To Protect and to Serve.

God has blessed us in so many ways. This seems a vast understatement to me. First let me tell you that today was really hard. It has been a good day but there is still some unfinished business that we have to deal with tomorrow.

 

I slept like not at all last night, my spoiled Florida lungs and sinuses are having one devil of a time with the smoke which is a part of the culture and which is every place. You can buy a pack of cigarettes here for 3 hryvna for any one who feels like doing the math $5 USD is 25 Hryvna any one who doesn�t let me put it this way, it is dirt cheap and almost every one here has this habit including many of the children from the orphanages because it is cheap and it is cultural. It is also an interesting statement about the economy as you can ride the bus here for that or just a little less depending on where you are going. Bottom line is please pray for our lungs and throats which have been quite officially indoctrinated into the second hand realm.

 

We got ready to go to our meeting at the SDA. Lori took us to meet G at the Golden Gate (* Historical note it was the old gate to the city of Kiev which was the original capital of Russia before it was moved to St. Petersburg and then to Moscow) and we trucked after G to the SDA which is located slam next door to St. Andrews at the top of the big hill where tourists get most of their shopping in. We did no shopping. We did go with G into the SDA and we stood there waiting for our appointment with the psychologist. She was a very nice lady, asked us virtually nothing, and had A. &  M�s folders waiting for us to confirm these are the children that we want. We got to ask NOTHING about them and why they are there� and furthermore here is where it got tricky. Seems the fact that I mentioned Z in our note about adoption was not really enough to get them to see that we are serious about him in an official way. As for the boys here, they too were not a part of the files waiting. It was suggested that we need to speak to the Vice Director regarding our �interesting situation with adoption of five children.� In order so to do, we needed to speak to some one who could get us an appointment with her. G.  took us back down the steps to this tiny �underground room� where a very nice lady was willing to look at our situation and listen to us. She was interested in our book which was �glasnah� ( Jenn phonetic for cool in Russian)  but you could see she like every one else was in shock at the number of kids we are attempting to adopt. She knew and recognized kids from the boys orphanage and commented on Jessica West who was sitting next to Randy Hall in one of the pics in our book. We tried to make sure that it was clear we do have family in Bham who have adopted kids and we are a part of that ministry not just �out there� with no other adoptive parental support or support from other adoptees. At any rate the woman was a total God send and she was going to get us an appointment with the Vice Director when in walked the Vice Director�s secretary. She explained that we needed help and followed the woman back to her office. When she returned we have an appointment for tomorrow at 3:45pm. to go back and �resolve our issues.�  Another huge issue is that it is being said now by the folk down yonder that Z. is not registered. More on that stateside now is neither the time nor place. So tomorrow we will find out if they are going to allow us to receive referrals to officially visit the kids. For now, we have only permission to adopt A&M. G. seems to think that we have a good chance of petitioning to adopt the others based on our time spent with them, but is not as certain of Z�s situation. This is not popular at all with us as you can well imagine. Please keep praying for him and for us and each child specifically. So 8/9 your times please be praying again tomorrow.

 

We are concerned but not yet shaken. So we know your prayers are with us and we can�t tell you how much that means to us. Your prayers have brought us this far and have yielded two of five children that we seek to bring home to protect and to serve. We know He is bigger than any person who might interfere with this adoption. I think there is one key player who shall remain nameless who is into this up to her eyes and she is the one I ask you to pray down into doing things selflessly so that the kids might have a home with us verses the orphanage life and existence there after. With what we know of our kids and the limited history of their being at the orphanage it does not jive with me that Z is not registered.  Me thinks she doth protest to much� ya�ll from up the road hear that loud and clear.  & if you are much of a card shark I know a game that I think she is playing and I�m ready to call her on it.

 

We left the SDA with G. and he took us to this very nice place to rest and get tea and Veryinki (Jenn phonetic for Perogi�s which is also phonetic and no I do not care at this point one iota about spelling nor do I wish for a language lesson). G. came back we paid the tab and hoofed it back up a hill to the SDA for him to deliver some papers and ask about the meeting time again. Then on cue our angel Lori called and we arranged for us to go back with G to the metro on the blue line and meet Lori to pick up the green line home. Now this was to transpire about 5:30 which in any city is traffic time. In this case it meant once again I got to play bowling for Ukrainians and there were way more pins to try not to knock over this time. A polite but insistent young man kept saying to me �Lady, move� which of course I was fogged out and boxed in and had no idea he was speaking to me, Mark says �Jenn� and nods at the man, he tries to speak to me again but I got the point he wanted past me (good luck jack, this was sardine time and I was stuck). I did recognize that he asked if I was British (interesting) and told him politely and quietly �neyt American.� Thus ending our conversation with a deep sigh and an sympathetic �oh so that is why you are an idiot and have no idea how to ride this thing or what the unwritten metro rules are.�

 

We are now back at the flat. Thank you Jesus�

 

Thank you for two of five being available and for permission to pursue them.

Thank you for grace to plead our case at all much less tomorrow.

Thank you for Lori Jackson, Denis, Oksana, and Olya for their love for us and hospitality.

Thank you for G. and his good work today and for his willingness to help us at all.

Thank you for friends and family who pray with and for us even still.

Thank you for dirt cheap if smelly public transportation.

Thank you for Magdych who is going to get us a cell phone tomorrow.

Thank you for Lori�s teacher having food poisoning on Friday of last week so that her class was canceled and she could get us around. (she is doing better btw)

Thank you for the fact that Lori doesn�t have class on Weds. so in fact she can tote our buns back up to St. Andrews where the SDA is tomorrow. We could if we had to do this solo, but you know guys, God has just really given us a gem in Lori and we do not have to ask hey dude can you she just is like �ok so tomorrow I will� She has said �I�ll be as involved as you want me to be.� And we are like come on sister the more the merrier on this adventure. Lori and the Family here are the protect and serve people for us. Seriously it is really tremendous blessing to not �go back to the flat at night� but to �go home.� And have people to hash this out with.

 

Thank you for my Awesome Husband who has been so great through each step of this journey� and who has been an anchor for me and not just on the metro!

 

So thank you God. & Oh please God, do not let this turn out badly for the other kids. Please back the strongholds down that are in place trying to keep Z esp. from being in the family.

 

Here is the next skinny� IF all goes well and we are referred to the other kids tomorrow, G. can get papers picked up by 5pm on Thurs. IF he gets the papers early there is a chance he can submit up here papers to the courts on Fri. they only take them Weds. and Fri. So we really want to get the papers and get them to the inspectors who have to sign etc. so we can try to turn them in on Fri. It is lofty at this point but attainable if it is His plan. If not we wait till next Weds. to hear if / when what ever judge wants to meet with us at their pleasure. It is a rotation so as Forest would say, �Life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you are going to get.� In this case whom. BTW Dad G. thinks the wood work you do is amazing. He likes it a lot.

 

If   WHEN he gets papers we may get to spring the boys this weekend which would go a long way in our moral after today�s adventure. We need to be with our kids� and we want to be with all of them. To the Bham lil sister chicks check the blog we will get our cell phone # soon and you can call and talk to the other kids when we are there. They miss you too and we listened to many a �tell her hi for me� when they were talking about each of you. So far they knew not to ask for our phones but I know that time is coming!

 

Big love to each of you.

 

Jenn for the Smiths.