Wild Ride!

Our paperwork has been sent off! The last two weeks were a whirlwind. We received our approval letter from the Bureau of Immigration and scrambled to get every document notarized. Our good friend from church, Wesley, who is a notary, came to our house twice last week and spent more than an hour each time notarizing the documents. Mark then took everything to Santa Fe to the Secretary of State's office to receive the apostil and was told some of the documents were not worded correctly. He brought them home. We changed them. Wes notarized them again. Mark drove to Santa Fe again on Monday. All was good! Everything received the apostil! Praise God!

Mark sent them to Florida on Tuesday and they were received on Friday. They are being reviewed this weekend. If all is in good shape they'll be mailed to Ukraine this coming week to be translated. Please pray!

I have a good friend who told me she's had a recurring dream about our paperwork landing in Ukraine in a pile of paperwork in a room that is being sorted through by the traditional "Babushka" type women you think of from Russia or Ukraine. What's neat about my friend's dream is that she said that our packet of paperwork keeps rising to the top of the pile of papers, and the "Babushkas" look startled to see it again, but pass it along to the next necessary approval area. In that fashion our paperwork keeps being moved along! I pray that this is a good sign from God that He will do everything possible to move the process along and put it in the correct hands! We have faith that He will do that very thing, "Babushkas" or not!

We spoke to our girls by telephone this morning! It was so sweet to hear their voices! We have arranged for them to be taking English lessons from a Christian woman in Mariupol named Tanya. Tanya manages a transistional living center that some of the orphans go to after they are put out of the orphanage at age 16. The living center provides further opportunity for job training and education, as well as a Christian home environment for those orphans who are interested. Tanya also gives English lessons on the side as additional income for herself and to help the orphans who will be adopted. We're so thankful for her. So, the girls were able to speak to us in halting English, and we were able to speak to them in halting Russian. It was not the deepest conversation, but it may have been one of the sweetest we've ever had! They say they love us and they miss us.

Nathan is home this weekend. We have been cleaning and sorting through the stuff in his room. It's like going on an archaeological dig! But he came home this weekend to make some decisions about what he wants to keep and what he wants to get rid of. It's great to have him home. It's a little bittersweet to be getting rid of Nathan's room, but he's so good about it and he's ready, so that makes it easier. We're very excited to think about repainting and redecorating it for the girls. Their favorite colors are yellow and pink, and they love the outdoors, so I bought bedspreads that are yellow and pink and green. I think it will be cute to create a beautiful and whimsical garden-type bedroom for them. We're going to try to be ready to paint by the end of March during the week of my spring break. Then we'll get new furniture and put it all togeher. What fun! I look forward to their reaction with anticipation!

Annie is going to Ukraine in March with the Praise Choir from Lubbock Christian University. They have been invited by Eastern European Missions to give concerts in two different cities in Ukraine. Annie is so excited to be going. Some of our dear friends, including Valya and Viki, have told us they will go to the concerts and that they look forward to seeing Annie. We've asked Tanya if she would be able to bring Zhanna and Ella by train to Donetsk to see the concert and see Annie. She hasn't decided if she will be able to do that or not, but we're praying it will happen.

We truly appreciate everyone's continued concern and prayers and outpouring of financial help. The Lord has blessed us mightily in this through the love of so many others. We've been overwhelmed by the blessings we've received. We've had to make incremental payments to the social worker and then to the adoption agency in Florida, and we've always had the money at hand, plus more available, when we've needed to make a payment. It is so clear that God is leading this effort and providing everything we need. He'll do the same for us and the girls once they become part of our family. We're so excited about that day coming!

We understand more than ever the idea of God adopting us as orphans and making us a part of His family. He longs for us more than we long for Him, because He is preparing a place for us and is anticipating our reaction. He longs for us to know how much He loves us. He wants to bless us and show us His love.

May you know how much God loves you. Thank you for your prayers.
Love from Dawn and Mark