The Transitive Property of Love :o)

It has been almost 2 weeks since our court date.  The 10-day waiting period is over, and today we begin our final adoption trip to Ukraine.  This trip will take 2.5 weeks and will involve acquiring new birth certificates, new passports, and getting the kids through US immigration.  After visiting the orphanage for a few days, we will have a farewell party and bring Vitalik and Lera to live with us in our Simferopol apartment while we wait for necessary paperwork to be completed.  It is exciting (and a little scary!) to think of being together for more than just a few hours at a time.  This will be a really awesome time of beginning to live through some of the joys and some of the pains of this enormous transition in all of our lives.

As we have been preparing for this final trip, we have so appreciated the amazing support that we have received from our family and community.  It is beyond incredible for us to be having this globe-trotting adventure at this stage in our lives... knowing that our three little boys are incredibly well cared for and our home and lives are running smoothly while we are away.   Words simply cannot adequately express our gratitude. 

Last night I begin thinking about the transitive property of love.  As I recall from my middle school math class, the Transitive property of equality goes something like this:  "A=B and B=C... therefore A=C"  My realization last night was that love works in exactly the same way.  We are blessed to be authentically loved by so many special people.  We genuinely love Lera and Vitalik.  The amazing thing is that so many who love us already love Lera and Vitalik before they have ever met them.  I think it will be really strange and awesome for our new kids to begin to realize this special truth! 

So as we sit in the airport awaiting our first flight in this final adoption journey, we are filled with hope for the future, and with sincere gratitude for the transitive property of love.