Home Again, but not for long!

Well, we got back home late Monday, or really early Tuesday morning. I have never been so happy to see my children and my BED! That's a really long flight!! And of course, we were so excited about coming home that we didn't sleep very well the night before, in spite of the fact that the hotel that night had A/C - a real treat!

I've been writing in the blog so erratically that I realized I haven't explained very well what happens from here. So here's a re-cap of where we are with the entire process.

Edward is going to submit paperwork to the court on our behalf and he will email with our court date, which we expect to be sometime in late July. Then we go back to Ukraine for court for the actual adoption, and then Greg gets to come home. However, the decision of the court is not final for 10 days. This is a standard thing they do (I understand they do this in the US, too) to allow for any appeals. After the 10 days are up, the decision is final and the girls are legally our daughters. Hooray!!

However, before I can bring the girls back home, we have some paperwork to do. We have to go and get new birth certificates showing Greg and I as the new parents. Then we have to get new passports for the girls in their new names, and get a visa for them from the Embassy in Kiev. This process normally takes just a few days, however, we can't ever do anything the easy way, can we!!? In our case, Irra was born in Russia, and this could make getting her birth certificate very complicated. We have been told this could take anywhere from a few days to 6 months. Obviously we are concerned about this and researching our options. Please pray for us to make all of the right connections and that we can get this taken care of quickly. Most people in this situation end of having to leave their child at the orphanage until the birth certificate issue is cleared up. We do not want to have to do this, but we may have no choice. It's definitely not practical for me to stay in Ukraine for six months!

The bottom line here is this: We're not in charge (surprise!) and never have been. I have no idea how this is all going to work out, and it's definitely not how I would have done things, but we do know that God is in full control. Maybe someday we'll see what the master plan here is, but if not, that's ok too, because we know there IS a master plan.

I'm sorta getting used to the idea of not being in control at this point. I'm a slow learner - God has had to pry my fingers off the (fake) steering wheel one at a time - but I'm trying. Of course, when you're in a foreign country with no car you can drive, you don't speak the language, and you can't even find your way around alone, it's easier to just surrender. :)- We'll see how good I am in the US where the illusion of control still exists!

We want to say how much we appreciate everyone's prayers and support. We LOVED your comments and emails while we were in Ukraine - it made us feel like we were not alone. Some days knowing you guys were out there praying and believing God with us helped to keep us sane! Thank you SOO much!!

There is so much that we just didn't have time to post, but now that the fog is clearing, I'll try to post stuff as it comes to me, and we'll keep you posted as to our return trip and the time line. God Bless you guys!!

Love,

Greg and Sheri