God is real

WOW! We have been home 5 weeks! These weeks have flown by! Vitalik says it feels like he has been home a year. Don't know if that is a good sign or a bad one! Counting the two months he was with us in Ukraine, I guess you could say we are 3 months along on the journey; but hardly a year! Colton left to go back to college on Monday. We miss him terribly. My mother and her husband came to visit one day last week. Two of my nephews are here this weekend. We have been keeping activity to a minimum; mostly just hanging out around home. Eli went to Awanas for the first time Wednesday night and loved it; in spite of insisting that he would hate it. Gabe has been teaching Vitalik to cut the grass and even let him operate the bobcat to move some trees that fell during the last storm that came through. Luke is taking one class at Faulkner and one at a homeschool co-op. Alexandra is taking all of her classes at home but has piano lessons once a week. We are still working on dentist and doctor visits. Posting a daily schedule on the refrigerator keeps everybody in the groove.
The first four weeks at home were the roughest. Things have been gliding along smoothly now for about 10 days. That may not sound like a very long time but it is the heart change I am seeing in the boys that make it more significant. They are making such improvements. Pouting has dramatically decreased. They are grasping the concept of obedience and are making an effort at it. They are apologizing for their mistakes instead of denying them. They've got the homeschooling schedule down and are both working diligently during school hours. I am becoming more in tune with their moods and weaknesses and am able to circumvent some of the earlier problems. I won't say that it is easy. They still require my attention every waking hour. I am so thankful for the time that Gabe can spend with them to give me a break. I know that there will be more flare ups in the future but I am feeling more and more equipped to handle them. That is due, more than anything, to a heart change God has wrought in me. I have seen that, even with 20 years experience in parenting, I am not equipped in and of myself to parent these special children. They need more than I could ever muster up. But God has been faithful to once again remind me of his grace toward me as well as toward them. He will be the gentleness they need when my frustration seeks to get the best of me. He will forbear when I would choose to get angry. I am living out a lesson on the fruits of the Spirit. Not always successfully; but I will try and try again as the Holy Spirit enables me to do so. I am thinking this is going to be my last blog. I hardly have time to check email much less blog; however, if there is anyone who comes upon this blog and has any further interest in how life is playing out for these two precious children of God, please leave me acomment with your email and I would be happy to communicate with you further. Comments come to my email. Especially if you are considering the adoption of older children from Ukraine, I would love to tell you more about the blessings and joys, and yes, the struggles, of this calling. Even though we have only been home from Ukraine for 5 weeks, there is a restlessness in my spirit that draws my thoughts back to that country and its people. I still see the faces of the many children I have met there; children who, like my two sons, long for a family. Eli asked me recently if I believed in God and I said yes. Then he asked why. As I was thinking of how to explain my deep theological answer, he said "That's a silly question, isn't it? God gave you two new sons." "Two sons from Ukraine," Vitalik added. That fact was proof to them that God exists. I invite all readers of this blog to step out in faith and consider how they might prove to a broken, hurting, orphaned child that God is real and that He hears their cries.

Family Night at the Lanes

Surprise visit from Vitalik's friend, Chris Underwood today; Chris has been home from Ukraine for about 8 months