Ending our Journey in Ukraine.

This afternoon marks our final post from Ukraine after living in this country for 37 days. Today we had lunch with Melissa deLlanos (adopting Timothy) and the Bachman’s (adopting Marina) which were two families we met when we first traveled to Ukraine. They are a few days behind us and won’t be leaving until Saturday. But, they are both back in Keiv today with their beautiful children like ours. Walking to lunch today was quite the hike, probably about 5 miles round trip with Lindsey and I taking turns carrying Jackson in our our baby backpack. However, it was nice to have one final walk around the city here in Kiev. This city is much more comparable to New York city than the smaller town of Kharkiv. To be honest our trip here in Ukraine can almost be summed up by walking. This entire trip we have done a lot of walking and just taking in everything around us. As much as we miss the conveniences the U.S. has to offer there is something special about this country and this side of the world. We will miss this place a lot and all of the experiences we have been able to have while being here.

Most important obviously is uniting with our son Jackson. We came to this place not knowing all of what to expect,  but only had ideas from other blogs about how things would work out. God however has been very gracious to us by letting Jackson be in our lives and giving us this incredible opportunity to bring him into our family. We realize how fortunate we are to have this boy with us, and are grateful to God for making every single step of the way work out so smoothly. During our stay however there has been many struggles for families that we have spoke to and have connected with. And for other families traveling to Ukraine now, they are nervous for a vote that just passed a few weeks ago to halt international adoptions in Ukraine. Regardless of the situation we are certain God has worked through families we have met who haven’t been successful with their adoptions, and through the families who are traveling soon who must put their full faith in God that He will guide their journey here just as He has guided ours.

Thanks to this experience we have grown closer to Jesus and have finally witnessed first hand how miraculous He is. We have seen through Jackson and the people that we have met, that by following God’s will, He will reward you abundantly in the end. We have spent more money than I ever thought was possible, and have sacrificed a lot of our time and pleasures to make this trip work, but we have gained something worth incredibly more. Praise God!

We can’t wait to explain in more detail to our family, friends, LifeGroup, and church family how much God really has worked in our lives here. We have been blessed in a multitude of ways, and yet we are still not worthy of God’s grace that he gives.

So with that, we thank you for being a part of this journey with us on this blog. The support back home has been incredible. We can not wait to unite with all of you and introduce our son. You are more than welcome to meet Jackson at the airport tomorrow evening (Thursday) at 6:58 PM if you can make it. Details are on Facebook.

So from Kiev, Dosvedanya! – Scott, Lindsey & Jackson