Small Things

It is so hard to believe it has only been five weeks. I have heard a million questions but some are always the same so I thought I would just put the answers out there.

Yes, she has to go back. We received a letter from the Embassy shortly after she arrived stressing the fact that she is here on temporary Visa and she MUST be at the airport to go back with the others.

Yes, she is available for adoption (as far as we know). We are actively advocating for her and hope to help her find a forever family. We will continue to advocate for her even after she returns. I don’t know what God’s plan is for her life. Maybe it is simply to be a light to others there in the Ukraine. Or maybe He has a family picked out for her already. I don’t know at this point. I do know that for us, we feel certain our role is that of advocate.

I know, some of you don’t want to hear that. One thing I wasn’t really prepared for with hosting was that people would have such strong reactions. I mean STRONG opinions. Many of you have been super supportive and you have walked alongside us through this journey encouraging us and praying with us. For that a simple “thank you” just seems so insufficient. 

Others have been very critical of it. I wish I could say “I could care less” but if you have read this blog more than … oh, I don’t know …. ONCE, then you know I am a sensitive girl and that would make me a big fat liar. The criticism has been hard to handle at times but in all fairness I have at times beat myself up more than anyone else ever did. The most hurtful criticism/thought has been that we are “just hurting her more by bringing her here, showing her what she is missing and sending her back.” Yes, a few have voiced the accusation to my face. Ouch. But I will show you how God answered that for me.

“As Jesus was walking beside the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed Him.    Matthew 4:18-20

Ok, so that might not have seemed so profound for you. Let me show you what I saw. Or rather, what I DIDN’T see. I didn’t see where Jesus sat down for a little pow wow with them and laid out His master plan. He didn’t give them the details of the agreement or ask “so how would you like to see this go?” He walks up to them and says “follow me” and BAM. They do.

And do you know what that tells me? It tells me that you can be in the center of God’s will and have no clue what the heck you are doing other than the fact that you are following. You can be completely unaware of what God is doing in you or through you and yet He might very well be using you anyway. So, yeah,  I wish everyone knew my heart and knew that we only have the best of intentions here. Honestly, we do. At the end of the day I hope what you see is that some completely ordinary, flawed couple was chillin on the lakeside with some fishing nets and God said “Hey, follow me” and BAM. We did, and He used us for His glory because He is God and He can use anybody He pleases no matter how ordinary or quirky. That is what I hope you all see. And if you don’t, it’s cool. Really. 



We still serve an audience of One. 

But personally, I still think you are missing the bigger picture. 

Remember this? Day one at the airport. 

5 weeks later

Gotta love Isabella's face

1000 words, folks.

So have we done more harm than good? I'd be a fool to believe that. Have we done some great work? I'd be a fool to believe that, too. We just aren't big enough to be main characters here. We are just trying our best to follow. We have less than two weeks left and we are going to live it to the full! 

"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."  -Mother Theresa