Imagine it's right before Christmas, and you're a little girl. All your life, you've been handed one heart-breaking disappointment after another - through the disclaiming of your father as his daughter, by living in the living hell of poverty, alcoholism and drug addiction, with your mother and her boyfriend's late-night parties and immoral practices, and with the pain of seeing your mother taken off to prison again and again. Imagine, after all the pain and suffering these young eyes have seen, being told at age 8, that you have to go live in an orphan boarding school, along with the thousands of other children filling the Ukrainian orphan school system. Now, you're alone, and the New Year is coming. And you'll be spending your next Christmas (January 7th in Ukraine), and the many following, in a school especially for children like you, who no one wants!

Friends, this was Dara's situation, when we received a call from the government guardianship counsel, telling us of her plight. They informed us that they would give her to us, with full legal guardianship. They would also help us to get all the paperwork done quickly, without problems, because they know us, and trust the work we're doing with children. However, we would have to decide quickly; because by the end of the year, she would have to be placed either with us or in an orphan school. And once in the boarding school system, it would be difficult to retrieve her.
So after prayer, we called a family meeting. We explained Dara's situation to our children. And we explained that like them, this little girl suddenly found herself alone in the world. Tears began to well in their eyes. We suggested that though there would be sacrifice involved for all, we could give Jesus one more special gift for Christmas - a little girl receiving a family! Without exception, all whole-heartedly agreed. And different ones began praying some with tears, for this little girl they had never met. (I'm crying as I write this.) So we informed the guardianship counsel of our decision. And true to their word, things were done quickly. And a few days before the Ukrainian Christmas, we had a new, little girl added to our big family.

Isn't it amazing, that God would bring us a little girl at Christmas, whose name is Dara, which means, "gift!" Indeed, Dara was a gift from God - sown into a family who would both recognize and receive her as such. Yes, dear friends, love's strength is continuing to multiply, because of the strength of love's sacrifice. May God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ receive all glory, praise, honor, love, and worship for His heart of love and compassion which He expresses through His children in the world. Amen!