Travel Yet?

We are SO eager to pack our bags and go on our big trip, but the answer to the question is "No, we have no travel plans yet." If you know me, I like to have a plan and it is a bit unnerving to have no idea when we embark on our journey. Back in May when our agency said, "Yes, of course you'll bring her home this summer" I had it all figured out. I thought for sure we'd bring her home at the end of July, take the month of August to get acclimated to being a family of 6 and then begin our homeschool year in September. Nice and neat. Ha!

Slowly, our departure date has slipped closer and closer to the fall. I am beginning to learn that this adoption process is not nice and neat. It involves trusting God and letting go of control. God is not surprised by the twists and turns. He is not surprised by the steps forward with paperwork and the steps back. I have to trust that His timing is perfect. And I need to remember that every step of the way He will be with us. What a wonderful promise!!! Oh how I wish though that He would send me an email or text message and let me know the plan. ;) This has been a very hard lesson for me to learn. (Frankly, I've been a bit moody about it!)

Good news: Our dossier was FINALLY submitted on July 25th. Praise the Lord! (Ukraine only accepts older child adoption dossiers on Thursdays.) Coincidentally, this was our 15th wedding anniversary so it is a definitely a date we will remember.

Other news: Due to the change in Russian adoption laws, more families are seeking to adopt from other Eastern European countries. What this means for us is that the 2-3 week approval time for dossiers is now running closer to 7 weeks. (maybe more, maybe less?) We are praying we hear from Ukraine by September 12th, if not sooner. Will you join us in praying?

When we receive contact from Ukraine, they will tell us when our appointment with the SDA is in Ukraine. That should be between 2-4 weeks from our dossier approval. Perhaps we'll travel in October?

Technically, this is the closest we have been to knowing our travel date so far and yet we still do not know. Our dossier is sitting in a stack somewhere in Ukraine. Fully translated and ready to be examined and reviewed. We are praying with hope that it will be soon, but also trying to prepare our hearts for later.

Contact with Irina: We have been sending letters and small packages every 3-4 weeks. A dear Russian women from our church has been translating them for us and we pray that Irina receives them and that someone is kind enough to read them to her. (I don't know what her Russian reading capabilities are.) She is not able to send us anything back, so it is all very one sided. We'd love to know how Irina is doing, but we have no way of knowing. It has been almost 7 months since we said goodbye at the airport and my  heart aches to hear her voice and give her a hug. In the meantime, we look at pictures, watch the video we took at Christmas and remember our 3 minute long phone call on April 14th.

I haven't had a chance to share that on the blog, but it is a huge praise that our agency director visited Irina's orphanage in April. While she was there, she was able to call us and put Irina on the phone for a very short conversation. I wish I thought ahead to tape record it! The call came at 5am on a Sunday morning and we were delighted to hear her little voice speaking both in Russian and in English. She was coached to say a few phrases to us, that of course, were delightful to hear. "I love you and I miss you." I can't believe that was already more then three months ago! Oh how we wish we could call her again, but it just doesn't work that way.

In the meantime, all we can do is prep for our school year, get her room ready, read lots of books on older child adoptions, parenting an adopted child and PRAY! Pray for her protection. Pray for her heart. Pray for the Ukrainian courts to process things unexpectedly quickly. Pray for the boys.

It has been very therapeutic for me to decorate her room and organize her closet. I just finished sewing her curtains and made a bedskirt to go along with the bedding. The boys helped me paint letters to hang in her room that say her name. I hope to post some pictures soon!

All in all, we trust that God is good and He has a plan. However, this "pregnant" Momma feels a bit overdue!! I'd like to be induced, please!!!

Thank you for praying! Let's bring our sweet girl home!!!!!