Introducing.....

Michael Christian Tygart (Misha - pronounced Meesha- for short) is the newest member of our family!!!  His Ukrainian name is translated to Michael, so it will be the same name his birth mother gave him.  We gave him his middle and, of course, his last name.

Court lasted only about 10 minutes as the judge was late and in a hurry to get through her cases.  She had only a few questions, the social workers all agreed that adoption was what Misha wanted and what was best for him.  The court had no objections so it was all done in just a matter of minutes.  My translator's short version was " Do you....?  Do you....? OK, Done."

Now we are on our 10-day wait.  That is 10 business days to wait when no adoption business can be done.   The purpose of this wait is to give an orphan's Ukrainian family a chance to step up and oppose the adoption.  We know that Misha does not have any family left who can contest the adoption, but the laws are the laws.  After the waiting period has passed we will have a mad dash to get everything done so we can go home.  It is looking like we will either be home the end of the week beginning June 10th or the first part of the week of June 17th.

I now get to visit with Misha each day again.  We are hoping he will be able to visit the center where I am staying some on the weekends, which will give me more time to have some fun and continue to strengthen our relationship.  The kids from the center where I am staying will be going bowling on Friday and I think it would be wonderful if Misha could come over and we could go bowling with them.

Court is Tomorrow

I found out today that Vanya was able to get the document we needed from the agency sent to him.  We will have court at 10:0 am tomorrow morning, which is 2:00 am at home.  I am getting very excited to have this next step done.  If the court approves the adoption tomorrow we begin our 10 day wait.  During that 10 days we will just be hanging out because we won't have the court decree to allow us to conduct any adoption business.


Our son was able to spend some time here at the center where I am staying.  He came here on Friday after the Last Bell ceremonies and stayed until Sunday afternoon.  We enjoyed our visit very much.  We worked on a puzzle for a little bit and then played games.  I had him sign in to Rosetta Stone for the first time.  He caught on pretty quickly to how it all worked.  he has a few words that he couldn't say well enough to suit the system but I am certain he will get the hang of it once he has time to work at it more and hear English spoken more often.  We also Skyped with the family at home.  It is kind of hard to Skype since the speakers on my laptop are not working right, but we managed to let him meet his dad and a couple of his brothers.


We went to the movies on Saturday afternoon with the kids from the center.  Men in Black 3 in 3D is funny even if I couldn't understand the words.  I will have to see it in English after I get home though so I can get the full humor of the movie.  The people in the theater were laughing sometimes when it was just spoken words so I am certain that I missed a lot.  The 3D was interesting though.


If you think about us at or before 10:00 am (2:00 at home) tomorrow morning please say a prayer that all will go well with court.  Thank you so much.

Just hanging out

I have been having some trouble with my computer not charging right so I haven't been able to log in very much.  I think I now have that problem fixed so I should be able to do a better job of keeping everything up to date.


I visit with our new son each afternoon from 2:30 until 4:30 pm.  He gets out of class at 2:30 Monday through Saturday and has to go do his homework at 4:30.  We are communicating via an electronic translator.  For those of you who will be adopting soon I would seriously recommend that you get a translator to bring with you.  It has enabled us to have conversations that we could not have had otherwise.  However, I must warn you, the translator is only as good as the spelling of the user.  There are times when I can see that he is trying to figure out a word and it doesn't translate because he couldn't figure out how to spell it correctly.  Then the charades begin.  The charades are so amusing.  He tries so hard to get me to understand something by using his hands and facial expressions, even when facial expressions and hand motions do not fit the topic of discussion at all.


This Friday, May 25, will be the last day of school here.  I am not certain what that will mean for our daily visits.  We are expecting to have court Monday or Tuesday, so hopefully they will not send him away to summer camp.  But, I really don't think they are going to keep the orphanage open for just one student.  I don't know what next week will bring.  One day at a time!!!!


I think I have been able to lose a few pounds since I have been here.  I put on a pair of jeans this morning that fit looser than the last time I put them on.  I am walking to the orphanage every day, 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back.  I am eating here at the center where I am staying, homemade Ukrainian style cooking.  It is not as fattening as the foods I typically eat at home.  I am drinking more fruit juice and less carbonated beverages, which helps a lot too.  But I sure do miss my ice cold Mountain Dew. :-)


I will keep you updated when I know when our court date has been set.

He said YES to a family

I have made it to Mariupol, Ukraine.  It is a city on the southeastern side of Ukraine.  It is an industrial city that is not as large as Odessa.  I am staying at a wonderful place with wonderful people that is within walking distance to the orphanage.  I will be walking to visit with our son each afternoon when he gets out of classes.  


Yesterday was our first meeting and he was excited from the very first moment.  He desperately wants a family and has already signed his statement that he wants to be adopted into our family.  He is very sweet.  After the very first meeting he now smiles the biggest smile when he sees me and he gives great big hugs.  He is so happy.  I am so happy with him as well.  He has already stolen my heart and I am certain he will fit very well into our family.  He told me today that he will be waiting for me each day to get there for our daily visit.  He also told me that he is not the least bit afraid of going to America to begin his new life.


Things move quicker in this part of Ukraine.  We arrived yesterday and by the end of today we have already filed papers with the court.  As soon as they have the agency's signed approval we can have the court hearing.  The court hearing should be May 28th or 29th.  I am hoping it will be on the 28th since that is our wedding anniversary (23 years of marriage this year).  After court is a mandatory 10 business day waiting period.  When that is over we will have to travel to his birth city to get his birth certificate, get his passport here in Mariupol, go to Kiev to get his medical exam and visa, then process him out with immigration.  So, still lots to do but we are making good progress.  

Traveling

We have the referral and we have train tickets!!  Next time I am on it will be from a different part of Ukraine!!  I hope to meet the boy we have a referral for tomorrow.  Please be praying that we will know for sure that we are meant to be family and that travels will go well.

Second Referral

We had our appointment for the second referral lat this afternoon.  We have requested a chance to visit with a boy who is 14, he will be 15 next month.  He lives in a part of Ukraine I have never been to before, so I am excited about getting to see more of this beautiful country.  


If all goes well, we should be able to pick up our referral papers tomorrow afternoon and ride the overnight train tomorrow night.  When we went by the ticket office after our appointment today they did not have any tickets available on tomorrow night's train.  Please pray for tickets so we can go to the region where the boy is located and that we will be able to visit with him on Wednesday.


We have been told by someone close to him that he definitely wants a family and that he would love a chance to join our family in America.  Please pray that God's will is done, and if it is God's will that this is for certain the boy we are here to adopt that he will know it in his heart and I will know he is my son as soon as we meet.


Thank you so much for your support, encouragement, and prayers.

Happy Mother's Day!!

I have been so incredibly blessed as a mom.  I know all of you moms out there share the same sentiment about your kids.  I hope you all celebrated your family and remembered some of the blessings you have experienced. This is the first Mother's Day I have celebrated without my kids.  It is strange being on the other side of the world from them and hearing Happy Mother's Day from my kids on the phone.  I know it will all be worth it when our family welcomes a new member though.  I am excited and anxiously waiting to meet my new son or daughter.


I arrived in Kiev today.  My appointment for the second referral is late tomorrow afternoon.  I know that God has a plan and He knows who I should  take as a referral.  I appreciate any prayers you can offer up for me to be able to discern God's will and choose for a referral the child He has hand-picked to join our family.  God is good and I believe He will tell me, I just pray that I will hear what He is telling me.


It is late now and I am tired, so I am keeping this short.  May God bless you all. 

Appointment for a new referral

I just found out today that we have an appointment in Kiev at the agency for adoptions on Monday.  I will be traveling to Kiev on the overnight train Sunday night.  We will have the appointment on Monday, pick up our referral papers on Tuesday and go where the referral takes us at the earliest possible time.


We have had several friends send us information about kids they know who want to be adopted into families.  We are still looking at the information provided and the photos of the kids.  We will speak with the agency when we get there to see which of these children they will allow us to get a referral for.  Please continue to pray for guidance and clarity from the Lord so that I will know that I am seeking a referral for the child God has selected for our family.  Also pray for favor and safety as we travel to the appointment and to the orphanage where the referral will be.


I would like to ask that you pray for the child as well.  He or she will have to make a huge decision.  As I have mentioned on this blog before, this decision is not easy for some of these kids.  They want a family who will love and support them forever, but the uncertainty of traveling to the other side of the world to live with strangers, learn a new language and new culture is sometimes so overwhelming that they choose not to go.  Please pray for certainty in our new child's heart that our family is the right forever family.

Just thinking

I was praying and searching for guidance in the word during the last couple of nights.  I came across Psalm 16:11 "You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."  That spoke to my heart and I have been meditating on it.  I have actually left my bible open to that page for the last two days and have reviewed that verse each time I picked up my bible.  That is one of the verses on the study guide that was handed out in church today.  God is good!!  He knows what I need.  I have also been thinking of the verses I stood on for our first adoption; Jeremiah 29:11-13 "11For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  12Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  13You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."  Those verses always bring me comfort.  Lots of people remember verse 11 and know that God has good plans for us all.  But I want to remember all of them.  The seeking and finding part actually needs to come before the plans for welfare and good come to fruition.


People have been asking what my specific prayer needs are so I will share them here:


1.  Pray that the child God has specifically handpicked to be placed in our family will be presented to me as a referral.  I could bring so many of these kids home with me, but it is only with God's intervention that it will work as He intends for a new member to fit within our family.


2.  Pray for God's favor as we proceed through this process.  The bureaucracy in adoption is intense.  We got caught up in some bureaucracy with our last adoption that delayed our trip home by a couple of weeks.  Since we are already two weeks in and I still don't have a successful referral, I really need for the rest of the process to move smoothly.


3.  Pray for the child that God has for us.  Pray that the child will know in his or her heart that I am the mother for him or her and that our family is where he or she belongs.


4.  Pray for my family as they are finishing remodeling the room and getting it ready for our new family member to make their own.


5.  Pray for finances.  I brought what I thought would be enough money for a normal process, but if this hangs on and I am delayed I don't know how much it will increase my expenses.  I am good on money right now so I am not sweating it too much.  But that is a concern I will have to consider as we continue through this process.  The God we serve can feed five thousand men and their families with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish with baskets of leftovers, He can stretch the money I have to make it through this adoption.

Decision Day

Our daughter made her decision final today.  It is with a very sad heart I must say she decided not to be adopted into our family.  She is now aged out of possibility for an American family to adopt her.  She will most likely be leaving the orphanage at the end of the school year to a very uncertain future.  However, she has made the decision she believes to be best for her.  I respect her for thinking about it and making a choice that children should not be in a position to have to make.  My heart is broken but I rely on God for comfort.  I still know deep in my heart that God has brought me to Ukraine with the intent of adopting a child who needs and wants a family.  I am praying for that "someone" to be revealed to me and that I will know it with clarity in my spirit that it is right and fits in the path that God has called me (us) to.


So, what now?  With the help of my translator, of course, I had to write another petition to the agency in charge of all adoptions in Ukraine to request permission to visit another child.  That petition will be submitted on Monday.  The agency will have to process my petition and give me an appointment to visit another child.  My translator will tell me when to go back to Kiev for that appointment for the second referral.  I will have to meet that child and see if we get along and wish to move forward in the process.  That child will have to make the same decision our daughter made today, to be adopted or not to be adopted.    


The maximum number of times I can go to the agency and request a referral for a child is three.  I have submitted a petition for my second referral as of today.  If the next child I visit says no, then I have only one more chance.  I really hope I do not have to go back for a third and final referral.  I will be following the path that God lays before me and will seek his counsel on the next child.  Please pray with me that the child on the next referral is the child God has determined will be in our family.


Thank you all very much for the emails and comments with words of encouragement.  It is easier to travel difficult journeys with someone standing beside you to hold you up when you are at your weakest.  I feel the support of my friends and family holding me up from a distance.

No decision today

Oh how I wish I could tell you that the meeting was great and she has decided to join our family..... but I can't.  I guess there were some unforeseen circumstances that have taken the director from his office today.  We will not be able to meet and have our daughter make her make her decision officially and publicly known.  I do hope he will be able to be back in the office tomorrow so we can get this taken care of then.  Please pray that all will be in order for that to happen.


Thank you so much for your prayers.