Here we are (thanks to you!)

So here we are, safe and sound in the capital of Alex’s home country (we still can’t mention its name!), after a grueling 20-hour trip. In a few hours, we will have our appointment at the government’s adoption office, where we will get the referral to see Alex. Unfortunately, ever since they reorganized that department, they no longer give you the paperwork the same day; we have to wait to receive it until tomorrow, and since tomorrow is Friday, we won’t be able to see Alex until Monday. So we will have some down time in this Eastern European capital city over the weekend. Then on Monday we will be driven by Serge, the head of the Reece’s Rainbow facilitation team in this country, about four hours south of here to the institution where Alex is living, and then we will get to see him.

We’re hoping for a fast process for several reasons, one of which would be the impending European cup in early June—Europeans drop everything for their “football.” Another would be…we miss our kids at home! And we know that our youngest two year old is probably wondering when we’re coming back. We’ve had some limited success talking with them on the phone ($14 for three minutes!) and over Skype, although we’ve had a number of technical difficulties, not to mention some difficulty figuring out Skype’s very poorly planned user interface.

In the past week we haven’t had time to post anything because we’ve been insanely busy packing and preparing to be gone for several weeks (paying bills, setting up stuff for kids, doing all the gardening that would need to be done over the next month, etc.). During that week, we really felt the support, encouragement, and excitement of our wider community—family, friends, and acquaintances. Many, many people have stopped to ask about the adoption; many have offered their help, especially in terms of supporting Susan’s mom as she cares for four kids alone; many have offered prayers, which are deeply appreciated; and we’ve also received more financial help—including an anonymous donation, apparently from the same person who sent us an anonymous gift at Christmastime. You might remember that I (Jerry) was extremely reluctant to enter into this process, mainly for practical reasons, and also because I had a glimmering of how challenging it would be. (Good thing I was ignorant of the details!) In fact, I had ticked off on my fingers to Susan all the reasons why we couldn’t do this—good, solid reasons! But not an hour later we were praying at the Cathedral and I had a very strong sense that God was calling us to do this. It was striking because I have very rarely had such a strong. clear sense of God’s call. And when I pushed back against it a little, one of the things that came back to me was something like, “I want you to do this, not only for the sake of a child, but because of the many good things that will come out of this for you and your family.” The tremendous support we have felt from friends, family, and community members throughout this process has definitely got to be part of that outpouring of blessing. It is humbling to be on the receiving end of it.

Blogging this experience feels a little narcissistic, especially with so many people in our world, not to mention our immediate community and family, going through so much right now. I think in particular of my sister and her family, who are getting ready to welcome a child, Dominic, who will be born with very serious birth defects right around the time when we will be coming home with Alex. I also think about a family whose kids attend school with our kids who just lost a son to suicide. And of course we always remember in prayer the many children around the world who are suffering in worse conditions than Alex. So: we don’t want to live in an adoption bubble, to the exclusion of the needs of others around the world. But we will continue to write about this experience for the sake of our family (especially the kids!) and the extended community who have become very real partners with us on this journey.

Speaking of which, I’ve written up a little post about our trip over here for anyone who cares (mainly our kids and families); you’ll find that below.