Why Ukraine?

As the day gets closer when we find out when we FINALLY get to go to Ukraine to meet our son, whom we have chosen to name Micah, I decided that it was time to start sharing our journey with our family and friends.  Our journey to adopt our second child began 3 years ago when we applied for another domestic adoption with the same agency we used to adopt Nathan.  After 9 months, we got a late night phone call asking if we would be interested in an African American baby.  We said yes and just 36 hours later, we were on our way to the hospital to pick her up.  Sarah was going to be her name.  15 minutes from the hospital, we got another phone call informing us that the mom had changed her mind.  Sarah wasn't going to be ours after all.  After the 45 minute ride home with Brent and I mourning and Nathan crying in the back seat for us to turn around to go get his baby sister, my mind was made up.  I was not going to do that to my family again.  After a few weeks, I discovered that Brent agreed with me and we began to look for children in the foster care system.  After 6 months, it became clear that since we can't be foster parents because of our job, we were not going to be able to adopt a relatively healthy, youngish child from the US.  In December of 2010 we decided to embark on our international adoption journey.  The most frequently asked question I get is "why Ukraine?" The initial answer is simple:  My family originates in Ukraine.  My paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Ukraine.  However, since I was a young teenager, I have had a deep conviction for the people of Ukraine and children without families.  For a long time I thought I was going to be a missionary there.  I have found my mission field helping children without families and now I will expand MY family with a child from the country that I love.  I am excited to share my journey with you. I am not going to pretend that I have time to write something every day.  Nor am I delusional and think that you want to read about my life every day!  But, I will update when I can and when there is news to share.