Yay for hosting!!

Three of my friends, and even some of our family are hosting Ukrainian orphans for 5 weeks this summer!  I am so excited for them all!  Hosting an orphan allows kids a needed break from orphanage life, they get to travel, but best of all when they come, they get to stay with a family and get filled up with love, do fun things, eat big healthy meals, expereince life outside of the confines of the walls they know.

So Alex, Andriy, Alya, Alonya, Angelika, Denis, Myroslav, Katya, Vlad, Valeriy, and Max all have families excited and waiting for them, all facilitated by a group called, God’s Waiting Children (great organization)  In fact, my amazing friend Mary and her husband just signed up last week!  That lucky boy is going to get to swim, and eat In-n-Out with people who will tell him he is important and special, how cool right?

But will you pray for two little boys?  Valeriy and Max are the only two boys who have not been chosen in their orphanage to go.  There is still a very small amount of time for these two to get the chance to come over from the orphanage and get hosted, if you know of anyone would you let them know?  It would be SO fun.  There is nothing like seeing the world through the eyes of a child who hasn’t experienced even some of the most basic things in life; movie nights, swimming at the beach, a family dinner.  If you know of anyone who may be interested, please forward this info: Here or see their facebook page for pics of the boys and more info.

I want to mention something that I am often asked when people are considering adoption or hosting an ‘older’ child; “But what if they get bored? We only have a baby/no kids/no…. etc etc.” What I want you to know is that children from orphanages are different than American family children. They do not have the same ‘need’ to be entertained. Their levels of priorities are different, and in our experience the ONE thing they want are people who care about them. And that’s it. Andrew and I could very well be the most boring parents, we don’t have tv, we don’t buy toys, etc. Maria’s favorite toys she makes herself out of paper, Elijah’s are empty plastic jars…. But I’ll tell you what, Maria and Elijah could spend their days, sitting with us, with nothing else, and they would be happy. They notice and appreciate things that we would never notice and it is a BLESSING to us, it is delightful. We aren’t even the sweetest people in the world, sometimes I meet sweet people, and I’m like, “How?” Don’t be afraid, your age, lack of things, money doesn’t matter, the best thing you can offer children in need you already have: just yourself. 

http://www.upworthy.com/these-kids-dont-want-ipods-or-toys-what-they-want-and-dont-have-is-beyond-sad-7?g=2


Please pass it on!  Hosting these boys could very well change your life for the better as it changes theirs for the better (just stating the obvious)