After enough years, Larry and Marcy Kirkhart figured one child was all they were meant to have.

Until signs started popping up.

Like hearing international adoption touted at a recent Christian concert, and running into friends who deemed their lives transformed after adopting from Russia and the Ukraine.

"Marcy was 100 percent from the git-go (for adopting). But I had a lot of growing to do as a dad and a person," admitted Larry, sitting with Marcy and their son Cayman, 15, in their Hayden home.

He had hesitated over the expense of tens of thousands of dollars to adopt internationally, the uncertainty of who they would get. The risk to his family in traveling abroad to seal the deal.

"I thought, 'This will take all our savings,'" said Larry, a Kootenai County employee. "It took me several months to lay at God's feet and realize even if things aren't all OK, they would still work out."

The Kirkharts are using all their energy to make sure of that.

The family is calling it Project 1:27, named for the James 1:27 bible passage urging to look after widows and orphans.

Aware they were about $16,000 shy to adopt 7-year-old Yana from the Ukraine, the Kirkharts connected with a widow in the Spokane Valley. With about 40 volunteers accepting sponsorships, the family is remodeling her home as a fundraiser.

"It's like a jog-a-thon, except a little bit more meaningful," said Larry, adding that the effort continues this weekend. "We couldn't just ask for money."

And it's a chance to teach compassion, said Marcy, who works in the Coeur d'Alene School District.

"I think that God wants us to help other people," she said.

Cindy Savino, the recipient of their efforts, said she expects Yana is going to be "bowled over" with love from the Kirkharts, based on their example so far.

"Here are these people who want to see something like that happen for a little girl and for me," said Savino, who had adopted her own son Jack from Taiwan when her husband was alive. "It makes the whole project, the whole adoption mountain a little easier to climb."

In the midst of all the fundraising and adoption paperwork, the family is focusing on Yana.

At first all they had to go on was a photo of a sedate little girl, and the story that she had been retrieved from intolerable living conditions before landing in a Ukraine orphanage.

But when adoption agency God's Waiting Children flew the 7-year-old over for a trial period this summer, the family agrees that cinched it.

"The first time Marcy and I ever saw her at the Seattle airport, the translator said, 'this is your momma and poppa." She jumped on Marcy and wouldn't let go," Larry said, tearing up as he spoke.

Marcy added that it was "a relief to have her want to be with me and trust me. Lots of adopted kids have trust issues with moms."

Their photos from the trial weeks show a girl transformed. The slender, dark-haired Yana looks giggly and exuberant making pancakes, swinging in new clothes, playing grandma with Cayman.

After a few weeks, she was picking up English words. Even calling Larry 'dad,' he said.

"She's outgoing, sweet," Larry said. "She's definitely learning to trust more."

She was ecstatic over so many little things, he added, like new shoes and her first ride in a grocery cart.

"This has changed our lives because we've seen glimpses of the world through the eyes of this girl," Larry said. "Americans are unsatisfied with not getting the right color car or the right job. A miracle to this little girl is riding in a shopping cart, or getting to be held."

Yana is now back in the orphanage, the Kirkharts regularly sending letters.

The family is still raising money to head to the Ukraine. Over several weeks there, they will visit Yana at the orphanage, meet with various officials, finalize paperwork.

They will bring her home as an American citizen, if all goes well.

The hard part, Larry said, is the anticipation.

"Putting her back in the orphanage was pretty tough," Larry said, eyes watering once more. "What we hope for is that we've made a difference in her life. Shown her some hope."

To learn more about international adoption, or to donate to the Kirkharts' effort, go to: www.kirkhartadoption.com.