Da!!!

We went to see the kids again today with high hopes that they made a decision. We were given the library of the orphanage with blessings to keep the doors shut and be together in private. This is another blessing because usually when you show up at an orphanage, you get an audience. One by one the kids showed up and they drew some pictures for us to break the ice. We were getting good indications that they wanted us too, but our translator/facilitator had left to speak with the director and to give us time to be alone with them. When she returned we “popped” the question and we got a resounding, “Da!” Therefore, we have started the paperwork process and will start on the court date.

Hence, I feel confident enough to tell the kids names. Our oldest is Nadya (12), next comes Julia (11), and the caboose is Kolya (9). Each child opened up to us and showed their true personalities. We had each of them pegged except little Julia. She isn’t as quiet and shy as once thought, although she is the quietest of the bunch. In fact, she won the question competition with a total of 7 good questions for us. A couple of the questions were, “Are you still interested in adopting me and my brother and sister” and “Do you like me as a girl/daughter”? We of course said that we would be honored to be their parents.

I told them that I had three questions for them and each of them had to listen and give their answer. First, I asked them, “Do you promise to never use drugs?” Da! “Do you promise to never abuse alcohol?” Da! And finally, “Are your hearts open to having more brothers or sisters (Rimma & Zina) in the future?” Da! I watched them as they answered and I think it made them happy to know that drugs and alcohol would never break up their family again. Since the children have a church in their orphanage and regularly attend, I knew that they would be receptive to a Christian home, too.

Now for the kicker, we’ll call it another example of God’s work at hand. All of the kids know Spanish! Heidi knows enough Spanish to get by and I understand a little. The kids have spent some time on hosting trips to Spain and learned it there. It aids communication and since they know very little English and we know very little Russian, we speak in Spanish. How cool is that! Perhaps we will adopt some Russian speaking children from Mexico next time!

The children asked us to take them outside so we toured the grounds hand in hand. It was pitch black outside as we walked the grounds, but it didn’t matter. We had our kids and they had us. Each took turns snapping a few pictures before calling it a day. The director met us at the front door and asked us if we would like to take Julia back to the sanatorium ourselves. We walked over to the car and put Julia inside, but the director insisted that Nadya and Kolya accompany us as well. So off we go with three kids and no staff to who knows where. Did I mention that this director is great? She had all the documents ready to go for us to get the court date rolling, before the kids had agreed. She is very pro-adoption and family oriented, telling us that these kids need to be in a family rather than any orphanage. I can foresee her letting us take the kids on our own very soon. I let her know that I appreciate her trust and will not do anything to lose it. She likes us a lot. We will move to the town after we get back this weekend to be closer to the kids, although we are pretty close now. Karen found us a “deal” close to the orphanage.

We returned our angels to their temporary home and kissed them goodnight for the first time. They hugged us, confident that we would return the next day. We consider ourselves blessed to have had such a smooth process so far. Clearly ours and your prayers have been heard. Jesus is most certainly walking right next to us and these children.

I am considering a picture of them on the next post. Let me know your thoughts on that. I don’t think anything can halt God’s amazing work, so I have no fear of it now. The “Big Reveal” may come sooner than expected. God bless you all for staying with us and praying for us!

~ Felix ~