Dave sez,
At 2:06pm local time, as we were standing
at the bus stop waiting for the 507 to take us back to Holosiivska
station, for our subway ride back to Independence Square, the cell phone
rang. We had been waiting for this phone call since around four
yesterday afternoon, when our facilitator let us know he had gotten
permission from the SDA to schedule a court date. He said something to
the effect, "Wait for my call tomorrow morning. I will talk to you then.
Okay? Bye-bye!"
We both had trouble sleeping. It is
not difficult PUTTING things in God's hands. It is LEAVING them there
that is the challenge. We've both felt that our hands were sticky with
glue, and as we came away, what we wanted to hand over was still there
in our hands, like a hot potato.
This morning we were
both very tired. We didn't have any breakfast, we just hurried to the
Number Eighteen to Independence Square, and down to Maidan station as if
the faster we went and the closer we got, the sooner we would get the
call we were expecting.
Shani has been growing
increasingly restless. The weather is turning colder; and his cough is
getting worse and worse. He's not in school anymore, so his only
activity has been working on his English and video games. He's not at a
point where he is ready to read or be read to. He's struggling with
simple transitional words like "of", "us" and "are"; he's working to
tell the difference between brother and brothers. He knows the alphabet
through sing-song, and he seems to bog down around "L-M-N-O-P", and if
you throw a single letter out of context at him he can't recognize it.
So we have some work to do. But we knew that. We also know that his
brother Justin struggled until one day it all fell into place and
clicked; and what we heard at the last parent-teacher conference is that
Justin is a very accomplished young man. Shani will probably carve out
his own path to the same destination.
We surprised him
by not eating lunch at the same time he did. He did a double take and
(O_O) over that. But he managed to gobble down his food and come back to
us for over an hour of Uno.
It is not the English
lesson or the Uno game. It is the sound of his voice and his giggling
while we are together that I lock up deep inside and store to share with
his future children, one day.
We did spend the day
looking at the cell phone, like the expectant parents we are. Every few
minutes I'd check the time. Cathy would look at me. I would shake my
head.
We were feeling a bit discouraged as we walked
to the bus stop. Like the disciples after the crucifixion, wondering
what would happen next.
At the bus stop, Cathy turned
to me and said, "I guess it wouldn't be a good idea to call HIM to find
out would it?", just as I was pulling the cell phone out of my pocket to
check the time once again. The cell phone came out of my pocket
ringing. It was the orphanage director.
"Hello, Dave, how are you?"
"I am fantastic, how are you?"
"Good.
Good. We have scheduled a court appearance for you for tomorrow morning
at ten." He gave us instructions on what time to meet to go to court,
and those words went to my instinctive brain, where I will recall it
when I REALLY need it. I was making a spectacle of myself by dancing
like Steve Martin with "Happy Feet" at the bus stop. Yes, I can
embarrass Cathy ANY where in the world!
Paul defined
"faith" in Hebrews 11:1 as "the confidence that what we hope for will
actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."
Seems to be all about great expectations happening.
During
National Adoption Month, six days before Thanksgiving in "the colonies"
I am most thankful for family and extended family following our
journey. Thank you for being here with us, and for adopting us,
supporting us, encouraging us and praying for us. I believe that the
prayers of a righteous person avails much.
We are now reaching the halfway point of our journey. There is still more road ahead...
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