Saturday's Story

Greeting from Kiev, it’s 10PM Saturday night.

It’s been a busy Saturday here in Kiev; we’ve been very social- out & about! After posting the quick update on the blog at noon, the van arrived to pick us up. Galya, Brad & Patty Hicks, and the Daughertys then traveled downtown Kiev to pickup another American couple. The Adams are from Florida, and just flew in Saturday morning. The Hicks have adopted from the Ukraine twice before. This time they are attempting to receive a 13 year old girl that they have met on mission trips before. The Adams will be adopting their 5^th child from this country, a teenage girl as well. Both are terrific couples who certainly know the ropes. We enjoyed picking their brains, and learning from their experiences.

We ate a very nice, upscale, Ukrainian themed restaurant. Complete with a strolling band of entertainers, great dйcor, and very good food. Barb & I both had a plate of pork filets on potato pancakes. An enjoyable meal was had by all!

After dinner we went to a national landmark, located on a hill overlooking the river flowing through the center of Ukraine, the centerpiece of which is a statue named “Mother Russia”. It is Ukraine’s equivalent to the US’s Statue of Liberty. “Mother Russia” is a very tall statue holding one arm in the air welcoming people, and the other arm holding a shield- promising to defeat them. At the base of the statue and on the surrounding grounds stood a very impressive museum and set of sculptures (great video & photos to share later). The museum is named “National Museum of the History of The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945”; they can be located at www.warmuseum.kiev.ua . As indicated by the name, the entire focus is the defeat & pushing out of the Germans. But Ukraine’s losses and suffering are shown, never to be forgotten.

After a cold stroll in the night air back to our van, we head back to the Adams’ hotel. The van next dropped us off at 5:30PM, and then the Hicks were off to gather their luggage and head to the train depot for their departure. Please pray for the Hicks family, they have a task ahead of them. They travel on the train from 8:20PM Saturday evening, and they will stop at 7AM Sunday. Then they will set in a train yard for 8 hours as the train is uncoupled and re-attached with other cars heading the same direction. Then the train takes off for another 2 hour ride, I believe. Wow, talk about your modern transportation- fun time there! Upon their arrival at the orphanage, they still have several large tasks looming to be taken care of before their adoption can be completed. But Brad & Patty remain confident that God will see them through the process.

Sunday morning we will attend church at Galya’s home church. She has invited us, and the service has American translation as well. So we look forward to wonderful time of worship in another culture.

After that service we have to ready ourselves, as we will be boarding a train Sunday evening at 7:30PM. We are traveling towards the central, eastern border of Ukraine- towards Russia. The city we are going to is named Donetsk. It is in a coal mining region, but full of modern Ukraine wonders. On Monday everything kicks up several notches as we will visit with the “orphanage inspector” and then meet the boy! Monday afternoon we will move into our living quarters in Donetsk, where we will “make home” for what will probably be a couple of weeks.

That’s about all I can tell you for sure right know. In summary, we have had a great five days so far. Very different… a lot of adjustments (we especially miss our select comfort bed)… and total reliance on people who God has placed in our path. Don’t know if we will have time to journal on Sunday, next time we may be writing to you from Donetsk… but that’s all for tonight. As for now, we’re coming at you- Live from Ukraine…It’s Saturday Night!

Take care, and God Bless you all.

Darrin & Barb (the American poster children for Ukrainian travels)

P.S. Barb thought I should expand on our bountiful breakfast I prepared Saturday morning. Always one to get creative in the kitchen, I discovered leftovers in the fridge and decided & I should use them before we move out of the apartment. I had a leftover piece of chicken breast (with a baked on cheese topping), and a container of McDonald’s French fries. I discovered you should separate the topping off the chicken, then dice the chicken and sautй it in a skillet. While sautйing chicken, cut fries into short Ѕ" pieces. Then add fries to browned chicken, stir in the hot oil to coat & brown fries. Finally, add the chicken’s original cheesy topping back into the mixture and let melt for a short time! BAM! Move over Emerill, here comes Darrin! (That is our original Ukrainian Chicken & Chip recipe that you can feel free to try & duplicate in your own home.)

Thursday Morning ..... Backtrack

Hello… It’s Me Again…

Well, it’s almost 5am local time Thursday morning and I’m sitting in my Ukraine flat with my laptop open and trying to convey to you how much very different life looks, but really it isn’t, only eight hours away. I awoke about 4am with a “little” excitement in my mind about going to discover our son today. After some quiet prayer time, I have decided to use this time to write to you, and burn off some nervous energy. Later, I hope to save this letter to my USB flash drive and download it at the internet cafй. Let’s hope this plan works!

But Wednesday we were only able to send a couple of messages, so today I will first backtrack to Tuesday’s travels. Our flight from STL to Detroit was uneventful. Then we hung out at the airport for the 90 minute lay over, then boarded for Amsterdam (pronounced Amsterdom- for all you home-bound, non-worldly travelers- like I was a few days ago). As we were preparing to “button-down-the-hatches” (another word from a world traveler’s glossary), the pilot informed us that the wind currents were great and that our 7 hr 45 minute flight was looking like 7 hours, but first the temperature in Detroit was 34 degrees, so the plane would get “iced-down” before take-off. So a few minutes later we backed away from the terminal & they sprayed the plane’s wing directional parts (not official glossary terminology) down with a liquid substance to keep them from freezing during takeoff. Then we sat there, then we sat longer, and then we see this man in a highly decorated uniform (looking like the captain) walking through the plane to get to the back end. No, I’m was not an experienced world traveler at that point yet, but I found myself thinking- “he should probably be using the bathroom in first class, not walking back 36 rows to visit the one in the kitchen area- this can’t be good”. Sure enough, after he walked back to his control booth, here comes the intercom again- “Attention passengers, after our brief de-icing, the crew reported a noise in the rear of the plane. After a brief negative visual internal check, we have decided to pull back to the gate & have a maintenance crew examine the cargo area.” (translation- there’s no smoke, but there could be fire, and we ain’t in Demark yet!) So we had to wait for a crew, wait to pull back to a gate, wait for a few guys with fire extinguishes to poke around in the cargo area, and then wait for the all clear that there was going to be no “ball of fire in the sky over Cleveland today”. Okay, he didn’t really announce it that way! He did tell us that a valve had probably stuck open during the de-icing spray/procedure, and that a light chemical smell had probably entered the rear cabin. We never smelled a thing in our row, except each other, man- they really do put those seats side-by-side! So finally, after an hour delay, we took off down the runway, and up too- praise God! But guess what happened to our hour early arrival? Yep, we were about 30 minutes later than originally scheduled arriving in Amsterdom. That’s okay- took our layover from 5 hours, to only 4Ѕ! We walked around and bought our European power converts, we nibbled at the airport McDonald’s, then walked around the airport like foreign tourist. Pointing at everything- look wooden shoes! Look tulips! Look a piped piper boy with a bunch a mice following him! Excitement was everywhere. Then we found the “Yodel Hotel” (honest, I promise- I’m not pulling your leg- Barb will confirm this later) a series of sleeping rooms, and private baths, where travelers like us, can spend their layovers taking naps and getting refreshed before their connecting flight. I checked into it, and it was real inexpensive, but by the time I figured out the currency exchange rate from dollars to Eros, we only had about 75 minutes left before the plane departed! But it is something we may definitely examine & take advantage of coming home. I’m sure our son will want to sleep… somewhere… sometime… maybe…

Then a short & uneventful flight brought us from Amsterdom to Kiev, Ukraine. In the airport we met our new, best, Ukrainian friend- Galya! Galya has worked for Hopeful Hearts for about 8 years I believe, and she coordinates all the translator/facilitators over here. She is a great, friendly personality- with terrific English skills. She made us feel right at home, answering questions in the cab & throughout the evening as fast as Barb & I could throw them at her! After a drive to our apartment, we made a quick detour through a McDonald’s, a block away, for a trip through drive-through on the way home. Doesn’t that sound just like America? So we ate & she filled us in on what to expect the next few days. The shops were closed, so we didn’t get a phone last night, but expect to on Thursday. We did walk about Ѕ a block to a grocery store to make a few purchases, and then we went to an internet cafй to make the quick blog entry last night. Then we proceeded back to our apartment. Galya lives about 5 minutes away, and after a list of “when in your Ukrainian apartment” dos & don’ts (all delivered with helpful love), she departed about 8PM Wednesday. We unpacked a little, and were in bed by 9PM Wednesday- after a very full 30 hours after getting out of our bed at home on Tuesday morning Nov. 25^th.

This morning (Thursday) our driver will be here at 6:45AM to begin our journey. Today we go to an adoption office (sorry- don’t know the official name yet) to meet the Ukraine officials at 9AM. They intend to match us up with our son! Sounds simple, huh? But we remain confident that God has us covered, and that he will make the right child known to us. I have to admit that as I struggled, tossed, & turned on a hard bed that was not my own- I found myself thinking a little differently about myself. As some of you may realize- I can tend to be a little bit of a detail-oriented, control-freak, who usually runs the show. I like to plan the event, write the rules, oversee the function, and never sit still. It is those same reasons that I am sure God is in control of this adoption. I have never felt “in control”, but have always trusted those that were. Even Wednesday, there was excitement- but not anxiety. Last night we walked into an unknown airport, filled out papers and walked through an immigration area filled with somber faced guards, and strolled through customs like we were first-class international travelers! As Galya met us at the airport, I had a peace come over me that everything was going to be alright, & that I had to continue to follow His plan. So while staying alert, I certainly have surrendered control to those He has placed in our path. And as I tossed & turned on an usual bed this morning, I recalled the message Kathy Drane told us a few weeks ago- I can’t recall it exactly but basically- ‘you will put up with some discomfort, things will not be perfect, you will be on someone else’s timeframe- but you will endure for 5 weeks- to gain what will bring you a new happiness forever.’ I found myself at 4:10AM this morning drawing the simple conclusion- If God suffered through His Son going to the cross for me, should I really be complaining about the comfort of the warm bed I have the night before I go to discover my Son? It’s really all in perspective, and I believe my focus is set for the day. I hope you have that same perspective on your life.

Giving praise to Him, and sending our best to you this Thanksgiving morning,

Darrin, and Barb too!

Thanksgiving Thursday Afternoon update…

This (Thursday) morning was a very awesome morning! After the driver picked us up at 6:45am, we headed for the Ukraine Department of Children’s & Sports Ministry (the US equivalent to Department of Children & Family Services). There we saw photos and received information about a dozen little boys, and a couple of females. We have chosen to meet a young 21 month old, to see if he likes us! All reports show him to be a healthy, active child without siblings, and was left in the orphanage by his single mother. With the weekend upon us, we now play a waiting game. We will go back to the office Friday afternoon to complete more paperwork & get our official referral invitation to travel to the orphanage.

The next phase of the journey really doesn’t kick in until Sunday evening. Saturday will be a day of sightseeing, as Galya has promise to “show us the city”. Then on Sunday afternoon/evening we will board a train for what we believe to be an overnight trip to the orphanage. Monday we will meet with the “orphanage inspector”, the person in charge of the orphanage that we are going to. After she decides that she loves us, then we get to meet our future son! Still sounds like a long ways off, but Galya is thrilled! She has seen this process so many times, and she says that we are home free. I think we’ll continue to pray anyway… I guess it can’t hurt!

The sights of the city are unique, a blend of old Europe & big city. Some parts of town show a lot of construction and growth, others need the same! Traffic is interesting to say the least- you people think I’m a fast & crazy driver… over here I’d look like a retired farmer driving in the country looking at crops. Our driver is a church deacon, professional taxi driver, and could qualify for any NASCAR event in America! He is my new hero. I did barter a little on the streets today & picked up a few souvenirs to bring home. The man wanted a lot of money, but I only gave him some. The Ukraine is not part of the European Union yet (as best I understand it), so they are not in the Euro system. They trade in paper & coins much like the U.S. does. Their currency is pronounced “grieve-na”- I think.

Sorry to be so brief about the description of our son, but that is all we will know until Monday. We’ll have to write more later. Another America couple, the Hicks from Louisville, are flying in this evening to adopt also. So I believe we will see them tomorrow & spend Saturday sightseeing with them.

This has been a very special Thanksgiving Day for the Daugherty Family here in the Ukraine. It will only be topped by events that are to yet to come. Hope your celebrations are enjoyable in the U.S. as well. Thinking of you all…

Darrin, and Barb

Saturday noon in Ukraine

So it has been a few days since our last blog entry, thank you for checking back in. We have had slight electronic, techno delays in keeping you informed. At the Amsterdom airport we purchased 3 voltage converters to use our US appliances on European 220 voltage. Within 36 hours all three burnt up. Today we will buy one locally.

Darrin has two lengthy blog entries prepared on his laptop, but the battery powered down before he could save them to a flash drive and carry them to the internet cafe to post. So now we will make a quick summary entry for the past few days activities, then after locating a converter we will bring the detailed blog entries over and post them. So you are reading day 5 of our trilogy, then you can come back and read days two and three later-it will be just like Star Wars! Just read it backwards and it will make sense-up to the point where Darrin looks through his hooded parka at the little Ukrainian boy and says "...little boy, I am your father!".

Okay, back to the quick summary.... We did go to the adoption office Thursday morning and decided to meet a young boy in an orphanage in another "region", so we will be traveling. The boy is 21 months old, had no siblings, been in the orphanage his entire life, and never knew his single, unwed mother-everything we prayed for! Friday afternoon we received the official "invitation" paper work to go to the orphanage and meet the boy. Today is Saturday and a day of waiting. We may do alittle sight seeing but nothing happens until Sunday evening until we board a train for an overnight trip to the orphanage. When we arrive there Monday morning, we will go to the orphanage to meet the boy we believe that will become our son, if that is God's plan. We continue to ask for your prayers that all will go smoothly.

A few culture notes.... the Ukrainian country is not like America! The weather has been the same everyday. The weather man can never be wrong..."Tomorrow's forcast-Cold, Gloomy, Gray skies, and Outside." That's all we've seen. Don't know why we bothered to pack sunglasses. We remain cautious in our activities and alert to our surroundings-but there is no crime to speak of and we feel comfortable. Galya was busy for a few hours yesterday, so we walked to the grocery store to purchase bottled water and stopped at McDonald's for 2 Big-N-Tasty and 2 Large Fries-the big pictures are easy to point at! It really worked very well.

Our apartment is warm, cozy, and reminds you of the "I Love Lucy" era. We do have a great shower and plenty of hot water in this "Flat". For the men who travel to the annual Branson Men's Retreat, maybe you can relate to this-if those cabins were graded "A+" this "Flat" would be a "B". Besides restrauant meals out, we have bought groceries at the market. Darrin has fixed a few creative meals and Barb has hand washed the dishes! We understand the region we are traveling to next is a very modern city as well. We should not have a problem finding internet cafes there to keep you posted.

Well, we will post this blog entry for now and hope to be able to post the other two entries also today. It is almost noon here on Saturday, so most of you should still be enjoying your slumber as it is 4 am Saturday there. Enjoy your sweet dreams, and have a great Saturday. We remember you all daily and request your prayers for safe travels Sunday/Monday and a terrific meeting with the boy we never knew would be our son.

Much love from Ukraine,

Darrin & Barb

P.S. We had debated how much to share about the boy before you met him in person upon our return. We have since learned that it is illegal to post photos, information, or names on the web dealing with any orphan child until he/she has been adopted and removed from this country. So you will have to wait to learn some particulars until we arrive home.

We have landed in the Ukraine!

Thank you for all your prayers, we have arrived in Ukraine and are under the excellant supervision of Galya, our newest Ukrainian friend! We have been to McDonalds, the grocery store, and now the internet cafe!

What more could we want.... oh yes, a son! We start that meeting tomorrow at 9am at the adoption office. We 'll write more later after we get more sleep!

Love,
Darrin, Barb, & Galya too!

We are in Amsterdam

It's 10am Wednesday morning and 3am while most of you are still in bed back in the USA. We have arrived on this side of the pond, and will write much more later.

Thanks for checking in!

Darrin & Barb

Goodbye from Raymond!

Here it is, Monday night, a little past 10PM. Everything tells me that we should be getting a good night's sleep in advance of traveling tomorrow. But how do you settle in and forget what is about to occur?

My brother Duane & his wife Cheryl will be here at 9:30am tomorrow to drive us to St Louis. We depart Lambert at 1:35PM, and a 2 hour flight takes us to Detroit. There we have an hour & 30 minute layover. An 8 hour flight gets us to Amsterdam, there we sit through a 5 hour layover. Then a 2 hour 30 minute flight takes us to Kiev, Ukraine. We will arrive there at 4:25PM Wednesday, their time. Here in Illinois it will be 8:25AM Wednesday morning.

Then the adventure really begins. Thank God for the Hopeful Hearts group that has guided us throughout this entire journey. Their translator/facilitator will meet us at the airport & stay with us every step of the way. We are confident that we are in the good hands of knowledgeable people.

So stay tuned... next time I blog, we will be in Ukraine. I pray that God keeps each of you safe and happy through a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Take time to slow down, look around, hug your family, and count your many blessings! I know Barb and I certainly are!

In His Love,
Darrin, and Barb!

The Count down until launch.....

What!?! Only 3 days until we're "leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when we'll be back again"....(luckily you didn't have to listen to me sing that).

Darrin & I have officially started "nesting". I cleaned the house from top to bottom today. I washed the beddings for our son's "car" and I washed some child-size eating utensils we are taking along.

I have run a range of emotions....from fear to excitement to anxious to pure elation (as I am sure all mom's have done before me). I just keep reminding myself what Dr. Kevin Leman says "You don't have to be a perfect mom...just a good one."

Over the past several weeks I have received much support from many people. While some tease- "Do you know what you are in for?" most encourage with "You are going to make a great mother." and "I'm so happy and excited for you." This decision was made between God, Darrin, & I and it was made with much prayer and thought. I know in my heart and soul that this is the direction God is leading us right now. We look forward to being parents and bringing this child to the USA. We can give this child so much more than the life this child would be destined to live without our love and provision. I also know that our lives will be so much more blessed by including this child in our family.

I know we have a lot to learn about parenting, but so did everyone else with their first child. Thank you to all who are praying for us, encouraging us and those who have been so very supportive. It really does mean the world to us. I will go for now... I look forward to attending PHCC tomorrow for the last time this year ...don't know when we'll be back again!

Barb (& Darrin)

One Week To Go!

WHAT?.... WOW!.... We leave in a week!?!? I guess we better start doing some packing! Do you think my footie pajamas will look out of place in the Ukraine?

Barb & I want to thank you again for all the well wishes, thoughts, & prayers. As I told someone else, seems like it has been a terribly long journey since we made the decision to start looking at adopting. But in reality, it's only been since last Easter (March of 2007). But time didn't seem to move fast enough- and now- it's almost to happen! A week from today, we board a plane for the trip that will change our lives! It seems like everyday between now & then is pretty packed, but we look forward to visiting with you when we return (and showing off the most perfect child we've ever seen).

I know God has a plan for all of us. Why he waited till this point in our lives to put adoption in our hearts- I still don't know. After 17 years of marriage, we thought we were comfortable! Now we look forward to the days when nothing is the same again!

I pray we all remain in His love, and I'm sure He'll make His plan known for all of us.

Thanks again for following along.
Darrin

Travel Meeting Trip

Well, we just returned from another "whirl-wind" weekend tour to Louisville, KY for our final meeting before going to the Ukraine. We had a wonderful trip. My mother accompanied us this time and it was a joy to have her along.

While we drove, we appreciated the beauty of the fall foliage. We drove thru many wooded areas with beautiful arrays of red, orange, yellow, green and brown leaves brightened by the lumination of the sun. I found it very relaxing.

We spent the evening at a Drury Inn, which we had visited before on a previous trip. The three of us (Darrin, Mom & I) then went out for supper at The Cheesecake Factory. (I don't know how many of you reading this have ever been to a Cheesecake Factory Restaurant, but if you haven't been you need to go...and go hungry.)

The next morning we arose early and ate at the hotel breakfast buffet before heading on to Southeast Christian Church for our meeting with Kathy Drane from Hopeful Hearts. It was here that we, along with two other couples, learned the "dos and don'ts" of packing, traveling and living in the Ukraine. (After the jet lag, I think we are going to be in for a culture shock I'm afraid.)

We left immediately after the meeting on our drive home. (However, we did make a few pit stops at some antique stores to rescue several Coca-cola & Precious Moments items from their captivity. They now have a home with us.)

We have almost come full circle in our adoption process. We have most of the major things done. We have prepared a bedroom for our son.....

And a special play area for all the many colorful (& noisy) toys he already has and will receive.....

Your prayers & support during this last phase of our adoption journey are so very important. Please continue to pray for safe travel, God's guidance to identify our son, a smooth adoption process, and a very anticipated return trip home with our son. (But don't stop there....we will also need continued prayers after our return.)

We still have much to do before leaving on November 25th, so I will say goodbye for now.

God's Blessing!

Barb (& Darrin)