We've always believed that we would add to our family through adoption. But that is not what was on our minds when I traveled to Ukraine in Spring of 2006 to minister to orphans there. As I walked among hundreds of abandoned children and was transformed by the knowledge of God's particular love for this group, God knitted one child, Kristina, to my heart. I returned home to the States, but this little girl remained in my thoughts and prayers.

Our family had the opportunity to bring her to stay with us for 10 weeks in the summer of 2006 as part of a cultural exchange program through Frontier Horizon. With the help of my extraordinary students and their families, Kristina traveled to America and all of our lives were changed. We learned to stretch our hearts and love one more. We learned patience and joy. We learned the particular love that God holds for the fatherless.