Sweetly Broken

At the cross You beckon me

You draw me gently to my knees, and I am

Lost for words, so lost in love,

I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

Jeremy Riddle

Sweetly Broken

Many of you know the chorus to the song, "Sweetly Broken". Heidi usually never asks for anything specifically for her birthday or Christmas, but this year she asked me for Jeremy Riddle's CD. She had found something that pinned down hers and our feelings on our faith and adoption.

Now, I don't want to alienate people who otherwise don't feel the same way or choose not to follow our path. We don't put people in different "stacks", Christian friends over here, non-Christian friends over there. We aim to be humble examples of our Father's Love to everyone. At our party on Saturday, our friends from many walks of life were present. And, I'm not above having a brew or two with friends. We love you all. I thought long and hard before naming our blog, but the truth is this is God's Plan. Heidi and I have struggles with letting go and following His plan, just like everyone else has struggles with aspects of their lives. We keep making mistakes, just like you do.

This past Sunday we ventured up to Ft. Collins to man our UOO booth for an adoption seminar and guest speaker engagement. Tom Davis, author of "Fields of the Fatherless" was the speaker. We set up the booth and answered many people's questions. We went solo because we were available that night (no kids, remember). It was a step out of our usual comfort zone, but it had to be done. It was an opportunity to advocate for the orphans of Ukraine in a forum that was geared towards caring for orphans worldwide. What better setting could you ask for, and it was fun! I met Tom, he signed my book, and we attended his talk. Tom spoke about his early struggles with not doing enough in his faith. He needed to do more than just sit in the pew on Sundays and he was looking for ways to engage his youth group in an affluent Dallas suburb. He took a group to a Russian orphanage and at that point he was "broken".

This is the case with Heidi and me. I appreciate all the nice comments, People say all the time that we are special, blessed people with hearts of gold. We thank you. The truth is, we are no different than you. We have been called to do this and we have been sweetly broken.

We leave in three days! Please continue to read our blog, think of us, and pray for a smooth adoption.

Our Last Hurrah

Last night we held our last hurrah party to celebrate our last weekend home without children! It was great to see everyone and catch up. The party was over by 9:00 p.m., so I guess we're already acclimated to life with kids! We made many promises to blog as much as possible during our adoption trip. Not knowing whether we'll have any or reliable Internet service, the promises all have a little asterisk* attached!

Thanks to everyone who brought gloves, hats and scarves for the orphans of Ukraine! More thanks to all the pen pals in Colorado sending letters and gifts with us for their UOO pen pals in SB. It will be a privilege to hand deliver the goodies to the orphans! Thanks also for the survival package from the Stoesz family! We'll try not to eat all the candy before we meet our kids!

Stay tuned...more coming soon about our evening at Timberline Church with Tom Davis (author of Fields of the Fatherless). Wow!

You talkin' to me??

Only a week and a day to go and we are anxiously waiting for the day. Part of me is excited and part of me is worried about the unknown. With so much at stake and the uncertainty of it all, I have been praying for help. Then this message came...this was K-LOVE's scripture of the day, yesterday. Do you think he's talking to us?!! ~Felix~

Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.
~ Psalm 27:14, NLT ~

The Garrett's are home!

Aimee, Matt & Anya arrived last night from their long journey from Ukraine. Kari, Heidi and I met up with their family at the water fountain at Denver International Airport. The Barrett family attended as well. Aimee & Matt were supposed to fly ahead of Anya and wait for her on a later flight, but they were able to get everyone on board the same flight. Despite the fact that an elderly lady died 10 minutes into the flight to Chicago, they arrived at DEN early. I'll let them tell the story on their blog, listed to the side over there under "Our Friend's Links & Blogs". They all looked very tired and exhausted, but they were very happy to have the welcome committee. Anya was a joy to meet and talk with, she is very animated and Matt wasn't kidding when he said, "She's all drama", but in a good way! We hope to see more of them and the family as the years go by. For now, we will let them rest up.

Have duct tape, will travel!

Yesterday, I looked at all the things that my honey, Heidi, has planned to take on the trip. We will be packing light as we did back in April, so it's not a lot of "stuff". However, one of the items I saw was a roll of duct tape, or "Ukrainian Chrome" as I like to call it. Before I engaged my brain, I put my mouth in gear by saying, "What in the world do we need to take duct tape for?" Yes, guys, I let you down. My sweetie had already deduced that there are many needs for duct tape. You can make a hat, a broach, a shelter, a clothes line, a wallet, and many more useful things when you are too scared and intimidated to wander down to the Ukrainian version of Walmart, Foxmart! I was quickly reminded that with my Swiss-army knife, a leatherman, and a roll of duct tape...anything was possible. See, I'm not without skills!


Feel free to comment on your possible duct tape uses.

Getting ready for the Bureaucracy!

New Ad at the Denver Airport

I saw this on the web and did a little editing, just a little humor for those of us freaking out over the whole process of "slow down" then "speed up". It seems like it is feast or famine with the SDA and Ukrainian adoption sometimes feels like you are riding a mad horse through a burning barn. I am silently preparing myself for the silly bureaucracy of the whole thing so that that I don't have a heart attack or burst a blood vessel while there. Sure, we've been there before, but this is our first trip for adoption. I know I'll get stressed out once we jump into the frying pan.

There are many families here in Colorado making the trip to Ukraine this year for adoption. As many of you know, this is a big change from recent times when the SDA was back logged and their appointments were scarce. So far, the Barretts, and the Garretts have been to Ukraine. Following them will be us, The Volfs in December, perhaps the Carmens in November or December, and an Arvada couple we know a few days after our appointment. We are still praying for the Christophersons and the Hoffmans, two more Colorado families still in the process.

The Hoffmans sure could use your help. Please visit their blog, listed on this page to the right. They have made a promise to their little girl to come get her as soon as possible. It would be a blessing to bring one more Ukrainian Angel home to Colorado. If you're considering giving to a worthy cause this holiday season, or for end-of-year tax purposes, this is certainly a great option. After all, giving, IT'S SO EASY A CAVEMAN COULD DO IT!

The Barrett's are home!

Our friends, John & Twyla Barrett arrived home last night! Kari & Tatum Volf went with me to the airport. Heidi stayed home due to her illness. The kids, Mari & Misha (Michael), both are adorable! Mari wasn't quite as shy as she was when I saw her arrive for the FH hosting trip. Misha gave me a few "high-fives" as he warmed up to us. We are so happy for J&T! I didn't take a camera, so there are no pictures. The whole family looked great though, just tired from their weekend trip to get home. I won't steal any of their "thunder", so look up their blog listed under our friends listings as, The Barrett's Journey. I'm sure they will need some time to get organized and rested before they start blogging. Both John & Twyla both said the have lots more to blog about, so stay tuned.

John & Twyla, we hope to get to hang out with you more in the future while our Ukrainian Angels grow up. We look forward to many great years as your friends.

Felix & Heidi