BIG NEWS!!!!!

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families…” Psalm 68:5-6a

First things first… WE GOT A COURT DATE!!!! In adoption world, this is huge, huge news.  Many times, getting a court date is miraculous.  We are one of those cases.  There is much that we have been unable to share for the last couple of weeks.  Keeping quiet is not my strong suit.  Keeping quiet for two weeks is sheer torture for me.  But, for many reasons, keeping quiet and just allowing God to do the miraculous was best for the kids.  So I did it.  When we first arrived in our region, we were told that there was less than a 10% chance of our adoption working out.  We were crushed.  No matter how many times you are warned that these things frequently happen, your heart is not prepared.  Looking back, I am now so grateful that God took us to a place of complete dependence on Him.  He took us to a place where we had absolutely no control whatsoever.  The odds were bleak, at best.  In God’s great wisdom and goodness and sweetness, He has now ushered us into a place that we know that we know that we know He has orchestrated our family exactly as He desires. 

****ON JANUARY 4 at 1:30 pm (UKRAINE TIME) WE WILL STAND BEFORE A JUDGE AND THE SMITHS WILL OFFICALLY GO FROM A FAMILY OF FIVE TO A FAMILY OF EIGHT!!!!****  Yep, you read that right.  EIGHT.  5+3=8.  There were 5 of us.  On January 4, there will be 8 of us.  Not exactly Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, but pretty darn big news for us. Some of you know me well enough that at this point, you are now thinking “Lisa Smith can’t organize her way out of a paper sack.  How in the world is she ever gonna do this????” Good question.  The way I figure it, if God can orchestrate this nearly “impossible” adoption, He can equip me to mother 3 more kids.  He has definitely overwhelmed our hearts with love for these precious gifts, so I’m quite sure He is more than able to orchestrate the rest.  RIGHT?????

Let me try to fill in a few blanks.  We came here to adopt Nicholas and Anya.  You know that part.  The first day we got to see them here was the sweetest reunion you can imagine.  Then we had the great privilege of meeting their older brother, Vanya.  We prayed like mad.  Our new friend, Jennifer, who is here from California and is adopting beautiful Rita, put it perfectly when she said that on our second day with Vanya she witnessed “nothing short of the miraculous”.  In my heart, he became our son that day.  You are seriously gonna love him.  All 3 of our new kids are siblings and have been in the orphanage for about 6 years.  God, in His utter goodness, is allowing us to become their forever family.  We know that we have a God-sized journey ahead of us.  Good thing His Word says He 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). 

So, here is who you will see when we FINALLY get to come home around the last week of January (we will post exacts when we know.):  Vanya is 16 and his new American name will be Evan Bailey Smith.  “Bailey” is Rod’s Dad’s middle name.  Evan is athletic and would very much like to join a gym when we get home.  He is also good at soccer (futbol).  He likes rap music.  Funniest thing he said today was when he asked Rod and me if we would take him to an Eminem concert.  Are you getting a visual of what that would look like????? We said no and decided to introduce him to Lecrae tomorrow.  Nicholas’ name in Ukraine is Mikolai.  His nickname here is Kolya.  He decided he wanted to be “Nicholas” in America when he was with us over the summer.  So his name will be Nicholas William Smith.  “William” is my Dad’s middle name.  “Nicholas” is Rod’s great-grandfather and is a special name to Rod’s Mom.  And Miss Anya made the quick decision that she would name her new stuffed lion “Anya” and take a new name for her new life in America.  We gave her a list of possible choices that would be similar.  Without hesitation, she chose Jarrod’s suggestion.  Her very Southern, very fru fru name will be AnnaBelle Kathryn Smith.  “Kathryn” is my Mom’s name.  She quickly corrects us if we accidentally call her Anya now.  Our little one is ready for a new life.

So there you have it.  Five sons and one daughter.  Nothing short of chaos, madness, and complete joy.  Nothing short of God setting the lonely in a family.  Nothing short of God speaking to the Smiths and then placing a holy passion in our hearts.  May His great Name be praised and may our newest angels allow themselves to be carried to the Savior by parents who are nuts over them.  Amen and amen.