Valera….Here we come!!!

As I sit down to update our blog, I couldn’t be more excited about the news we have to share, but it wouldn’t be fair to just write about how we feel today without sharing how difficult the past three weeks have been.

As each day passed, we missed Valera more.  Krista and I would watch the videos from our trip and often just go to Baby’s r Us to pass time.  Preparing to bring him home would help us pass time instead of just sitting around wondering when they would ever let us return.   I’m still in awe of how much we fell in love with Valera in just a few days.  I’m overwhelmed with the depth of emotion that this adoption has brought into our lives.  It’s also reminded me how much I truly love Brittany and Alyssa.  I think sometimes when we interact with family everyday, we take for granted how blessed we are to have the relationships we have.

Speaking of relationships, our family felt extremely loved by all of the friends and family that came to our Open House/Baby Shower on the 28th.  It was humbling to see so many people take time out of their weekend to show their support, encouragement, and love for our family and our adoption of Valera.  We thank all of you for your generosity and love.

This past week certainly had the highest highs and the lowest lows.   We knew that the chances of returning to Russia on July 6th had completely vanished, but were still hopeful that we would be able to return on July 13th.  As we communicated with our agency they informed us that a judge had been assigned, but for some reason, no court date had been set.  This was concerning because we decided to purchase plane tickets due to some very cheap promotional rates that were going to expire.  We didn’t understand the delay until we were told our documents hadn’t yet returned from the Russian Federal government in Moscow to Tomsk.  This was a very disturbing discovery.   This past Monday, when Krista learned of this news, she could do nothing but cry.    We both spent time individually praying.   It’s in these moments that you know that trusting God is the only option, but looking back I realize it’s the best option.  With some encouragement and comfort with releasing our disappointment and frustration to God, we spent the rest of the evening together just doing more to prepare for Valera’s arrival to our home.

After several emails and phone calls over Tuesday, our agency actually told us to get our visas to travel and arrive on the 13th, but that an actual court date hadn’t been set yet.  Our agency informed the coordinator that we already had tickets to travel and also learned the same day that our documents had arrived from Moscow!!!  We sent off for visas, but still weren’t sure about the court date.    That’s when the really good news came.   Our coordinator in Tomsk met with the Judge and asked for a court date the week of July 13th.   The Judge asked to push the date back further, but our coordinator informed him we already had tickets.  He was surprised and asked why we already had tickets.   The coordinator informed him that we couldn’t wait to get back to Valera and that we also had an opportunity to buy them cheaper, so he agreed to work us into his schedule.   I can’t tell you how excited we were to hear that news!  

Over the past couple of weeks we have decided that we will take our daughters on this next trip to Tomsk.  So on July 11th, our wedding anniversary, we will leave Oklahoma to adopt and bring Valera home.   This journey has been long, but we are so excited that our entire family will get to go to Siberia, celebrate that God put us on this long journey, and that Valera was the boy that He always intended for us.    We are looking forward to being far away from our busy lives in Edmond.  I’m looking forward to building memories with our family and allowing God to show us all He wants us to learn from this journey. 

Speaking of, our last trip exposed us to the lack of resources at the Baby House in Tomsk.   We asked many of you to contribute towards shoes and other supplies for the orphanage.   We are so excited about using this opportunity to allow all of you to be a part of our journey.   We have already informed our coordinator in Tomsk to be prepared to buy shoes and other supplies for the orphanage.   Honestly, we expect this to be one of the highlights of our trip.   We will take plenty of photos and post them here on our blog so you can continue to travel with us on this journey.

We ask that you continue to pray for us and Valera.   Pray for favor with the court system.  Pray that we would be a blessing to the workers and children at the orphanage.   Pray that our hearts would be permanently changed by this experience.   Our prayer is that you are impacted by what God has done in our lives.  We look forward to sharing our experience and Valera with you.   Most importantly, we pray that you would learn of the God that called us to this journey.  His name is Jesus and He is calling for you as well.  Our prayer is that You would hear His voice and experience the love, forgiveness and joy that we have.

Thank you so much for your love, prayers, encouragement, and support.

Chris

James 1:27