Our Summer Plan to Host a Child from the Ukraine

I wrote this post on June 20th, but didn't finish, and didn't post.


My resolve to keep the blog updated obviously didn't last long.  Facebook ruined me in that regard.  It's so much easier to just view little snippets of other peoples lives, and add little bits of our lives through photos and comments.  It's sad though, because time passes so quickly, and so little gets recorded.  That being said...I'm going to try to make blogging a priority for the summer at least.  The biggest reason for my resolve is the new adventure that we are embarking on this summer.  We are hosting an orphan from the Ukraine.  When we stop and think about it we tend to question our sanity, but we know that we are doing the right thing.  Therefore, we persevere.
Here's how it all got started...


In the early years of our marriage, Lance and I had planned that we would have at least 4 kids and possibly 5.  Lance loves babies, so he was in favor of 5, me, maybe not so much. :)  We were able to have the first three without hardly thinking about it.  In fact, Sophie was a surprise that we have been blessed to have.  Apparently, there were only three kids that were meant to come, because that is all we got.  


Over the years we have considered fostering, or possibly adoption, but never felt any sense of urgency.  Sometime last Fall, Lance was online, and came across a website for adopting and/or hosting children from Eastern Europe.  He was intrigued by the idea, and spent time reading about the hosting program, and scrolling through the photos of the children that were available.  We discussed the idea of hosting for the summer, through Lance's enthusiasm, I was quickly convinced that it was something we should do.  I tend to go along with whatever he wants to do which is occasionally detrimental, but this decision process has been accompanied by much prayer.  The kids were immediately in favor of the idea especially after watching  Youtube videos that show what these kids are up against.  


There are a lot of Orphans in the Ukraine due to a number of factors.  The economy is suffering, and people have a hard time supporting their children.  Another big problem is alcohol.  It is really sad, and it breaks my heart that so many people live in such difficult circumstances.  The children age out of the orphanages at 16.  They have a 8-9 grade education, and very limited opportunities for further education.  The suicide rate for those kids is 10%.  Around 70% of the boys end up in prison, and 65% of the girls turn to prostitution.   You can understand why we felt strongly about giving one of these kids an opportunity to come to the US and see that there is hope for a better future.  The biggest goal is to love them and provide a positive experience in a functional (not sure that describes us completely) family setting.  


As we looked through the photos of the children who were eligible for the program, we kept coming back to one particular boy.  His name is Yaroslav.  He is 13 years old, just three weeks older than our son Brennan, and he loves soccer.  This is who we selected to come and spend the summer with us.  He will arrive on June 30, and return to the Ukraine on August 20.  It should prove to be an interesting summer!