When I got to work today, I shared all of the good news with my friend Patrick. "We are $12,500 away from bringing Yuri home!"
He asked, "So what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know.", I said.
"Yes you do. Why are you not doing it?", he replied.
Oooohhh - Bullseye!
"It seems like your in the same boat you were in before. It is just like when God said to the Israelites, 'I brought you out of Egypt, I defeated the world's most powerful army in front of your eyes, I provided food for you every in the desert for 40 years, why can't you trust me on this?'"
Peggy had said something very similar to me earlier in the week. She thought, "We are getting so close, what if we just took out a loan and funded the remaining amount that way?" But then she said she felt as if God were saying, "you trusted me when you had $0 and when you had $5000. Can't you trust me for the final amount?"
Just when I think that I had learned some valuable lessons about letting God lead my life and stepping out in faith - I was choking. I felt like Peter did at the moment the rooster crowed.
After we had made the commitment to adopt Yuri and we thought the cost was going to be $40,000, I told Peggy, "when we get to $36,000, we will submit all of our paperwork and begin the process of waiting for our court date. I reasoned - "that was before - this is now".
I went back to my desk and checked my email. I noticed an email from Mrs. Franks. She and her husband are in Moscow now. The left on Saturday to pick up their new daughter.
Hey Peggy and Dan,
Just wanted to give you a little information on Yuri. Marina said everytime she goes to his orphanage, he is jumping up and down asking her when you are coming or are they coming? I told Marina I would let you know this and she told me not to tell you because it may make you sad. I convinced her that families in the states live for any information they can get on their child in Russia. I will try to see him when we go to the region tomorrow. Is there anything you want me to tell him? Please e-mail back to let me know. Also, the people here are great. We really are enjoying our time. All previous fears are eliminated. They take good care of you here. You have no need to worry. We will keep praying the Lord provides soon for you.
This is the first word we've had about Yuri since he left our home on April 1st. I knew what had to be done. I've listened. I've heard. I was reminded of what I've learned: "When the SON is shining, don't stand around and wonder what to do - do it".
Thank you Patrick. Thank you Jon.
I called Peggy and read her the email... 3 times. She cried. I said, "let's get the rest of the paperwork ready and get it in the mail". In my mind I set my trigger limit at $36,000. We're at $37,000 right now.
Peggy sent the following reply:
Hi Denise!
Please tell Marina that I cried... tears of pure joy! That is the best news we could have gotten! Actually, it's the first we have heard anything about him since he left. We weren't sure how he even felt about us or coming back, so this tells us that he wants to be part of our family. On top of this wonderful message from you, we had an unbelievable weekend. We had $8225 come in between fundraising and donations! :) We now need only $12,500, and that includes all the recent increases. God is so good - SO much better than good!! After Dan called to tell me about your email (and he had to read it to me 3 times!) he also said that I should finish the paperwork and send it in. He said that from the start he felt that after we reached $36,000 that we would send in the dossier. We have raised over $37,000 at this point. We are now putting it completely in God's hands. We are plowing the fields getting ready for the rain.
I am not sure what you can tell Yuri. I told him in our letter (if the computer translator worked right) that we think of him all the time and miss him alot- and that we hope to see him again soon. Feel free to have Marina read it to you if you haven't yet. -Here's something- could you tell him that we are saving his red remote control car for him? On the video that we received after he left he had commented that we should keep his car for him. We did and actually, I found an identical one at Goodwill. So now we have 2. One for James and one for Yuri.
I wish you could ask him if he'd like an American name when he comes - but I doubt that that would be allowed.
Thank you so much for telling us. Dan and I are thrilled that you are enjoying your trip. Not to mention that Dan is happy to hear how they take care of you over there! I'm not looking forward to eating beets though.......:(
God bless you. I'm praying for your safety, the court date, your reunion and every aspect of the process. Enjoy Russia! :)
Peggy
The trigger is pulled, the dominoes are falling, the clock is ticking, the ball is rolling, the show is on the road.
Hold on Yuri - we're on our way!
