Appointment Date

We have our official appointment date - September 24.  That will be our first of two appointments to get our referrals for the boys.  Since the boys are not related, we are required to have a separate appointment for each one's referral.  We are looking at flights out on the 21st so we will have time to get there and get settled in and to account for any delays on the way to Ukraine.  So in 25 days we will be on our way to Ukraine to meet the boys for the first time!  Very exciting times.  Our big kids are all trying to come home this weekend - it will be the last time we are all together as a family of 8.  We will continue to prepare for the trip while enjoying our time with our family.  Please pray for all of us as we move into this next phase of the adoption.  And, of course, please pray for S and V!  I so badly wish we could tell them we are coming!!

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."  John 14:18

Tomorrow

Not much to report but I think we may have some exciting news tomorrow!!!  Our date has been set and we are just waiting for one more person to sign off on it for it to be official.  Of course, today is a holiday in Ukraine so we are waiting for tomorrow.  I will update as soon as we have confirmation!  Checking flight information and getting our ducks in a row.  We are just a little excited....and soaking up time with our girls before we leave.

Have a great day!

New Jewelry for Sale

I have been busy making jewelry the past few days to raise money to help cover the extra time I will be in Ukraine.  Here are some pictures.  Let me know if you are interested in any - or if you know of any local stores who might be interested in carrying any of it.  All proceeds will go into our adoption fund!

Love is Patient

We are still waiting on our travel date, but our facilitator did tell us yesterday that he thinks we will have it next week!  Which we hope would mean that we will be heading to Ukraine in the next 5 weeks.  We really thought we would be home from Ukraine by now with the boys, yet here we are waiting to leave still.  Love is patient.  :)  We are getting lots of practice in patience.  I keep coming across this verse, "We love because He first loved us."  1 John 4:19.   I tend to not believe in coincidence when something comes up in my daily life repetitively.  So I have been thinking a lot about love this week.  And it is so true that we love because God first loved us.  We are not the redeemers of the boys, we are the redeemed.  We love them because God loves us.  We think you can really boil life down to love God, love people.  It is really pretty simple.  And goodness, the people we have seen love from since we started this process!  Just this week, we have had a dear friend donate more stuff for us to sell so we can live in Ukraine for 4 months.  (Thank you Jamie!)  And then a sweet, sweet lady found our blog and then found our Etsy store and ordered some jewelry.  Then turns out she lives like 5 miles away!  So I got to deliver the jewelry to her and visit her and hear a little of her story.  And she works with and knows my sister in law.  (Hi, Betty!)  The people God has solidified in our lives and the new people He has brought into our lives has been such a blessing.  Such a tapestry of interwoven people caring about S and V and helping to bring them home.  It is completely humbling as we see all of this love.  Since finding out I will have to be in Ukraine much longer than originally expected and that we would need more money for those extra 8 weeks, I started making more jewelry to help offset those expenses.  A new bronze jewelry connector came in this week that I had forgotten I had ordered and it says, "Love is Patient".  I am excited about getting some bracelets made with them and I will certainly be keeping one for myself as a reminder.

In the meantime, we are making some great memories.  We got Collin back on the road to the University of Arkansas last weekend for his senior year, we got Caroline moved into her dorm for her freshman year at Mississippi State University, we are enjoying every minute we can with Jocelyn, Ellie Grace, and Ali and making great strides in some projects we have on going.  God's timing is always best.

Oh, and we talk to Emileigh regularly, she just is not home.  She has started her 3rd year of physical therapy school, is doing clinical rotations now, and has been cussed at by her first patient. :)   We also really love her and are so proud of her.  I do not think she could have chosen a better profession for herself!

So, remember:

1.  We love because He first loved us.

2.  Love God, love people.

3.  Love is patient.

Oh, and keep praying for our boys!!!

Dossier Approved

We got word this morning that our dossier has been approved by the SDA in Ukraine!  So now we wait for our travel date.  Baby steps but very good news!  Everything is taking longer than we expected but this extra time has been good.  We will be able to move Caroline into her dorm and see Collin back off to school.  We have additional time to gather gifts for the children in the orphanage and for others in Ukraine who will be helping us with our journey.  We have been able to get a head start on Jocelyn's school year.  All good things and we continue to trust in God's timing.

We have had a good response to the donations for the orphanage and in fact have plenty of toothbrushes as of now.  We still need socks as we would like to give each of the 60 children at least one pair of socks.  We have received many other items - pencils, stickers, bouncy balls - that we feel the kids will enjoy.  Thanks so much to all of you who are helping!

"You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;"  Matthew 5:14

1 Year Anniversary

There is not much to report on the adoption front - except that our facilitator is estimating our travel date to be late September.  I have heard many guesses about how the SDA sets appointments dates but I really have no idea why sometimes it takes so long and sometimes it is very quick.  So we will just continue to go with the flow and make the most of our prep time.  We are wanting to take toothbrushes, socks, and soccer balls to the children in S and V's orphanage and are starting to take donations from anyone who wants to contribute.  We are also happy to accept gift cards and we will go buy them as well.  There are approximately 60 children in the orphanage and the ages range from 6 - 18.

Today marks a year of J and E being official Selmans.  Though they lived with us and felt like family long before that, the official, legal declaration was a big day.  As many of you know, last year was a very hard one and their adoption was a much needed bright spot for us.  As I sit here, listening to them 'napping' while they are actually talking and giggling with each other,  I am thinking back on how much they have changed our life and how much joy they have brought us.  They are truly little blessings.  And then I wonder how much different life will be in another year.  I can't wait to hear the boys running through the house and playing outside.  But today we celebrate.  We had a great time at our church this morning at a water day and the girls want to go to Waffle House for supper.  :)  When I was telling J that a year ago they officially became ours, she said, "Carlie is going to get married in the backyard....to a boy."  Maybe one day, this day will be significant to her.....


Please continue to pray for Sasha and Vitalik.

New Perspective

My four girls who are living at home for now all left on a vacation with my parents yesterday.  Then Collin left town for the weekend.  Leaving me with time.  Lots of time.  First I cleaned the house....and no one is dirtying it behind me!  Then I sat down and started reading a book that has been in my pile of books to read for a couple of weeks.  It is called The Grace Effect.  I am only about half way through it but it has convicted me of my bad attitude I had the last time I posted.  Sure these changes that the CDC have enacted are inconvenient, but that is all they are.  Compared to the struggles of others, they are nothing.  Already, since we found out about these changes, people are stepping forward with generous contributions to help cover our extended stay.  People are stepping forward and offering to help with Jocelyn and Ellie.  My mom and my sister, who has her own kids and a job, have offered to help with them.  And some friends have even offered to keep them for us the entire 8 weeks.  We are overwhelmed with the help we are getting and have absolutely no right to complain!  God has paved the way so far when we saw no way with our limited sight, and we know He will continue paving the way.  Perhaps there is a reason we need to be in Ukraine for 4 months....regardless we are now looking forward to it and will make the best of it.  And to those of you who have offered to help with the girls - we promise to spread them around so maybe it is not too much on any one person!

One of our friends makes these really cute frames and has donated some for us to sell as an additional fundraiser to help pay for this unexpected turn of events.  If you are interested, let me know and we can set up a time for you to come by and see them.  They are very unique and a great way to display your pictures.

They all hold 4 x 6" pictures and are super cute.  Really, my pictures do not do them justice.

As always, please continue to pray for Sasha and Vitalik.  Such precious boys.