specific answers to specific questions

Not much needs to be said here

Sam Driving w/Monkey

Which toy do you want, Sam?

Sam watching some video, probably of himself

Sam looking at a Kung Fu Panda sticker

What a fun game

One more step is behind us. We got a call about 1:15 Thursday afternoon saying that we had a meeting with the department of education at 2:50. So we had less than an hour notice before we had to leave. It was a crazy rush of nerves, excitement, anxiety, and relief. One of our specific prayers was for a quick date for this meeting, and it was answered specifically. We got the meeting the day after our bonding ended, so it couldn’t have been much quicker than that.

The meeting went well. We actually got several questions about stuff like our finances, our jobs, and Sam. It was pretty intimidating. The ladies didn’t let on much in the way they looked at and talked to us, but by the end of the interview they had lightened up. One of the ladies asked us a few questions, but then started talking about how she had seen us at the baby house with Sam and that we were a good family and good parents. She was smiling, and kept saying that things were “harasho,” good in Russian.

That was crazy to us. We saw the lady for seriously about 2 minutes one day, yet we had such good favor with her. This was one other very specific thing we had been praying for. We asked you guys to pray that we would have favor with these people, not just that they would listen and let us by, but that we would have favor in their eyes, and this lady definitely thought very highly of us. It was a very cool thing to sit there and see God’s answer to a very specific prayer.

We also asked for prayer about some pressure that we were under to do some things that we did not want to do pertaining to our interviews in a few places. This was one of those places. We didn’t do what we were being pressured to do, something that would be wrong, and the issue never even came up. Not even a passing mention of it. So great!

As the interview went on and the issue never came up, we just felt relief and such a sense of excitement that God was directing even the steps of those who do not know him. I am really thinking Malachi 1:5 – “Your own eyes will see this, and you yourselves will say: The Lord is great, even beyond the borders of Israel.” The earth and everything in it are the Lord’s because he made them. He directs each person and event as he wants. Whether they claim to be his or not, everyone and everything moves in response to him.

So that’s our news for today, even though it happened on Thursday. God is good, and he is faithful. We still have a few major things in front of us, but this was one big step, and we feel a definite sense of relief. Please pray for a quick court date and for favor with the judge like we have favor with this lady in the dept. of education.