We received our dossier submission date- February 22nd. Which means about 7 weeks after that, we can expect to be traveling to the Ukraine to bring Ruslan home. This leaves us with a few documents to gather/complete, and some apostilles to acquire as well. It also leaves us with a tremendous amount of fundraising to do between now and the end of March!
We are overjoyed, and at the same time a bit overwhelmed! We never anticipated that things would move this quickly. We were planning Easter fundraisers, not Easter travel!
Of course, our goal is to have Ruslan home with us as soon as possible. So, we are extremely grateful that God has been in the details, and that our paperwork thus far has gone smoothly.
We are also SO VERY thankful to Nathanson's...the agency who did our homestudy so professionally and efficiently, to Stork International Adoptions, who have been patient with expecting payments, and at the same time have gone out of their way to make this process easy and to help with grant applications and making sure we understand all the steps in this long and complicated journey. We are so thankful that they have faith in us, and even more importantly, faith in a God whose provision and presence has been so evident.
We just think about what an amazing testimony this journey will be. We imagine how wonderful it will be to tell two little boys that with God, truly, all things are possible. We look to a day when we can tuck Ruslan into a clean, warm bed with a full belly and an even fuller heart.
It is so hard to be away from him this holiday season. To know that there is no celebration for him, no family gatherings, no joy. It is our Christmas wish that next year, he will have a stocking hanging by our fireplace. There will be gifts under the tree for him. And he will be home with us to celebrate Jesus' birth and the true meaning of Christmas. Ruslan, your Christmas wish has come true...you DO have a family! I am sorry we can't be together this Christmas...but we are here, loving you and waiting for you to come home!
