Today was a wonderful day! We saw the light at the end of the tunnel. We showed up at Sasha's orphanage at 12:30 and got a couple small smiles as he mopped the floor of his schoolroom. It was not until about 2:00 though that we began to see some changes in Sasha's behavior today.
A woman from the Child Protective Services in Lutugano came this afternoon to explain to Sasha, in his Russian language,that everything was going to be okay and that they were there to protect him for anything or anyone who is scaring him. She also told him that if there was anyone that was intimidating him that he should tell Ksenia and that ksenia will pass the information on to them. She assured him that they will take care of the situation and monitor it closely. She said that there is nothing anyone can do to hurt him and that he is safe now. It was wonderful to see the justice system in Ukraine actually step up to protect a child. There are a lot more details to this story but we have decided not to publish all of it. The bottom line is that there is a protective system in place to help children and be a voice to protect their rights. Praise the Lord!!!!!
Jeff and I also sat with Sasha to talk with him about some details of the adoption. Ksenia translated as Jeff told him that we are here for him and are not going home without him. We explained with a calendar in his view that we hope to have our court date this Friday. (WE ARE PRAYING) After that mama and papa will be going home that same day. We also showed him on the calendar that we have to wait 10 days before we can "officially" adopt him, but that we will be there on the 10th day to actually take him with us back to Kiev to do some paperwork. We hope all of this will occur next Monday. At that time we will get his physical and will go to get a passport and do other paperwork at the U. S. Embassy.
This afternoon, we still had a woman teacher from the orphanage with us but she did not hear all of the conversations between Sasha and the Child protective services. The orphanage knows that this governmental agency is watching them and holding them accountable for their actions.
We are so thankful for the progress that has been made today. Imediately after the woman from the child protective services spoke to Sasha, his whole demeanor changed. He was smiling and relaxed. We sat with him in a room outside the school room and enjoyed being with him for about two hours. We played Farkle and war and slapjack with some playing cards. He was back to his old self and we laughed and had an incredible time of bonding with him.
We also found out that legally, once the child has agreed to adoption, that the potential parents are allowed to have at least 3 hours with the child seven days a week and that a room needs to be provided for the parents and the child or children.
We are so energized today and we feel such a sense of relief. We are thankful that God may have used our situation to pave the way for other parents who will come to adopt at the Lutugano orphanage. There are always problems with every system, but we feel that some of the kinks have been worked out. We are so thankful to Nastya, Alexey (Nastya's husband) and Ksenia for busting their tales to make everything happen in a timely manner. They are really the ones who got everything back on track. We are so blessed to be working with Options for Adoption in Atlanta and for Tonya's two facilitators Nastya and Ksenia, there in Ukraine.
There are not enough words to express to you all how much we appreciate your thoughtful words but especially your prayers. We felt the presence of the Lord today through all of your intervention. Thank you for sharing in our joys and pains in this journey.
We hope that all of this will be over in a couple of weeks and that Sasha will be home with us finding his place in our family. Love is a powerful thing and we want to sit back and watch what God will do once Sasha is a part of our family. We are trsuting that God has all of this under control. We know that it will take some time, maybe even a year to prove to Sasha that we are not going away, but we are in this for the long haul. He is God's blessing to us and we know that God has a special plan for Sasha. The fight will all be worth it and we pray that our sweet little Sasha can experience unconditional love once and for all.
We still have a ways to go but we are hopefullly in the home stretch! I found a journal that I wrote a few notes in while Sasha was with us this past summer....it applies to our situation now so I thought I would share it.
Lord, we are not capable of handling this alone.....Lord, give us strength, remove our pride, give us compassion for your son Sasha, give us wisdom, help us not to fear, give us patience and help us to empty ourselves out so we can fill ourselves up with You. Be our ROCK!!!!! and let this be worship to your ears. If everything was perfect Lord we would have no need for you. Help us to grab ahold of you and never let our hearts wonder that this is your perfect will for us.
Love to you all,
m and j
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