Breaking through the darkness

So we have officially met the halfway point in our 10 day waiting period and it gives a hope for the week ahead. This week has been refreshing yet heart wrenching in the same moments. We have been blessed to spend time with Ayla Marina and her precious groupa but are broken to think that many if not most of these children will never have the chance at a real family. As we hold our daughter I see the envy of the other children well in their eyes wishing they had a Mama and Papa to hold them. There is a definite peace in knowing that our daughter finally has a home and that the sense of loneliness will prayerfully cease.

The past few days we have gone to see Ayla Marina around 2 o'clock, which is usually the time they get back from their school and are working on homework. It thrills our heart to know each new day brings us closer to the day we take our girl home. Tuesday we spent some time with her and her groupa, then Kate had to come back and fly home to take care of Chandler and get back to work. So around 8 pm our taxi driver Kolya, who does not speak english, picked Kate up and drove her about an hour and a half to Dnipropetrovsk and got her on an over night train to Kiev. Restless, stressed, and worrisome could all be attributed to how I felt that night since Kate had no phone and no way to get in touch with me to tell me she made it safely. Needless to say I slept about 3 hours the whole night but then called Kostya around 7 am and Kate answered, praise the Lord. About the time I was talking to Kate, Luba texted me and told me she made it to the train, some information I could have used the night before to ease my mind. She went to the US Embassy to hand in some paperwork then enjoyed the great food that Kiev had to offer. Kate fly's out today at 12:55pm and arrives in Shreveport around 10:30 pm.

So the next few (16) days will be just me and my daughter, Kostya asked do we think she will do okay with just me cause some girls are intimidated by men, that might be true for most cases but Marina is a daddy's girl and loves to be held in my arms at almost all times, so we think she's good. I went to the orphanage around 1pm on Wednesday and spent most of the day helping her with her homework, when she finished we walked outside, I picked her up and just told her, "Soon you won't have to study anymore Ukrainian," she smiled and said, "Yes," but then I said, "Soon you will have to study in America," she quickly made an Ugh face. She is such a beautiful and precious little girl, to think that this girl has yet to have a father and to have her embrace me in such a short time is beyond me. At the end of the 10 days (Monday) we will have them legalize a new birth certificate, submit her passports in Dnipropetrovsk and once that's completed (3-5 days), we will head to Kiev to meet with the Embassy to get her Visa and Medical Diagnosis. Then it is home sweet home!

A little background: Marina was born Aug 18, 2001, and because her mother was legally single never wrote the name of the true father. For most of her life she has been taken care of by other family members, her mother had a little boy when Marina was about 5 years old but he was already adopted by a Ukrainian Couple. So for the past 2 years she has been raised by the orphanage since her mothers rights were terminated by the state due to excessive alcohol abuse. The moment I saw the light break through the darkness was when we were in court and the Judge asked if anyone from the family objects this adoption, and the director just stated, "Her mother has never came by the orphanage since she has been there." My heart just sank as I saw a small tear well up in my daughter's eye, to think that her birth mother couldn't walk across town to see, to hold, to kiss, to hug this amazing little girl was beyond me. But then the judge ruled that she is our daughter, and a smile stretched across her face. It was at that moment that I knew the enemy had lost because true her birth mother skipped out on an amazing blessing but her real mother and father were not going to let those moments pass. I pray our daughter will know how much we love her, that before we ever knew her we did everything we could to come and get her. Risking doubters, nay-sayers, financial burdens, and flat resistance we pushed through those peoples darkness and saw her glowing face that first day and just as much as we knew Chandler was our child when we saw her, Marina had the same feeling. We will never stop hugging her, kissing her, loving her, and as long as I physically can pick her up, I will. We are so blessed to have found our daughter and there is no question in our minds that she is truly ours. As of now our family is almost complete, we just have to get our girl home and then as she holds her little sister we will know that all the pain and ridicule was well worth the reward of seeing our daughter, no longer an orphan, one less trapped in the enemies snare, truly home!