Take me home with you....

Today I visited the boys early this morning because our facilitator had to go to where the boys were born to do some paperwork. The visit was Wonderful and actually stayed longer than we had stayed before. Micah didn't want me to leave and Mason still wanted to know where is Papa was. He will be one happy boy when he sees his daddy again. How sad it is to see him long to see Kirk-I guess he has waited so long to have a papa and just when he was getting to know his papa he had to go home. How confusing that must be to Mason. It just reminds me how our Heavenly Father longs to have a relationship with His children and we sometimes leave Him and He nevers leaves us. Thank You God for always being with me!

When I arrived this morning to the orpahnage, Mason's groupa met me at the door and once again they were all talking at the same time to me-so I asked Ira what are they saying? Her response was, they all want to know if you will take them home with you. Oh My! That is not what I wanted to hear. My heart crumbled! Can you imagine longing to have parents and seeing your friends leave with a mom and dad and you still wait. Ira explained to them that someday maybe your mama and papa will come for you. Someday....maybe....... At this time, I needed to leave the room immediately so that the tears would not flow. Since I have been a little weepy lately I sure didn't need any help on getting started again! HA! I just keep Praising God for giving us Mason and Micah and thanking Him that they now have a forever family. They also have many people that love them and have been praying for them even though they didn't know them. WOW! God is Awesome!

I am sitting in my room debating on walking down to the sea to see the fireworks for New Year's-if I go maybe I will post some pictures of it later or add them to this post. Well I am back from the Sea and I didnt see anything going on so I posted pictures of my visit with the boys today. Oh, but I did buy some ice cream at a store down by the sea. Who says you can't eat ice cream when it's below freezing outside.

Happy New Year to you all! Talk to all of you next year!

Sorry about Mason's picture-I have tried everything to fix it right! I give up.

I promise you these are new pictures-they just have on the same clothes as yesterday.

Just wanted to share a verse that God showed me before we meet the boys:

Psalm 127:3 "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him".

One Day at a time Sweet Jesus!

Kirk made it back to the states safely but without any of his luggage. Oh well I am just glad he made it back and safely. The kids were so excited to see him. I miss him more than words can express. He went back to work today and I wonder how he is doing. Maybe I will here soon.

I went to visit the boys today and both of them told me that they missed me alot and where is Papa (Daddy)? Ira explained that he went home and is waiting on us at home. Mason wanted to know when he gets home who will he have to share a bed with. We told him no one because he had his own bed, own clothes and his own toys. We expalined that he would share his toys with his brother Micah and play with Morgan and Mitchell. That did not seem to bother him at all. We spent our time coloring, talking about the airplane ride and just loving on each other (I think mama needed that the most HA!)

Mason seemed a little sad when he realized that Kirk was no there. I tried to get him to smile for pictures but he didn't smile much. He will be so ready to see Papa when we get home. Micah just enjoyed giving me all of his loving. I at least got a wave for Papa.

Continue to pray that these last few days will go quickly!!!! Pray that all paperwork can be done also fast. I will visit the boys in the morning at 8:00a.m. becasue Ira has to travel to their village for some paperwork stuff that needs to be turned in.

I am Praising God for an AWESOME husband that He gave me and that I am missing so much right now. I am so Thankful that God gave us 44 days togehter 24/7.

Hello Everyone,

So sorry that it's been 4 days since we posted but after court on Friday, signing paperwork for Kirk to leave Berdyansk and having the boys groupa parties we were quite exhausted! I think all the stress of court wore us out but we just didn't know it until we stopped from everything. Kirk left Berdyansk on Christmas to head back to Kyiv and I decided to go with him. I hated leaving the boys but we had our facilitator to explain to them that I would be back on Thursday to see them. Mason handled it ok but Micah did not. I had to leave him very upset and crying. It broke my heart! I decided to go back to Kyiv with Kirk until he flies out to head home. This way I wouldn't have to stay as long by myself in Berydansk. I leave on an overnight train at 11:00p.m. tonight and Kirk leaves for home on Wednesday morning at 6:45 a.m. Grant it I am a little jealous that he is leaving and I am not but at least he gets to head back to Morgan and Mitchell. As of right now, myself and boys are scheduled to fly home on Jan 17th. I can't WAIT!!!! Kirk will be home at 4:45p.m. on Wednesday evening! WOOHOO!!!

On Monday in Kyiv, we meet a family down by the SDA and enjoyed sharing our adoption journeys together and having hot chocolate at a near by cafe. You just don't know how much you miss carrying on an English conversation with Americans. Trust me after being here 44 days-you miss Americans! Anyways, it was a enjoyable afternoon. God puts people in your path when you need them. He is an Awesome God!

Thank You so much for contiuing to keep us in your prayers! I know that there will be a sweet reunion in Monroe airport tomorrow.

While you were Praying and Sleeping......

Our day began early this morning at the notary's office getting some final documents signed, then to have tea with our facilitator and off to court. We were told that court might take about 30 minutes but it was over an hour long. We felt like we had been there all Day long. The room was about an 8ft X 15ft office that had 9 people in it to hear our case. We both were asked many questions and then each of the other people had to state their case about the adoption. After all the adults spoke then the boys were brought in and asked questions about us and if they understood we were changing their names. She also asked them where they lived before coming to the orphanage and neither one of the boys could answer her. They also approved of their name being changed and having us as their parents. After all delibrating was done we were asked to leave the room to allow the judge to make her decision about the adoption. That time felt like forever but we were soon brought back into the room and given her conclusion.

We would like to take this time to Thank everyone that has been a part of our Adoption Journey. We are so graterful that God has placed all of you in our lives. We can't tell our church family enough of how much we love and appreciate them. Thank You Morgan and Mitchell for making this sacrifice for us during this time. We love you both and can't wait to see you soon. Thanks to our family and friends that have loved and cared for Morgan and Mitchell during this time. Kirk will be home on Wednesday at 4:45p.m. and I will be returning home after all finalization of the adoption is complete.

We serve a Mighty and Awesome God and we thank Him for allowing us to be the parents of these two boys.

We would like to introduce Morgan and Mitchell's new little brothers:

Mason Elliott Albritton and Micah Easton Albritton

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

St. Nick Program

Today we were invited to watch Mason sing at his St. Nick program. From what we can tell they only celebrate the tradition of St. Nick and not Jesus' birth. How sad is that! But soon both of our boys will be taught about Jesus and how much He loves them. I can't even imagine never hearing about Jesus but here that seems to be the case. We have not seen any evidence at this time about Jesus' birth. People seem to be so sad here. I have been smiling at everyone we pass but there is no response back. You don't even see hope in the people's faces. We are so Thankful for Jesus' birth and that He loved us so much to die for us!

Thank you for your prayers during this time in our lives. We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Here are a few pictures of Mason's program. We are not sure why-but some reason he is dressed in the Blue Telatubby outfit.

Today's Visit

Down By The Sea...

Here are a few pictures of the Sea that Kirk and I walked to today. Praying everyone has a Great Sunday!

5 more days to court! Please continue to pray for us, the boys, the prosecutor, the Judge and the inspector as we all will be in court at 11:30a.m. on December 24th. The boys can't wait to go home and neither can we. Love and missing everyone!

Anticipation!

As we got to the Orphange tonight the door was locked to Mason's hall where we nomally pick him up to visit. We had to wait for someone to open the door and you could hear children trying to unlock the door and they all were communicating to one another about who was on the other side of the door. Our facilitator proceeded to tell us that Mason was telling everyone that is my parents out there. WOW! you better believe that thrilled our hearts. He asked lots of questions tonight about going home. He told us that he was ready to leave (all in Russian) and would we take him forever. He also wanted to know if he would get to ride an airplane and would Micah be coming with us. We would have loved to told him that we were going home tonight on an aiplane and with Micah but our facilitator told him that we still had about 17 days or so left and then Mama and Papa would take them home. As you can tell he is very ready to leave and unite with his new family and friends. God is good!

We did find out some good news this evening. Our facilitator had to go to the region where the boys were born and give the inspector an invitation to court. Which meant that even though their mother has no legal rights she could have shown up for court and caused issues. We were thrilled when the inspector signed a form to decline being in court. This meant that their should not be any issues with family members and the region where the boys were born approves of the adoption. It is amazing on how many people have to sign off when you are adopting.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we continue on this Faith Journey of adoption!

Countdown to court: 7 more days!

Prayers Answered

Prayers Answered! The boys were asked today by the inspector if they wanted us to be their mama and papa and they both said YES! WOOHOO! Wonderful! Our paperwork was signed by the mayor, the inspector made her conclusion, the paperwork is on an overnight train to Kyiv and we have a court date. We will be in court on December 24, at 11:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. at home) We are sad about missing Christmas with Morgan, Mitchell and our family. We know that God has everything under control and that He will continue to provide and care for us during this time. Don't worry Morgan and Mitchell-I told Santa where to leave the presents (HA! HA!). After court, Kirk will return to Kyiv to sign some paperwork and then return home. I will have to stay about 15 days later to get passports, visas and finish paperwork in Kyiv. We are praying that we can get the 10 days appeal period lessened but they normally don't waive that but we are going to try. PRAY!

Today we had lots of snow again so I posted a picture for ya'll to enjoy!

Please pray for us as we are so ready to get home and be with our family and friends.

Prayer Request!

Micah Easton

We waited today for the Mayor to sign our paperwork in order to get a court date and send papers to Kyiv. We received a call today at 6:10p.m. (home 10:10 a.m.) that the Mayor had signed the papers. The inspector must go tomorrow and speak with the boys to see if they want us to be their Mama and Papa. They have already been asked once and said yes but they have to be asked again while we are not present. We ask that you all be praying that the boys say YES to the inspector. At 9:00 a.m our time (home 1:00a.m.) on Tuesday morning our facilitator will meet with the inspector to get her conclusion. After receiving the inspectors conclusion, than we can request a court date. Just pray that all goes well. We will update when we have new information.

Just wanted to let ya'll know that when we signed our papers today our paperwork was incorrect on the boys names so instead of causing a longer delay on the paperwork we decided that it would be best to leave their names as the paperwork stated-so the oldest one now is Mason and the youngest one is now Micah. It's just a minor mistake and obviously there was a reason so we left them as stated on the papers. I guess this might be a funny story one day on how they got their name. This mistake didn't not catch God by surprise!

We Love and Miss you all and can't wait to return home with all of our family and friends!

Kirk and I spent our time today skating in our shoes on ice to go eat lunch. I believe we are ready for some Louisiana weather.

Snow Day Fun!

Today we visited the boys with out an interpreter and everything went well. It is so excited when the run to us when arrive and call us Mama-Papa. We are trying to teach them Daddy but for now papa will do. It has been snowing here for awhile so Micah's teacher allowed Kirk to pull him in the snow sled today. Mason could not play outside because he has a cold.

We have been for 26 days which at times seems a lot longer but we are so Thankful has God has provided for all of our needs. God has been our Provider and Comforter through all the waiting and decision making. It has also been a blessing to read comments and emails from our Church family and friends. We may never know how many lives have been touched through our families obedience to God. What we do know is that so many of you are having a part in changing the lives of two very Special little boys and the life of our family.

We are so greatful for your love and support!

Catching up...

Ok- I know the picture of Daddy, Mason and Micah is sideways but it will not turn right and my blogging skills must not be to great. I hope you enjoy them. We had a Great visit with the boys today and we also stayed longer than normal.

Yesterday we were able to visit Mason in the morning and Mason and Micah in the afternoon. Micah has school in the morning time. We have found out that both boys love tangerines. Mason loves to color and Micah loves to work puzzles. Micah also enjoys throwing and catching a ball. Mason loves to kick the ball.

During our time here, I have been able to make our way through on ordering our food and buying items at the store but last night Kirk and I deceided to have some Hot Chocolate. I asked if they had hot chocolate and the lady said Dah-so I asked for two cups. When it came out it literally looked like they had melted a candy bar and scooped it in our cup. It was so thick that we ate our hot chocolate with a spoon. Kirk and I laughed so hard. It was very funny!

It seems that we have been gone forever but God has provided His Grace for us to make it from day to day. We appreciate everyone's comments on facebook and our blog. Thank you so much for continuing to pray for us and our family during this time in our lives.

Thank You to everyone that is loving and taking care of Morgan and Mitchell while we are gone.

A Blessed Day!

Just returned from the orphanage where we meet our boys, the director and the inspectors. The director and inspectors approved of us and where very informative about both boys. we also were able to spend time with the boys. Oh, my it was WONDERFUL! They both have blonde hair and the youngest one has brown eyes and the oldest one has blue eyes. The oldest one recited a poem for us, counted forwards, backwards and said his ABC's. They both were shy at first but soon warmed up to us. Our hearts melted when they walked in the room. We know that God saved them just for us. The director and inspectors asked the boys if they wanted us to be their Mama and Papa and they both said yes! Thank You Lord! Tomorrow we will begin the paperwork to adopt them. Continue to keep us in your prayers!

Monday is a coming!

We made it to our destination after a 17 hour train ride and then about 1 1/2 car ride. We were so ready to get off the train and to our apartment. We will get to meet the boys on Monday after we meet with the Director to get the approval to meet them. Pray that the boys bound with us and us with them. If this all happens then our facilitator will be able to start the paperwork to get a court date for the adoption. This could take up to ten days but we pray it will be sooner because I will have to stay the 10 day wait period and then to Kyiv to finish up remaining paperwork. Our prayer would be that we all are home by Christmas but not sure if this will happen or not. We will try to update as soon as possible. Prayerfully by Tuesday! Keep the prayers a coming!

We miss you all and are ready to see Morgan and Mitchell, our family, friends and Church family.

God's Timing Not Ours

Guess what?
Once again God's plan and timing is much better than ours. Let me explain how our day has been; we woke and I cooked breakfast and made hot chocolate, got ready to begin the day and received a phone call to go sign papers for our 3rd SDA appointment. After signing papers Kirk and I went to the mall across the street to eat lunch and watch the ducks go to the fountain for a bath (just like Peabody's) red carpet and all. Someone was announcing everything that was happening but we didn't have a clue what was being said so we waited to see what was going on. Then 4:00p.m came for us to leave for our appointment at 5:00-so we waited on the taxi and arrived at our appointment at 4:50-I was praying that we made it on time due to the snowy weather.
We were praying that we would get our first SDA lady that helped us view children at our 1st appointment and we did! She is awesome and seems to geniuely have a heart for chidlren. At our first appointment there were these two boys that she wanted to show us but because of paperwork that was in transit she couldn't show us the files and we really thought we were going for only one child. When she saw us she had told our facilitator that she had saved the boys files hoping that we would come back. WOW! We never thought we would have to have a third appointment but God knew all along that He had to prepare our hearts for what was about to happen. We are so Thankful that He did!
If you would have asked us 17 days ago if we were adopting two children we would have said no but if God opens a door we would be obedient. This whole process has been about faith and being obedient for what God has called us to do and that is to adopt. James 1:27 tells us to care for the orphans and it is our prayer that we are carring out His command.
This Faith journey is only beginning and we appreciate all your prayers. We ask that you will continue to pray for us, the boys that they will be receptive to us, the director of the orphanage and the inspector.

While we are waiting...

Received a call today that maybe we will have an appointment tomorrow afternoon. We sure do pray so!!! We also found out about two little boys that became available today-Can you believe that-TODAY! We know that God's timing is much better than ours. Please continue to pray for our next SDA meeting, these little boys (1 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old), and that we will know the child God has for us at our meeting.

We went walking this afternoon again in 10 degrees weather-It was COLD! We will try to send some to Louisiana as soon as possible. HA! HA! Kirk and I joked that we would be sweating when we get home in 40 degree weather. It was so cold that Kirk's mustache was frozen.

We love and miss you all. Keep the prayers coming!


Sherrie & Kirk

Waiting.....

We just received a call from our Facilitator that we might possibly have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with SDA. There were some problems with the paperwork from our last referral so it has taken a little while to iron out the issues. Praise God they are fixed now. Continue to pray for our appointment and the child or children that God has for our family. We love and miss you all!

Finally I made me a cup of coffee tonight only to find out what I thought was instant coffee was not! Ugh! So off to the market we went for instant coffee.



We are back in Kyiv waiting for our 3rd SDA appointment. We had been in another region spending time with two little boys that we thought would be coming home with us but...they are not. Family members became a problem while we were there. It's ok-we know that God has a better plan for our family. Before our night time visit to the orphange I prayed that if God didn't want us to adopt these boys then to please put an obstacle in our way and sure enough He did. We showed up for visitation time and the boys mom had been there along with the grandmothers earlier in the day. When you ask God for something you better be ready to listen even when you don't understand. After this happened I called our facilatator in tears and she suggessted that we get ready to come back to Kyiv, so we did. No, this wan't easy but we know that God's plans are better than ours. So, now we wait again for our appointment. Please continue to pray for us as we continue on this Faith Journey of adoption.

On the Road Again!

After a very long 2nd SDA appointment-we will be driving 2 hours on Thursday to meet our referral. WooHoo! At least no overnight train or plane ride needed. We viewed many many children today but they either had many siblings, weren't adoptable yet or family members were involved. So, we have a peace about the referral we will be going to see.

I am not sure about internet access there so we will update as soon as possible.

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue on this Faith Journey.

If anyone is headed our way please send a steak (medium rare HA! HA!) No, really we are doing fine. We ate at TGI Friday's today with another adoptive family. Enjoyed our time together.

2nd Appointment

WooHoo! We have our 2nd SDA meeting tomorrow at 2:00p.m. We are so excited and can't wait to see how God is going to work in this meeting. Please pray for us as we will be shown more files and that we choose the one that God has for our family.

Sunday was a good day-we were able to go to church and spend time with a family here. They have been here 7 weeks and are getting ready to head home with their 2 girls. We also were able to enjoy eating lunch with them and a local missionary from North Carolina.

We will update as soon as we can tomorrow after our appointment.

Thank You for your continued prayers!

Well, since we have been in Ukraine we have rode 2 trains and are now in our third apartment. Today we filed all the paperwork for our 2nd SDA appointment-Pray that comes very soon.

We will miss worshipping with our church family tomorrow. When I asked about a church here I was told that there was not one for us to attend. (hummmm........ imagine that) Kirk will have to preach and I guess I will sing. (HA!)

Congratulations Rebels on the nice win!!!

Morgan and Mitchell-we miss you!!!

We are in Kharkiv now. Had a 7 hours express train ride-and its late here. Tomorrow is a busy day for us so we will update when and if able soon. The internet is not very good right now where we are. Keep us in your prayers!

Our day began with coffee with our POA and another family that is here adopting an older boy from a different region. After coffee, we went to our SDA appointment-along the way we saw a group of people protesting againist something but was not sure what it was-by looking at the sign they were holding I could tell that there were children on it-I asked our translator what was going on and he said that they protesting againist adoptions! During our adoption process we have been told about the moratorium but we never dreamed that we would actually see something going on about it. There were nuns (I think) singing the whole time and several people holding signs in front of an office. I only wished that I could have told all those people that we only want to love and provide for these children, to give them a home, family and teach them how much God loves them. Our translator said these people are crazy and just don't understand but if they could see all the children that are suffereing in the orphanages than they would understand.

I know you are all wanting to know how our appointment went... well.......

We will be taking an express train to Kharkiv on Thursday at about 5:00p.m. to meet our referral. Our referral is a little boy!!!! He is very cute little fellow! Our meeting lasted for one hour and we viewed about 20-30 children with different special needs. We have information about him but will find out more when we go to the orphanage. When we accepted his referral we felt a peace come over us and Kirk and I both agreed that God was telling us to pick him-so we did.

Please continue to pray for us as we know anything could happen at this point. We also know that God is in control of everything. Our next post will probably be from Kharkiv so keep posted to our blog. Thank You for contiuned prayers!

SDA 11:00a.m.

Tomorrow at 11:00a.m. We will be sitting down at our SDA meeting to view children that fit with our family according to our homestudy. We ask that you all pray for us as we look at each child and that God gives us a peace about the child He has for us. We will update as soon as we can. We have a busy day tomorrow so we are off to bed. Keep us in your prayers!

We are Here!

We made it! God has been good to us! All travels went well with no problems. Arrived in Kiev, seattled into our apartment and went to the grocery store near us. Who said you needed to know Russian here-we managed ok at the store. People just looked at me when I asked a question. I am so glad that I have been here before and could figure out some food in the store. Our peanut butter and jelly sandwich was good for supper.
We are going to rest tomorrow, maybe see some sites and meet with our Power of Attorneys.
Everyone has been so nice to us.
Please continue to pray for us that God gives us a clear vision and understanding of the child that He has planned for our family.

Sleep well!

Just in a few hours we will boarding a plane to Ukraine--we thought this day would never come and here it is. Be praying for us as God has and will be opening new doors for our family. We Love you all and will miss you bunches. We will up date as soon as we can.

Awesome worship day with our church family this morning!

Excited! Tired! and can't WAIT!

God is blessing our family daily by putting people in our path to help support us financially, prayers and even painting our new Albritton'a addition room. Thank you dear friend for handling all that painting on your day off. You don't know how much that meant to us. Also, thank you to my hairdresser for not charging today for my hair appointment-You are Awesome! As I said and I know I sound like a broken record but God gets all the Glory on this adoption.

As I type Kirk is finishing up the flooring in the new room and I am trying to finish packing. We had been at the church tonight for a little while with the youth lockin. I want to be all done by noon tomorrow and we will be so we can enjoy spending time with family until we fly out.

Keep posted and we will update as soon as we can. Be praying for us on November 17, at 11:00a.m. (Kyiv time and 4:00a.m our time) we will have our SDA meeting then.

Blessings!

God has placed people in our path daily to pave the way for our adoption. Just today we were given two monetary gifts to help with our expenses. Wow! What a blessing our family, church family and friends have been. What an impact that they are having on being apart of making a hugh difference in a child's life. We Love you all!

November 4, at 8:08a.m.

The phone call came about our invitation to go to Ukraine. WooHoo! Our God is an Awesome God! The call that seemed to have taken alot longer than 16 days finally came on Thursday at 8:08a.m. I have not posted until now because we wanted to share with our Fair Park family today on Adoption Sunday. Our FP family was so happy and excited for us. Thank you to our FP family, our family and friends that have made this journey possible. Please continue to pray for us as God continues to grow our family.

I am sure that our neighbors think we are crazy for already decorating for Christmas but it must be done now. All decorations are up and presents are wrapped. I don't know that I have every had a present wrapped in November or a tree up this early.

Time is being spent now to get our child's room ready, pack our suitcases and make sure that all details with Morgan and Mitchell are done, lose ends taken care of and work is all planned and covered. Wow! Have I made you tired yet? All of this is worth making a difference in a child's life and the life of our family.

Keep posted to our blog.

We Love you All!

The phone rang.....again

Everytime my phone rings I look to see if it's our agency---well, it rang this morning and guess what it was our agency!!! It was Laurel calling only to tell us that the lady that signs for our travel date to Ukraine was out of the office until Monday. Ugh! Laurel just wanted to let me know that bit of info so I could rest a little better because she really thought today would be the day to get our travel day. You see, Laurel has adopted from Ukraine also so she knows about waiting and expecting that phone call.
This today has really made me think, do we wait so anxiously to hear from God? Do I hold on to every moment that I spend with Him so dearly? Do I? Do we? My desire is that I do but I know there are times that I allow things to cloud my vision of Him. Oh, Lord forgive me! I have to say Lord Thank You for loving me no matter what.

During this whole process of adoption has taught our family a lot about Faith and giving our all to our Lord and learning what wit means and knowing when to listen to Him.

Until that call comes.....stay in tuned to God!

Excitied and Waiting!

Just received a call from our agency. You better believe that my heart leaped when I saw her name on my caller id!!!! I almost couldn't answer the phone---but I did. She just wanted to up date us on our travel date status. We don't have a date yet but our Power of Attorney feels that it could come this week. How Wonderful that call will be! Continue to pray for our family, the orphanage director that we adopt our child from, our POA, and the child God has for us. I will keep you all posted if anything changes.

As I have said before, our church family is AWESOME! God keeps placing people in our path to help fund this adoption--It's Wonderful! Today we received a donation in the mail from someone in our church family which allowed us to reach our $20,000 goal. Praise God! To think, we were concerned how in the world we would raise this much money; well we didn't God did!!! Everything over this goal will still go to help toward any unknown expenses.

Still waiting for our travel date!

God Is Good!

As you can see I finally was able to post our new thermometer! Not far from our $20,000.00 goal. Anything extra will help just incase we run into more expenses that we are not aware of. Thank You to everyone that has and is still a part of this amazing journey! We are still waiting for our date to travel.

Submission Date!!!

We thought this day would never get here and here it is!!!! We received word today that our dossier was submitted successfully---Praise God! Now we wait for our travel date. Six months ago it seemed like this day would never arrive-we can't believe that it finally did. God is good and we know that He has had His hand in all this journey and continues to do so. To talk about Faith is one thing but to live Faith is another. We must be faithful to what God has prepared for our lives and be obedient to follow Him!

WATCH!

I have put a new thermometer on our blog and very soon you will be able to see our new totals. For those of you that have been watching the thermometer it looks as if we have no money but I just want to surprise you all on the new updates and what God has been doing. So stay tuned to find out the new amounts......to be continued.......

In the Hands!

You might be asking in whose hands? What is in their hands? Tell me! Tell Me! Well, yesterday we received word that our Power of Attorney has all of our paperwork in her hands. I am so glad to hear that everything arrived to her on Thursday. No more sweating if everything would be there on time. This just reminds me that God has had His hands on the journey all the way. When our Faith was slipping God always was there to show us that He has everything under control and that He holds our tomorrow, today and the future.
We ask that you all continue to pray for our submission date on October 14th. Pray that our paperwork is accepted and that we hear about our date to travel. After the 14th, we have about 20 days to know when we will travel to Ukraine. Normally, you travel about 2 weeks after that. So, please keep our family in your prayers. Pray for Morgan and Mitchell as time grows closer for us to leave. Pray for our new addition that he will just be protected and know that someone in this world loves him and can't wait to meet him.
Stay tuned to our blog for further updates!!!

Updates!

Here is just a little update on a previous post: please pray as our remaining paperwork has headed to Kyiv. We received a call this morning that our power of attorney was going to be out of town the date that our paperwork should arrive to him so in the middle of fed-exing we had to change the delivery address. So, needless to say, I have been on the phone a lot today trying to redirect the papers to a different address. The papers are now headed to our other power of attorney ILona. Just pray that they arrive to her and she is there to sign for them. I know God has already worked out all of the revamping of our paperwork.

Remaining documents on the way!!!!

In a later post I explained that we had 3 documents that we had to redo for our dossier. Those last 3 documents headed to Kyiv Ukraine to our Power of Attorney on saturday. They should arrive to Igor on Wednesday 6th or Thursday 7th. Please join us in praying that these documents are correct. Our dossier will be submitted on the 14th and then we will pray and wait for our date to travel to Ukraine. We are so excited and can't wait for this date.
It is just AWESOME on how many people in our community and our church family has been a part of changing a child's life.

14 days and counting

I can't believe tomorrow is October! I thought October would never get here! This is a busy month for us-Morgan turns "18", our dossier will be submitted on the
14th, we have a wedding in Texas on the 23rd,a wedding in Lafayette on the 30th and Fun Fest on the 31st. Wow! This month will go by so fast which will be Great due to the fact that we will be waiting for a date to travel to Ukraine. So, excited and can't wait to see how God continues to bless our family!

Fundraiser Today!!!

I can't imagine how people survive daily without a personal relationship with Christ and without a church family. Today our Sunday School sponsored a hamburger luncheon fundraiser to benefit our adoption. My prayer was, Lord if we just raised $500.00 that would be Great! Well, once again our Lord prevailed and $3,250.00 was raised!!! God is so much bigger than money and has every thing under control even when we don't. Our God is amazing! Thank You to our Sunday School class for all the volunteer hours that they put into this fundraiser. We can't wait for our new family member to meet all of you. Thank You to Steve Teel for cooking all of those burgers-they were Great! Thank You to our church family that supported the luncheon and for your prayers during our journey. Thank You to everyone for the difference that you are making in our family and to the life of a child.
WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Not Now!

Thank You to everyone that prayed for parliament and the moratorium on international adoptions--it was put off until a later date. God is Good all the time! Thanks for all the prayers.

Awesome God!

Lord,

You never cease to Amaze us! Just about the time we allow things to cloud our Faith-You send someone into our lives just to say You have everything under control. We Love You Lord and Thank You for allowing us to be such a part of an Awesome Journey.

NEWS! NEWS FLASH!

Prayer Warriors,

We found out today that the Parliament will be voting next Tuesday on a moratorium to stop international adoptions. I need you all praying that this does not PASS! This will cause precious children to not be placed in families-they will be deprived of having a family and a home to call theirs. Just pray that parliaments hearts are softened. Our agency does not seem that it will pass but it doesn't hurt to pray no matter what. This same thing came up in June but it failed! Praise God! We know that God is in control and He has gone before us already. He holds tomorrow! I will keep you posted.

FINALLY!

It has taken me a while but I have found out how to put our thermometer and donate button on our blog. WOOHOO! If you would like to donate to our adoption check out the donate button. All donations are tax deductible and will go toward our adoption. Please make sure that our name is on your adoption donation.

Travel Packet

We received our travel packet today! Awesome! Exciting to know that the day is growing closer. Please pray as we continue to prepare for our child and please pray for Morgan and Mitchell as they begin to prepare for mom and dad to be leaving them for a long time.

Thermometer

Ok-I have added a thermometer that let's everyone know how much money we need to complete our funds for Ukraine but it is still under construction so bare with me.

It's Beginning.....

I received some news today about our dossier paperwork so it goes like this...Kirk's fingerprints are older than 6 months old, so today off to the court house to do them again and they are already in the mail to Louisiana State Police (WooHoo). The next thing was that the date on Kirk's medical form the number 2 looked like a 7 and our agency could not convince them that the date was correct so on Tuesday we will have medical records for Kirk redone. The last thing was something to do with our home study and that can be fixed on Tuesday also. Being a holiday weekend it will just put us a few days behind but everything should be just fine.
I am so glad that we mailed our paperwork off early so now we have time to fix these minor details.
Just pray that all 3 documents will come back to us correct and in a timely matter.
God has our paperwork in His hands! He holds our today, tomorrrow and the future!

Little Blessings

I must share what happened at church tonight. Kirk teaches RA's at our church which are young boys from grades Kindergarten to Second. We talk alot about our adoption at church and the children are always asking when are we bringing home our new child? One little boy (Langley) in Kirk's class recently celebrated his birthday. I must mention that this little boy and his family are going to Disney on vacation and each child has to save their own money to spend at disney.
Langley had his birthday party and it came time to open his gifts; he opened and envelope which contained money. His mother asked, Langley what are you going to do with that money?" His mother expecting him to say spend it at disney but that was not his response. He said, "I am giving this $6.00 to Mr. Kirk to buy his plane ticket to Ukraine." WOW! WOW! How Amazing!
What a powerful statement that a six year old made. What a heart he has for saving a child's life. What a witness!
This reminds me that God is in the small and big things. Big blessings come in small packages!

Good News!

Received Good News that our dossier arrived in Ukraine and is in the process of being translated by our Power of Attorney. Igor said so far everything looks good. Keep praying that it stays good.

Dossier headed to Kyiv

I received an e-mail today from Laurel (our agency) and she was pleased to let me know that our dossier has been sent to our Power of Attorney in Kyiv in order to review our paperwork and have in translated. This process will also let us know if all of our paperwork has been properly done. If not, then we will fix if needed. Our prayer is that all will be good! Join us in praying that Igor (Power of Attorney) will find no mistakes. I will keep everyone updated with info as we receive it. Have a Great evening!

It Arrived!

That last piece of paper arrived in the mail today! Praise God! All paperwork has been sent off to God's Waiting Children and then to Ukraine. Our submission date is not until October 14, so now we wait to see what happens next. My prayer is that the papers will be submitted before the date but not sure. We wait and let God work once more. He has been so amazing in blessing our family during this journey-we can't hardly sleep at night.

Praying......

Praying for one more piece of paper to come back from being apostilled. It should be here on Monday. Then all papers to our agency and off to Ukraine. WooHoo!

Our Sunday School class begin planning the hamburger fundraiser for our adoption. God is so Good!!!

We Stand in awe of you!

I Stand I Stand in Awe of you. Holy God to whom all Praises due-I stand in awe of You!
As Kirk and I stand in our kitchen tonight we are amazed about how God is faithful to our family. We also are amazed how God keeps placing people in our path to donate to our financial needs during our adoption process. As we stepped out in faith and following God's will for our lives, we never imagined how God was paving the way for this adoption. We never could grasp how all this was happening but we knew that we had to be obedient to God and follow His will for us to adopt. Boy, are we glad we did!

We would like to say Thank You to our church family that have been praying for us and helping us with donations along the way. Words can not express the love and joy that we have in our hearts for all of you. Thank You! What a witness you have been to our family. Our God is an Awesome God!

Amazing God!

I spoke with our agency tonight and I can't believe that we are one paper away from sending off our dossier. God is Good! God is our provider! I can't believe that the time to go to Ukraine is growing closer everyday. We are praying for the child/children that God has for our family. We pray for his protection daily. We pray that God just keeps His protective hands around him or them. There is no limit to what God can do!

God is on time all the time!

I am sure that you have times in your life that you wonder if you really are following God's direction in your life---well, everytime we have that doubt God is always on time to let us know that everything is working out according to His will for our family. We just received our paperwork back from having it apostiled for our dossier. Of, course there are a few changes that we have to fix but nothing major. We should have it completed with the changes within a week and then it will be sent to Ukraine in order to get our date to go. How Wonderful!

Along with the mail today, God laid it on some peoples hearts to donate to our adoption. That means we are closer to having the remaining funds needed for our adoption. It doesn't matter if it's $5.00 donated or $5,000.00 donated each dollar is going to play an important part in a child's life. All that have donated and prayed for our family will be a vital part in our child's life. We Thank all of you for donating and praying for us. Please continue to donate and pray for us during this time. If you would like to make a monetary donation please do so by sending it to our church (Fair Park Baptist Church, 4412 White's Ferry Road) in our name or to our adoption agency (God's Waiting Children, Inc.) in our name (Kirk & Sherrie Albritton).

Continue to keep up with our journey. More to come later.

Paperwork Days...

Just to give you a brief update of what is going on with our journey-we are still in the process of our paperwork. We will soon be mailing off our dossier paperwork. When the paperwork is received in Ukraine we will be given a date to travel to Ukraine. At this time we will begin to prepare to leave for Ukraine. Kirk and I will be in Ukraine for 4-6weeks. After all court hearings and finalizing paperwork we will be heading home with our child! We can't wait for this day to happen!

Continues.....
Over the past few months God has blessed our family tremendously. I can't even explain how appreciative we are to all of you that have given donations for our adoption. Some of you I don't even know. Thank You to everyone that has given donations and lifted our family up in your prayers.

Our journey began about 2 years ago when God placed people in our lives to reveal His plan for our family to adopt a child from Ukraine. A dear friend of our family (David Mc Cormick) called me up one day and said," Sherrie, I am not sure why I feel that I should be calling you, but something told me to call you about going on a mission trip with North Monroe Baptist Church to Ukraine." I was speechless but yet excited because I knew that I would be teaching the children there about God and how God loves them. I, of course, said, "Let me pray about it and talk to Kirk and go from there." David said, "You need to decide quickly because you will need to apply for a passport." After praying and talking it over with Kirk, we both felt that this was certainly God telling me to go to Ukraine. I still was not sure why I was going, but God knew all along the plan that He had for our family. God has given me an opportunity to go to Ukraine on 2 other mission trips since then. Praise God that I listened to His voice about going. I had no idea why God was sending me to Ukraine, nor did I have the funds to go. I praise God for placing people in my life to provide the way for me to go on the mission trips to Ukraine with North Monroe Baptist Church.