It's 4:30 Am in Abakan, Russia, do you know where your children are?

This is Gregg blogging for a change. We could not sleep any longer, so we got up to email and blog. I blog by topic: The boy: When I saw his picture for the first time, I was sitting at work in a teleconference. Kris forwarded his pictures to my email account. I thought I was looking at my baby pictures. I thought I could call him Mini-Me. Lidia knows how to start the bonding process early. Oh yes we were interested. He may have some medical issues, but God gave me a good job with medical coverage. He had a spot on his head called a Nevus that makes his hair look a little funny, but God looks at the heart. We found out Friday that several other couples had been offered him in a referal, but they did not respond. God takes the rejected and uses them to build his Kingdom. Like Benjamin he comes from a meager background. What man meant for bad, God uses for good. Fast forward, We were sitting there in the play room waiting and I was anticipating that first meeting: taking it all in. I wanted to remember what it was like. And then a caregiver appeared at the door walking him in. Kris picked him up before I could get the camera out. She was hugging him and he held on tight. As I began snapping pictures, the rest of the first visit was kind of a blurr. Ruslan as he was called, is a very busy boy. He wanted to play with every single toy in the play room. Every drawer got opened, and he tried to look in every handbag. We should call him Magellan because he loves to explore. While Magellan McClelland has a nice ring to it, it would never pass the Kris test. We are used to skinny Benjamin, so Kris thought Ruslan's nickname could be "Bruiser". That was the first visit on Saturday. On Sunday, we saw a sweeter more caring side. Another couple was there visiting their 15 month old daughter, Milana. Ruslan kept bringing dolls to put in her carriage. I did not see a selfish side, but I did see a playful side that played off of Milana's selfish side. He has a very sweet disposition. He helped clean up when it was time to clean up. We were able to go outside and walk around. We played with a ball and he looked at birds. He kept trying to throw the ball toward the fence to the yard for the older children's orphanage. I saw several older children playing and I waved at them. The feel of this orphanage is better. The workers are more nurturing, and I felt a joy among them that I did not see at the Kansk orphanage. We had to decide on a name. We chose Timothy James. Timothy because he was the spiritual Son of Paul in the new testament, and James because of James 1:27. I pray that "Timothy James" lives up to his name as we bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. God is definitely opening doors here. The people I met: While we were packing, I refused to let Kris pack her 110V curling iron, and 110v 60 cycle ac hair drier. We have a converter, but it weighs 5 pounds at least. 2 years ago, we were way over weight and we had to pay hundreds of dollars in overweight fees on our baggage. So I had to promise to get her a curling iron in Russia. The morning we got here, Kris was tired, and I set out by myself to buy a curling iron. After enquiring for an hour if anyone spoke English at different shops. Two young ladies out shopping took compassion on me. The one could speak English and was from Krasnoyarsk. She was home visiting parents from israel. She was Jewish and had moved to Israel several years before. She got drafted into the military in Israel, but was on a 2 week leave. She and her friend pointed me to a hair supply shop that sold curling irons. It is so ironic that we sat by an Israeli doctor on the plane back to Krasnoyarsk. The doctor Anna Groseman had the sweetest spirit about her. She and her family left Russia in 1990 after the Berlin wall fell. Her family's dream was to live in Israel. She was visiting friends she had not seen in fifty years. It's amazing to me to see Ezekiel 37 prophecy being fulfilled before my eyes. She gave us her phone number in Israel and told us to call when we come to Israel ( maybe next year ). I was finishing my Kris curling iron errand and went by the grocery store to get some diet pepsi for Kris. In Russia it is called Pepsi lite. A young man in the grocery store understood English very well and went into the back storeroom to fetch a large bottle for me. I asked him how he spoke English so well, and he said it was a hobby. He asked where I was from. When I told him America, he became very interested. He had a group of friends that get together to practice English. He wanted to be able to spend some time talking to a real American. Maybe if we get some time on Tuesday. The food: looking at the menu we see that beef tongue is very popular here. This grosses Kris out. I am sure she has had worse in hotdogs. Also we find that dill is on everything as well. Everything made with milk gets whole milk with full strength cream. Ummmmm! My favorite is a prepackaged vanilla ice cream cone, called Sovietski. The package has a hammer and sickle. Who would have thought communism could produce something that tastes so good. For only 28 rubles (less than 1 dollar) I can clog my arteries in joy. You have to try the borsch, and chicken soup. The soups are good here. I have a craving for a Culvers cheese burger right now. I miss home. My heart is torn. I have a heart for Russia and love for familiar surroundings. This world is not our home, as we are strangers and sojourners here. The only thing we take with us is Jesus and his love that we can share. I think I will end here. It's now 7:00 am and my children are in Illinois, and Minusinsk Russia.