Trip 2-of-3 ... Leaving Tomorrow!

After weeks and weeks of waiting, we have been assigned a court date of Wednesday, March 9th at 11am.  We learned this about 10 days ago, and just knowing that we have a court date has made it a lot easier to breathe.  Eugene and I leave around 11am tomorrow morning (Saturday) and will begin the 2 day process of getting to Simferopol, Ukraine.  We expect (and hope!) that we will be able to see Vitalik and Lera for a day or two before court, and maybe one day after court, then we will begin the 2-day return trip.  The plan is that this trip will last just over one week.

Every region in Ukraine is different, and in Crimea, where our kids are, as we have been learning, everything seems to take more time!  We have had the blessing of following another local family who have just adopted from the same orphanage and their court date lasted 2 hours and was extremely serious.  There will be a judge, a jury, and a prosecutor whose job it is to try to prove that we are unfit parents.  Doesn't that sound like fun!? 

Thankfully, we are told that the burden of proof is on them -- that by just getting to this point, it is assumed that we ARE fit parents, so as much as possible, we are supposed to sit still, be quiet, and answer questions directly in as few words as possible.  This is not my strength, but in this case, I will sure try hard!

It seems like it's been forever since we arrived home from our first trip, though it has actually been just a little over a month.  For about the first week at home, I was really really scared about court.  It is an amazing thing that after all that we've been through in the past six months, the entire adoption could all fall apart in one day if something goes wrong.  Of course, this is NOT a good way to think!  I had to remind myself that fear is not one of the fruits of the Spirit... in short, fear is not from God.  In order to get past this fear, I just had to remember the chain of miraculous events last summer that led us so quickly to total clarity about adopting Lera and Vitalik.  The events of this past August were humbling, amazing, and just plain a God thing.  I decided many weeks ago that if God can make all of the crazy things happen in the way that they did for our new kids to even BE on the trip to America in the first place... and then for us to be at the park and hear about them, and for all of the sparks that were flying to just affirm and affirm that this was God's plan for us, why in the WORLD would I worry that God can't get us through a couple of hours in a Crimean court room!? 

So, for several weeks now, I've not felt afraid about court, though I'm sure it will be really intense, and when it gets here, I hope I'll just be able to breathe!  I imagine that it will be really scary too for Vitalik and Lera.  It is my prayer that as we prepare for, and live through our court date, all of us will feel at peace and will just be able to do our best.  Most of all, obviously, I just pray for a good verdict, so that after another waiting period, we can return to begin the 2-3 week process of bringing the kids home for good! 

Tonight, Eugene and I took the boys to the airport where we had the privilege of joining in the celebration as we welcomed the first of this summer's kids home for good!  David Yaroslav (formerly Yarik) is 13, and has just left the same orphanage that we will be heading to tomorrow.   

It is hard to describe how his arrival tonight has provided such a gift of encouragement to our spirits as we set off tomorrow on the next leg of our adventure!  We had just seen David kickin' around the orphanage with his pals during our last trip to Ukraine, and now he is home with his new family just a mile or two away from our house!  It's like, wow - this can really happen!  It was such a blessing to be there tonight to see his new family and friends celebrate his arrival!  We hope and pray (and even, dare I say - expect!) that it will not be long before David joins the crowd of family and friends who will form the welcoming party as we arrive home with Vitalik and Lera!  Please God, may it be so!!