A Ukrainian Miracle
It's amazing what a small world it is - especially here in Utah.
There is a family in my ward, the Cerans, that are in the process of trying to raise funds to adopt three older children from the Ukraine.
They've had a lot of major and minor miracles during this process, which they like to share with us at church. One story in particular that touched me - their 16-year-old son is selling his drawings to help raise the money they need. Sr. Ceran shared that they were at a track meet for her daughters, and he thought it'd be a great time to try and sell his pictures. Sr. Ceran was a little put out, a little embarrassed, and dragged her feet as she followed at a distance (which is one of the reasons I like her so much. She's not a typical Molly, she's just this very real person) and saw several people buying the pictures and giving her son more money than he asked for.
Suddenly, a man approached her son and gave him a very large bill. He refused the picture and walked away.
When Sr. Ceran saw this, it nagged at her - why would he do this? Why would someone give away that kind of money, especially to a teenager that he didn't even know? She and her son spent an hour tracking the man down, and when they finally found him, he tried to get them to leave, sort of waving them off and saying no, no, I don't want to talk about it, please take the money, no thanks necessary, that sort of a thing.
Sr. Ceran said, "I just want to ask you one thing. Why would you give so much money to a total stranger?"
The man paused, and then said, "Well, let me just say this. To someone, your son is not a stranger. And when the Lord speaks, I listen."
My father told me another story of a little girl who had a bake sale and raised a great deal of money for the Cerans.
You can imagine my surprise when I was at the website of one Eric D. Snider (and for those of you my age that went to BYU, he was the founder of The Garrens and was the humor columnist for the Universe with his "Snide Remarks"), one of my favorite humor writers, and he had this post about that same little girl, who is his niece!
From hearing stories about this blended family, these are people who have had more than their fair share of heartache and tragedy. But they've emerged from it smiling and trusting in the Lord. I can't imagine some of the pain and obstacles that they've had to go through.
And now they want to open their home and their hearts to these children, knowing that it will not be easy, knowing that all sorts of unimagined trials and tribulations await them, but knowing that these kids are part of their eternal family and relying on the Lord to help them through it.
If you'd like to learn more about the Cerans, and how you can help them, here is their family's website:
A Ukrainian Miracle
There is a family in my ward, the Cerans, that are in the process of trying to raise funds to adopt three older children from the Ukraine.
They've had a lot of major and minor miracles during this process, which they like to share with us at church. One story in particular that touched me - their 16-year-old son is selling his drawings to help raise the money they need. Sr. Ceran shared that they were at a track meet for her daughters, and he thought it'd be a great time to try and sell his pictures. Sr. Ceran was a little put out, a little embarrassed, and dragged her feet as she followed at a distance (which is one of the reasons I like her so much. She's not a typical Molly, she's just this very real person) and saw several people buying the pictures and giving her son more money than he asked for.
Suddenly, a man approached her son and gave him a very large bill. He refused the picture and walked away.
When Sr. Ceran saw this, it nagged at her - why would he do this? Why would someone give away that kind of money, especially to a teenager that he didn't even know? She and her son spent an hour tracking the man down, and when they finally found him, he tried to get them to leave, sort of waving them off and saying no, no, I don't want to talk about it, please take the money, no thanks necessary, that sort of a thing.
Sr. Ceran said, "I just want to ask you one thing. Why would you give so much money to a total stranger?"
The man paused, and then said, "Well, let me just say this. To someone, your son is not a stranger. And when the Lord speaks, I listen."
My father told me another story of a little girl who had a bake sale and raised a great deal of money for the Cerans.
You can imagine my surprise when I was at the website of one Eric D. Snider (and for those of you my age that went to BYU, he was the founder of The Garrens and was the humor columnist for the Universe with his "Snide Remarks"), one of my favorite humor writers, and he had this post about that same little girl, who is his niece!
From hearing stories about this blended family, these are people who have had more than their fair share of heartache and tragedy. But they've emerged from it smiling and trusting in the Lord. I can't imagine some of the pain and obstacles that they've had to go through.
And now they want to open their home and their hearts to these children, knowing that it will not be easy, knowing that all sorts of unimagined trials and tribulations await them, but knowing that these kids are part of their eternal family and relying on the Lord to help them through it.
If you'd like to learn more about the Cerans, and how you can help them, here is their family's website:
A Ukrainian Miracle
Sariah Wilson — 2/28/2011 01:26:00 AM
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