A Message from Linda!

Ryan has suggested a couple of times that I should post.  I really struggle with freely opening my heart on the internet.  I wanted to share some real stuff from my perspective about hosting.  My husband is much better at this kind of stuff.  Maybe it is a guy thing or just one of his great qualities.  I worry to much about how it will be read or could be taken out of context.  So hear it goes, my first post on our blog. LOL!

Next Sunday (Dec 16th) we will be driving to St. Louis to pick him up.  This week when you think of it, will you please pray for him.  His journey will most likely be starting on late Friday or early Saturday.  As I continually pray for this little man, I am just so amazed at the courage he has.  There is no way that I would even make this trip as an adult.  I can't stop my mind from wondering. Will he like us? Will he be disappointed?  Will my nervous extremely loud laugh scare him?  When I get nervous not only do I laugh really loud but I also just ramble, since he doesn't know English that won't go well.  Will our children transition ok?  I worry about our son.  He wants a brother so badly.  I don't want him to get expectations that are not realistic.  Then my thoughts go to the other end.  What if he is a perfect fit with our family?  How will our children handle saying goodbye?  Oh I want to protect my children but this is beyond my capabilities.  I am so excited, happy, scared and nervous.

We had our training last Saturday in Chicago.  What a LOOONG weekend.  It was wonderful to be among others who were adventuring into the same situation as us.  While each family is different and each host child is different as well, we still have things in common.  We did learn some new things about the program, but we were taught for the most part about the orphanages and their systems.  Our host child is in a foster home, but it is not known to us if was previously in an orphanage or not.  They shared a couple of videos, one was a testimony of a child who has been adopted.  Wow what that young man has gone through in his lifetime.  One thing that he shared was that once you get older than 10-12 years old you give up on being adopted.  Also in some situations the children are put in homes so they work or "do chores".  What a horrible way to live.  It breaks my heart for these children. The other video was actually made by the children in an orphanage.  Ugh, my words would not do it justice.  They need LOVE.  They need to know they have a Heavenly Father.  They might not know him but he knows each one of them.  After leaving the training, I felt even more committed to this program.  I am so thankful that the Lord has called us to do this.

This week my goal is to get as much time in Gods Word as i can, spend quality time with my children and strengthen my relationship with them the best I can.  Also I want to have as much family time as possible and last but not least strengthen our marriage.  My husband and I have to keep Christ as the center of our marriage.  We have no way to prepare ourselves for what challenges that we will be facing but God does.

As I end this post I want to truly thank everyone who has helped us in any and every way. I can not express enough how truly grateful we are.

Thank you

Linda

Some thoughts from above!

As I sit in my seat 31F I can not help bit think of the the flight that John will be on soon. He has never traveled before let alone get on an airplane and fly halfway around the world. I have been thinking a lot about what will be going through his mind as he boards the plane and then sees the wold from a whole new angle. When he gets here will he see the World from a different angle?  Will that be a good thing?  So many questions going through my head, most of which I might possibly never know the answer to.   Will you please join me in praying for him that any fears are calmed.  We have found out that we will be picking him up at a small airport in the St. Louis area and that Linda and another host Mom will be flying out to accompany them back on the private jet. If you could pray for the flight back from JFK to St. Louis that would be greatly appreciated as well.  These are my thoughts as I stare out the window somewhere over snowy Montana in awe of God's majesty!

40% Off

I continue to be amazed by the things that are and have unfolded.  It is amazing to see Gods work through this opportunity that he as given us.  I love seeing our children seeing Gods hand at work in even the little things.  Linda and the kids had gone to pick a few things up at the store today.  They were looking at a small electrical experiment kit for John when a lady walked around the corner and asked if Linda could use a coupon that she wasn't going to be able to use.  It was for 40% off a regular priced item.  The item that Linda had in her hand just happened to be a regular priced item.  She took the coupon and the lady walked away.  After the lady left our son threw his hands up in the air and said "I can't believe God is doing this, this is awesome".

The Henry's Wish Tree in progress

The work in progress.  Faith, Hope and Love in English as well as L@tvian.  We hope that it makes him feel more at home seeing something written in his language.

Connecting Flight!

So today we found out that our hosting fees were completely covered.  That just left us needing to pay for the connecting flight from JFK to Chicago.  Linda and I were just talking about the connecting flight when I received an email.  The email was from the flight coordinator for New Horizons.  It stated that one of the other host families from Illinois had access to a private jet.  Yes you read correctly a private jet and they have offered to bring all of the children that were flying to Chicago with them when they pick their child up at JFK.  They have also offered to fly them back to JFK when the hosting is over  all at no cost to us.  This is not only a huge blessing to us as a host family but also to the children being hosted because they will not have   to fly to New York the day before their flight home and will be able to take the private jet and get their in time for a same day flight back to L@tvia.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU

We just wanted to let you know that we are truly grateful for the support that has been shown to us.  I had someone send me an email this morning to make sure that they had sent the donation in properly.  I checked with the bookkeeper, and I was informed that the donation was done properly and that our hosting fees have been met!

Without Further Ado...

I just wanted to give you all a quick update this evening.  Before I give you the update I just wanted to fill you in on something that happened this evening.  Our littlest girl came downstairs and said that she could not go to sleep because she was so excited.  We asked why she was so excited and she said that she was excited for John to come.  We are so amazed at the support that is coming in to help us bring John into our home for Christmas.  We thought you might like to see the boy that we will be hosting.  So without further ado....Who am I kidding.  You looked at his picture before reading this didn't you?

. If you think that you could help us with the hosting fees you can do so by click here. All donations are tax deductible be sure to put Henry in the memo line of your check if mailing a check or if using the paypal link add Henry to the " Add special instructions to the seller" box. (If you are able to help us please send us a picture by clicking here so we can include your ornament on the wish tree.)

Now its time for me to go add some more ornaments to the tree.  Until later.