Things are still moving along. We have had some additional paperwork to submit, so we are also submitting a new version of our homestudy. Pray that all of that gets done soon and that it can get to Russia as quickly as possible. We still hope to meet her next month. We want to be home for christmas.

Nothing is ever easy or cheap. Late yesterday we learned we each needed a Psychological evaluation. We found somebody to do them when we get back from D.C. Only takes a few hours and $1000. Oh well.

When God says you are going in the right direction

Thanks everyone for your comments and prayers.

Yesterday we confirmed with Buckner that we wanted to proceed. They grilled us a little more to make sure we understood what this meant. They reviewed the life of a parent with a child that requires regular and even lengthy therapy as well as the risks of raising a child with FAE. After they agreed we knew what we were getting into we submitted the last piece of paperwork required. We were still a little nervous about making this step of faith but after reading Hebrews 11 and praying we just new that this really was the plan that God had for us.




This morning we received an additional communication from the Russian Dr. that examined our little one. D is really small, and has been diagnosed with speech delay. We really didn't know what that meant, so our pediatrician in Dallas asked us to find out how many words or phrases she could actually use. Dr. Sophia responded, "Diana understands speech, pronounces simple words, knows names of parts of body, tower of 8 cubes." What an awesome God!! We were asked to take this step without really knowing all of the answers. Then as soon as we did, God filled in some of the blanks. It is never easy to walk by faith. We never know exactly where we are headed when we sign on to follow God where he takes us, but we are so rewarded when we do. Please don't take me to mean that we never have pain, or we never wonder why? We just know that there is a peace that He gives you when you are walking with Him.




We also received a couple more photos.

Thanks again for all of the prayers.





Bryan

We have a referral!!!

WOW!! God is so good. Just when we thought we were getting in line for the official waiting period to begin, we got the news that a little girl that turned two yesterday could be ours. We have known for a few days, but today we were able to review her medical information with a specialist in Dallas, and we are stepping out on faith that she can be ours. I first must say it was awfully hard to listen to John preach about faith yesterday. Our little girl (and I mean that literally) was born very small. She is still very small for her age, but she seems to be strong and physically she is progressing at a very normal rate. There have been some concerns, but God knew what we would need. We contacted a Dr. in St. Petersburg to see if she could go and visit her and help us with a more complete review. The Dr. responded saying she had already met and examined her, and she would forward her report. WOW!!!

Our potential daughter (and I have to say that, because she could still be adopted by a Russian Family) is in an entirely different region than the one in far east Russia that we initially sent our paperwork. She is in Arklhangelsk (yes, it means Archangel) which is in northwestern Russia on the White Sea. They seem to be an adoption friendly region, and we are able to submit our dossier there now and everything will be ok. The timeline hopefully is that we will travel to meet her in the later half of July. Pray that happens, so that we might even have her home for Christmas.

God has worked many miracles for this to happen, and one is for Leigh and I to be comfortable even given the medical concerns for how small she is etc. We are quite sure that she must be ours, she has Leigh's runny nose and eczema. We thank everyone for the prayers and thoughtfulness to this point, and we graciously ask for those to continue. We will share more as we know it, we just wanted y'all to know too.

Please continue to pray with us that God holds her, comforts her, and that she recognizes Him in us when she sees us.

Bryan and Leigh