Saturday December 23

We are sorry it has taken us a few days to post again, but it has been one wild ride (literally) for the last few days.
Before we start we just want to let you know how much your comments mean to us in encouraging us and lifting us up. It makes us feel like we are not so far away. Your prayers mean so much- sometimes we get so tired we just rest on knowing you are covering us in prayer.
So... after our last blog Chris got extremely sick. We think it was a bacterial infection, and so we spent a sleepless night (with Chris in the bathroom) before our appointment the next day. Thankfully he was well enough to go to the appointment, but it was very hard for him. It went well- we were given several children to chose from - about 5 boys around 4 years old, and two sibling groups. The sibling groups had older children around 7 or 8, so we decided we would just go for one younger child. We chose to visit a boy named Alexander who is located at an orphanage in the city of Lugansk- it is very close to the Russian border.
After our visit, we got plane tickets to fly to Lugansk, as it a 12 hour trip east, or an 1 1/2 hour plane flight. Unfortuanelty the airports got mixed up and we did not make our flight! We couldn't believe it, and the next flight was not until very late the next day (Friday). So instead of spending another weekend in Kiev we got bus tickets and took a bus that left at 9:00 pm and would arrive in a city close to where we needed to go at 9am the next morning. The bus was fairly nice, but it was still a very, very long bus trip, and Chris was not feeling particularly well yet, either. There are several funny stories, but we don't want to write too much all at once. We'll have to save some for in person. After we arrived we still had to take a 2 hour taxi to Lugansk, and we had a lot we really wanted to accomplish before the day ended (Friday) so there was no time to rest (or eat or think).
We then had to get approval from the inspector to visit the orphanage, which took some time as she didn't show up until 3pm. In the meantime waiting for her to show up we went out to get some food and have some soup since Chris was sick, but it was awful (even our translater, Igor, stated it was the worst he had ever had). The important thing is we did get the approval to go to the orphanage so we finally left to see Alex!!
Right before 5pm we made it to the orphanage, but we were allowed to see him but not interact with him until we meet with the doctor (which we will do tomorrow am). First we talked to the orphanage director and found out Alex's background, and then we got to also talk to his teachers. In Russian they call Alexander by the nickname Sasha, so they call him Sasha. They said he is learning a song and a poem for the New Year's play that the orphanage is doing, and told us a lot of very postitive things about him. He obeys well, brushes his teeth, dresses himself, likes to dress up in costumes and play, etc.. They were not going to let us see him at all, but Chris asked if we could at least see him, but we wouldn't interact with him. They agreed to bring him in.
He is so cute!!! He is blond haired and blue eyed, and was wearing a red turtleneck, and shorts for some reason (although it is freezing outside). He was kindof shy but they talked to him about what we he was doing, and if he would sing us the song, etc.. He started to, but then got bashful. It was very cute. Both Chris and I were very touched. We will get to meet with his doctor tomorrow morning and then will get to meet and interact with him. We can't wait! We are feeling very hopeful, but after our last experience we are still somewhat cautious. The experience is overwhelming.
We were reminded today, though, of the verse in 1 Corinthians 2 that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has prepared for us. We will rest in that.