Burning Questions (Part IV)

13.    Will Katya keep her name? And how do you pronounce it?

We don’t know.  Once we get to Ukraine, we’ll give her the option of keeping her name or getting an American name.  We really don’t care.  “Kateryna” means “pure.”  We love her name and would be thrilled if she wants to keep her name and go by “Katya.”  However, many kids who are adopted want a new name, which has beautiful Biblical implications.  It seems like a pretty big decision for an 8-year old to make, however these kids even get to decide whether or not they WANT to be adopted.   And the phonetic pronunciation is either KA–CHA (rhyming with gotcha), or KA-TEE-A.  We tend to call her KA-TEE-A.

14.    I’m interested in adopting, but don’t see that it’s possible.  What would you suggest?

We are not adoption experts, although we’re learning more and more every day.  If adoption intrigues you, the first thing we’d suggest you do is pray.  Secondly, we’d ask you to search the scriptures asking God to show you His heart for orphans.  Then, go from there.  If you’re interested in adopting from Ukraine, we’d suggest hosting a child through Frontier Horizon.  But this is not a placing agency.  Frontier Horizon simply brings kids over from Ukraine for 4 – 8 weeks in the summertime.  The purpose is to expose them to life beyond the orphanage.  Many of these kids do get adopted by their host families, but it’s not at all an expectation.  Contact Frontier Horizon if you’re interested in finding out about their hosting program. 

Do you have more questions about our journey?  About adoption? About our family life?  Really, no question is a dumb question.  Do you have a question that you would like to ask, but feel awkward asking?    Ask away and we'll do our best to answer.

Although you'll still be able to access "Burning Questions" in the sidebar, look for a page in the next day or so that has them listed in one place.