God is in control

09/20/2011 00:06

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This past summer, I only had one day with Viktor the whole time we were on our trip. The previous summer, I was only able to see him one day as well. Such a bummer, but I am still very thankful for those days. Besides, I knew that wasn't the reason for our trip. The purpose for our trip was to show God's love to the kids and teach them what the Word of God says about Jesus, and just spend time with them. We were there to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

 I don't know if I'm allowed to say this out in public before we adopt him, but Viktor and I met 4 years ago in his orphanage. I fell in love with him right away. I remember his eyes. He looked directly into mine and smiled. All the kids look at you and wait to see what your expression says back. They have pleading eyes; eyes that say, "please accept me and love me". He has the exact eyes as I do-same shape and color. He also has the same freckles on the sides of his nose that my kids had.  I had to have someone get a picture of us face to face. What an adorable smile he has in that picture. Once I know it's ok to post pictures, I'll post that picture along with new ones.

On a more current note, Viktor graduated from his orphanage, therefore, he had to leave in August and go to "college" (which is high school, except in a dorm with other kids). We were really worried about him living there since there will not really be any one there to take care of him, protect him, meet his physical needs, or give him the emotional support he will need. I have two close friends who are watching out for him, but for most orphans, they really have no one and this is where they end up on the streets. There are not many people who are there helping them once they leave the orphanage. There is really no one teaching them life skills. There are not many people encouraing them or taking care of them. There are some missionaries (local and foreign) who try to help, but the need is overwhelming. Some churches also minister to them the best they can.

Viktor is way too young to be in this situation. Since I couldn't go and move to Ukraine and take care of him myself (and boy did we consider that) we looked into having him move in to our dear old friend's House Of Hope. The House of Hope is a home that helps boys go through school and then college as they live in a family situation with a Christian mom and dad. They are taught about God's love and taught how to be godly young men and at the same time, also taught life skills. Everything was set up for this to happen, but it still has not worked out.

This is kind of long, but hang in there, you're going to hear about how awesome God is and how He loves to show Himself strong. He cares about us so much. I found out last week that Viktor did not get to move into the House of Hope. A friend of mine is still working on this and in the meantime, he bought him food and clothes. I began to worry about who was taking care of him, what if he's not safe, and is he sad, etc, etc. I do not usually worry but I couldn't stop worrying. I posted on my facebook that I was super bummed about this. My daughter, Dana, who has the gift of encouragement, posted this on my facebook:   Now to Him who is able to do IMMEASURABLY more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us." Ephesians 3:20

I was like, WOW....I'm going to claim that verse. I gave it all over to God and told Him I trust Him and I know He loves Viktor even more than we do. 

I was out of internet and cell phone range for the next few days because I was on a retreat with our school's middle schoolers. When I returned, I had a facebook friend request from a man in Ukraine. I didn't know who he was, but we had some mutual Christian facebook friends so I accepted his friend request. Later that night, out of the blue, he sends me a picture. I looked to see what the picture was and it was VIKTOR! My heart jumped and smiled! It looked like Viktor was in an office and had a phone and headphones...must have been listening to music. I started looking through the man's pictures and saw some pictures of Viktor at the orphanage but couldn't comment on them because the pictuers belonged to someone else. So, being the facebook stalker that I am, I went to that person's facebook and sent her a message. She wrote on the picture that she was there on mission trip and that's how she met the man, my new fb friend, and the teenagers. All weekend, we wrote back and forth and I found out that Viktor goes to their church and the man is the pastor  and takes care of Viktor, takes him places, mentors him, and loves him. I found out the lady, who's name is Holly, is a missionary nurse and has lived there for about 1 1/2 years. I also have another friend named Misha who goes to that church. I've known Misha for 8 years.

The reason for this very long story you ask? WELL...I'm glad you asked! God was showing me, "Hey, I got this"! I claimed that verse that says He can do IMMEASURABLY more than we ask or imagine. I was worried about who was going to take care of Viktor for me. I had two friends who were going to do their best to look out for him already, and then God showed me these others that I didn't even know about. He didn't have to do this. He didn't have to show me. But He loves His children so much that He wants us to see His hand at work. When we trust in Him, He'll open our eyes to what He is doing. He can always do a better job than us anyway, so we might as well give it all to Him...especially when it's completely out of our control anyway. I'm amazed by Him! I'm so thankful for His love that I DO NOT deserve!