Sergei was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine. We met in 1996 when I took a year off from college to live as a missionary in his city. He then followed me back to the States. We married in 1998 and he graduated from Moody Bible Institute in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology. Sergei accepted the pastorate at Christian Fellowship Church on the north side of Chicago in 2007. He is currently finishing a Master’s Degree in Church History from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Most of his facebook stati are either about Jesus or the Chicago White Sox.
Elaina is eleven years old. She is kind hearted and responsible, and has recently started a mommy helping business with plans to save up enough money to convince her father to let her buy an I-pod Touch.
Zoya is ten. She is a self-assured middle child with an excellent grasp on personal boundaries. Her future goals include traveling around the world. She has already requested that we gift her with an airplane ticket to Paris for her high school graduation.
Polly is six years old and is heading into mainstream Kindergarten in the fall. Her extra chromosome, a stroke, a diagnosis of Moyamoya Disease and two brain surgeries haven’t slowed her down one bit. She likes it when I sing to her at night before bed. One of our favorites is “You are my sunshine.” I am sunburned from loving Polly.
Evangeline is five years old. She came to our family through International Adoption with Reece’s Rainbow, an organization dedicated to helping kids with Down syndrome all over the world find forever families. Evie fits in well with her light complexion and corn silk hair. Usually people can’t tell which child of ours is adopted. Although in many ways we are still getting to know one another, my heart is tethered to this little girl.