Moving along!

Today was yet another beautiful day (as so many have been). It was probably the warmest day so far with temps reaching into the 80's. Today was also another day where God moved things along. If you remember from yesterday's post (and today's won't be as long - I'm tired and it's already 7:20pm here) Anna was to meet with the director of passports to discuss the details in person.

Well without too much for me to do today except pray and visit with the kids around 2pm, I slept in a bit getting up around 9am. I can hear it now...it must be nice! I would trade places withone who thinks that, right now! As I headed out for a run at 10am, I noticed Kostya's car in the parking area and thought that they must already be back. They must not have any news though because thy didn't call. When I got back around 11am the car was gone. I showered, did my Bible study, ate a bar for lunch and skyped with Jenny and the kids at 1:40pm for a few minutes. A few minutes before 2pm, Anna called and said they were waiting on me out front to take me to see the kids. When I got in the car and asked if she had any news, she said that she had not seen the director as planned this morning but hoped to see him at 2pm. We dropped her off at his office on the way to see the kids and she told me she would call if she had any news.

The afternoon with the kids went great. Everyday they seem to be a little less attached to me and playing so well with each other. The girls played on some swings and Maks rode an old 10 speed bike that one of the workers had there. It was too big for him, but he didn't care! We shared some sunflower seeds, candy and gum as usual. At one point, Maks was over in a differnt play area talking to a middle age man that I've been seeing around the property the last few weeks. I'm not surre but I think he might be some sort of security. I know that they had a number of teenagers coming around but since he has been there, it's stopped. Anyway, I look over the hedge of bushes and I see Maks and this man feeding sunflower seeds to the pigeons (they are everywhere). No big I thought until I saw one of them jump up in Maks hand and he stands up with the bird perched on his hand. Now if seen that in bird shows before, biut not on a playground and certainly not with dirty birds, and furthermore, not my son. You know what though, I took a picture and told Makas how neat it was that he could do it and snapped a few pictures! He was so proud that when ever she saw someone the rest of the day, he would tell them all about it and show them the pictures. Don't get me wrong, I don't think we are going to be looking for pigeons in Independence to do this with, but here in his back yard, it was great.

Anna and Koysta show up around 4:15 while we were talking ot Jenny on the phone and told me that "we needed to talk". It seems as though we need to pay the director to expedite the passports. Now this wasn't new news, we had been told that this would probably happen, but I had been praying that the director might wave the fee. Anna told me the amount and told me that the director needed to know this afternoon at 5pm so he could make it happen. I agreed to the price and off we went to the directors office. On the way, I asked Anna what guarantee was there that he will do what we are paying for. She said that the man had a very good reputation and his word was very good - "but it's Ukraine and there are no guarantees". I asked what he promised he could do and she said that he will tell her exactly what he can do when she mets with him at 5pm. We arrived on time and Anna went inside to meet him. At 6pm, she comes out and said that he told her we should have the passports "late tomorrow (Friday), Saturday morning". She also told me that he just returned from a vacation to his home town in the southern part of Ukraine and came in to meet her though today was technically his last day of vacation.

So here is where we are. I am praising God for all He continues to do in providing for this adpotion. I'm thankful that the director was willing to come in on his last day of vacation to meet with Anna (Jenny said, of course he did, we just paid for that vacation)! And I'm thankful that if God wills, we will be home sometime Tuesday.

I will look forward to having the passports in hand so I can book the flights home. If we get the passports as planned, we will throw a little party for them at the orphanage on Sunday afternoon then I'll bring the kids back to the apartment with me to have some dinner and spend the night. We will get up around 2:30am on Monday morning and drive the 5hrs to Kiev so we can be at the hospital at 8am. At the hospital, they will recieve a physical and documentation of their condition of health that the US Embassy requires. I have been told not to worry, and it will only take about an hour. From there, we will go the the Embassy to start the process for their Visas and push them to have them completed by the end of the day. We will spend Monday night in Kiev and on Tuesday fly home.

BTW - the director told Anna that the "old" passports are no longer able to be processed regardless if you have them or not.

Prayer requests:
That the passports get completed by Saturday.
For Laurel, I've not heard any reports from her tests yesterday.

As always, thanks for all your prayers and encouraging comments.

Blessings <><,
David

Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Mark 9:23
" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."


Maks with pigeon in hand
Maks on bike
Natasha on freshly painted playground
Alona on freshly painted playground
Natasha on freshly painted playground