Answered Prayer

We can not Praise God enough for this day and this time and everything that He has done for us on this journey of ours. I just can't keep the tears from coming and I know in the morning my eyes will be swollen shut from crying so much. We are just in awe of how God works and moves in our lives and how much He truly loves us.
Galina was a bit worried when she saw me crying. She said usually when American women cry it is because of frustration that things aren't going well for them. But I reassured her these were all tears of JOY! Joy for all that the Lord has done for us. Joy, for all that our family has done for us. Joy, for all that our friends have done for us and most of all Joy for our Natasha Joy!
Praise God! Grandpa and Grandma have gotten us plane tickets to leave Kiev on the fourth. And with seats together! ( Answer to prayer number one) Praise God! We were able to get Natasha's birth certificate in in time to be prepared. If we hadn't gotten it in today Galina said they close everything up until the 12th because of the holidays. (Answer to prayer number two) Praise God! We were able to get Natasha to her Christmas party tonight to celebrate with all her friends and to say good bye. It was SO hard but we know God has plans for her, Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you,"declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." A wonderful answer to prayer number three.
There are a few more prayer requests for tomorrow and in Kiev. Galina says there is one more lady we need to go through to get Natasha's birth certificate complete and they call her, "the tuff lady". I guess she is very difficult and can delay things for us. Since it is the holidays here people don't really want to stick around and help out, they would rather be off celebrating. So prayers that she will be cooperative (we need to see her twice) and that everything will be completed tomorrow so we can leave for Kiev tomorrow night. Prayers for us in Kiev, that the time will go by quickly and we will be able to get all of our US Embassy things done on the 3rd so we will be able to leave on the 4th. And now we will be off to Kiev tomorrow night and we will not be able to blog except maybe through Grandma.

My daughter Miranda, who has been so faithful in sending us our daily verses through all of this, sent us our last verse we will receive while we are here in Ukraine. And it is definately a God thing. It is just such a complete and absolute confirmation to us of the plans that God had for us with this adoption. We leave you with it as we say thank you SO much for your faithfulness to us in your prayers, comments and support for us during this adoption. And we know this faithfulness is a reflection of His faithfulness that He has shown to all of us.

The Verse:

Whether you turn to the right or to the left , your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,

" This is the way; walk in it."

Isaiah 30:21