Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Fingerprinting Went Smoothly!

We couldn't have asked for our fingerprinting to go an smoother yesterday!
Our appointment was for 10:00a.m., and we were done by 10:15a.m.!!
They were even able to process Mark's fingerprints--which had traces of superglue on them from 2 days prior. They told us that we would not receive approval for another 2-3 weeks! We are praying that it will be done quicker than that! By Monday, we will have all the other paperwork completed!
We sooo appreciate your prayers! What an encouragement it is to us!
"Trust and Obey"--What a great hymn!!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Our Paperwork arrived!

Yeah!!! Our paperwork arrived in Kiev on Monday at 4:30! We couldn't have asked for it to get there any sooner! Now, we wait to see if they will accept what we have sent. . .in the meantime, we will gather our last bit of paperwork and send it in as soon as we get approval from UCIS.
On another note. . .Some of you have asked if we decided on a facilitator. Well, we decided to go with Dr. Dubrovsky. Dr. D is a native Russian who lives in New York. He oversees facilitators for 5 different countries. We decided to go with him because he is the one who informed us of the "100 dossier limit". We definitely want someone who is "on top of things"! Thank you to those who had been praying for us in making this decision.

Friday, January 16, 2009

First Set of Paperwork is in the mail!

We got it done! Thanks to some helpful people (like Ka Freeman)! We compiled, notarized, and apostilled all 6 documents that we needed to go to Ukraine. We are praying DHL can have the papers in Ukraine by Monday. Monday is when the provisional registration begins.
We appreciate living in the state of Indiana--Indiana is the only state that does not charge to have documents apostilled--that saved us $130 today!
We couldn't have asked for things to go much smoother than they did!--complete with a great parking spot at the State House! :) and we even had 10 minutes to spare at DHL.
Please pray for a family from Colorado just lost their house to a fire, their son went in the hospital, and their dog died--all in 3 days! To read their story, go to http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/. To help them, go to
http://lovebuildsahouse.blogspot.com/.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

New Rules in Ukraine

We just received news that Ukraine is only accepting 100 dossiers from couples requesting a child under the age of 6. Yes, you read it right--100 dossiers from around the world for 2009!
We find it hard to believe that there are only 100 "healthy" children under the age of 6 in need of a home in Ukraine. Also, the deadline is Feb.1. There is no way that our dossier will be completed and in Ukraine by Feb.1, so our facilitator will have his staff stand in line for us on Monday to get our name on a provisional registration. We need to have 6 documents sent ASAP to Ukraine.
We have been praying that God would make it clear to us that Ukraine is the right country. Well, this could very well be our answer. If ours is one of the 100 dossiers that get accepted, we will take that as a clear sign that Ukraine is the right country. If not, we will continue to seek God's direction.
Please pray that we will get our documents to Ukraine in a timely manner, and that we will be one of the 100!
We appreciate your love and prayers!
Diane

Saturday, January 10, 2009

USCIS date

We recieved our USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) Appointment Notice. We go on the 26th of this month to get fingerprinted. After we get fingerprinted, we wait for USCIS to give us approval! This whole USCIS process is so that we can bring Katarina into the United States.
It's encouraging to get yet another sign that things are moving along! We were just recalling that it was 1 year ago on the 8th of this month that Mark came home with a video from Lifesong. . .thus began our adoption journey! It doesn't seem possible that a year has gone by! We are praying that it won't take another year for us to go get Katarina. . .we are learning that this is not in our timing!!! "Lead on O King Eternal"!
Diane

Friday, January 2, 2009

Happy New Year!

In looking back over 2008, the Goins Gang can be thankful for a lot of blessings from God! Yes, from God, because every good and perfect gift comes from above!! Though this process of adoption has not been easy, we are thankful that God reminded us of James 1:27. We know that adoption is not the only way to obey this verse, but this is how we believe God wants the Goins' to obey. This process is also a good reminder of how God has adopted us--just as we are!

For every bump in the road, God has given us people to encourage us along the way! I don't know what I would do without Sarah, my friend who has adopted a sweet boy named Jaxson. She has given me help and encouragement like only one who has "been there" can! In reading an old entry in Katarina's journal, I was reminded also of how we weren't going to have a third garage sale, but someone told us of a possibility of some furniture we could sell. Well, not much furniture came, but we ended up making $1,346.40 from that garage sale alone! Our every need has been provided for! :)

We are thankful to all of you who are praying for us! There is nothing better you can do for us! God knows the little girl we will adopt, and loves her far more than we ever will or can! It is God alone who knows what we need! He goes before us! As they say in Ukraine, "Slova Bog" (long o in "Bog")--Praise God! And, as Cathy Gurley says, there is no safer place to be than in God's will! We just want to trust and obey!

Another encouragement that we received was on Wednesday, when a letter from immigration came in the mail stating that they received our paperwork and everything is in order. We now wait for immigration (UCIS) to send us another letter stating the date/time for us to get fingerprinted. At this point, any reminder that this process is moving along is a great encouragement!

Please continue to pray for us and our family.
Happy New Year!
The Goins Gang