Let me catch you up...

I am starting this blog a little late in the process, so I thought I would tell you about all of our ups and downs and catch you up. We first decided to adopt last fall. We did not care where our child came from; we just knew we wanted a girl. So, we chose our agency first and let them help us choose our country. They talked us into Vietnam. I know, you are thinking "the title of this blog is Our Russian Love"... just keep reading...it's part of the downs. Anyway, we started the "hunting and gathering" part of the process, gathering about a million different documents, having the home studies, being fingerprinted...and so on and so on. Then in November, just as we finished up, our agency calls with terrible news...Vietnam is having major problems and is most likely not going to be an option. However, they hoped that the problems would fix themselves. We were in the front of the line for this country and didn't want to change, so we decided to wait and see. Well, Thanksgiving came and went...Christmas came and went...Then in mid-January we got another call...this one was even bleaker, but they still had hope. So, we kept waiting. I knew in my heart it was time to change countries but I felt like I would have wasted so much time and OHHH...all that paperwork. Then, we started reading things like "Vietnam is closing." (Which turned out to be true.) Our agency told us our options but really left the decision up to us. Okay, so, do we switch and if so what country do we choose? We had researched our options and were leaning toward Russia, but we were truly at a loss and were not sure what to do. We kept praying about it and just weren't hearing our answer. My husband told me to keep praying, but apparently I am impatient...(this is still to be determined). I kept telling my friend Kenessa that I just wished that one day I would walk outside and find a burning bush in the front yard...you know like Moses. So, in April, we are on a beach in sunny Mexico...oh wait that's a different plan (Sorry, inside joke I couldn't pass on)...in Ft. Lauderdale, FL when out of nowhere comes one of those really annoying planes that insist on flying right over your head. This plane was pulling a banner that said "Every Child Deserves A Home". Well, I already knew this, but then not a second later comes a man walking down the beach wearing a t-shirt that says "RUSSIA" in HUGE letters. I had cold chills...on a 90 degree beach. I knew it was time to call my agency...I had just seen my burning bush. Even more amazing...when I get back up to the hotel room I start to tell my husband what happened and he says "Yes, I saw that too..."(from the other side of the beach). Okay, now I KNOW it's time to call our agency. Well, we call our agency that Monday and start the paperwork process ALL OVER. Yes, it was worth it. Our dossier went to Russia on June 26, 2008 and we received our first referral on Sept. 9, 2008. Unfortunately, this beautiful little girl had medical problems that we were unable to care for and we had to decline. It would not have been fair to her for us to try to take that on. So, I still pray daily that this angel will find a loving home that is capable of caring for her special needs. Now, this also means that we have to wait again for another referral. But, we know in the end that God will bring us to the child that is meant to be ours. So, now it is December...Thanksgiving has once again came and gone...Christmas is about to come and go...and still we wait. But, I will let you in on a secret...we are NEXT!!! Looks like Siberia in January for us...I said this would happen all along. (I was just really hoping I was wrong!) At least I will hopefully get to see some real snow...Oh, how I love snow!