First I (Karin) will update you on what is going on with the adoption then I will update you on what is going on with us... spiritually and what our everyday living has become!
The adoption -
PRAISE the LORD!!! Our paperwork was redone and resubmitted late last night and in the SDA "inbox" when they arrived to work this morning. The next hurdle was for them to actually slip it in with yesterday's paperwork to be completed today with a 4:00 pm pick up. After much prayer and total submission to God, it was done and we just got "home" from picking up the completed documents. What does this mean? We are right on track... we will leave at 4:30 tomorrow morning (which is when I usually get to sleep) to drive the 4.5 hour trip to pick up our local facilitator in Kirovograd and then on to our new "home" in Oleksandriia. We will then have an appointment with CPS at 9:00 tomorrow morning then head to the orphanage to officially meet Marina and start the 3 day bonding period. The government doesn't recognize the time she spent with us over the summer so this is just another formality that has to take place. The reason why getting this done so quickly so that we can meet her tomorrow is so important is because the weekend will be included in those mandatory 3 days. Next week we will be able to make the official notorized declaration that we want to adopt Marina. After that - for us, it is all behind the scenes paperwork and waiting. The local CPS compiles and completes many papers ultimately ending with the signature of a high ranking highly unavailable official. That needs to happen before the SDA can process the rest of the paperwork prior to obtaining a court date. We need prayers that all of these steps can be done efficiently and that this hard to reach guy signs off on our paperwork quickly. He will be even more difficult to track down with the upcoming elections - but he isn't too difficult for God to find!!! So, tomorrow is a very big day for us... we ask for your prayers for a safe travel and that we will be able to accomplish the items we need to accomplish before the start of the weekend.
What is happening spiritually with us - specifically me since Andy will probably share more about his journey with the Lord
Oh my! What am I learning about our sweet Savior? So very much... which is so precious to me!
1. He is SOOO big...
2. He is in ALL of the details... not just the big ones but even the smallest. And this I am eternally grateful for! Not only has he provided our little ones with an amazing distraction, he is making signatures happen and paperwork completed when it would not have without Him leading.
3. He wants our hearts... He wants to commune and be in fellowship with us. How many times do you pray? If you are a prayer warrior, how many time do you enter into the presence of God before you pray? My experience has been that I will pray for you... and for my kids... for their futures... for your sick aunt, etc - but it is not often that I am truly still and in His presence when I do that. A dear friend and counselor sent something to me that I will share with you - "It is easy to just say prayers without engaging your faith and will, but I'm calling you to pray in spirit and in truth where your prayers create reality. Come and commune with Me from the depth of your soul,not religiously but genuinely with a heart of faith and surrendered will." WOW! Last night I did this - prayed after asking for the Holy Spirit to bring me in His presence - minutes later we got the call regarding the fact that they were able to redo the paperwork and fax it to the SDA. Today, Kosta was supposed to call us at noon to let us know if they were able to slip the documents in for processing today. At 2:00 I once again prayed after asking to be filled with Holy Spirit's presence and completely submitted to God - within 30 minutes we received the phone call letting us know that they were able to get everything done and we were on track once again! I am not saying that it will go our way every time we pray for something but what I am saying is that when we walk in submission and in His will, He does want to give us the desires of our hearts. He is letting us know that He is in control and that spending time walking into the secret place of the Spirit is essential to who we are in Him. And we wants this constantly... about EVERY decision we make - not just the big ones.
4. He will lead us - all we have to do is ask - DAILY! He gave manna to the Israelites daily. He didn't give a weeks worth of rations but only a days worth. He wants to give us our daily bread too. And if I am totally honest, one of the things that I am learning here is that He doesn't really want to just give it to us daily - He wants to give it to us every second. We should be asking Him to lead us not only first thing in the morning but all throughout the day. Once we get a taste of this, we won't want anything less. Let's all get a taste of this!!!
5. And much more that I will share along the way... :)
What does our everyday living look like?
It is becoming comical!
I can't fix my hair other then blow dry it. My hair is so fried that Andy asked if I could buy some sort of conditioner to help it not be so brittle where it literally burned off. I thought Afro Sheen might work but haven't tracked any down yet. If I had only gone through one piece of hair when I recognized it was burning my hair off I would have been in great shape. But NO - I had to start at the back then one small piece on my right side when I knew something was wrong but couldn't put my finger on it - then tried about 4 big wads of hair on my left side before it hit me... like a ton of bricks... my hair is getting shorter! Are you serious - this really had to happen on the first day of this long journey? Oh well - I have always wanted to try a pixie cut and now is my chance. Just wish I didn't have to wait so long before I actually got it cut. There are a few salons around here... nah, better not!
We also do not have a functioning washer in our apartment here in Kiev. So, Andy and I decided we would continue to wear the same clothes over and over again just in case we don't have much luck in our new "home" on Friday. We wore the same pants that we traveled in on our 2nd day here and then on our 3rd... now we are in a game - how long can we wear one pair of pants before they start standing on their own. We left on Sunday and we are still wearing the same pair of pants and only 2 different shirts. For those of you who know me well - you know that I love showers and to wash my hair EVERY DAY. You know that personal hygiene is important to me. You know that I won't wear the same clothes over and over in the chance I might smell. So you know that this is a big deal for me!
Sleep... ahh sleep... it is ever so elusive! I have been struggling with sleep - part of it is the time change and part of it is that our bed is horrible. We don't have a fitted sheet for the 100 year old mattress. It is just a sheet laying over the top of the mattress that only covers the top of the mattress... not even long enough to tuck under the mattress. I will not ever complain about not being able to sleep on my comfy cozy bed again! We don't have any wash clothes and 1 small towel for the entire time here. I won't ever complain about a wash cloth having a hole in it again - at least I have many! When I get home I will appreciate my 8 fluffy towels with a whole new heart! Even without all of the luxuries we have at home, there are many things to be thankful for here... fast internet - hot shower - a small refrigerator - and many many more. It just makes me realize that at home I have more blessings then I deserve. You won't hear me complain about my floors at home anytime soon - or my couch - or anything else. I just pray that the Lord keeps me humble and allows me to recognize all of the blessings I have every day.
Thank you all - for everything!!! Keep your prayers coming...
With all our love,
Karin and Andy
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