Andrii Abraham

Andrii is our very athletic Ukrainian young man. I can't believe he'll be 14 next month! Whether it's wake-boarding, snow-boarding, karate, or soccer, he excels in sports. He's also an excellent student, but he does not like correction (or doing corrections)! He's a wiz at math, but if he gets any math problems wrong he declares, "I failed!" I've had to explain that we learn from our mistakes, and I don't expect him to know the answer to every math problem.
Andrii is now a yellow belt in Karate and is hoping to compete along with Sierra in a semi-knockdown tournament in Canada at the end of April.

My Boys (pre-Slava)

Andrii loved being in Wayne Jr.'s wedding. He admires and respects his big brothers which is good because recently Andrii got himself into a bit of trouble. Wayne and I set down with him and had both Wayne Jr. & Curtis join us. I'm so thankful that I have Godly, older boys for him to look up to. We don't have perfect kids, but it's a tremendous blessing to have my big boys walking with the Lord and setting a biblical example. Andrii is a good boy and his heart is tender towards the Lord. He started taking drum lessons recently from the same Christian teacher who taught Curtis. He's looking forward to playing on the worship team for youth group and eventually in church when he's old enough.

Andrii is very helpful with chores, the little kids, really anything that I ask him to help me with. He's fun, creative, and very sociable. Even the adults who know him enjoy his company. He's certainly growing into a fine young man, and our family is so blessed to have him a part of it. It still amazes me that it's only been 4 years that Andrii, Anna, and Jordan have been with us. It seems like they've just always been in our family. Shortly after we brought them home I remember looking up at the starry sky one evening. I was overcome with awe for our Lord who placed each of those stars in the sky exactly where He wanted them, and He placed these 3 (now 4) Ukrainians in our family exactly where He wants them. As Psalm 139:16 says, "You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." I am so thankful that the Lord, for only reasons He knows, chose to write Andrii, Anna, Jordan, and Slava into my story and us into theirs. I also think of Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." We've met people along the way who tell us that these kids are lucky to have us and that we're doing such a wonderful thing. Well, not exactly. I say we are blessed to have them! And we aren't really doing anything. The Lord is doing it. All we are doing is saying "yes" to Him. We believe that God has an extraordinary plan for their lives. He saw to it that they were rescued from the pit. He did the rescuing. He placed them in a Christian home where He knew that, though we are imperfect parents, we would train them up to know Him personally. We would rely on Him, trust in Him, and seek His will daily. So it's God doing this wonderful thing. To Him be the glory for the great things He has done, is doing, and will continue to do! Amen!