Bitter Sweet Celebration

         We spent a wonderful Memorial Day weekend camping in Kentucky with great friends.  Several times throughout the weekend we made note of the changes coming to our family;  bigger tent, more stuff, I will no longer be making solo trips to the bathroom, etc.  It is fun to imagine how our lives will be changed forever as well as the lives of Anastasia (Ana) and Taisia (Elli).  We finished the weekend off by celebrating a major milestones for both Anastasia and Taisia.  On May 26th, Taisia turned 18 months and on May 29th, Anastasia turned 3 years old.  I can't help but feel bitter sweet about the celebration.  On one hand, we had hoped to be in Russia in May to celebrate with Anastasia but God's time proved better!  On the other hand, the girls probably know nothing about us yet.
        Can you imagine being 3 years old or 18 mths and having your mother hand you off to complete strangers?  Waiting for her return for over a year?  Introducing you to someone as your sibling only to have never seen or heard of her before?  Followed by being told a new mommy and daddy will be coming to take you to a new home, new brothers, pets, lifestyle, language, and country?  Their lives have been so short but full of confusion, insecurity and hurt.  It almost seems wrong to cause more pain and confusion by removing them from the orphanage and caregivers that they have come to know well.   However, just like our journey to eternity is never without troubles and heartache, these girls will be better for it.  While I am still trying to figure out how to be joyful in those times as Paul calls us to be, I know the troubles and heartaches mold me, refine me, and make me shine like gold before our Lord.  This is what I hope for the girls.

God is Faithful

Today I was taking a morning walk and praying for both our adoption situation and my sister-in-law's adoption.  I was praising God for his hand in each situation so far.  Three little children are going to get one awesome surprise in the next few months!  I begged God to put Anastasia and Taisia in a home where they will be loved unconditionally and taught the Word of God.  These two little girls now have a special place in my heart.  Whether they come home to live with us or are put into a Russian home, matters not to me.  What I want for these two little ones is to know their Creator, to know love and to know each other.

We received good news today.  Taisia has been moved to be with Anastasia!  So thank you, Jesus, for answering that prayer.  They now know they have a sister and what she looks like!  The plan is for us to travel to Russia in late June to meet the girls.  I think my heart just skipped a few beats!  However, we are not clear on whether or not the legal issue with Taisia has been resolved.

Also, our agency will be traveling back to Russia in early June with an American Pediatrician who is offering to examine the girls.  This was not a concern of ours but it is a nice little perk to get extra information.

Please pray for Taisia's legal status to be resolved, safe travels, smooth processing of paperwork and a joyful meeting with the girls.

Positive News...

Eric's thoughts and update:

Recently, part of me started thinking that the girls' legal situation is an uphill battle and reality was starting to set in that perhaps we would have to pick other girls.  Although we've never touched them or talked to them, it's an odd feeling and remarkable just how quickly feelings can grow.  I guess it would be kind of like seeing a video of your unborn baby and then finding out that oops they are not actually yours, start over.  This morning however after peeling off from a bike ride with a friend either out of sheer exhaustion combined with zero carbs or through the promptings of God I found myself ditching that reality and pleading to  God to bring these girls to us! 

Interesting development via Russia today.  The word is that our adoption agency thinks they might be successful in moving Taisia from her orphanage to the older sister's orphanage.  Previously, when we asked if this was an option the answer was absolutely not, they won't do that.  I asked them to clarify that response given this new strategy and they replied that in previous cases they were told "no way" but that their representative in St. Petersburg is more hopeful this time. 

This would do some amazing things for the girls.  First and foremost, the Baby Home Taisia would be moved to is excellent and probably the best baby home in Russia according to our agency.  So even if the legal situation doesn't resolve itself to free up Taisia to adoption at least she is getting an "upgrade" and she'll get to be with her sister who she has never met!  However, this move would remove Taisia from the district and the prosecutor's tentacles that filed this motion and put her in a very friendly district to our agency. 

As to why the prosecutor filed this motion…we don't know but most likely it was based on a very common current trend in Russia not to terminate parental rights, but only limit them.  Sound familiar?  I just read yesterday that the US has 425,000 kids in foster care.

We'd ask you to pray for this good news with us and for clear direction from God whether or not we should move forward.  If Taisia (Elli) gets moved, then I suspect that's a pretty good sign.  :-)  We should know in a few more weeks.  If you find yourself prompted to ditch reality and "go for it" then I say let her fly!

Cunning and Crafty Attacks

³ But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.  
                                                                                            2 Corinthians 11:3

I have often thought of Eve in the garden with Satan.  Thinking, "Eve, how stupid could you be?  How can you not see that he is twisting God's words?" 

¹⁵ The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”                                                                                    Genesis 2:15-17

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”  ² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
 ⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
 ⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
                                                                                                       Genesis 3:1-6

In chapter 3 verse 1,  it calls the serpent the craftiest of any of the wild animals.  I have read that many times and agreed with it wholeheartedly.  However, recently, I have become vividly aware of just how crafty and cunning he can be.  As we entered this journey of adoption, I knew that there would be spiritual warfare.  I think I was naive in my understanding of my role in this war!  I have found myself hearing Satan whisper in my ear, "Does God really want you to go adopt these two little girls?  Surely not.  Just look at you.  You have health issues...You don't do a very good job of taking care of the two children you already have...adding one or two more would destroy everything you already have.  Maybe this is God's way of closing the door."    Even as I write this, it seems absurd to even give one ounce of thought to these statements.  But Satan is so crafty that somehow it makes sense when I hear it.  I have to keep reminding myself that we have prayed about this continually and that many doors have been flung open for us.  Almost to the point, where we feel we have been placed into an Indy Car for this ride and we have the pedal to the metal!  It may be that God allowed this pause because we needed it.

How easy it is to look at someones situation and judge the obvious.  My public apology goes out to Adam and Eve!  I am sorry for judging your decisions with my 20/20 hindsight.

Please continue to pray for our journey.  We have not yet heard anything about the prosecutor and the status of the girls.  As I have said previously, we do not want to get into a battle over these girls if there is a family member that wants to care for them.  So please pray for the right caregiver for the girls and that the right girls will end up in our home.  Also pray that we will resist Satan's cunning and crafty attacks as I know they will only get stronger as we get further into this process.  Our devotion is to Jesus Christ.  Please pray that we will not be led astray from it.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

                                                                                                  Romans 8:31