Not All Who Wander Are Lost: February 2009

Greetings All,

The past few months Jon and I have had the pleasure of hosting young couples that are going through the process of adopting children here in the Moscow Russia area. This first couple is Jason and Lindsey, their son is Hudson Luke. We were able to host them from the first visit, to the last visit. They even joined us through Christmas and New Years.

The adoption process is a lot more detailed than I would have ever imagined. And we are so happy that we were able to share with them in the joy of having Hudson become part of their Family. It was so fun to have the young and even younger in our house. So thank you Jason and Lindsey for letting us be part of it all.

Then we had Jeff and Amanda with their son Jacob. They were with us for their last two visits. For them it worked out that we were able to find them a place of their own here on the compound but we still shared meals and many a conversation with them. What a fun family they are. They were blessed with a son of their own before deciding to have Jacob join them.

Then there is Kyle and Jennifer. We were able to meet them on their last visit, the visit that they were able to have Liza join their family. They brought with them their 12 year old daughter Kayla. What a joy it was to see Kayla become a big sister, it was fun to see them become such good friends within just minutes of being together. It is amazing how you can form a bond with people whom you have never met, never even know existed until they walked into your home.

Each child was so unique: Hudson, being only 16 months old really didn't have a lot of language. But he knew who loved him and he knew who was there to protect and teach him. Jacob was 18 months, he had formed a lot of bonds with the care givers and was just a little more shy (for a few days). Then there is Liza, she is 3, she had many many bonds and had won the hearts of many, for many years. There was a bit more of a communication gap with her and her family. But she love repeating words. One little thing that happened with her was one day mommy handed her a coaster and asked Liza to hand it to daddy. Liza thought mommy was telling her that the coaster was a daddy so she would call it a daddy. It was really cute. We have 2 friends Mikayla and James that speak Russian very well. So we invited them over so they could talk to Liza, to explain to her what was going on. They asked Liza questions to see if she knew what was going on. Mikayla told Liza that her mommy and daddy loved her very much. Liza told her that one of the ladies at the orphanage loved her too. Liza told Mikayla that this lady was going to go with her to her new home. Mikayla was quick with this one: Mikayla told her that she had a mommy and daddy that lover her very much and that there were many of her friends that didn't have mommies and daddies yet. So that this lady was going to have to stay here to take care of them. Mikayla asked her if she understood? Liza gave her a very quiet and somber Da (yes). It was nice for mom and dad to know what was going on in her little head. Bless you James and Mikayla.

Pictures of the kids now at Home:

Hudson in Carharts