I'm new at this...

One of my favorite movies (with the best quotes) is What About Bob.  Remember the part where he goes "sailing?"
Afterwards, he proudly proclaims to Dr. Marvin, "I'm sailing! I'm sailing! I sail! I'm a sailor ! I sail!"
That is so how I'm feeling right now.  "I'm blogging!  I'm a blogger!  I blog!"

I've always enjoyed reading blogs.  In fact, since deciding to host Alyona, I've been quite a blog stalker.  Families who have been where we are about to go have offered me great ideas, tips on what to expect, thoughts on hosting a teen who doesn't speak English, etc.  What I've enjoyed almost as much, are the pictures they've posted to their blogs.  They do speak a thousand words, after all!

That is why, after all these years, I'm taking the plunge.  I want to keep people informed about our hosting adventure.  Someone reading this (ok, one of the 9 people reading this) might be interested in learning more about adopting Alyona, or one of the other 7 kids coming to the area.  I want this to be a place to get info, ask questions, and learn more.   Please know that we are just as nervous as we are excited.  This is a big change from the newborns we are used to-  (at least Alyona will sleep through the night! ha!)

I'll start with sharing how we arrived here.  Well, some dear friends hosted a 14 year old girl from Ukraine over the summer.  Talk about blog stalking...I couldn't get enough!  I thought, "Wow- what a great idea to bring kids over and give them a vacation from the orphanage, and a chance to see the United States and to have fun!"  But, what really got our attention was the following quote from the Journeys of Joy website:

"Recent research shows that in most cases the lives of orphans who graduate from orphanages, having never been adopted, become increasingly hopeless. 8 out of 10 become drug-addicted, 6 out of every 10 girls are forced into prostitution and human trafficking, 70% of boys turn to crime, and within 2 years of graduation 15% of these children will commit suicide, being convinced that life is not worth living. Only 10% will achieve what most would consider a normal adult life. Every year, more than 20,000 children are “graduated” from their respective orphanages, and forced out onto the streets to join this list of statistics. Despite these high statistics, each and every number is a priceless human life, and rescuing even one is a worthy endeavor."

Guess how old they are when they age out of the orphanage in Ukraine?  Sixteen.  SIXTEEN.  That is a CHILD.   The girl we chose from the host program waiting child list was the oldest one.  This will be her first and last hosting experience.  She will turn 16 in May, and we just couldn't say no to giving her this opportunity.  This trip could be her chance at finding her forever family.  It was for the girl hosted by my friends over the summer!  She is being adopted by a family at our church (and they are NOT the host family!)  Praise God...one less orphan!!!

So, I will write about our time leading up to the night we pick her up from the airport (December 16th), and about the 19 days to follow, as she lives with us.  
We'll attend an all day host training this Saturday, which hopefully won't scare the pants off of us (it's really too chilly to be without pants.)
As freaked out as we are at times, there is also a strange calm and peace about the whole thing.  Since making the decision and choosing HER, we were shown in many different ways that we were on the right track, which really built our faith to know that God is in this, and we can chill out and rely on Him.

I'll leave you with Alyona's passport picture.  She is a beauty.