Where in the World Are My Latvians? An Update...

I realize that I am long overdue in updating you on everything that has been going on with my/our two Latvians. If you are new to the blog and have no idea what it is I am talking about you should take a quick time out to catch up. Head over here to read a few of the blog posts from late last year that will catch you up.

Seriously.

Go read them.

It won't make sense to you if you're not up to speed...

Now that we're all on the same page we can continue.

It was around a week after P & L (remember it's frowned on to tie together pictures and names on the internet, so I will use "P" and "L") went back to Latvia in January that I talked to Project 143's director, Tammy about their status. It was then that she dropped the bomb on us. We were told that she had recently found out that P and L would likely be going back to live with their Mom. It was a shock to the Orphanage Director, to Tammy, and especially to us. I felt like someone had just dropped a concrete truck square on my chest.

Because these were our kids.

It was heartbreaking to say the least. Brandi and I were very concerned because we have no idea what sort of situation they were returning to. All we know is that they have been in this orphanage for two years or so. We have no idea what caused their Mom to lose them in the first place, and it was surprising to those familiar with Latvian practices for her to regain custody after this length of time. The hosting director, Tammy, said that she felt like this was their Mom's last chance. It was the court's way of giving her one more chance to raise her kids and take proper care of them. I understand that, really I do. I want the best for them, really I do, even if it means they stay with their Mom.

But these were our kids.

Since then we have not heard much more. Tammy did tell us that the orphange director said that P and L would be back in the orphanage before Summer. This didn't help me feel any better. How bad of a situation are they living in that the orphanage director didn't feel like it would last but a couple of months?!

As far as summer hosting goes, we still are unsure if P and L will be available. We have to wait another couple of weeks and Tammy will make a few calls to check on their status. If they are back in the orphanage they will be available and we will bring them home for a month or so this summer.

If not...

Wow. That'll be extremely tough. Initially I said we would not host if P and L weren't available, but I was almost immediately convicted by that thought. There are scores of orphans looking for someone to love them, and it was a really crappy attitude for me to have to be so selfish that I wouldn't be able to love any others that needed it desperately. So we will host either way. There is a sibling group of five that people in our church are trying to get hosted. We will host two of the girls if our Latvians aren't available.

And we will love them.

And we will pour ourselves into them.

Because even though loving sometimes hurts, it's worth it.

Every time. 

Here's what you can do to help:

1. Pray. Pray that P and L would be able to come home this summer.
2. Share. Share this post on Facebook, on Twitter and anywhere else you can think of. Share our story to your friends, your family, your church, random strangers, you get the idea.
3. Give. It will take $5,000 to host two orphans. (That doesn't cover any expenses once they're here, but it will cover everything needed to get them here). One of the main fundraisers we are going to do is to offer FREE Lawn Care to raise money. (Find out more here). That page also has more information on giving to our hosting costs.

Thanks so much! Know that Brandi and I are incredibly grateful for everything you've done for us thus far, and will do in the future to help out!

Kris