Priceless

This has been a trying week. Busy and productive, yes. Exciting, definitely! But the to do list is long and fear is creeping in. On a few occasions I found myself feeling overwhelmed and thinking "What are we doing? This is too difficult! This is SO much money! How are we ever going to raise so much money in such a short amount of time?" And God said, "She is priceless." It was a strange moment that took awhile to process. "Did God really just say that?" Then I started reflecting on scripture. Yep, that sounds like something He would say. The thing about these experiences (mission trips, serving, really whatever God is calling you to do) is that you seem to get hit from all sides by temptations, trials, doubt, etc. It just so happened to be the worst week Justin has ever had at work, Braden got sick, unexpected bills, well you get the picture. We felt completely overwhelmed and exhausted and then I read my Jesus Calling devotional and it all made sense. When people are choosing to glory God, they will be blessed with opportunities to suffer. Oh, we must be on the right path. And this little girl must be amazing! I was struck by the fact that God has orchestrated for two years now ( and longer I am sure) her destiny to be in our family. This little girl on the other side of the world in a random little city in Russia, with millions of other children also needing homes. It amazes me that this little girl is so loved by Him that  He created her just for our family. Okay, we can do this and she is absolutely worth every trial!

The week began with purchasing plane tickets, booking hotels and mailing off our visas. We found out that our driver/translator in the region will only be there part of the week so our visit with our daughter will be cut short. Well, the sooner we get home, the sooner we get to go back so that's not such a bad thing. Then we found out Igor, our driver/translator in Moscow won't be there. My frugal side said, "Oh good! We get to save some money." Then my more practical side said, "Hmm, we don't speak any Russian and we have no idea what we are doing." This one could use some prayer although I am sure it will be an exciting adventure and will lead to many amusing stories.

Almost all of our documents are ready to go and our bags are ready to be packed. It looks like Friday will be just the right time for trip to Russia. We leave in the evening and get to New York in the early morning. We get to spend some time with Justin's brother while we wait for our Saturday afternoon flight to Moscow. We arrive in Moscow Sunday morning and then catch our last flight to the region on Sunday evening. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we get to spend with our little girl along with some interviews with the officials. Wednesday afternoon we leave for Moscow again. After an overnight stop in Moscow we will be back on a plane to the USA!

Things we would love prayer for:

Last minute travel prep and that my extremely disorganized mind would be extra organized this week. There are so many details I have to remember and they are all necessary for the adoption to happen

Braden! I know he is going to be in very good hands and he will probably have a blast, but this is our first time away from him so there will probably be a lot of tears too

The finances. God has blessed us with enough to pay for this first trip (thank you generous donors!), but we do not have enough to pay for the second trip yet and the second trip could be as soon as mid October. I am applying for grants which I am told we will not get. I am also trying to think of some fundraisers so if you have any ideas I would love to hear them. We have one option in San Diego, but God would have to work some miracles to pull it off in time. Pretty much, lots of prayers here would be greatly appreciated!

My health during travel. I am not going to be able to stick to my restrictive diet nor will I be getting much sleep which usually leads to all sorts of problems for my body. I pray that this won't get in the way of our time with our baby

Always for our baby girl. Her health, safety, development and transition into our home.