An unexpected turn...

Finally, I am hooked up to internet!  I don't know when I'll have it again but I will take advantage of it while I do!  We pay by megabytes and I have no idea what that means...I think text is pretty cheap but not sure how pics and my blog will add up so I don't know if I'll  be able to personally update my blog much.  I have been sending short notes to Laura to update and until we have reliable, inexpensive internet  we might continue that.  We'll see.
So, thank you all for praying for us.  These days have been very difficult.  We had our SDA appt. today and it went well.  The SDA officials were very kind and courteous and good to work with.  Our facilitator is just a gift. She is a very gracious woman and we feel blessed to be able to work with her.

 
And for our little boy we have had some clarity.  We do know for certain that the boy who goes with the name we were given last January is not available now. The door to that name and boy has been closed. That has been made very clear to us.  What we still do not know though, is, if this is Samson.  We are beginning to wonder if  Samson  may actually not be at the orphanage any more at all.  It is all unknown and until we are actually able to see the little boys in person we will not know.     We  have talked much about this and we agree that if at all possible we will try to verify the identity of the little boy that has been set in our hearts.  If we can find him we will.  Don't know if this is possible or what would happen then but we know the  Lord knows and that is all that matters.

But, for now the Lord has made it very clear to us that we are to pursue another child.  At our SDA appt. today we were shown the files of 2 girls at the same orphanage as Norah and the file for one little boy at a different orphanage. We had discussed the challenges of adopting from 2 different regions and orphanages and although that scenario is doable it is very challenging. The boy was only 2 years old, which is too young for us.  And so we did not consider him. Actually, it was obvious (thank you Jesus and the Holy Spirit!)  to both Lee and I who we should choose. We have chosen another little girl. We both knew it as soon as we saw her picture.  She is 4 years old and is in the same orphanage as Norah. We have been told they are good playmates and friends! 

We have asked the Lord continually for divine guidance and  of course He provided it!  We have agreed to go meet our little girls.  Our next step, after visiting them is accept their referrals and work on getting a court date set. 
We have asked the Lord to show us step by step what to do and He is doing it. I am still not sure  how this will all turn out.  But our confidence that He is in control and continues to make the way for us is growing.  We are excited to meet our little girls and pray that we can at least find and identify  little Samson.

 
Wednesday night we are flying to Kharkov and I think that Thursday we will get to meet our girls!  I will update again when I can.

  We are praising Jesus for His divine guidance in all of this and for the supernatural peace He is setting in our hearts.  He is only showing us tiny little steps at at time of this journey and we are trying to faithfully follow Him. 
Thank you for all of your encouragement and prayers!
love, Karen