Hello, friends!
We have been on-the- go most of the day. It has been a whirlwind of going here and there. Poor Elliott missed his morning nap today because of our appointments, and it occurred to me that he has never in his little life missed a morning nap! His caregivers at the orphanage always put the children down for nap in the morning and then again in the afternoon. I do not think Elliott knew what to make of how tired he was!!
We get to go to the Embassy tomorrow for our interview and for Elliott’s visa. That is the last os our official appointments before we head out on Saturday morning.
We have been watching CNN World here in our Kiev apartment since that is an english-speaking channel. They were just reporting on all the snow in Germany and the delayed and cancelled flights. We are praying that we will not have cancelled flights in Munich and that our delays would be short-lived or not at all.
We met a couple of other families today at our appointments. After talking with them and hearing their adoption journey here in the Ukraine, we realized again how much God orchestrated the events of our journey in a way that was perfect for our family. It was so great to talk with them. First, it was great just to speak english with them! Secondly, though, it was wonderful to hear how God had worked in their adoption journey in a way they said was perfect for them. One mom we spent some time talking wth while waiting at the clinic told us how she kept hearing God tell her about snow before they left to come here. She said she told her friends before she left that she just knew there would be feet upon feet of snow. When they arrived, however, they meet their new daughter and found out her name in Russian means snow! The mom started crying about what a confirmation is was for her to know that God had chosen this little girl for their family and He was gracious enough to confirm it with the word snow! That family is on our same flight from Kiev to Munich, so we get to enjoy talking with them for one more leg of our journey before we part ways.
Please join us in prayer for Jon’s eye. As some of you know, Jon has been battling a recurring eye infection since July. It has flared up again and he is in extreme pain. He brought some prescription eye drops with him, but they do not seem to working this time. The doctor at the clinic was very concerned about Jon before she examined Elliott and referred him to an opthamologist at the clinic who gave Jon two different prescriptions for his eye. Our concern is whether he should take these drops in conjunction with the others he is already taken. For now, he has decided to tough it out, if possible, until we are home. His eye is somewhat swollen, very irritated, and is interfering with his ability to do any of the required paperwork or even to see to go to the store and get some water for us. We both feel like his eye issue is spritiual warfare. We have felt that way since it began in July and kept coming back. Please pray for God’s healing and for a relief from the pain for Jon. Also, pray for wisdom in taking the new medications.
We are growing more and more excited and ready to get home the closer it gets. We cannot wait to get Elliott home and to get our whole family of five together. We are so ready to hug and kiss Anna and Ryan as well!
Thanks for your prayers.