We were told this week that we are back on the "waiting list" for a referral. Life goes on...
Of course we are praying that the Lord will shape us to be the best we can for Him. We trust Him to work through us to save a little girl who needs a family. We'll be right here.
Audrey 6 years old:
"We're ganna get Tess soon, but we don't know when. My mommy is fancy and she has good lookin' style. Daddy is handsome every time he steps on the pathway. Blake likes football funner than everything. Will loves dogs. Me, I am wacky all the time. And I gotta say something else about May (our dog). She got married to Grammy's dog. The End."
We had a happy Halloween with our little bulldog, poodle, and Mizzou football player!
Not much news on our travel dates. I talked with our adoption agency yesterday. They said we're "penciled in for November or December". What?! What happened to October? At this point Rob and I are just planning on leaving next summer. At least the weather would be nicer! Honestly, my goodness! We are trying to save a little girl over there. I don't know why Russia makes it so difficult. We're trying to stay positive. I ordered a stocking for "Tess" from Pottery Barn that matches with ours. We'll have it hanging on the fireplace and ready to fill if she's home by then. If not, we'll fill it anyway, and give it to her in Russia!
Our family took a little weekend trip to St Louis. As always, we loved spending time together!
We have not heard any more on our expected travel dates for our trip to Russia. But, you know, really - we're just along for the ride. This entire adoption is God's idea. So, we're just waiting for His perfect timing. We just had a reminder that God has our entire picture in His view. Five weeks ago I broke my thumb playing volleyball. We had thought we would be traveling across the world with my hand in a cast. But, this week I have started some minor physical therapy with my hand and it gets stronger everyday. Wasn't that thoughtful of God to have us wait to travel until I am whole? It will make it much easier to carry my suitcase and click my camera!
Hello blog-checkers!
I talked with our adoption agent in St. Louis yesterday. Not too surprised, but we have another set-back. Apparently, the regional representative in Astrakhan is "out of town and will not be back until November". The contact person in Russia told us, "they meant to contact us ten days ago." Oops - just a little oversight. So, there will not be any travel for us in October. Whatever - our bags are packed and we'll just be ready.
Just to re-cap and fill in our time lapses - Russia contacted our adoption agency on September 10th and asked if we could travel in October. After we said yes, we were told we would be getting our exact travel dates within a few days. After one week, they said we needed another document. After two weeks, they said they needed 3 more documents. Both times I went to Topeka and Fed-Xed the papers the very same day. As of today, we have been waiting four weeks to hear what date in October we would be traveling. That is when this new information came in that we will not be traveling at all in October.
You know, Rob and I were talking about the situation we are finding ourselves in. It's such an eye opener for us. We KNOW that God wants us to save a little life in Russia. We TRUST Him every single day to direct us. And, we desire to be OBEDIENT to His call for our family. But, just because we are walking in faith and trust in Him, we are not exempt from all the hassle and disappointments of this crazy process. Through the process God is shaping us. We are forced to learn so more when we walk through the fire, and God is with us, rather than Him leading us around the fire. However, I'm really hoping we learn our lesson soon, because I am pretty tired of waiting. ;)
We look forward to getting our little girl as soon as possible. We do not want her to be effected by any of the dictatorship. Please continue to pray for her little mind, heart and body. We know God is sheltering her with His "feathers" as she waits to get home!
Here is a picture of Blake, Will and Audrey exploring a stream near our house. We had a successful "treature hunt". We found "butterfly shells", lots of frogs and a deer's jawbone. What more could we ask for?!
I can't help but think all the time about our little girl waiting for us in Russia. She has no idea about the world we'll be introducing her to. How fun!!
No word yet on our travel date. It could be any day. When the Department of Education in Moscow contacts us, we'll have about two weeks to get our plane tickets, visas for Russia, etc. There are a lot of things that cannot be done until we have our exact travel date. So, we're just living life as if we are not heading across the world at a moments notice. Today I went to Topeka again to send in some additional documents. I definitely don't need directions to get to the Secretary of State's office!
