Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Really Amazing
This is the winner of Ukraine's Got Talent. She's telling the story of WWII with sand art. Really astonishing...
Fall is Here
My favorite time of year...the change from summer to fall. Cool, brisk mornings, warm afternoons. Ah... I need a hammock in the backyard (and some time to lay in it :-) ).
The kids are settling into the crazy schedule. We are surviving...
Ha! I'm watching a naked little boy make his way to the potty. Micah is doing well with pottying on the potty. We have to be very diligent though about taking him...he doesn't always tell us.
Blake is busy with Church, FCA, Band, 4H and Facebook. Hannah is involved in several things at Church, Band and excelling in her studies. Bethany and Seth are still kids who just like to play. :-) I miss those days with Blake and Hannah. The good thing is that the three little guys will probably always like to play and be content to be at home...
Eli is going to and endocrinologist this morning to see what we can do for him. He's not growing at all (in the last 18 months or more) and he's very lethargic. His blood count is still good, so it's something else. This is about the last place we can go so hopefully he'll be able to help. It's like he's stuck at age 2 and can't move forward. Weird.
Matthew is doing great. He's coming out of his shell. He's babbling (yeah, that's like a baby, but when we got him he made no sounds except crying). He spoke a few days ago at school and said "I want." We didn't hear it but the teacher were so excited!
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Long night
2:30 a.m. -- Dog barking hysterically (he got left outside last night...usually he comes in at bedtime and is crated)
2:45 a.m. -- Search helicopters flying around neighborhood (maybe that's why the dogs in the neighborhood were going crazy?)
3:30 a.m. -- Maniacal cackling coming from Matthew's bed. He was sitting in his crib, banging his head on the bars and laughing like a hyaena (they laugh, right?)
4:00 a.m. -- More banging, no laughter
sometime after 4:30 went back to sleep only to be wake up at 5:00 a.m. to get ready for the day.
Now...6:00 p.m. ... ready for bed. Resistance if futile...but I must. The little kids don't go to bed for another hour and the big kids have 2 more hours...then it's off to sleepy land. :-)
Micah has had TWO great days at school in a row!! That's a huge PRAISE GOD!
We moved him to morning class so he's back on his normal schedule of eating lunch then taking a nap in the afternoon. Also changed the IEP to allow the teachers to use a spray bottle of vinegar when he spits. They had to use it once yesterday and once today and he stopped immediately.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Back in the USA
We returned to the USA last night about 8:20 p.m. after over 24 hours of traveling to get home. We had a good trip. Productive in many areas of ministry. Gus, the founder/director of Ukraine Ministries of Oklahoma and good friend, held a conference for summer camp leaders whom UMO has supported for several years. It was to talk about what occurred in camps over the summer, encourage the leaders and teach from God's Word. Also, we've been praying about the direction of UMO for several months and a shift occurred during the trip this year. UMO is probably going to be supporting a church start in Brovary (where our American missionary friend, Jamie, lives). We'll see what God does.
On the adoption ministry front, there are lots of options. Lots to be done. Lots of kids who need families. Praying...thinking...need to act. God's will be done.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
Irritated
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/09/23/behar.gay.adoption/index.html?eref=rss_latest
I shall make no other comment.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Buddy Walk 09
Here are pics from the Walk. It was fun watching the little boys enjoy all the festivities.We missed Blake,who was at a band contest, and of course Chris still in Ukraine.Thanks to Wayne Dickinson for making the T-Shirts and to Ms. Wartha for joining in on the fun!
Dinner with George
I had the pleasure of meeting George for dinner last night in Darnitsa. George was the regional facilitator who assisted us with our adoptions. We had a delightful time looking at pictures and remembering highlights of the 6 weeks we were her in the winter.
George filled in a few more details that we didn't know...
If you've been a reader throughout our adoptions, you know that we were facing a 5-10 day wait on our boys' passports. When George visited the birth city to get the boys registration numbers changed (basically a social security number), he was told that he couldn't do it there, but had to do it in Novograd and Romaniv where the boys were living. He was also told that there were no "old style" passports available so they would have to be sent to Kiev and the waiting periods would apply. Well...George was unable to get it done for several days (because he couldn't find the right person available to help). During that time of trying to get it done, he found out that they were supposed to be changed in the birth city (which happened to be the capital of Zhytomyr region). So it was decided that we would do it the same time we ordered the passports. Well, when we got to the Zhytomyr after getting the boys out to order the passports, he called a friend who happened to be a lawyer and she assisted him with facts that the old style passports were available. When he went to passport office, he dropped a few names and was finally told that they did, indeed have the old passports but if he had changed the registration numbers, then we still couldn't have the passports. Because of God's intervention, he was unable to get the numbers changed so we were able to get old style passports. In fact, we had them within 1 hour! Praise God.
The other thing he told me was that the friend that had helped us get the passports refused to take any money or any kind of gift. She just wanted to help us.
Praise the God of miracles.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
In Ukraine again...
First of all... be sure to read Mary's post below this one. Yes...Mary posted to the blog. It's a great look at how pretty much every day is at Malone central.
Many of you have emailed asking what I am doing back in Ukraine so quickly? Are we adopting again? Are we moving to Ukraine? The answer to both of those questions is no...for now. :-)
Several years ago, God began calling our hearts to "mission work" in Ukraine. We began following that call in whatever form it took. Obviously, last year, God led us in a brand new direction and before we knew it, we had two more little Malones in our home.
While it has been such an amazing journey, we knew it was only PART of the journey...maybe just the beginning of the journey.
Over these last 6 months, we knew that God was not finished with us in regard to orphans and adoption. God's passion is righting the injustices against the oppressed and afflicted. Psalm 9 and 10 talks a great deal about His value of the fatherless. We knew that God was calling us to action. Last year, I met a believer that assisted with adoptions and had contact with several orphanage directors who had special needs orphans in their orphanages as well as contacts with directors who had older orphans (aged 13 and up). You could classify these older orphans as "at risk" because in 0 - 3 years, they will be put out into the world with a couple of bucks and the clothes on their backs with NO life experience and no emotional and social maturity at all. These kids (in most cases) have lived only in orphanages and for the most part end up in jail and prostitution and an early death. So two groups of the most unwanted of the unwanted.
I'm digressing...
Why I'm here... to make personal contact with these orphanage directors, get information about finding families for the fatherless.
I was met with very cooperative spirits for the most part. These are orphanages that do not currently have nationals who are adoption facilitators working with them. There was one we visited that has working with them already and we moved on. There are SO MANY children here who are desperate for a family.
So when I return, Mary and I and another family will begin/continue the process of connection the unwanted with families who not only want them, but will be willing to sacrifice their lives for them. The picture on earth of the sacrifice that Christ made for us so the Father, who wanted us, could rescue us.
That's all for now, I have a full day of appointments and need to get back to work...
DON'T FORGET TO READ MARY'S POST BELOW...
Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Today I......
Well today marks the fourth day that Chris has been gone and so far so good. We have been so busy with school and church activities that the time has passed quickly. Without question he has been missed. When Chris is home he is a HUGE help. Today was the busiest and craziest day since I have been" single parenting." So here is what I did today:
Got up after a not so restful night sleep and went to the gym.
Came home and made breakfast.
Fed 3 little boys
Changed 2 dirty diapers and 1 wet one.
Dressed 3 little boys
Did one last minute spelling quiz with Bethany and Seth
Had Bethany and Seth help me straighten the battle zone ( also known as our downstairs.)
Took Bethany and Seth to school.
Didn't Have to take Blake and Hannah today because our friend Carol stop by to see if she could take them for me. Big Help. Thank you Carol!
Came home to meet another friend who was coming over to do some work in our upstairs bathroom.
Spent the next half hour trying to keep Micah out of her hair so she could do what she came for.
Loaded all three boys up for a trip to Walmart to get some white t-shirts because the dickinsons where making an iron on we could use for buddy walk. (I could write a whole post about my trip to wal-mart but will refrain.)
After an hour at Wal-mart I had three very disgruntled shoppers, so I left with only half of my list in my cart. Oh well :)
Came home unloaded boys and our purchases.
Fixed the boys lunches.
Cleaned the boys and turned on a Barney so I could make and eat my lunch.
Ate my lunch with Micah at my side hoping he might get a left over. (How could he possibly be hungry?)
Gave the boys a diaper change and packed their back packs.
Took the boys to school. (They all 3 go on Fri. afternoons.)
Went into the school for a short meeting to revise Micah's IEP.
Went to Bethany and Seth's school to check them out so they could watch Blake and Hannah march in the Homecoming parade.
Went to the parade. It was short and sweet but the kids had fun.
Took Seth back to school because he was afraid he would miss science and the project they are doing on mill worms.
Bethany wasn't really interested in going back(imagine that) and since there was only one hr. left I took her with me.
Went to the end of the parade route to pick up B and H.
Then back to each of there schools so they could put away their instruments.
By this point in the day I had a pounding headache and decided Icees would be a good idea. :)
So, off to 7-11 for 4 icees.
Stopped by the house to unload this batch of kids and check on my friend. She was just finishing with our bathroom.
Took a phone call from Chris, who will be posting soon on all that is happening in Ukraine.
Went to pick up the little boys and Seth from school.
Came home and got the little boys down for some "rest" time.
Headed back to Wal-mart because I needed more white t-shirts.
Came home to help with dinner, Blake had made mac and cheese.
Took Blake back to the HS for marching band.
Realized on my way home that I had left my check book at Wal-mart. (The Lord helped me remeber exactly where I left it, so I prayed it was still there.)
Came by the house to tell Hannah I had to go back to WM. Asked her to please clean up little boys after their dinner.
Went back to Wm for the 3rd time today. And yes, my check book was still there,right by the white t-shirts. Thank you Jesus!
On my way home again I realized I would need to make a stop at the Dollar General.
So I ran in quickly got what I needed and headed for the register. Only to get behind a lady who was having the same kind of day I was. She made her check out to the Dollar Tree, only we were in the Dollar General. SO she rewrote it, but bless her heart she made it out this time to the Family Dollar. She rips that one up and starts again, she gets it right this time but all the while her little girl, who looks to be about 7 is chanting "Tree Killer!" because she has used 3 different checks for one purchase. No people I am not making this up. I could so empathize with this woman. God bless her!
Well back home again, but not for long because tonight was date night at our church and all the young children were going so I could have some one on one with Hannah (gotta snatch those opportunities while you have them!)
Another round of diaper changes, shoes on and we were out the door.
This was the first time I have taken the little boys. Micah went to the room for special needs. He was the only one and had a great time having the attention of 2 teachers all to himself.
Eli and Matthew went to the room they usually go to for nursery and did great!
We are home now with all the kids tucked snuggly in bed! Except for Blake who is still playing at the game, but he should be home shortly.
My day has been more than full, most days are, but with the grace of God it is never more than I can bear. :) He truly is my sustainer and the lifter of my head. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
By Mary Malone
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
I'm here...
in beautiful, amazing, Ukraine. If my family was here too, I'd say I was home. When we flew over Kiev before we landed, it just felt like I was where I belong.
This is a quick update...I'll update more later...if I'm still awake after meeting with a contact here and going grocery shopping for the conference we are having here for pastors.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
On the way back home... I mean to Ukraine
In DC about to head to Ukraine via Paris. Only 15 hours more.
Sent from my iPhone
Friday, September 11, 2009
The other patient is awake. Doing great. Home in about an hour??
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Some scripture from my time with God this morning...
God has given me some verses for my trip to Ukraine that starts Tuesday...
Psalms 10:16-18 (ESV)
16 The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
Psalms 10:16-18 (MSG)
16 God's grace and order wins; godlessness loses.
17 The victim's faint pulse picks up; the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood as you put your ear to their lips.
18 Orphans get parents, the homeless get homes. The reign of terror is over, the rule of the gang lords is ended.
Thank you God for this word from You this morning. If you've been a reader for a while, you know that our hearts are to follow God into whatever ministry to orphans He has for us. We know He's called us to it, we just don't know yet what it means. This trip to Ukraine will hopefully provide the opportunity for God to give us some more direction. Please pray with us to that end. I'll be making vital contacts with several orphanages that may allow us to join with them in partnership with groups to travel there throughout the spring and summer.
Thanks for your prayers.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Our kids are growing up… :-(
Fall 2005?
Christmas 2008
August 2009
Seth & Blake – November 2008
Seth – August 2009
Blake – August 2009 (interesting pose :-) )
Hannah – August 2008
Hannah – August 2009
Bethany & Seth – August 2008
Bethany – August 2009 
Eli – Fall 2008 (notice the Ukrainian deco on the table!)
Eli – August 2009
Matthew – Feb/Mar 2009
Matthew – Feb/Mar 2009
Matthew – August 2009 (He’s our introspective professor)
Micah – Feb/Mar 2009 (What a peanut he was when we met him 7 months ago!!)
Micah – August 2009 – WOW…what a difference in him.
Silly boys. These guys are really great buddies. It’s pretty cute.
Eli and his toy. He’s still in his own world most of the time, but we have seen more glimpses of him lately. It’s a good thing.
The whole family came with me for the Worship Ministry Retreat August 28 & 29 to Falls Creek. We had a splendid time.
Gum anyone? Falls Creek is a youth camp here in Oklahoma (at one time the largest in the world…don’t know if it still holds that record). This tree is where students stick gum. It’s been there since long before I went to camp there (ahem…20 years ago).
Micah really LOVES water. He had a great splash time.
Matthew can occupy himself as well as Eli does. It’s quite astounding really. Living your first 6 years to yourself does that to you I guess when you’re left in a bed, high chair or play pen.
Mary was out watering the plants this week and had the two boys who had already been to school out there with her. When she turned on the water, here they came!
Micah pouring beans. He did this for a LONG time!!
Unsure if he’s pretending to be a babooshka or what! But TOO FUNNY!
Matthew LOVES to swing. Can you tell?
Micah has had two really good days in a row. Today at school he did great. The other kids are doing great too. Bethany seems to be struggling with math, but the jump for 3rd to 4th in math is a big one. Lots of new concepts. She’s very smart and wants to excel, so I have no doubt she’ll be off and running in no time!
Blake’s first marching game is tonight. Moore War! Go Lions!
A band that I’m in (Red Dirt Road) is recording a live album tonight…that’s why I can’t go to the game to see Blake. But next week, I’m there.
Looking forward to the long weekend. It’s gonna be a good one. I’m doing a tile job this weekend but it’s a pretty small one. Trying to pay off the hospitals. The next surgery is next Friday so we’ll start again with bills. It’s Micah this time. Matthew’s teeth are next then Eli and his ear drum. We hope they’re all patched up after these!
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
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