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[transition]
while lots of people have been asking about the baby, they have also been asking about our transition back to America.
where are we? we are here in Birmingham & planning to stay unless God steers us somewhere else! Yura must reapply for his green card next summer & we plan to stay stateside until 2016 or so.
how are we? we are doing pretty well! we love being back here with friends, family & being at Brook Hills with our small group! [also i’m glad for American food!] of course we are missing Ukraine, family & friends there. Yura more than me :)
where are we living? we have been really blessed to have a townhouse to live in rent free until January, though we hope to get our own place by Thanksgiving or Christmas.
what about Harvest and Hope? we are continuing to raise support for projects & kids in Ukraine from here. we will send the money with teams & to missionaries who will be able to carry out these projects on the ground in Ukraine.
are we working? yes & maybe. we both have part-time jobs. i am working at the Loft at the Summit as well as my dad’s new venture Liquid Life. Yura just got hired at the Publix on Highway 31 & has another prospective job. however we are still looking for other part-time jobs to fill in the gaps. ideally I would like to have a full-time job but haven’t been able to find anything!
things we are praying about:
- [a second car]: we have one vehicle but will need a second very soon to both get to work. trying to make a wise decision & purchase soon!
- [new place]: once we get settled in our new jobs we will start looking for a place of our own! we’ll probably be looking at apartments in the Homewood/Vestavia/Hoover areas, but are kind of open to anything!
thanks for keeping up with us. we are so thankful for the community we have here!
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[baby post #1]
except for the announcement about a month ago, I haven’t posted much about the baby or pregnancy. that is not to say we aren’t thrilled/ecstatic/talk about it all the time! so here’s a post about pregnancy so far & answers to some “frequently asked questions”.
[July 1, 2012] positive pregnancy test!
[weird cravings] a list of my strangest cravings from a pregnancy diary i’ve been keeping:
- that orange ginger dressing at Japanese steakhouses
- brown bread appetizer from Outback Steakhouse
- Golden Corral dinner rolls & honey butter
- onion rings & Chick-fil-A sauce
- SweetTarts
and of course, things like this:
[Scripture] that’s encouraged me:
- [Matthew 7:11] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
- [Matthew 6:25-34] Do Not Be Anxious
- [Psalm 139]
[August 26, 2012] about 12-13 weeks
[September 10, 2012] about 14 weeks
[September 12, 2012] first American doctor’s appointment! also first time for me to watch the sonogram!
[first purchase]
we found a REALLY great deal on the stroller/travel system that we loved, so we bought it! pumped about the red [i couldn’t resist].
[FAQ]:- Are you going to find out the gender of the baby? We aren’t sure yet! We think we might wait & let it be a surprise. If we do find out, we’ll definitely let everyone know!
- Do you have names picked out? Yes, we have names picked out, but we are keeping them a secret until the birth. With everything more public these days, we wanted to keep one secret for ourselves!
- How are you feeling? I’m great! Definitely exhausted & with some killer back pain, but not queasy at all [I’d trade nausea for back pain any day!]
- What’s the due date? March 7 - I’m particularly excited because my birthday is March 12.
We are really thrilled & blessed already! Can’t wait for baby to grow more!
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thoughts from the [Together For Adoption Conference]
Last weekend, Yura & I had the chance to go to the Together For Adoption Conference in Atlanta. My friend Meredith Toering joined us. It was truly an incredible time. We heard from folks like Dan Cruver, Tony Merida, & Noel Piper. We worshiped with others who are like-minded in the call God has given us to care for orphans specifically. We learned more about why it’s so important for every Christ-follower to be involved & further for every body of believers to be involved.
The breakout sessions were my favorite. Yura & I attended one about sustainable businesses for orphans & one about the legal process of an adopted child becoming a US Citizen. The next day Yura went to two breakouts dealing with the church & orphan care. I learned about a program for the unadopted orphans & went to a second session about abortion & adoption.
I am so thankful for the opportunity we had to go, made possible by some donations to Harvest and Hope.
While mingling & connecting with others during the breaks, I was brought back in my mind to a Social Entrepreneurship for Nonprofits class I took while at Samford. We were split into groups and required to create businesses. My group had the idea to create a Nonprofit Merger Clinic to help similar nonprofits merge together to better use resources & donations to achieve their missions. There are nearly 20,000 nonprofits in Alabama alone, seeking support from a limited pool of donors each year. Many of these organizations are doing the same things or have the same goals.
At the T4AC I looked around at all the groups who set up booths around the church and realized that so many of them are striving for very similar goals. Speaking from my experiences with Harvest and Hope, I know that there are administrative, banking, & government fees that are necessary & must be taken from a portion of the general donations [unless an organization has those fees specifically paid for by a donor].
I think if we could all move past “founders pride” [whether we wish to admit that we have it or not], donations could be maximized & more missions accomplished. I know this is a post about a long shot & probably not applicable to most of you who read this. But I feel like it’s a potentially practical solution to the issue of many missions & divided donations.
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throwback to childhood days in the basement pretending we were as good as the Hansons. @GrayHall
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”We wear His name, but are we going on with Him?…Jesus Christ’s honor is at stake in our bodily lives.
Oswald Chambers - My Utmost For His Highest, September 19
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[Pulling a @katiealbbo] I still can’t believe it. He or she is getting bigger! 15 weeks. (Taken with Instagram)
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@augustaclark’s white candle reminded me of my own just 2 years ago. I still can’t believe @yuriyperekotiy asked me to be his wife & that I get to do life with him. (Taken with Instagram)
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[13 weeks, 3 days] Today is the first day I’ve felt pregnant, from the view of my tummy. It’s popped out over the last 2 days!
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big + small [2 pieces of news].
i had to start writing this post well before i knew i would make it public. first because i’m so excited & second because i wanted it to be well-written!
Yura & I are moving back to the US on August 30th.
after a lot of consideration, we’ve decided we can be the best stewards of time & money by coming back to the States. if you’ve kept up with all our green card business, [i applaud you for that] you know that we cannot be outside the US for more than 6 months. this makes it nearly impossible to rent an apartment for any period of time, much less at a reasonable rate. it also puts us buying plane tickets every 4 months, which is not only frustrating, but expensive.
our plan is to come back, get jobs, transition into an apartment [that we can call our own home!] & continue to do as much ministry for Ukraine while we’re in the States. Harvest and Hope will continue to run, raise funds & support the kids we’ve come to love so dearly. Yura & I will both be looking for jobs in Birmingham [most likely] so let us know if you know of anything! we are both open to a lot & need full/part time jobs!
we will be in Birmingham [unless the Lord directs us somewhere else], attending & getting more involved at The Church at Brook Hills, & enjoying the community we have there with family & friends.
it’s not just Yura & I anymore…
yep! we’ve got a little bundle on the way! he/she is set to arrive sometime in March 2013. we are beyond thrilled, ecstatic, joyful… every emotion possible! the picture above is 9 weeks, but i am currently 12 weeks along & growing pretty fast. he/she is the size of a lime this week!
part of the final reason to return to the States was/is the baby. let’s just say i’ll feel a lot more comfortable birthing our first child in America.
long-term we plan on moving back to Ukraine, after hopefully securing citizenship for Yura [which he is eligible for in 2015.] we would really appreciate your prayers as we journey through that!
what else are we praying for?
- the transition back from Ukraine to America
- missing our kiddos, church & friends in Ukraine
- getting the most important stuff back to America [aka we brought a lot of stuff here & want to be wise about what we bring back & what we leave here for a while]
- finding jobs as swiftly as possible that will allow us to still be with Harvest and Hope, but allow us to prepare for the baby
- settling into life together in a new home!
we are grateful for God’s provision & blessing in all of this. we just continue to seek his wisdom for our life!
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Loving this snap of us from the Jones wedding by Austin Gros. (Taken with Instagram at The Roger’s Building)
![[Pulling a @katiealbbo] I still can’t believe it. He or she is getting bigger! 15 weeks. (Taken with Instagram)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma5y6waiEd1qfw0g6o1_500.jpg)
![[13 weeks, 3 days] Today is the first day I’ve felt pregnant, from the view of my tummy. It’s popped out over the last 2 days!](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9d0tj4xKQ1qfw0g6o1_500.jpg)
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Let’s go. (Taken with instagram)
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