Settling in - The New Normal

Okay, here we are a little over one month since returning home. We received an update from other friends who came back a week after us and were motivated to update you. We are doing pretty well. We have had some wonderful times and some challenging times. The boys are doing better every day. English is going well for Alex. We will be homeschooling him for the fall, to work a lot on English and all the transitions of being in a new family. The other boys will be going to school next week and are looking forward to it, although a little nervous as they both start new schools this year. We have been able to enjoy the last weeks of summer. We've gone to a couple baseball games, a family reunion and camped for a week nearby (so Chuck could commute to work). We've been to dentist, doctor, soccer camp, piano lessons, school open houses, etc. and, although will miss the "lazy days of summer", are all ready for a bit of routine in our lives. Thanks for your continued prayers for us. Lamentations 3:22-24 "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." Love from us all.

We're HOME!

It's Saturday morning. We're home and relaxing together. We boarded our plane in Moscow on Thursday afternoon and all the travels went smoothly. Everybody stayed healthy--what a blessing! We were picked up at the airport in Detroit at 9:30pm on Thursday by Linda's parents and spent the night with them. Linda's parents' neighbor had a welcome banner on the garage when we drove in. We were able to introduce Alex to some of his cousins on Friday before traveling home. We got HOME Friday evening and were greeted by some friends and family, complete with welcome banners and ice cream sundaes. Alex was a bit overwhelmed by all the new people to meet all day saying "big family" and "a lot of friends" about the groups of people he met. He immediately unpacked his things and checked out everything in his (and Brandon's) room before joining the festivities. He watched quietly as the kids played for while before joining in. He started a water fight and all kids were soaked by the end. They all had a great time. We were all exhausted and slept very well. Thank you so much for praying for us on this journey. We were able to feel your prayers and saw God's hand in each and every day. Please continue to pray for us as we begin a new phase of this journey. We have many decisions to make and adjustments to go through. One day at a time. We feel so blessed to have Alex in our family. He's working very hard on his English, and seems content to be here and be with us. Thank you all for your love and support. We look forward to connecting with you all again, and introducing you to our precious son, Alex.

Hour by hour

Here it is, Wednesday morning. We will be on a plane tomorrow at this time. After our touring
Red Square and the Kremlin yesterday for a few hours, and a stop at the consulate to pick up Alex's passport and visa, today we are content to just stay home and relax. It was amazing to see the architecture of the buildings in Red Square. We had Nina, a wonderful lady who used to work for our agency and is now retired, who went along with us and another family, the Webers, from Wisconsin. She is very knowledgable and gave us a lot of information. She is a dear, sweet, lady and we are so glad we have been able to get to know her. We will head out to a little local restaurant for lunch, just to break up the day. We can walk there and the sunshine and fresh air will be good for everybody. We're trying to use up the last few food items we have tonight. I've been packing little by little yesterday and today. Everybody's emotions seem to be at a relatively calm level right now. Anticipating being home comes with bittersweet feelings. We are so ready to be home and excited to see our dear family and friends, however, I think we all feel a certain level of anxiety about what the new "normal" will be for us. While four of us move to a comfort level with our surroundings, Alex looks forward to a very big unknown, but he is excited and ready to be done with the "limbo" state in which we now live.

While this trip and the whole adoption experience is the most challenging experience of our lives, we are able to see God's hand, and have seen prayer move to a whole new level in our personal and family life. We continue to pray for Alex to find faith in Christ, and that he will understand how deep and high and wide is the love of Christ for him.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers, for safe travel, ease of processing through customs and immigration, good relationships between the boys, and the many adjustments of the first days at home. We are so grateful for all the support so many of you have given us along the way, but by far your prayers are our greatest need.

The Home Stretch

Well, I've attempted to post here a few times and it just didn't work. Not sure how to really catch you all up. We have had some challenging days. It has been a long stay now, and we are all homesick. Everyone is tired and, while there is still much to see here, not much interest in culture at this point. The lack of internet for a few days really limits our ability to "converse" with Alex. He is a trooper, and tries hard, but after a while gets frustrated. We, too, get frustrated at times, with one thing or another. We've learned to be much more flexible about meals and appointments. Virtually everything here takes twice as long as you think or have been told it will. The driving is a bit crazy. We were able to ride the metro (underground train) on Sunday to the zoo with Marina, who is a dear sweet lady who works for our agency and handles virtually everything related to our time here. It was a hot day and we enjoyed the walk and fresh air and seeing all the animals.

Today was a trip to the consulate and then another dear family invited us over for lunch. It was such an encouragement to us. They have had their struggles as well, and it's neat to see how God works in the lives of all the families here, and to hear the stories of how they were brought here.

Now that we're staying on our own (since Friday night), we've begun to cook and clean and do things more the way we would at home. One thing we have been impressed with, particulary in the homestay, was the simplicity with which many live here. They don't have 100 of everything. They have enough dishes for their family and they wash them after every meal. Everyone doesn't have a closet full of clothes, they just wash and wear them again.

Well, these are more ramblings now than anything. Thanks for all the emails. It's good to hear from home. Please continue to pray for us. The last couple days have been the most challenging of our adoption experience so far. If you've been awakened early in the morning hours, that's probably because I've cried out to God, asking him to awaken people to pray for us during some of the most challenging times when we need God's wisdom to handle the situations we are facing. Thank you for your faithful prayers, and for giving us scriptures to hold onto. We are so grateful. Psalm 20.

The Chase Five

We're Here

We arrived safely in Moscow this morning around 7:30 am. Everybody slept a little bit on the train, but I think it will be an early night tonight. It was hard to leave Peter and Luda's home, being that we came to love them and appreciate their kindness and hospitality. We also really enjoyed being in the smaller city. Moscow is big and somewhat intimidating. We'll get used to it I'm sure in a day or so. We are staying with friends here and it has been good to see them and get caught up. Alex just wants to come home. He does not care a whole lot about Moscow, and certainly not if he has to walk any distance to see it. I don't think he understands completely that we are now "on our own" in terms of meals, etc. We have just been spoiled with having our meals all prepared for us. We have different paperwork to complete in the next few days, so we will be getting out at least to do that. We are all ready to come home, and it becomes a bit more challenging every day to keep everybody happy. Please pray for good attitudes for everyone. We are all presently in good health, which we are very thankful for. Both our Michigan friends who are here in Russia have completed their court and things went well. All are fairly homesick, though, please pray for stamina for them as well as us. With love from the Chase 5.

Headed to Moscow!

Tomorrow night we head back to Moscow on the train. Today we are trying to get Alex's school records and get things packed up and organized. We are all anxious to move on, yet have come to love Luda, Peter and Svetta, our hosts. They have been a real blessing to us. In Moscow we will stay with our Michigan friends in an apartment. It will be good to be together for some days and will hopefully break up some of the waiting. We will have paperwork and things to do in Moscow, so the days will go more quickly, although the traffic does not. Alex's arm is annoying to him. It's made worse when we don't have something to do. Yesterday at the beach he was able to play, with the plastic bag on his arm. He took quite a bit of video of the city while we were there. Thanks for all the posts and emails. It has been encouraging to know that you are all still out there somewhere! After tomorrow (July 8) we may not have reliable internet access again--we'll see. Please know that we are excited to see all of you, but in an effort not to overwhelm Alex, it may take us a while to see all of you. We will also hit the ground with doctor, dentist and school appointments to take care of right away. Know that we love you all and will be anxious to share our new family with you in time.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We know that God is getting us through the frustrating and challenging moments. Know that you in our prayers and thoughts as well.

The Chase Five

July 5

We wanted to give a brief update today.

We have not been able to get on line for most of the trip and now we are trying to catch up.

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us. We can tell God is still directing us through this journey.

Our court date was June 26th and it was only 2 1/2 hours long, a record we are being told.

Alex seems to be adjusting well to our family. There have been some issues along the way but we are working through them.

Today we were able to go to the beach on the Volga river and it was a very nice change since it has rained lots of days.

We will be leaving for Moscow on Tuesday night. We will be able to see our good friends before we go as they have their court date on Tuesday. We will also be connecting up with some other friends in Moscow.

Thanks again for all your continued prayers.

From the Five Chases

We are on our way

We have made the trip to Detroit for our departure tomorrow morning. Two out of the four of us ended up not feeling well today so the day did not get going like we would have liked. But all in all we are getting ready and will try to get a good night's sleep.

Thanks for all your prayers.

We're On Our Way!

We have received our court date and will be traveling soon to pick up our "A" and bring him home! We are very excited, a bit overwhelmed, but really trusting that God did not bring us this far to leave us. We are praying for continued health, traveling safety and clear minds to be able to get everything done that needs to be and remember to bring all the important documents, etc. We have felt the prayers of friends and would appreciate your continued prayers for us as we complete this phase of the journey. Please pray especially for our "A" that he will have an open heart to receive us as his family, and the remaining days of waiting won't seem endless to him. We are trying to take moments to "be still" before the Lord, to allow him to help us keep our focus and remain calm under stress.

And we wait...

Yes, we're still here. We are "ready" to go, at least as ready as we know how to be. We are slowly packing and continue to work on our Russian language. We are into summer mode now, so we are enjoying a bit of down time and the ability not to be so scheduled. The boys are definitely enjoying no homework. We continue to pray for our "A" to be patient and to know that we are coming, even though the time must seem so much longer for him. We know that God is in control of the timing, and that he has a reason for everything. Some days we are more patient than others. We're looking forward to our trip, and to seeing what Russia is like and experiencing a little bit of what "A" has grown up with culturally. We continue to feel our love for him grow, which we are sure is an act of God, being that we have spent so little time with him.

Please pray for us for peace in the process, for the ability to make good decisions about accommodations, the court process, for "A" to be able to adjust to life with us, and for him to come to know Christ personally.

We are so thankful for your prayers throughout this process.

Beginning of a new week

We are still in the waiting mode. As soon as the call comes we will need to apply for our Visa's to Russia, book accommodations and book airline tickets. Lots to do once we know when we will be traveling.

Over the weekend, we have been looking for places to stay while we are traveling to pick up A. It has been a different to look for some place to stay and not know the area at all. Are you looking at a safe place? Are the rooms going to be nice? What will be the best cost wise? Will there be any rooms available?

It seems this is the life of international adoptions.

Have a great week and a wonderful Memorial Day weekend coming up.

Middle of May update

As we start out this weekend, we are working on making sure we have traveling items ready to go. Suitcases need to be packed, getting things ready around the house for being gone and just general life.

The boys rooms are starting to look like a change is happening, new paint and new beds.

We continue to see God's hand in the process as we evidence of this each day.

Right now we are trying to leave the timing in God's hands, but our humanness wants to pull it out of His hands into ours. But if we do this, we will most likely mess it up.

Thanks for your continued prayer and support.

Beginning of May

Here we are at the beginning of May. The days and events seem to be flying by.

We have been busy with all the school activities for B and B, concerts, field trips and school orientations.

We are continually blessed by all the individuals who are sharing in our journey to bring A home. Just this morning we received a very unexpected blessing.

The garage sale we had a week ago was a great time and huge encouragement. Many people stopped by and shared many stories with us about their journeys along the adoption road.

God continues to be very faithful and we are trying to give him all the glory.

At this point we are looking at places to stay on our trip and waiting for any update on a future travel date. (the waiting is becoming very difficult, not much patience here)

Today the forecast is a warm and sunny day, we will enjoy the day God has created.

Recent events

We have been very busy lately with life and the adoption process. Here are some of the things we have been doing;

Finishing up more paperwork so it could be sent on to Russia
Received our US approval to complete the adoption.
Preparing for a large garage sale this weekend. Thanks to all the friends and family who have help make this possible.
Received a package and letters from A.
And just the normal everyday life of work, school and start of the end of the school year events.

We have seen many answers to prayers and continue to see God's leading as we progress along the adoption journey.

Happy Wednesday

Blogging blues

Well, I've looked at enough other blogs to know that I'm just not blogger-saavy. Technology has always presented it's challenges and this is no exception. It seems that thoughts and eloquent speech just flow from the fingertips of some, and I write and backspace, re-read backspace, etc. Not sure exactly what information belongs on a blog, and what information should really just remain in my thoughts...hmm...

We received a little package from our "A" yesterday, containing just a little snippet of a video of him and some postcards and a CD with music. What a relief to get something from him after all these months. It felt like a little reward for getting our paperwork submitted!! It's just amazing to me how God can just continue to grow love in our hearts each day for our "A". I pray that somehow he is feeling more loved as well.

While the last few weeks were filled with chasing around for documents all about us and the proper format and the proper signatures, etc, now it feels as though the real "waiting" begins. We continue to pray for God's timing, for our ability to trust and obey, and for all of us to have open hearts to receive one another.

Some days waiting just feels hard, but God is good. Read Phil 2:14 today "Do everything without complaining or arguing" didn't even make it to 9am without a little whining. Guess it's something to keep working at--maybe tomorrow I'll get to 9:15.

Sunny Days and Fridays

It's good to see the sun! Fridays are always popular here at our house. The weekend break from the routine is good. We live in Michigan, so even though we're beginning to see the grass in the yard, I know that it could still be covered in a blanket of white a few more times before we see an end to winter. It's good to know that God is in control of everything, from weather to adoption paperwork! We are nearing the end of our paperwork collection phase. Then it's a matter of waiting. Most people ask what the time frame is--we really don't know. Once we complete the paperwork, it's all in the hands of the people processing the paperwork and the governments of both countries to move us forward.

We were thankful to be able to send a package to our "A" recently, and then heard from the deliverer that he is well and excited and wants to know when we're coming. While the wait seems long to us, I'm sure that for him it seems much longer. Please continue to pray for him, for his health, safety, and salvation.

We've been able to connect with some more families who have adopted from Russia in the past, and the help and encouragement they provide is invaluable!

As I was cleaning yesterday I found an embarrassing number of cobwebs and was reminded how easy it is for me to get "cobwebs" in my heart and attitude that just hang there until I notice them and ask God to "sweep" them away.

Ps. 27:14 Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart.

Perspective and Gray Days

Prayed with a friend this morning and she reminded me of the many blessings in my life. It's good on gray winter days to have someone to help keep things in perspective. We are truly blessed. C is recovering, much slower than he would like, but still recovering. We continue to work on our paperwork and are making good progress. We have not heard anything from "A", but were able to send a couple of greetings to him through others traveling there. Our WI friends should be home tomorrow with their son. It's has been quite a process and they have kept us up-to-date daily. Another friend who was planning to bring another child into their family had some complications and the child is no longer available. Please pray for peace, comfort and wisdom for this family on how to proceed.

Again today I was amazed at how many people I've come into contact with through this process and how many others have either gone through the process or know of others who have. We have met some really great people going through this adventure right alongside us. Last week we enjoyed a Russian potluck with 7 other families. We were encouraged to find that everything was actually edible (except for maybe some super-flat pancake things). It was fun to try new things.

We took a trip to Lake Michigan last weekend and enjoyed seeing the frozen lake and walking out on the ice mountains. It was great to see the beauty and breathe in some fresh air and see sunshine.

On the gray days I'm reminded of Ps. 43:5 - Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

We are learning to look at all the mounds of paperwork one document at a time, so as not to become overwhelmed. We also have to look at the paperwork as getting us closer to the time when we can travel to pick up "A". We continue to hear the adoption journey stories of others, one in particular who has been able to give quite a lot of detail regarding their experiences. It's a mix of feelings as we want to learn more and know as much as we can about the process, the orphanage, country, region, etc., but the knowledge can also come with a fair amount of anxiety as to how our "A" is doing, if he is aware that we are pursuing adopting him, how long we will be in this process, etc. We know, though, that if we allow Him to, God can use these days to bring us closer to Him, more dependent on Him. As our pastor refers to it, we are currently enrolled in the "school of contentment". We need to remind ourselves daily that we serve a big God who is bigger than our stack of paperwork and is in complete control of the details of our lives even when much seems out of our control.

Great news for our friends in WI! They are currently picking up their son and will soon be bringing him home! We are so excited for them! Please keep them in your prayers and their new son as well--he has some health concerns.

We are continuing along in our process. We were slowed a bit by the weather and had several meetings cancelled. We were finally able to meet this week and it was a huge encouragement to get back on track and to be with many who have adopted and who are on the same path with us.

C got shingles last week and has been struggling with them affecting his eye. We are praying for complete healing and no vision damage. His energy level is quite low, along with his immunity, so we are trying to lay low and be careful. We are thankful for enouraging friends, especially at a time like this.

I read Psalm 20 yesterday and was so encouraged! I was reminded that I need to keep my trust in God. When King David went to battle he didn't rely on his own strength...vs. 7 "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." He knew where the victory would come from.

We're Still Here

I'm sure some of you were wondering if we'd ever post something new! Well, we have a snow day today so I thought it would be a good time for a long-over-due update. Let's just say the paperwork has been keeping us busy. While we are excited to keep working on the paperwork, we get discouraged sometimes when we look at the whole process and feel like the "dominoes" need to all line up in just the right order and if they don't, then, well , we have to go back and rework the whole thing.

If you noticed that we've taken away the picture and specific names, that is due to information we received that it is safer this way.

Most people's biggest question to us is time frame--when do we think we will travel and bring "A" home? That is a good question, however, there are many variables and we really don't know. Most folks who have gone through the same process as us have been bringing their children home between 7-12 months after starting the process. We, of course, are hoping to be on the shorter end, but truly only God knows, and it is in His timing.

Our boys are very anxious, and talk often about wanting "A" to be here now. We are trying to remind them how God uses waiting to teach us things, to mold our character, etc. Easier to say than to do.

We hope to be able to send a letter to "A" soon, and would really like to be able to hear something from him as well. Continue to pray with us for our friends from WI who hope to travel any day now to pick up their son from the same orphanage as our "A".

Right now we are praying for everyone involved in the process, for provision, wisdom and for peace for us and for "A" as we all prepare our hearts for the change in our family.

The message we heard on Sunday with regard to contentment really hit home for us right now, and challenges us to see the blessings and joy in our lives on a daily basis.

Thanks for your prayers. We'll try to keep this updated a bit more often so that we don't leave you hanging.

After the home study - more paperwork

Well, our home study went well. We should have the report and other documents completed soon, and we already got a new set of paperwork all written in "legalese" so we almost need an interpreter already! We are thankful that the home study went well. It's with excitement, anticipation, and a healthy dose of fear that we proceed with our paperwork. There are so many details. We continue with our risk training and reading as much as we can. We're thankful to have other families who are going through the process with us, as well as others who've already gone through the process who've been very gracious in sharing their experiences with us to try to make it easier for us. It seems like the adoption process consumes a good portion of our mental energy, and we're trying to strike a balance between "regular" everyday life with the boys, and dealing with all the extra paperwork and details efficiently. We continue to pray, pray, pray, both for Alex and ourselves, and those we touch along the way, that we'll all learn what God wants to teach us through the process. Ps. 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

Home Study

We have our home study scheduled, which is the next "hurdle" for us to jump. A home study is where a social worker comes to our home to talk to all of us and see our home and how we interact with each other and how 'A' will "fit" with all of us.

We are all getting back to our routine after Christmas break. We are sure that 2008 will be full of new adventures, and probably a fair amount of waiting. We will be learning, in an all new way, what it means to wait on the Lord.

Happy New Year

We would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

As we start the new year out, here is where we are at in the adoption process.

The home study paperwork has been turned in and we are waiting for a call to set up the first meeting. We have completed two of the risk training classes.

Please look for more posting as we progress further on the road to bring Sasha home.