It's a Big World Out There

Here is a photo of Stacey and Coy looking out of the fence. There is a big world out there that we are guessing that he has never experienced. His entire life, except for the month after he was born and probably some time after his surgery, has been spent inside this fence. All he knows is probably the people and experiences he can have inside of this small piece of property. It is scary to think of the responsibility that we have to introduce him to all of the things that are outside of this fence. Most of them are good, some will be bad. We are honored that God has given us this opportunity. Stacey and I discussed all of the things that he probably has never seen that he will soon see at home. The list quickly included the zoo, a swimming pool, walking in the woods, a lake, an airplane, stores, restaurants, and church. We could probably go on and on. These caregivers at the orphanage have been his mommy and daddy. The other kids here have been his brothers and sisters. However, these folks come and go. He changed groups in March so he is just learning his "new" family. But now he has a new family again. We will come and go but not as often as the one he knows now. We will be along side of him for as long as God allows us to be. We are also excited to get to introduce him to all of our extended family and friends. He has no idea what a great group of people are getting ready to enter into his life, and he into theirs. But most importantly, he will also have the opportunity to get to know a Heavenly Father that will not come and go but has been forever and will forever be.

We are looking at some of the things that the caregivers in the orphanage have said about Coy. They include that he likes music (no surprise to us there) and that he likes to go first (no surprise there either). They also say that he likes new tasks/challenges and he likes to express himself with his words (still no surprises). He says that he likes for someone to rub his back as he falls asleep. That is answer to prayer because it means to us that someone was probably rubbing his back as he fell asleep sometimes. We had prayed for this child to be loved before we could get there to love him and it appears that he was loved, very much so. He has the ability to bond with adults and Stacey's favorite, he likes to tidy up after he has played and put the toys away.

You might think that Coy is in awe of these bubbles but actually he is trying to eat them. At least trying to put his mouth on them. We have seen other families blowing bubbles with their kids and we see bubbles at the store but we don't know if he has ever seen bubbles or not.

One thing we do know, he has never been on an 8 hour car ride before. And we are pretty certain that he has never flown on an airplane across the ocean before. (Hey, I've only done it once before so it's not that big a deal.) God has only handed us what we could handle with His help so far, there is no reason for us to believe that the trip home will be anything but the same. We have been counting our blessings regarding the timing of our trip so far. We have talked to other couples that were delayed in Kyiv 2-3 weeks because of problems with their appointments. Another couple has to have a second 10 day wait because of some errors found in some of the court documents. Others are having troubles getting court dates because of the holidays. The way we figure it, because of the flight schedules, the holidays will end up costing us only 1 day if we are able to get out of the country on Saturday. Everyone's prayers have been felt and we could never thank those that have prayed enough for them.

If you see Caleb and Katie, please give them a big smile, a hug, and perhaps a kiss from us to them. We can't wait to be the Yankey 5 soon.