Ryan and I spent the morning getting A's birthday presents in order to leave with our friend here to deliver to A on her birthday next week. We were so looking forward to getting to be here with her for her big sweet 16, but unfortunately, that just wasn't in the cards. We look forward with hope and anticipation to celebrating each and every other birthday with her. 16 years is just too long to have birthday after birthday without a loving family to call your own.
This afternoon, we went to the orphanage to spend time with A. Our sweet friend Natalya came along with us to translate. We spent the afternoon listening to our sweet daughter talk non stop in rapid fire Russian:) We love how comfortable she is around us now. She is quick to give hugs, and loves to joke around with us. She asked me today, in Russian, if I ever got tan, because my skin is as a white as sour cream. This was the first jab I have received from my teenage daughter, and I thought it was pretty funny!
Walking around today
Hanging out by the "stinky river"
The orphanage grounds are truly beautiful
View of mountains in the distance
We took with us 3 dresses that we bought back home, and we had her try them on to see if they fit, and if she liked them. She had so much fun trying them on, and was laughing and smiling...it was perfect.
I tried not to dwell on the fact that we will have to say good-bye tomorrow, and still are uncertain of our return date. This is definitely not how we anticipated leaving on this leg of our trip. We rest in knowing that God has this all planned out. We are thankful that she will be able to stay at the orphanage until our return, and that she will not be sent to trade school. She is handling the delay very well, and that is the most important thing.
Please continue to pray for peace for this Mama's heart while we are apart. Please pray that our court date will be assigned without any problems, and that all the roadblocks we have encountered will stay in the past.
This morning I opened the Bible and read, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" Galatians 6:9. Our harvest will be bringing our sweet girl home forever. The Lord knows when the proper time for that is, and we must not grow weary or give up!!
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