Worth the Risk

On the train-ride to Dnepropetrovsk, R explained that we would be residing in a relatively safe area, but openly shared the gruesome reality for many of the other orphanages and families caught in the middle of this tangled web of war between Ukraine and Russia only 100 miles East.  Bodies of unidentified soldiers are being piled into the center of a sports stadium, only long enough for physicians to extract blood samples before they're burned to make way for more dead.  The wounded are being transported to our city for medical aid and relief before being sent back to the front lines.   Hundreds of orphaned children from Lugansk have been moved to another region due to the constant bombings that still hold their teachers and directors captive, without water, power, or food, in the basement of a crumbling building.

And, unfortunately, three prospective families currently wait and pray in Kiev for God to pave a way to bring these officials, and the children they've been waiting for, out of all of this to safety.  Otherwise, they may all be returning home incomplete.

Our family back home watches the news headlines nervously (understandably so)....  I'm tempted to get a bit anxious myself when I read reports and dwell on the lack of distance between us and this crisis or witness the very protests reported on with my own eyes.  The gravity of the situation we're so near to is never lost on us.  It is nothing short of a miracle that we are safe and this whole process is protected thus far.  Who are we that the Ukrainian government would even make time to review our case in court while they're dealing with such turmoil?  And yet, we receive news this morning that we may be able to officiate your adoption even quicker than usual?!  What a story God continues to write for you!!!

Months before we were called on to travel, I had been reading and journaling in the Book of Esther.  Just this morning, when I was battling a touch of fear, the Lord reminded me of a drawing I made over Chapter 4:13-14 of Ukraine, half colored yellow and the other half blue, with the words, "Worth the Risk" above it.  I went back to this chapter to read what it said:

"Mordecai sent this answer back to Esther, 'Do not imagine that just because you are in the king’s palace you will be any safer than all the rest of the Jews. 14 The fact is, even if you remain silent now, someone else will help and rescue the Jews, but you and your relatives will die. And who knows, you may have gained your royal position for a time like this.'”


His Spirit used this to remind me again that our lives are always fragile. Even when we imagine we're safe or our surroundings seem safe, there is no guarantee that we are truly any further from death than those in the center of this crisis. And the fact is, if we were to run home now, He would still accomplish what He brought us here to do.  The only difference would be that eventually we'll die anyway, but without experiencing this incredible opportunity to be used by Him!!

No thanks.

I don't want to live my life "safely", nor do I want this for your dad, you, or your brothers.  I've prayed for us all to live with a reckless abandon to His will...a RaDiCaL obedience that strengthens our faith in a God that's real...to develop an arsenal of personal accounts of all the miracles He can still do! I'm now recognizing that this obviously requires a little scary in exchange for a LOT of deliverance and a beautiful daughter--but it is still totally worth the risk.  ;)

Love you so much <3

Mom