Answered Prayer

Do you remember way back in January when we posted a very sad post? The post that stated that "It (court) didn't go as we had hoped. After a slew of questions fired at us and the social worker, we were asked to step into the hall while they discussed the case. That part wasn't so unusual.
The unusual part was the final verdict. Court has been postponed until Friday, January 21 at 11:00 in the morning."

Oh, the memories those few sentences bring back to me. What a difficult time that was for us.

But we had the prayers of thousands on our side. And even better. We had God.

A month or so ago we had a searcher find Jack's birth family for us. What a blessing it is for us to know information about his family. To have pictures. To let them know that their son is being cared for.

I don't plan to share much information about the search. We feel that it is our children's story and just as you wouldn't spill everything out to a perfect stranger (or even an acquaintance) we don't plan to spill our children's stories. They know their stories. We talk about their Russian families frequently...but if they want everyone to know all the nitty gritty details, they will be the ones to share.

Anyway.

I am going to share just a few details of Jack's story....cause it involves every single one of you who prayed for us during those four very difficult days back in January. January 17 - January 20, 2011.

Without going into too much detail, our court for Jack was a little rocky because of an older brother who hadn't been located and therefore hadn't signed the proper release document.

Legally, any living relative has to sign a release document before a child can be adopted from Russia. At least that's the way I understand it. Jack's mom signed off, but his older brother (24 years old) was never found and therefore couldn't sign off.

The social worker supposedly tried as hard as she could to find him, but noone had seen him for three years.

The judge and prosecutor weren't happy with that answer. Court was postponed so the social worker could go find that brother. For several days, she visited as many people as she could trying to find him.

He was never found.

The judge and prosecutor weren't exactly happy with the results of the search, but they okayed the adoption anyway. Obviously.

Finding Jack's birth mom told us that this was indeed a spiritual battle.

We found out that the brother is indeed still alive. He's in the military and was simply out on duty during that time.

Turns out, he was rather upset with his mother for leaving her son in an orphanage. He thought she should go get him. He hadn't talked to her for months because she wouldn't go pick Jack up.

That's so hard for me to comprehend. A mother not desiring to pick up her son from an orphanage.

But I have to remember that life is so difficult over there. Here in America we think we have our struggles...but we simply cannot comprehend the struggles of folks in other countries.

Long story short....had the older brother been found, he would not have signed the release document, and we would not have Jack in our family right now.

Wow.

This boy of ours? God must have some big plans for him. Plans big enough that He wanted him out of that baby home.

And so, I thank you again. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much for praying.

While we prayed that God would allow us to accept whatever fork the road may take, He graciously allowed us the desire of our hearts. Another son.

I know that God always, ALWAYS answers prayer...sometimes with yes, sometimes with no, sometimes with wait...this time He answered us with an absolute YES.

Jack became our son. Now all we can do is raise him for the glory of God.

A part of me can't help but feel a little....guilty, I guess. While we thoroughly enjoy having this little blond haired tornado in our home, she sits on the other side of the world wondering how he's doing. We laugh at his giggles, she wonders what his voice sounds like. We listen to him learning to talk..."Gook, Mama!"...she listens to the silence.

It's the same with all of our children. I'm beyond thankful that adoption is an option, but I can't help but wonder why God allowed them to not be raised in the family to which they were born. I feel so very inadequate to have been chosen to raise three little souls from the other side of the world.

And I can only pray that they can overlook my downfalls and learn to love Jesus with their whole being.