Forgive me if I'm repeating myself, but I'm not sure I can explain how intense it was to be prayed for last week. While I know that God is with me always, in the day to day I can get deceived by my perceived competence or distracted by the busyness of life. While we were traveling and in Ukraine, we felt tangibly that people were praying for us. It wasn't even that everything was perfect. Things were not perfect, but it was as if God put such blinders on us to only see His goodness and feel His love. Oh to walk that closely with Him in the mundane day to day!
I need to praise Him for the ways He answered specific prayer requests.
1) We asked you to pray for our final day with Irina. God answered amazingly. We had 4.5 hours with her, which far exceeded our expectations. We got to sit and enjoy her in a common area in the dormitory. Just Darin, Irina and me. We laughed, played, and enjoyed each other. She was affectionate and relaxed. As a few other children walked by, she was so proud to be sitting with us. She had to write out a long paragraph stating that she wanted to be adopted by us, which she eagerly wrote.
Sadly, the orphanage workers and staff commonly spread the rumor that Americans adopt children so that they can kill them and sell their organs. It's terrible. The workers are selfishly trying to protect their jobs in a very poverty stricken area. If there are less kids in the orphanage, then they'll need less staff. Many of the children make promises to teachers that they won't get adopted by Americans. One girl last week was nervous to sign the papers and asked for pictures proving her friend who was adopted in the last month was still alive. Praise the Lord that Irina has a mind of her own. Our translator asked her if she wanted her name to be changed to which she replied, "I don't care what they call me as long as I can go live with their family." She doesn't seem to be phased by the rumors. (We're going to keep her name Irina for now.)
Our goodbye's were hard, but I'm thankful that she was not aloof. She hugged us and didn't let go for a while. Oh how we miss her!
2) We asked you to pray for our return flight and connection in Frankfurt. Praise the Lord we were able to run. We ran/speed walked through the Frankfurt airport and were the last few to board the plane. But we made it! All of our flights were on time and we returned at 8pm on Saturday night.
3) We asked you to pray for my parents energy. They survived and did a great job loving and caring for the boys. They were creative, provided lots of great outside play in the dirt (every boys dream!), did school work with them, and fed them very well. And my mom sent them home with all clean laundry!! Phew! I'm sure my parents are enjoying the quiet now. Praise the Lord for His provision. My parents recently moved to Virginia from New Jersey. What a blessing it was to have them closer so the boys could still participate in all their normal activities! (homeschool co-op, gymnastics, bible study, etc.)
4) We asked you to pray for our jet lag recovery. Darin felt great on Monday and by Tuesday I was feeling pretty much back to normal. I had no trouble sleeping and my fatigue was only due to keeping up with very excited boys. They have been WIRED this week.
An extra bonus I didn't expect or anticipate from this trip was the gift of all the kid free time with Darin. It's been 9 years since we've been without kids for more then a couple days. God was so good to provide us with this special time before we make life a little more interesting with an additional child. :) We still do not know our expected date of travel yet. Perhaps the middle to end of November? I'm sure I'll be emailing once we know to solicit more prayer. We'll be bringing the three boys with us on the next trip and will be gone for 3 or more weeks.
Thank you for playing an important part in orphan care by praying. If you're a local Richmonder, join us at WEPC on Sunday 11/3 for an Orphan Sunday celebration at 3:30. Email me for more info. Either way, join with us this Sunday to pray for the millions of orphans around the world who don't have a mommy or daddy to tuck them in at night. Prayer is powerful. We've experienced it richly through your prayers! Visit here for more information on Orphan Sunday: http://orphansunday.org
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