Another Two A-Day

Greetings Friends....

Well, the good news is that we actually received our referral the same day as our appointment.  The bad news is that after we received the referral the director of the orphanage called to let our facilitator know that she had spoken to our girl and that she had indicated that she did not want to be adopted.

What does this mean, it means yet another hurdle.  The difference this time compared to last is that we have a favorable director who encourages adoption and a favorable inspector that our facilitator has worked with before.  So we have advocates.  This is not a case of this girl waiting on another family, she thinks that she doesn't want a family.

Tomorrow morning, the inspector is going to go meet with our girl.  She will tell her about our family, that she will have 3 sisters.  She will try to explain to her that a life in an orphanage, while it might seem safe and be familiar, it offers no real future and little hope.  She will tell her about America (as best as she can), and paint a picture for her.

What are we doing in the meantime?  Well, it looks like Lily is going to get that over night train ride she has been hoping for.  We leave at 11pm tonight and are blessed beyond measure to have the sweet Karen going along.  An American who can speak Russia, now that is a huge advantage.  Not only can she clearly communicate with this little one, she can truly share what America is, who our family is and what her future might look like with us verse an orphanage.  Add to that that Karen is truly our Angel from God, a kind, gentle, loving young lady with a heart for God and a heart for orphans.  We are blessed.

We should arrive around 9am and we will head straight to the inspectors office which happens to be right in the same building as the orphanage.  We are going with our luggage, with the plan that the Degnan (Lily) charm will overwhelm her little heart and God will soften her heart towards us.  We go expectantly, waiting on the Lord.  This is still His story to tell and we remain His tool to tell it.

I might add, that while I haven't always loved the subject matter or the direction the story was going, I have loved writing this blog.  I forgot along the way how much I love writing.  My mind gets outside its self, it is a release and a therapy of sorts.  Thanks for indulging me.  I said early on that the purpose of this blog is for those who want to follow along but also a place for me to journal so to speak.  A discipline I plan to continue when I get home.  However, I am quite certain folks will be far less interested in following along on my day to day life.

So for now our bags are pack and we wait upon the Lord.  Lily was singing (like she always does) tonight and the song of choice was "Love Me" which is about who will love me for me, it touched my heart and reignited my purpose.  We are here to love a child, for who they are in Christ, a child of God.

So with expectant hearts we go forth...

Update to follow as soon as...well, if you don't hear from us tomorrow that might be a bad sign.

Love to all...wish I knew who all was out there reading this.  Many I know, but I think many I don't but I appreciate each!