I have a little brother here in Ukraine named Yura. In terms of blood, we are not related, but by all means, he is very much my little brother. About nine months ago, he was sitting in our apartment and just blurted out that he had gotten his girlfriend pregnant. You can imagine my shock. From that moment until now, a lot has happened. Yura and his girlfriend went through a breakup and had stopped communicating with each other. This weighed heavy on my heart as I so wanted this little baby to have a mother and a father. I was afraid that Yura was going to make a decision to not be in the baby's life; a decision I knew he would always regret.
I am so happy to say that I recently had the incredible opportunity to meet Yura's baby girl. I had never met the mother (who is 17) but we had been in contact a little when she and Yura were dating. She then contacted me again when she knew she was pregnant and he wanted out. I had some things I wanted to send her - some clothes and diapers - just to help out since I knew he wasn't going to. But then she contacted me and asked me if I wanted to come to the baptism. I was in shock, but so honored. Anika, Chelsea, Sasha, and I made the two-hour bus ride to meet them and I'm so glad we did. I instantly fell in love with baby Sasha, my newest little Ukrainian niece. She is just perfect (I am biased, of course!). I had no idea what would come out of this situation but I hoped and prayed it would end with Sasha having a mother and father who love her.
After this first meeting, I prayed that Yura's heart would change and he would find the courage to be the amazing dad I know he can be. Just a few days after meeting his daughter I was talking to him about the situation and not feeling like I was getting anywhere. I felt discouraged. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw the next day that he had posted pictures of his daughter on social media and that he had been in contact with baby Sasha's mother. That was on Wednesday.
That following Saturday, through a strange turn of events, Sasha and her mother came and stayed with us in Sumy. It was so amazing to witness Yura meeting his daughter and absolutely falling in love with her. He would not put her down during the entire visit. After Sasha and her mother went home, Yura couldn't stop talking about his little girl or looking at her pictures. I know this is a sticky situation but I am going to keep praying that this little girl has a mom and dad who are both a part of her life. Will you join me?
