STICKER SHOCK

June 2 3, 2011

So we are looking at $1844 for each of my and Tim's tickets and $1000 a piece for the girls. More than we were hoping for. Our length of time in country is also unsure so not sure how much an apartment will cost. Money will be very close. But we can eat toast and bananas every morning in the apartment and have ramen noodles for dinner if need be. So we are scheduled to leave Sunday afternoon and will arrive late Monday in country. I hope this is enough time to correct the paperwork problems. I am a bit nervous about the preliminary hearing and subsequent final court appearance. The judge could question us for hours. We will prepare for the questioning before hand. Discussing answers to possible questions and having things prepared from Children's hospital and from the school. Please pray for everything to go smoothly with no delays. Any delays could change our return date which means additional costs of $175 a piece to change these dates on our tickets. We are still so glad we decided to follow the Lord's calling. We can't wait to reap the blessings with these new treasures when we return home.

WE HAVE A DATE!

June 22,2011
What a whilrwind the last few days have been. We have had a very difficult time getting a court date and I can't go into all the reasons on our blog because they are kind of sensitive and political. But we finally have a date--after our facilitator has tried many times he was finally successful today but there is some problems with some of our paperwork so we have to start working on that. We have 2 court hearings for some reason. We have a preliminary hearing on July 6th and hopefully a final hearing on July 8th. We will need to be working on the paperwork on July 4th. Please pray we get all the paperwork done to the judge's satisfaction, and that the court hearings go well. We will keep you posted on everything. Please pray for good prices on the flights and good prices on our apartment since we will probably be there longer than we had planned. Pray for our girls-their health, safety and that their hearts are ready to accept us back as their parents and that they transition easily into our family. Pray for our kids we are leaving here again that we are able to line up adequate help to care for them while we are gone. Again we know that this is all in God's hands and we are trusting him to carry us through.

God's Word says it All!

June 18,2011
Today's devotion started with this scripture today, "Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage." Ps 27:14. So that is what we are doing as we wait until Monday to hear. We wait but we take courage in our Lord. We know everything will be perfect because our Lord is in control. I have said from the beginning that I trust him and am believing in the promise he gave me back in June. It may not be playing out exactly as I thought it should but I am still BELIEVING GOD! I know he will not leave me nor forsake me. So today and tomorrow I am treasuring my time I have here at home with my children. We will make them good days to remember and enjoy because God has given us these days just for that. I am so blessed and I will not forget that. Thank you Lord for all you have blessed me with and all the blessings I will have in the future. You are still my awe inspiring, gasp causing, mountain moving, awesome God!

The Power of 3

June 16,2011 I was feeling kind of down this morning as we still don't have a date to go back and get our girls who may have forgotten who we are by now. I was reading my daily devotion on line today and it was about Paul. All throughout the book of acts there were 3 main elements in his life. No matter what the situation, or what he was going through at the time he prayed. This was #1. He always talked to the Lord or cried out to him. He never lost hope. He knew his God was in control and would never let him down. #2 was the Holy Spirit. After prayer the Holy Spirit would show up, sometimes in a big way sometimes in a little way but He would always show up. #3 He would tell others-He preached God's word to others. He never tired of telling others about his God! So sometimes God puts you or allows you to be put in a spot where there is nothing in your humanness that you can do about the situation. What should you do? PRAY! and PRAY! again. Cry out to HIM! He will hear you. Wait for Him and the Holy Spirit will show up in a big way. Then shout from the mountain tops what the Lord has done. I have been placed in situations lately where there is nothing I can do but pray. Maybe I haven't seen all the results of the Holy Spirit yet but I have felt comfort. Comfort in His presence as He holds me throughout the situation. Comfort in knowing He is in control! My human impatience wants a resolution now but I know His timing is perfect! I am trusting and believing Him. So in the meantime I get on my face and I cry out to my Lord! Lord thank you for assigning a judge to our case. I know you have a plan. I am asking you to please give us a quick date to get our girls home as soon as possible. Please let all the timing be perfect for childcare, our jobs, and getting the girls home. Please prepare their hearts for their new family. Please let them remember us and let them transition back into our lives without problems. Also Lord let there be enough money to cover all the expenses especially air fare. Let the delay give us better prices on the airfare. Oh Lord give me a peace and comfort during this wait. Give me the strenght to shout your praises through this wait.

UPdate!

June 15,2011
Ok so we finally got an email tonight. We have been assigned a judge but he wants to take 3 days to review the case and won't give us a court date until Monday, so more waiting. I don't know if this means we should plan on a court date next week or not. Need to talk to our facilitator in Eastern Europe tomorrow to find out more. At least this is one step closer. God is still in control!

No News!

June 11,2011

Another day of missing my girls so much without any real news. Tim talked with Irinna today. And basically she said with the holiday tomorrow and Monday there that we wouldn't hear anything until Tues orWednesday. So we won't be traveling until the end of next week, at the earliest. I know that God knows what he is doing but it sure is hard when we don't know what His plans are. First the disappointment or should I say heart crushing news that we would not be bringing Anya home and now waitint and waiting to get our girls home. It is so hard. I am trying to trust him but it is so hard right now. I keep looking at the pictures we have of our time with the girls and they seem like so few. They attached to us so quickly and now they are wondering when we are coming back. All I can do is resort to scripture, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Also, " Do not be afraid for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. Isa 43:5. "forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, i am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. " Isa 43 18-19. Ok I am believing you. I am not afraid. I know you will bring my children home from the east and I need to be patient. You are making a way for this to happen. It will all be so magnificent when it all comes together and all the glory will go to you my Lord! I just need this aching in my heart to stop. Give me a comfort Lord. Sing to me a new song! " For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord and will bring you back from captivity. " Jer 29: 11-13. Thank you Lord for your word. It is a comfort to me as I wait. You are my God who has promised me these things. I am believing you for all of it! These daughters of mine are worth waiting for!

Waiting for a Court Date!

June 9,2011

We are still at home and missing these 2 so much. We thought we would be back there with them by now with court date. But here we are. We are enjoying our time here with our other kids but can't help missing our girls on the other side of the world. The hold up is waiting for a judge to be assigned to our case. There has been a few issues in this area as far as judges go so as soon as we get a judge we will get a date. So please pray with us that we get one tomorrow so we can then get a court date for next week and be back with our girls and working on bringing them home.

I'm sure they are wondering what happened to their mama and

papa. It has been 9 days since they have seen us. Pray they
remember us and are not mad at us for being away for so long.
Also pray for a great deal on plane tickets. Right now we are

looking at at least $1650 a piece. This is more than we had been

planning on. We know the Lord has it all under control but

we just want to get these precious treasures home so we can get

back to being a family. I know the blessings that lie ahead will be

amazing. We just want to get on with it! We will try to be patient and wait on our Lord. We know he has perfect timing. He

hasn't let us down yet!