was ready to go!  He hugged me and was practically jumping ready to go. We took a few more pictures and then he ran for the car to leave.  As we pulled away he only looked back when I told him to say good-bye.  He said good-bye, took a long glace, and then turned his head forward, sat up in the seat as tall and close to the front as possible and smiled a smile of relief, hope, and the promise of a better tomorrow!

Then we spent the next 5 hours running from one government office to another, getting pictures taken for passports and visas, finding me a new phone charger, and going to a grocery store.  I had not eaten anything since a sandwich on the plane that morning and I was starving!  While sitting in the car waiting for something (waiting in the car is also a normal occurrence) my stomach was growling very loudly.  Our driver had great compassion on me and went to a nearby store to buy a Danish for us.  Vitaliy’s was gone in about 45 seconds.  I then went into the building and Vitaliy had to stay in the car with the driver.  When we came back out about 45 minutes later he was shoveling down another Danish.  I asked him how many he had and he told me four with a big sticky grin!  During all of our running around Vitaliy would spontaneously snuggle-up next to me in the car and lay his head on me.  He stood right beside me at the grocery store and helped me push the basket around.  He was thrilled to pick out some grape juice and yogurt.  Since we were still hungry we did a Victory Lap through the McDonald’s drive-thru!  I got him a cheeseburger Happy Meal and some juice.  This was his second time eating there and he told me the first time in Kiev had tasted better.  LOL  Then it was finally off to our cozy little temporary home.  We were greeted most enthusiastically but those already there.  Vitaliy knows the Shumaker’s and Kloehn’s and was happy to see some familiar faces.  They had just begun to prepare dinner but I wasn’t hungry.  Vitaliy however had an endless pit.  He ate. After dinner it was time for a nice warm shower.  Vitaliy is accustomed to ONE cold shower a week.  A warm cozy shower was just what he needed.  After the shower he dressed in his new fresh undies, socks, and PJ’s.  I gave him so house slippers, which he LOVED! Then he wanted to explore the room we were staying in.  His wonderment at what I consider everyday items was fascinating to watch.  He looked in every drawer, in every corner, under the beds, on top of the closet and thrilled when there was something to be found.  I gave him a flashlight so that his search would be even more fun. He dug through the drawers that I had just finished filling with our clothes, inspecting every item as if it were an object of treasure.  He then found my some box that held my jewelry.  He took out each necklace and earring and studied it with intense focus on how they clasped and dangled.  He then took apart the flashlight and put it back together at least 7 times. There was a clock on the wall that wasn’t working.  He took it off the wall, took out the battery and then took a battery from the flashlight.  He was so excited that he had brought it back to life.  Fortunately, I had extra batteries with me.  There are keys in our door to our room and he took them and tried them out on every door in the house, to be satisfied that they truly only worked on our door.  I tried my hardest to get him to rest as I had about 8 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours.  The effort was a bit like bringing a 3 year old to  Toys-R-Us and asking them to take a nap in the store.

 After hours of exploration, another apple and banana, I was able to get him tucked in and said prayers with him for the very first time.  He loves the hugs and kisses.  The entire day and night I was calling him my baby son, in Russian.  Each time he would look at me with a twinkle in his eyes and giggle.  This is what I called him last as he snuggle in under the blankets.  Two minutes later, I heard the long, deep breaths of his sleeping body.

God is good and His Mercies Endure Forever, Praise His Name all you people!  His ransom has been paid; he is an orphan no longer.  We look with hope into Vitaliy’s future that God will heal him, restore him, and call him into His family.  

Forth and Final Trip!

Tomorrow afternoon, Kim will board a plane to Kiev.  This time she will be traveling alone but will be in the good care of our facilitator Sasha.  On the morning of the 8^th, Sasha and Kim will fly to Simferopol and will be going to get Vitaliy!  Our hope is that we will be able to take him out of the orphanage forever on Tuesday morning.  Kim and Vitaliy will have to travel about 2 hours from LZ to where Vitaliy’s original birth certificate was made.  We will be picking up his new birth certificate and then finishing up whatever else needs to be done for the finalization of this process in this region.  We really do not know all that needs to be done and we are thankful we do not have too.  That is what our facilitator is for! We can not imagine trying to do this without a knowledgeable person, taking charge and getting it done.  We are reading the book, “The Grace Effect” by Larry Alex Tauton.  It is a gripping testimony of the role a Christian has and is responsible for in a world that seeks to destroy the notion of a very real and personal God. In it, he very accurately depicts the Eastern European culture while his family spends their time in Ukraine adopting their 10 year old daughter Sasha.  We are laughing and crying while reading this book, since we have now had firsthand experience with what he describes.  Fortunately, we haven’t had to deal with as much corruption as they did, or at least we are unaware of it thanks to our adoption facilitator.  We highly recommend this book to you!

Kim and Vitaliy will be staying at a home with other American families that are also there finalizing their adoptions.  It will be community living at its best and Kim is thankful to have other Americans close by and that speak better Russian than she does!
Later next week or early the following week, Kim and Vitaliy will travel to Kiev and Brandon will meet them there.  We will then be working on getting an Italian Visa in Vitaliy’s new Ukrainian passport.  This step has us a bit anxious since we will be dealing with both the Ukrainian government and the Italian government, both of which are notorious for inefficiency.   Please be in prayer with us on this very thing.  We would very much like to avoid an emergency trip to the USA to file for a Visa as this would be very expensive and time consuming. The USAF has been most gracious with allowing Brandon so much time and grace during this process and we don’t want to take advantage of it. 
We will do our very best to keep you informed on our process during the next few weeks.  Thank you for being faithful partners with us as we seek to bring Vitaliy home!