Timmy has a visa!

Yesterday the boys got up pretty happy. The new schedule and food is taking a toll on Timmy's tummy. Though he doesn't seem to be sick at all, he's got some major diarrhea. We are figuring it is the addition of fruit to his diet since they really didn't eat fruit in the orphanage. He BEGS for it though now that he has had it. Hard to say no to that cute face!

Yesterday morning we went to the US Embassy to get Timmy's visa to enter the United States. We met three other families there who are adopting. Two were from the Moscow region and the other from Krasnador. They were all getting on planes to go home today. That was hard to hear. Our agency requires we register with the Russian Consulate while we are here so we are here Monday and Tuesday to take care of that business. What is frustrating is that with Benjamin I did it from the US. We were running out of days on our visa so we had to leave the country without doing it. The reality of it is that it took a few hours and a drive for apostilles. No big deal. But, we'll follow our agency's wishes and get it done. It is just hard to know we're here all weekend waiting.... Pray for us. It's supposed to rain tomorrow all day and that pretty much means we will be locked in our apartment. We don't have enough toys to occupy their time, that's for sure! Maybe we will have to buy some today! Anyway, we obtained his visa and he will become a US citizen as soon as we touch ground in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon!

After the embassy we came back and ate lunch and put the boys down for a nap. Actually we all went down for a nap. :) The reality is that we slept from 1 pm until 11 pm!!! Oh my goodness we are jet lagged! We got up and ate some supper and went back to sleep around 2:30 and the boys (and us) slept until 7 am this morning!

Today we are going sightseeing. We have to get out of this apartment! We will got to Red Square and possibly do some shopping, knowing that the kids are going to wear out pretty early. We're getting an early start to try to have enough time before they konk out!

Many of you are wondering about our tickets for Timmy that were messed up due to us buying a round trip ticket and American Airlines not honoring it. We spent 2 hours on the phone with them in the middle of the night two nights ago and basically after being transferred to this supervisor and that supervisor, they said no. In the meantime, a fellow adoptive couple felt a calling from God to help us. While I was on hold with Orbitz and American, she was asking me questions about what was going on. I thought they might have some connection to American Airlines that they could help us out. But it turns out they felt God calling them to purchase a ticket for Timmy to travel home using their airline miles!!!

I can't tell you the overwhelming feeling we had when we realized that we had everyone praying for an answer to this situation for days and particularly that night via Facebook while I was on the phone. And God decided to work this out in a very unexpected way. The reality is that God called us to bring Timmy into our family. In Job 42:2 it says, " I know you can do ALL THINGS and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted!" This is how she responded when I continually thanked her. Their family is now a part of our adoption journey. God has called us to live in community with each other fulfilling his great commission. This is not the only family that has partnered with us in BIG WAYS throughout the process. As another friend of mine says, "It's God's money, not ours." It's true. God has continually confirmed our calling to adopt.

I know that not all are called to adopt, but I know that we serve a BIG God and He calls us all to be involved in caring for orphans and widows. I hope that this story will not make you feel guilty in any way, but rather inspire you to jump in and get involved. Do what you can. Love orphans. Adopt. Foster. Help others to do these things in their own lives. Pray! It's the least we can do, isn't it? :)

Much love to you all!