Leaving on a Jet Plane

We're packed and physically ready! My week has been hard. Tons of running around, shopping, packing, getting the kids ready, etc... With all the hustle and bustle I honestly felt agitated, fearful, and confused. My emotions confused me and I kept thinking that I should be super excited, all maternal and stuff. It worried me and made me wonder if God really wanted us to do this...

Finally it hit me, when I had checked off all the main To Dos on my list I had a moment to breathe. I popped a worship CD in and the words were speaking to my soul...How much He loves me, Willem, our kids.... How much He loves Dmitry!

This week I've heard amazing things...

a new friend who called the day we got the referral...to ask what was up...she just had a feeling

a friend who says when she prays for us she feels God telling her..."I got it"

the girls teacher who said "I'm going on a trip that was laid out for me before I was born"

my Dad who said don't worry...you are going to meet Jesus where He wants you....

friends who tell me they are praying

buddies who are eating a meal with us to help us relax and encourage us...

my sweet kids who keep telling me how excited they are for us to meet him...

All evidence that God is walking with us. Our friend and pastor gave this awesome sermon on Sunday. He said that when we walk into something we have everything we need because He is with us. No amount of Russian phrase books, tour guides, child adoption books, doctor evaluations, etc... can even come close to equalling that!

So we're ready! (STILL PRAY! :) ) but we're ready...

Those of you who know my kids well know the significance of this pic.  Maddy's teddy bear, Derek's "Ack" the alligator, Savannah's "Purple Monster" and our new guys stuffed elephant.  He will stay in Russia till we return to bring them both home.

I'm going to try to check in and update the interactive map below. Should let you know where we are and what we're doing. Thank you all for caring so much and loving on us! We love you!

Travel Blog Map by Jauntlet.com

And just like that....

We're off to Russia! We got the call yesterday at 10:30am. Here is a paraphrased version of that phone call...

Director: We have a situation...A little boy age 3 has become available in ******. He is cute as can be, described as very healthy, social and happy. The regional director is very excited about him. Are you interested?
Me: Uh yeah!
Director: Here's the clincher....you have to move very fast!
Me: How fast?
Director: Can you be in Russia next weekend?

Now imagine the tornado scene in Wizard of Oz...that was what was going on in my head! Emotions from everywhere, thoughts of what about this, what about that....can it be done?

The rest of the day was spent on the phone with Willem. We needed answers and a peace from the Lord and fast. We were getting no other information on this little guy. He is from a region that will not give any information till we get there. The fact that we got a picture is more than most.

Prayer, prayer, prayer and then the conclusion we came to was "yeah this is inconvenient timing and yeah this is scary but let's go...the Lord has us in His hands"

Willem rushed home....we filled out visa applications, headed off to take visa pictures and loaded all that and a check into a FEDEX envelope and handed it over at 7:30 pm...30 minutes before the last pick up of the day. We will hopefully receive our visas on the 20th! We leave on the 21st!

Friends! Now we need prayer more than ever. We are excited about meeting this little guy but oh so scared to get attached. Satan keeps whispering in our ears all the bad possible outcomes. Trying to make travel plans, child care arrangements and packing to leave the country for 9 days in a weeks time is hard enough without having bad thoughts enter your head!

Our specific prayer requests are:
First and foremost, the little guy waiting for us. His mind to be as unscathed as possible by the life he has endured. His heart to be open to us and for his mental and physical health to be if possible, Excellent!

After that our safety, the proceedings we will be involved in and of course our children here at home waiting for us.

Being honest, i'm scared to death! We're hopeful however and pray our next couple of posts are all good news from Russia!

Family Time

I am seriously falling in love with Galveston, Texas. This was our third trip there and each year we have a better time. We brought the camper again this year but chose to camp at Galveston Island State Park. We got a beach side campsite which is as close to being on the beach as you can get. The weather was PERFECT! Breezy, cool with lots of sunshine. Water temp was great too. We did a day at Schlitterbahn and the rest of the time we hung out at the beach. We even lined up surf lessons for Willem and the girls. They picked it up in no time and we will definately be doing it again next year.To celebrate Easter we had a small Bible service on the beach in the late afternoon and an Easter egg hunt. Then we chowed down on a steak dinner. (Swear they were the best steaks i've ever had...but then again we were camping and everything tastes better when you're camping!)

I thought after three nights we'd be dying to get home but we almost stayed an extra night. I think that can be attributed to the weather and our accomodations being comfortable but I also think we honestly needed some family time. The girls didn't really fight and Derek was old enough to do stuff and we all just had fun enjoying each others company.

Galveston is a great Easter tradition for us. The girls each told me that this is their favorite trip. Which goes to show you, you don't have to go "big" to have fun.

Hope you all had an awesome Easter!