Our 1st Donation

Tonight we received our 1st donation toward our adoption fund! Thank you Olivia Wilson! Olivia is making bracelets and selling them to raise funds for adoptive parents at Frazer. That now makes 2 teen aged girls at church who are stepping out and actually putting their talents to work to help make a difference for orphans. It is awesome to see our youth put their faith into action!

This is an example of the bracelets Olivia's making.

Toni Doss is selling tie-dyed items to raise money for adoptive parents.

She has started an organization called "For the Least of These". 

In adition, Toni is going to send everyone who donates to

The Holliday Family Adoption Fund

one of her car decals.

Thank you girls for all you're doing for us and the other adoptive parents at Frazer! 

Witness to a miracle

If you don't already follow the Martin's blog, please check it out. Its http://www.cheaperbythehlfdozens.blogspot.com/. They have witnessed a miracle in their newly adopted son, Joshua's life. Even the doctors can't explain this except as miraculous.

And then there were six

Don't panic. We're not talking about getting six all at one time, but in the future it may end up being six in all. We found out last week that Sasha and Anton's dad still has primary custody of them. The authorities are in the process of terminatig his parental rights, but we don't know how long this process will take. Then after his rights are teminated, they will have to spend a year on the waiting list in Ukraine before they're elgible for international adoption. The lawyer says this process could be as long as 1-2 years or more. We're not ready to close the door on adopting Sasha and Anton and we're going to wait it out. We are hoping to be able to see them and talk to them when we go to Ukraine. We want them to know that we're willing to wait for them, but if a Ukrainian family wants to adopt them during that one year waiting period, we would support whatever decision they make. Ultimately we want them to be happy and in a permanent family. Whether God plans for that to be with us or with another family, we'll have to wait and see. So we are laying this at the feet of Jesus and we will be patient and wait to see what comes, but I would be dishonest if I didn't admit that I'm hoping His plan lies with us.

Artem, his sister, & his brother

The lawyer asked us to please consider and pray about Artem and his two younger siblings. They are clear and ready to be adopted. He sent us this picture yesterday of the three of them and we were instantly in love. We don't even know their names yet! They are 9, 10, & 11. We think the route God is leading us in right now is to adopt Oleg, Artem, and his two siblings. That will give us 3 girls and 3 boys!

This can happen very quickly (in the world of interntional adoption). Once we get the home study completed and submitted to the proper authorities in Ukraine, we're talking about being in Ukraine in 3-4 months after! That means we really have to get the ball rolling on fund raising. First thing is completing the home study. That cost $1500. If we can find 100 people to donate $15 each, we'll have it covered. Once the home study is completed, we will then qualify to start applying for grants. Please be praying for us and if you feel so led, make a donation of just $15 toward our home study cost.

Thanks to everyone who is helping us on this journey!

 Holliday Family Adoption Fund

3132 Fitzgerald Rd

Montgomery, AL 36106

This process is so hard!

We got word from the lawyer in Ukraine today. Oleg is a definite go! Not as good of news on the other three. Sasha and Anton's father still holds custody over them. He doesn't care for them, so they're in the process of terminating his rights, but I'm not sure how long that takes. I've emailed the lawyer asking for a time frame. Maybe if the authorities know a family wants them it will speed up the process. Artem can not be adopted without his two younger siblings. He has a brother-10 and a sister-9. Four is a stretch for us, we know we can't take on six.

Please pray that God leads us to the children He wants us to have. If its meant for us to have Sasha and Anton, then let the termination of their father's rights happen quickly. Its not fair for their father to force them to live in an orphanage while there is a family out here wanting them. If God closes the door to adopting Sasha and Anton, please pray He prepares our hearts for Artem and his siblings if that is His will.

We did get good news too (other than Oleg can definitely be adopted). The process goes very fast. Once we get our home study completed and all the information to the lawyer, we're looking at 3-4 months till we're in Ukraine getting the boys!-Or boy, or boys & girl, whatever it ends up being.

That brings up another issue - Fundraising. If there's anyone out there that's been through this and has some advice on how to get this ball rolling, please feel free to contact me!

billsgirlkim@gmail.com

Already prayers are being answered.

I woke this morning around 3am. I tried going back to sleep, but finally around 3:30 I got up. There are so many things to do and so much going through my mind. I decided to check Facebook. Its around noon in Ukraine and I thought I'd see if any of the boys were on. To my surprise, I found a message from a friend offering us bunk beds. She had no idea that we were planning on putting bunk beds in the boys' room! I'm just amazed how specifically this need was met. We have had so many kind words, offers of support, and affirmation from friends and even from people we hardly know over this last week. I'm just amazed and humbled at the way our Christian community is gathering around us. I know this is what will give us the strength to make it through this.

Thank you Cheri for such a wonderful surprise this morning!

Reality

The reality of what we're about to undertake has really started hitting home over the last week. Don't get me wrong, we love these boys and we're willing to do whatever it takes to get them home with us. The thing is, Satan keeps bringing  people around us that have so many questions. There's nothing innately wrong with having questions, but when you keep hearing the same questions over and over, you start to have doubts. "How will you afford this?", "How do you expect to feed four extra people?", "Have you really considered how this will effect your daughters?" You start to have doubts that God can really do this. You start asking yourself, "Do you really believe that this is what God has planned for you?" or "Who are we to think that God will just make this happen?" As I've pondered on this today I thought about a quote from The Truth Project. It all boils down to this simple question,"Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?" When I search my heart, the answer I get is, YES! I believe that we had no intention of adopting 4 adolescent boys when we agreed to be house parents at BridgeStone for a weekend. I believe God has been preparing our hearts for adoption for several years now. I believe these boys were put in our path for a reason and that reason was to fall in love with them. I believe God wants us to give these orphans a home.

I started thinking about some of the great stories from the bible today; Noah and the flood, Joshua and the wall at Jericho, David and Galiath, and far more I can't recall at this moment. What do all these stories have in common? God calls them all to do something they're totally unequipped to do on their own. When you have no means to accomplish something on your own power, but it still gets accomplished then you truly see that God made it happen. Some of you may not know this, but Bill was laid off from his job in January. We had to use our savings to make it through those tough months and accept help from friends and family. Bill did finally find a job in July, but the point is-we do not have the financial means to make this happen on our own. If, or should I say when, the funds are raised to carry out this adoption, we will all know without any doubt that God made it happen.

So, I don't know how we'll afford this and I don't know how we'll afford to feed 4 growing boys, and I don't know if my daughters truly understand what it will be like to have 4 boys living under their roof. But what I DO know is, that my God is an awesome God and if He has led us to take this on then He will make it happen. He will whisper in the ear of someone at church to make a donation. He will move in the heart of someone like Toni Doss, who at the age of 16 has already set up her own organization to raise funds for adoptions. He will make sure someone who owns a business fills a need we have for an item without us ever knowing how they found out about it. And most of all, I know my daughters will see faith in action. They will love and be loved by 4 brothers. They will know that they CAN change the world with God's love.

I have prayed for a long time for a way to witness to my dad. I hope through this journey, he sees something miraculous happen. Something that can only have happened through Gods faithfulness and provision.

Surprise Bill! You're going to have 4 sons!

Friday
September 9, 2011 (cont'd)

I thought I'd better text Bill & tell him I urgently needed to speak with him. I texted him to find a place and call me. He did and I went through the whole story, how we could talk to the boys today about adoption & how I had to do it without him with me. I told him I had talked to Oleg, Sasha, Anton, and Artem and that all had said yes but Artem, he needed time to think about it. Bill was surprised, excited, and almost speechless, but mostly he was just plain happy. Oh how I wish he'd been there with me, to see the boys faces, the huge smiles.

Ends up the van has one more stop to make, the ATM. Hope and Hayden have decided they're going to ride with them to the airport. There's not enough room for me and I don't think I want to drive that far. Also, I'm just so happy I can't wipe the grin off my face and I'm not sure I could handle the goodbye at the airport. Best to leave it like it is now, they're happy and I'm happy. We follow the van to the bank so I can get the girls some money to take with them. After getting some cash we walk over to the van. I'm hugging the boys who are hanging out the back doors and then I'm called to come around to the side. As I walk up to the side of the van, I'm met by a smiling Artem. Yes, he says. Really! Are you sure? Yes, he says again. We hug and celebrate. Ok, got to call Bill back and let him know its for sure now, we're adopting all 4!

They all load up in the van, including my 2 girls, and head to Atlanta and I go on home. I'm out in the back yard taking the dogs out when I hear someone pull up in the driveway. Its a van! I run to the back door and sure enough its the BridgeStone van. They have come by to surprise me and let the boys see our house. They meet the dogs & cats, they see the pool & are very excited, and then they want to see where there rooms will be. I'm mortified b/c we've been up at BridgeStone most of the week, so the house is a mess. The boys don't seem to mind though. They have to hurry and get back on the road, but before they go we get a good picture of us in front of the house.

As they pull away from the house I'm thinking, "Wow! In a few months I'll have 6 kids!"