to go or not to go

We have discussed as a family and otherwise, about a trip to Ukraine. We want to do this for many reasons.
One is so the girls can see home again. I fear they will be disappointed when they see everything but it will be good for them. We also want to get pix of the old houses they lived in, the orphange, graves etc. We had most of this when we went in 05' to adopt them but one of the girls deleted all of the pix. Not once but twice.
Another is to do some work at a ministry called Crossroads in Kyiv. They minister to street children through food, clothes medical care as well as there spiritual needs.
God has placed a burden in my heart for missions but it is very strong for Ukraine.
All this being said we talked about a trip this fall ( no good with the kids in school), this Christmas, next March during the kids spring break and finally in the begining of June 09'. June gets the nod because it will allow us more time in Ukraine to see all the things we want to see and do.
So we are going to Ukraine. Cant wait. As I read other blogs of those who are there doing mission work I get excited about going. The girls are happy too but for differant reasons.

day one

This is my first post. These will be my views about what is happening in my world. My wife and I adopted five children. Our first, Jon, came into our lives via Foster care that we did back in 95'. He was available for adoption and we felt led by the Lord to do so. In 04' we met some orphans from Ukraine who were visiting Birmingham and that strated us on a road to adopting four girls from an orphange in Ivanciv Ukraine. What a trip that was. We went in Sept. 05' expecting to be home in four weeks and instead it took nine weeks and one day to get back.
Things are done differantly there than we expected but we did accomplish what we set out to do, that was to bring four beautiful girls back home to be a part of our family. And what a family it is !! A blending of cultures and idea's in so many directions that we cant help but sit down and laugh about some of the things that we go through together.
Last night was the horse. Yes, we have a horse named Austin. He is very freindly and two of the kids love him dearly and the others were neutral. Till last night. The horse hurt his foot a couple of days ago and it started to look bad yesterday. Well, by the time it was getting dark we had all five kid's out there helping to "doctor" up the horse. It brought us all together around the horse and allowed us to have a common purpose. One more step in the bonding of a family. Every body had an idea of what to do and how to help but mostly it was to love on the horse who seemed glad that it all happened.