Our Visitor

We are excited that today we get to welcome into our home a 13 year old girl from the Ukraine. Olena will be staying with us for about 12 days. She is here as part of a program to help her and about 14 other orphans find families to adopt them. They get to take English lessons and visit places of interest as well as fun places like 7 peaks. They get to experience new things and see what it's like to live with an American family. Most of the kids that have come have been alone for a long time. Some, like Elana have living family members that wont take them for all sorts of reasons, and so have given up hope of ever being loved. We hope to be able to help with that in some small way. I hope to be able to show her that there are people that can love her and that she can enjoy life. Most of the children that have made this trip wont be able to find families to adopt them because they are too old. In most cases, people want to adopt a baby or a young child. They want to be able to mold them and teach them. But really, imagine instead what we could learn from these kids!
In the Ukraine, a child in the system will "age out" when they turn 16. That means they are on their own. They are no longer allowed to live in the orphanage, with people they know and feel safe with. They are forced out onto the streets to care for themselves. This doesn't usually end well for them.

As is normal when I feel like I am doing something important, today I have been faced with the worst behaved kids I have had all summer long. All four of them have given me nothing but grief all day long. They have hit, kicked, bit, yelled, spilled garbage all over the ground, pouted, complained at every turn, and the day isn't even over. I am hoping that this behavior only means that what we are doing is the right thing and that Satan is trying to stop it. So, I will fight on. Our home may not be perfectly clean or organized when she arrives. There may even be some fighting amongst the kids and probably some growling from me. But, even though we don't have a lot to offer this young girl, what we do have, we most certainly share with her. I hope it makes even the smallest difference in her life. Then I will know that it was worth it.

If you can open your heart and home to a child for a week, or forever, please let me know. They are still looking for host families and adoptive families for these children.