The musical is over. It was a blast, truly, but boy am I glad to have our evenings back. The title of the post come from the fact that there were not enough males interested in the leads and a girl played Nicely Nicely. She did a phenomenal job, by the way. Many of our gamblers were females as well. :)
No news adoption-wise. We have our home study visit for the update next Thursday evening (04/27).
This week is normal chaos for us. In addition to the usual commitments, we are organizing a clothing drive at our church for Ukraine through Master Provisions. MP collects clothing here in the states and sends it overseas. It is truly an incredible ministry. We first became involved with them through clothing drives at our church in Michigan, Meridian Christian Church, and then had the wonderful priviledge of traveling with MP to Ukraine to see their clothing ministry in action. The clothing drive will be held April 29 from 8a-5p at our church here in St. Louis, West Hills Community Church, out in West County. If you're in the greater St. Louis area, please feel free to drop off clean used clothing in good condition. If you'd like to volunteer to help sort and pack, show up and we'll put you to work! :)
Monday, April 17, 2006
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Lots happening, little to say
Well, it's now happened. I have so little to post on the adoption front that I'm going to assault you with what we've been up to. :) Last weekend we performed for a Tartan Day Ball, held in honor of Tartan Day which celebrates Scottish heritage. It was a LONG night (you try being in a corset for 6 hours), but fun nevertheless. And I can truly say that I now have a much better grasp of how imposing an approaching line of Highlanders in kilts and long swords would be. Sunday night we spent an hour in the basement refurbishing a dresser as we waited out a tornado warning, then headed to church for a business meeting. This week we've got dress rehearsals every night (until 11pm!) for the musical which opens this weekend. Mark's conducting and I'm playing in the pit orchestra. Welcome to a world of sleep deprivation I haven't hit since college--and hopefully won't hit again until we have kids.
In reality, there is some news from the front. We have decided to switch social workers for our homestudy update. I have now contacted the new one, and the old one, and our facilitator in Ukraine, and I think everything is worked out. We're hoping to not have the update completed until after May 1, which will allow us to incorporate any changes that need to be made. In all honesty, it would be easiest if the new Ministry did not change any of the paperwork requirements (and we don't have any indication that they will make changes), but we have no guarantee at this point so it seems safer to hold off a week or two longer and make sure.
In reality, there is some news from the front. We have decided to switch social workers for our homestudy update. I have now contacted the new one, and the old one, and our facilitator in Ukraine, and I think everything is worked out. We're hoping to not have the update completed until after May 1, which will allow us to incorporate any changes that need to be made. In all honesty, it would be easiest if the new Ministry did not change any of the paperwork requirements (and we don't have any indication that they will make changes), but we have no guarantee at this point so it seems safer to hold off a week or two longer and make sure.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
News on the ex-NAC
It hasn't been posted by the Embassy yet, but it seems to be official that the current NAC (Natl Adoption Centre) will shut down at the beginning of April. From then until May 1, they will complete the processing of families already in-country pursuing adoption. All other paperwork will be on hold until the new ministry takes over on May 1. It's a little odd, but I'm really excited about this new ministry taking over. There are still a lot of unknowns--we may still not be able to adopt even after May 1, but it's great to see Ukraine making progress and trying to update their system. In the past, the adoption process for Ukraine was marked with corruption and accusations of corruption. Hopefully the new setup will eliminate those possibilities so the focus will be on finding children homes, not making money on the side.
There are many of us who feel that it would be beneficial to the whole situation if the NAC (or whatever it will be called now) would charge a processing fee for the adoptions. They don't because they don't want it to appear that they are selling children, which I totally understand. But charging $1000 per adoption could make such a difference over there. That money could go towards computerizing their database, facilitating updates on children already in the system (right now it is usually sticky notes, and often times the files are not updated with any regularity), improving orphanage conditions, etc. This is why I'm excited about the new NAC starting on May 1. There are so many possibilities!
There are many of us who feel that it would be beneficial to the whole situation if the NAC (or whatever it will be called now) would charge a processing fee for the adoptions. They don't because they don't want it to appear that they are selling children, which I totally understand. But charging $1000 per adoption could make such a difference over there. That money could go towards computerizing their database, facilitating updates on children already in the system (right now it is usually sticky notes, and often times the files are not updated with any regularity), improving orphanage conditions, etc. This is why I'm excited about the new NAC starting on May 1. There are so many possibilities!
Thursday, March 16, 2006
The greatest of these is...hope
I have been thinking about things lately, and reflecting. I have a pretty good commute to and from work--about 25-35 minutes with no traffic--so I have lots of time for ruminating. :) Specifically, this week I was listening to a Christian radio program and the guy was talking about suffering. It got me to thinking. Are we suffering through this adoption process? No.
I thought of how little disappointment we have actually had. No miscarriages. No children placed with us and then removed back to their birthparents. Our entire process has been one of hope, not disappointment, and it will continue to be that. I think of the many families around the world, particularly in countries of war or civil unrest. I think of the mothers who have watched their children be torn from their arms...sold into slavery, conscripted into the army or rebellion forces...or worse. Things could be so much more painful, and for many others they are.
I am so grateful to be in a place where all I can do is hope.
Thank you, Lord, for hope.
I thought of how little disappointment we have actually had. No miscarriages. No children placed with us and then removed back to their birthparents. Our entire process has been one of hope, not disappointment, and it will continue to be that. I think of the many families around the world, particularly in countries of war or civil unrest. I think of the mothers who have watched their children be torn from their arms...sold into slavery, conscripted into the army or rebellion forces...or worse. Things could be so much more painful, and for many others they are.
I am so grateful to be in a place where all I can do is hope.
Thank you, Lord, for hope.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Slowly but surely
I tell you, it is a process trying to get things done, or in this case, re-done!
We need to send in notarized and apostilled copies of our doctors' licenses, as the ones currently in Ukraine expired at the end of Jan 2005. So far, my doctor's office did it but without the needed signatures (at least partially, if not entirely, my fault) and Mark's doctor's office had both signatures on it (the doctor and the notary) but the notary's statement says "sworn to and subscribed before me this 3rd day of March 2006". Not a problem, except the doctor's signature is dated Feb 28 2006! That won't fly with the apostilling office. *sigh* So now everything goes back again. I do feel bad asking people to do this over and over again. It's not fun for them and it's not fun for us either.
I'm supposed to be contacting our social worker as well to get our HS updated, as it was completed last April. It's hard to believe we've already been at this for over a year. We're still pondering what to do after May 1. May 1 is when the new government division takes over the adoption process. But it's looking like they still may not reopen to US dossiers, and we aren't sure what we're going to do if that happens. We could continue to wait it out, but we can't really afford to keep redoing paperwork every year, and it is possible Ukraine could be shut down for a long time. It's also possible they could reopen May 1. *wry grin*
In the meantime, we're performing at a ball at the end of March, we've got family coming up in mid-April for a musical we're performing in, and we're heading to Texas a few weeks after that for a wedding. Trying to stay busy (well, okay, we're not really trying--it comes naturally) keeps our minds off of everything else. Besides, we probably won't have time to do a lot of the things we do now once we have kids, so we better get as much of it in now as we can!
We need to send in notarized and apostilled copies of our doctors' licenses, as the ones currently in Ukraine expired at the end of Jan 2005. So far, my doctor's office did it but without the needed signatures (at least partially, if not entirely, my fault) and Mark's doctor's office had both signatures on it (the doctor and the notary) but the notary's statement says "sworn to and subscribed before me this 3rd day of March 2006". Not a problem, except the doctor's signature is dated Feb 28 2006! That won't fly with the apostilling office. *sigh* So now everything goes back again. I do feel bad asking people to do this over and over again. It's not fun for them and it's not fun for us either.
I'm supposed to be contacting our social worker as well to get our HS updated, as it was completed last April. It's hard to believe we've already been at this for over a year. We're still pondering what to do after May 1. May 1 is when the new government division takes over the adoption process. But it's looking like they still may not reopen to US dossiers, and we aren't sure what we're going to do if that happens. We could continue to wait it out, but we can't really afford to keep redoing paperwork every year, and it is possible Ukraine could be shut down for a long time. It's also possible they could reopen May 1. *wry grin*
In the meantime, we're performing at a ball at the end of March, we've got family coming up in mid-April for a musical we're performing in, and we're heading to Texas a few weeks after that for a wedding. Trying to stay busy (well, okay, we're not really trying--it comes naturally) keeps our minds off of everything else. Besides, we probably won't have time to do a lot of the things we do now once we have kids, so we better get as much of it in now as we can!
Friday, February 17, 2006
Appointments for all!...well, most...er, some
The NAC has started issing appointments! We know of a number of families who now have appointments in early March. Unfortunately for us, they are only issuing appointments to those families who were registered before the shutdown. And unfortunately for many of them, the NAC appears to be going in chronological order by when the dossiers were received. Since there are families who were registered last May(!) and the shutdown didn't occur until September, you might notice that there would be cause for a small bottleneck here. Okay, a rather large bottleneck. There are believed to be about 1000 families who were registered from May to September who did not receive appointments last year--plus the families who had appointments but did not find a child and are being invited to return. The basic idea of all of this is that it's probably going to be awhile before we're going to Ukraine...to put it mildly.
Yes, it's very frustrating. While we still believe that God has a plan and that it simply may not involve us going to Ukraine before autumn, it doesn't mean we're particularly thrilled with it. While I would love to say that we can be patient and wait, etc., etc.--which is true!--there are days it is really...really...hard. There are tears, there is frustration, there is anger over parents who beat their children, neglect them, poison them. Why would God give them such a precious gift when they don't appreciate what they have? Why do they have the opportunity to ruin their children's lives, when we don't have the opportunity to love them, cherish them, hold them?
Only God knows the answer, and I can't begin to wrap my feeble human brain around the plans He has. I know that when the plans we think are so wonderful fail, He has an even more marvelous plan that is beyond our comprehension. Even in my sadness and pain, I am excited to see what God has planned for us. It will be quite a journey.
Yes, it's very frustrating. While we still believe that God has a plan and that it simply may not involve us going to Ukraine before autumn, it doesn't mean we're particularly thrilled with it. While I would love to say that we can be patient and wait, etc., etc.--which is true!--there are days it is really...really...hard. There are tears, there is frustration, there is anger over parents who beat their children, neglect them, poison them. Why would God give them such a precious gift when they don't appreciate what they have? Why do they have the opportunity to ruin their children's lives, when we don't have the opportunity to love them, cherish them, hold them?
Only God knows the answer, and I can't begin to wrap my feeble human brain around the plans He has. I know that when the plans we think are so wonderful fail, He has an even more marvelous plan that is beyond our comprehension. Even in my sadness and pain, I am excited to see what God has planned for us. It will be quite a journey.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Latest word from the embassy
The U.S. Embassy released another notice today stating that the law has been signed by Pres. Yushchenko giving the NAC temporary authority until May 1, when the new ministry will take over adoptions. That would be the general summary. :) The important part for us comes in the FAQs they listed at the end:
"Q: Will the NAC accept all new adoption dossiers after it re-opens?
A: The NAC has advised that previous restrictions on acceptance of new dossiers will remain in effect. (See our earlier notices regarding the Government of Ukraine’s concern about the non-compliance rate by American adoptive parents with regard to post-adoption reporting, which is required under Ukrainian law.) The NAC will only accept dossiers filed by U.S. citizens on behalf of certain categories of orphans: siblings of previously adopted children; older children; and children with serious health problems. "
sigh...looks like our dossier will continue to wait in Ukraine. From what we can gather, our dossier will most likely be submitted in May, after the new ministry takes over. That means that we probably won't travel until late summer or fall, which could be very good. Plane tickets will be cheaper and Mark will be that much closer to finishing grad school. Plus, we'll have plenty of time to paint the room that still hasn't been painted. ;)
"Q: Will the NAC accept all new adoption dossiers after it re-opens?
A: The NAC has advised that previous restrictions on acceptance of new dossiers will remain in effect. (See our earlier notices regarding the Government of Ukraine’s concern about the non-compliance rate by American adoptive parents with regard to post-adoption reporting, which is required under Ukrainian law.) The NAC will only accept dossiers filed by U.S. citizens on behalf of certain categories of orphans: siblings of previously adopted children; older children; and children with serious health problems. "
sigh...looks like our dossier will continue to wait in Ukraine. From what we can gather, our dossier will most likely be submitted in May, after the new ministry takes over. That means that we probably won't travel until late summer or fall, which could be very good. Plane tickets will be cheaper and Mark will be that much closer to finishing grad school. Plus, we'll have plenty of time to paint the room that still hasn't been painted. ;)
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