Four years in...

Holy long time no chat Batman. As I've asked my wife myriad times of late, where did 2012 go? I don't recall prior years moving this quickly.


So I guess it's time for another update. The summer went fairly well, all non-eventy and such. A family trip to Chicago was the highlight, visiting family & the coolest museum in the world while they had a storm exhibit. We all loved it, and Galyna was a touch overwhelmed by it all. We also hit the beach, letting her see Lake Michigan up very close rather than just from the coolest urban roadway in America (yeah, I'm kinda something of a Chicagophile. Sue me). (Rather, don't. In today's litigious environment I oughtn't tempt fate).

We also had our traditional camping stop at Jellystone Campground for some relaxation & silliness before closing out the summer at the coolest state fair in the world. As much as I love Chicago, home has some cool stuff too.

School - Galyna's now in 4th grade for those keeping score - has been another step forward. Her first report card showed continued improvement, and she is liked by her teachers.

Galyna also took part in the annual Christmas kids program at church, and signed up once again for dance. This spring, she & I will take part in a father/daughter dance number at the dance school's recital. That should be interesting. I've only done this once before (with eldest daughter Tierney) and they didn't put too much stress on us poor dads. This one sounds a bit more upbeat though; I need to stop agreeing to things like this!

But no, it'll be a blast I'm sure. The fact that Galyna is looking forward to it is a wonderful sign. Since we last spoke (virtually, I mean - and I did the "speaking" - so maybe "since I last wrote" is better) we've have been working on getting Galyna to open up and share her feelings, and asking for help when she needs it. It seems to be working, and God seems to have brought us through the RAD issues. There is much in this area for which we are grateful, and in which we see growth. I look forward to looking back (how's that for chronological gymnastics?) and seeing how God brings us forward from here too.

Speaking of God, as I am wont to do, he is still greatly at work in our family situation. Thanks to the wonder of this whole Facebook thing he's provided, we have "coincidentally" made contact with two separate families who remember Galyna from her Ukraine days lo those many years ago.

The first is Vince, a man who visited the Good Shepherd Shelter about the time Galya was first brought there. Through our incidental contact on a Facebook group for people who've adopted from the Donetsk area, he put together 2 & 2 to come up with us being the people who adopted this girl he remembered. He sent us a DVD with some video of her he'd recorded, and for which we are eminently blessed, not having really much in the way of video or pictures from her going back even that far. Then, recently, another family in the same group said they remembered her, too, and are looking for more pictures & video.

Small world doesn't begin to describe it. (Another contact from the group, someone we met briefly at the Snowdrops orphanage has also come to a Facebook-related working of God in finding her adopted daughter's biological brother, and through us has contacted someone in the area working with kids his age to help him adapt to life after the orphanage. I find the "coincidences" to defy the category of "stuff happens." There are too many of late throughout this story, most of which I haven’t even brought up yet. God's at work, even using Facebook. Does this make Zuckerburg Balaam's donkey for the social media set? Hmmm).

But I digress. On this, four years after her Gotcha Day (seriously, where does the time go???) much looking back leads to many realizations of how far we’ve come in a very short time, and how blessed we have been to have encountered the people God’s brought into our world throughout the entire adoption/integration process. He is truly good, and these past few years, challenges included in the calculus, have borne that out for us again and again. I’ve even learned much about what it means to be a child of God by seeing how Galyna grows as our adopted daughter. The last thing I expected in all of this was to learn more about the gospel of grace, yet she teaches me time & time again lessons I thought I’d figured out at school and church years ago.

At this time, remember that. Jesus came, and we celebrate Christmas, because God is good. He wants to redeem us, bring us into his kingdom as adopted sons & daughters of the universe’s very creator. Let him adopt you and celebrate the new family life.

God bless,

Ron