A few weeks ago~~exactly 4 weeks ago today, we got a referral for 2 little boys from the region in Russia that we are assigned to. They were precious little boys that were bio brothers, and were available to be adopted (2 1/2 and 4 1/2 yo). After much prayer and a Dr.'s review, we realized the medical conditions that these boys were born with were just too much for our family to be able to take on. This is really difficult to even write about as they are children who need a family too. Long story short, we had to decline the referrals~~we chose not to accept the boys. A very difficult and hard decision, but one that we do have peace about. I prayed that God would open doors for us and make it very clear if they were supposed to be our children, or show us definite closure if it was not meant to be, and we believe that has happened. The Dr. explained the severe medical conditions, (which we were already concerned about, but not to the degree which she was able to review and discover), and what we would be looking at if we adopted them. She lovingly included this statement in so many words. "I am not telling you not to adopt them, however, God gave you your husband and girls before you decided to adopt, and you do not want to do something that could break up what God has already in place." She also gave many other reassuring words of wisdom that were hard to hear at the moment, but were a blessing that just rang true as we considered what was before us. God closed that door~~
So, on that note, it hit us in the face that our time as a family as we have known it is coming to an end. Our lives are going to turn up-side-down when we get little ones here. We are aware that things are going to change, but I think it was Hannah that just totally grasped on to how MUCH our lives will change, and she asked if we could start having a weekly 'family day'. They both know the importance of school, but with Diester's work schedule, a family day has to occur during the week, when he is not napping for his evening shift, or sleeping coming off of a shift. So yesterday was our 2nd official 'family day' with just our family spending time together~~all of us! We start our day out with our bible study, and praying for our church. Then after that, we have lunch, but since we are doing a 'cleanse' right now, there has been no food prepared in this house for the last 7 days for most of us (actually, Mallory was eating for the first 4 days, and just started it with us on Wednesday, so now we are all on the cleanse)~~If you want details of the cleanse, go to http://www.themastercleanse.org/ and you will find the whole of it, why people do it, the benefits of it etc. Anyway, we only have 3 days to go for which I am thankful. I only put the website on there for the curious. The cleanse has not been as pleasant this time for some reason, although I cannot put my finger on the whys. Food (ANY food) sounds so good to me right now. Anyway, our family day was wonderful~the girls learned how to play euchre last week, and although it is not Mallory's favorite thing to play, she played a game, and then, after much discussion, we decided to play Monopoly, and all of you know that Monopoly is not a 1/2 hour game. So that took up a good part of the day, but it was joyfully full of laughs (mostly provided by the funniest man on this earth that I know, my husband). He has to have the best wit ever. I wish I could think of things that quickly~~ Then after Monopoly in which Hannah slaughtered us, we watched a slide show provided by Mallory of pictures she has taken, and then we all watched a moving called 'Praying with Lior'. After that, it was time for bed. When we have our family day, we do not get on the computer, nor do we answer the phone. Kind of hard for me, but a good discipline, and it keeps us from interrupting our family day. We just can't stop life completely before the boys become a part of our family, so we are trying to savor the times we have, and we have to make that time during the week on days that Diester is not working or sleeping, since he works nights. We are making up our school on Saturdays.
So, the process for declining referrals is that we have to send a 'decline letter' to Russia explaining our reasons for declining. Okay, so we worked on that, and it's not as easy as it sounds. It has to be acceptable (our agency reviews it), and then it gets notarized, then county clerk certified, and then apostilled down in Frankfort. I was trying to get it done ASAP. In the meantime, we were also in the process of updating our dossier to send to Russia as our previous one was expiring on 2/24/11 (which was yesterday I think). It was just yesterday that our whole package-dossier and decline letter- were on their way to Russia after many snafu's and problems, and wrong forms delaying us once after another. That has been quite frustrating, but I see God showing me that I am going to need extra patience, and if I can't deal with papers being messed up, how am I going to touch dealing with children who have abandonment issues, etc. etc.? I have been reminded that I am not fighting against flesh and blood, but the powers of darkness. God is in control, and He will see to it that we get the boys we are supposed to have when we are supposed to have them. Now, doesn't that sound like a parent telling their child to stop buggin me, and hang in there~~I have you taken care of! ! ! Sweet~who hasn't told their child that? I hope you are blessed!
Now, the pictures I am including were taken today of the girls during their school presentations. They each had to do a presentation on Botany for science, and also on the Rise of the Church and the Fall of the Roman Empire today for history. God cannot be denied in either of these. Hannah was not excited about having to do this study of botany for the last month and 1/2 or two, as she could care less about plants, but she came away from her study in awe of God's blessing to us of the plants that He created, and was reminded of how we couldn't live without them~~food, oxygen, beauty, health, and the list goes on. Mallory showed us many beautiful specimens through the microscope (and Hannah lovingly corrected her as she would continue to say 'H'erbacious plants, instead of h'E'rbacious plants as well as other words that she didn't know how to pronounce~gotta love that!) Then it was incredible to listen to them describe how the Fall of the Roman Empire happened, and who was involved, and they actually understand it, and see how God works through the persecution of the Christians to further his kingdom. I might have learned about ancient history, but did not come away from my schooling with much knowledge of truly what happened. I love homeschooling! ! ! because they can really learn it on their terms, not just memorizing dates, and names for a test (no offense to teachers out there, I know that is not what you choose). They actually think it is interesting ~~all of this stuff that happened. YEAH! ! ! 5 hours later they were done. Yes, it took roughly 5 hours for them to present what they shared from what they had learned. What a blessing~~
Well, I know this has been a long post. It makes up for the fact that I haven't written in several months. My hope is that you have been blessed by it, and that you see God working in your life too! It shouldn't be too much longer before we get some other referrals from Russia. Please pray for us that the next boys referred will be the ones that God has for us (if it is meant to be).
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