Empty

Who would have thought a house with three boys could ever feel empty?? Seriously... the boys are noisy, messy and full of joyful life! (That's a story for a whole other blog!) Yet, our house now feels empty. The night we returned from the airport, it was painful to walk past her room and see her bed and pajamas from the night before. Sweet Ethan burst into tears and begged us to bring her back. The ache still continues as we re-adjust to life without Irina. No one warned us how hard it would be the days following her departure. (Or maybe they did and I didn't listen.) Prior to her coming I had some pre-conceived notion that it would be a relief to be back to "normal." But God has changed us and normal doesn't seem so appealing. This is a gift! What an amazing ride!

I am grateful for the many glimpses of my husbands tender heart as we miss Irina together. He wonders all day... What is Irina doing now? Is she hungry? Is she safe? Does her stomach ache from being empty? How can I eat this yummy meal when she has so little? Is she snuggling in bed with her sweet "mishka" (teddy bear)? Are the other children jealous of her adventure and being unkind to her? So we pray and pray for God to put a hedge of protection around her and pray that we would trust Him for her safety. I am grateful for our prayer time together.

We must give God glory for the ways He has answered so many prayers along this journey. Back on December 15th, I asked you to pray alongside us for some specific things. He has answered EVERY one! To Him be the glory!!! We prayed and He answered.

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice." 1 Chronicles 16:9-10

* We prayed for safe travels and she arrived safely.
* We prayed for courage and peace for Irina and she was courageous!
* We prayed that she would quickly feel safe in our care and she quickly warmed up to all of us. Quite remarkable! She trusted us and allowed us to comfort her. She loved our whole family.
* We prayed for unity for Darin and I, and God was quick to restore unity when we had conflict.
* We prayed for her adjustment to our time zone and she quickly adjusted. She was a great sleeper!
* We prayed the boys would be comfortable to be themselves and they were. Normal brotherly conflicts and relaxed enough to sing and play like usual. They opened their hearts to love her well.

* We prayed for realistic expectations with the boys behavior and our response to it. I was specifically praying that the Holy Spirit would enable me to keep under control and not raise my voice to sibling conflict and He met me in this. Praise Him!
* We prayed for our communication and patience and I think we communicated well despite the language barrier.
* We prayed for Irina's forever family and God is stirring things up I'll share more about later.
* We prayed that she would see Jesus and not materialism. This is hard to measure so it is our continued prayer.
* We prayed that we would trust Him, give thanks in all circumstances and give Him glory. I pray that has been true!

God provided so much through so many of you. Your prayers, financial gifts, clothes, gifts, encouragement, dental care, vision care, translating, etc., etc. I have a long list of thank you notes to send out!

I'm not ready to close up this blog. I'm not sure how often I'll post, but we plan to stay in contact with Irina so if we have anything to report we'll share it here. If we learn any more details about her future, we will share it here with you.

Please continue to pray for Irina. Pray for God to protect her heart. She is a hurt child just by the experiences she has had in her 9.5 short years. Pray that she would know of her heavenly Father's love for her and that she would accept Him as her Savior. Pray that God would protect her physically as she lives with so little in Ukraine. Pray for her future.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21