We received the court decree today. Tomorrow we will go to their birth city to get their birth certificates. We need one more paper signed in the morning before we go.
We had offered to take the children to see their older sister. They have said no for months. Just before they got out of the taxi tonight they decided they did want to go with us. Now I'm praying about what to do. Travel arrangements were made already without them included.
We took them ice skating today with Vicki, Den and Oks. Vicki had a hard day. She needs extra prayer. Vitalik's passport was not ready today. They will take the train tomorrow. We pray they get their paperwork done in Kiev by Friday and fly on Sunday. We went to their apartment tonight. Rachel and Masha went to get us some bread and cheese for dinner. We prayed with them before they left. Vicki is ready to go home.
We have been blessed to spend time with many of the children. God's timing has been amazing. One of the graduates I wanted to spend time with was at the mall with 2 others. We paid for them to ice skate with our kids. It was good to see them having a great time. They were so happy when they left.
It was hard to watch Vitalik say bye to his friends. We know several of them. They all came out and waited for the taxi. It came in the gates. He hugged them all bye. The boys ran out the small gate and lined up and saluted him as he left. It was very touching.
Tomorrow I will go to sign for the children, at the orphanage. They will then be our responsibility. Their attitudes were finally as if they believed it was real...today. The loving smiles are back. The confidence that they are ours. It is good to see.
They have been told that the process is hard. That it will not be easy. I have been told the same. But reality is I have rested in the arms of my Lord and Savior. Knowing His timing was prepared before we arrived. I do not know when we will be home. Guessing around May 3rd. Possibly sooner? I am trusting in God to work out the details. This includes the transportation problem tomorrow and other little things that come up. After birth certificates we will get their passports. This takes days.
We are sad to leave so many of the children we love behind. We will miss their smiling faces and their hugs. Some hugs are long sweet hugs. The younger kids all call me Mama Hollie. It is sweet music to my ears. Anna has been careful to let them know, at times, that I am her American. They accept that fact. They usually call for Anna when they see me. Then come to say hello.
We hope to go to Sumi on Thurs or Fri to visit the 2 we will host this summer. We will have to wait until we have the birth certificate work done to make the arrangements.
God is good. His blessings are amazing. I did not sleep much last night. It was not worry that kept me up. I did not know why. I read the Bible. Listened to my Christian WOW cd. I woke up this morning had breakfast and again lots of Bible and music. God was preparing me for Vicki's news. I cried with her. "Savior you can move this mountain" and Scripture came to mind. I was honored to cry and pray with her. When she called back to say they would help her on Friday, at the Embassy, we prayed again, thanking God for hearing our prayers and moving the mountain of the Embassy being closed to adoptions this Friday.
I did journal while not blogging. We will see what God wants me to post. God answered so many prayers during our wait. We prayed who to give jackets to; those are the kids we would see that day. We prayed to see children on certain days and we would. God is truly amazing. We are loving being with the children.
