We'll just have to wait and see

Aaron just got word yesterday that there is a small chance that Artyom will be at camp when he goes to the orphanage.  This has been in the back of my head for awhile, but it hit him out of nowhere.  We are praying that it doesn't happen, but we know that God's timing is perfect.  Who knows, it might be too much to leave him, and no one wants to see a big, bald 32 year old man break down and cry like a baby!

Artyom and Aaron last year

I hope He has a bulldozer!

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. 
                                                               Proverbs 3:5-6

Such a simple verse; there is even a children’s song from it!  Memorizing it is easy; living it is much harder.  “Our own understanding” is what we know.  How do you prevent yourself from relying on what we know and what we can clearly see with our own eyes?  It is a question that Aaron and I are dealing with daily as we go through this process.  We are going so much on feeling, that discouraging days can send us reeling.  We must continue on with conviction!  We know what God has called us to do, and we must trust that He can see it through.

The footnotes of this verse in my Ryrie Bible say that “make your paths straight” simply means that He will “clear obstructions and enable one to go forward.”  Those words are a comfort to me because there are many obstructions in our path (more than I care to mention).  We aren’t doing this alone, there is Someone going ahead of us that has already cleared the path and is holding Artyom’s future in His hands.

Starting to Feel Real!

     As of today, I have sent out all four requests for our reference letters that the social worker needs for our home study!  Here's hoping everyone thinks as highly of us as we are assuming!  Each e-mail I sent with the reference letter made this process feel a bit more real.  I have been saying for awhile now that I am just ready to get the process started, and now that it has, I am shaking from the inside!  I realize that there are lots of exclamation points in this post, but that is the genuine emotion that is bouncing around in my head!!!!       Aaron leaves in 1 week and 2 days for Ukraine for 10 days.  He will be lucky to get to spend 20 min. with Artyom, but I know he is really looking forward to every second.  I am struggling with the disappointment of not getting to go, but we both realize that the timing isn't right.  I am not sure that I could hide my emotion from a little boy that has no idea the plans that are being made for his life, either!  I am looking forward to the pictures and all the information that Aaron will bring back from his trip, though.

Just a Name Change

If this kid isn't an Alfred through and through, I don't know who is!  We are just anxious to start the process so that we can make it official.  Cal was so excited when he saw this picture, "I am going to have to ask him how he got up there!"
Those two will, no doubt, be a dangerous pair!