Praises

Praise the Lord! We received a donation this week for $150, which means we have officially raised the entire amount needed for the orphanage donation! Thank you to all of our friends and family who have helped out. (Now, we move on to getting together the amount needed for the 8-doctor medicals in Moscow.)

We are also thankful that our CPS letter finally arrived last week and should be on it's way to Russia now! This was the last document (for now at least) that we were waiting for.

Here's a photo of Dasha's amazing athletic ability. She's throwing the ball to me! Can't wait to show a pic of her cute little face (hopefully it won't be much longer!)

Court Dates (Not Ours)

Praise God that several families in Chelyabinsk (a particularly tough region), who have been waiting a very LONG time, have had successful court dates recently and will be bringing their children home soon. Praise God also for a family from our agency who received the first court date in Krasnoyarsk (our region), scheduled for Dec. 18th, and another family who received a court date in Tula, scheduled for Jan.15th. Please pray for these families as they prepare for court and to bring their babies home. I also thank God that He has provided $850 of the $1000 that we need for the orphanage donation.
Tomorrow (Dec.10th) is a Prayer Day devoted to praying for Russia families from our agency. Please pray for the children, families, judges and staff in Russia, and for our agency.
I pray that God would let us know when our court date will be, even if it is not until January or later. I think I could be more at peace during this Christmas season if I knew when I'd be able to see Dasha again.

Happy Birthday Dasha

Today our little girl is two years old. I pray that she has had a wonderful birthday with her nannies and that she is happy. I miss her terribly and wish I could be there with her today. I rest in the knowledge that, God-willing, this will be her last birthday without us as a family. Chris and I are going out tonight to celebrate with friends(one of whom incidentally has the same birthday as Dasha!).
Thank you to everyone who have been praying for our documents to arrive. We got our I-171H back in two days!! We are now just waiting on the CPS letter and then we're all done.
Keep praying!