NIKOLAS' STORY (Our Resurrected Adoption) Meeting Nikolas: 1st trip HOME |
"But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." 2 Corinthians 1:9 OK, I’ll be honest and say, I really thought this adoption was turning out to be rather uneventful. Things just happened in such an orderly way. The paperwork wasn’t much of a problem, the referral came quickly and we even traveled with few glitches (except for not having our luggage for 4 out of the 5 days we were in Russia during our first trip! ![]() Airport Anxiety: A Preparation Of What Was Yet To Come The second trip started out with a test that would be a glimpse of what was to come. We were all packed and set out early for the airport to catch our flight, but there happened to be an extremely strong wind storm in the Chicagoland area and some of our suburbs. What we thought would be an easy and pleasant ride with our children who we wanted to pray with and be with before we took off again turned out to be a ride of anxiety. We were already running almost a 30 to 45 minutes late when we realized traffic simply wasn't budging and IT WAS A SATURDAY! We made a decision to get off at the next stop and even that was backed up a long way. We finally made it off the ramp and started taking side streets to O'Hare (this is not an easy task, by the way), but God opened the way for us. We turned on the radio and found out that 294 was not moving at all because power lines had fallen into the expressway and the police weren't letting anyone by on this 3-4 lane highway. We had taken the absolutely last stop and realized had we gone any further there would have been no possible way for us to back out of that traffic - apart from being illegal to do on an expressway anyhow. We would have missed our flight for sure. I started to get nervous, but still and just decided to pray and as we manuevered our way to the next safe on ramp. Our daughter Jenna was sitting next to me and knew I was worried. She simply turned to me and said: "Mama, you shouldn't worry. It's not good to worry. You need to trust God and pray about it." So we prayed together! :o) She was a great encouragement to me because despite the situation, I was elated to see her childlike faith rebuking me and urging me to keep my heart by trusting God. Those are great moments you look for as a parent. Well, we made it on time, but we basically had to kiss and fly! It was a bit of "prep" on what was to come and I remembered it frequently while in St. Petersburg. We would have to trust the Lord in a greater way than this. Our Little Boy of Special Days
I’m not trying to read anything into anything, but as an adoptive parent you have
to hold on to those precious tidbits that reassure you that your prayers have and
are being answered. So let me start by saying that Nikolas has been our little boy
of special days. I had asked God just for some little encouragement, not that they
were necessary, but just some little something. Well, I think God in His mercy provided
a few of those blessed encouragements in more ways than one. The Glitch
The glitch was legitimate. The judge found out that there was a grandmother
who was not notified of the child’s pending adoption, much less his existence.
By law, she had every right to claim him and take him home on the spot
regardless of our presence. We left heavy hearted and nervous, but the judge ruled that if the paperwork could be signed and presented by Thursday by 2:00 pm she would resume the court hearing and make a final judgement on the child’s behalf whether yes or no. By the grace of God, there was a godly family there with us who had just successfully adopted their child before our court hearing. They prayed with us and encouraged us in many ways and together we saw God work out our situation. The next day our facilitator, the orphanage director and the inspector got up at 5:00 in the morning and raced to the city where grandma lived, found her and talked with her about the situation. She at first considered the possibility, but she herself had a heart condition and lived in a home no bigger than our living room with bathroom facilities outside of the house. She understood his medical condition and the situation and decided to write the release form immediately. We will always be thankful for grandma who despite the shock and surprise of this whole situation was willing to allow Nikolas to become our son. If God permits, we hope one day she can meet him as a young man and be encouraged by her decision. On Thursday, as scheduled, the judge set up another court hearing for Erik and I. She really was merciful as she could have scheduled the hearing a week, two weeks or more from the time of the first hearing, but God moved her heart to have mercy on our situation. We were worried and a bit apprehensive, but the hearing lasted no more than 15 minutes. She asked once again for any comments from us on the situation and what we thought on the matter. Well, what does one say? How do you put all your hopes and expectations into a few words and not make it all come out cockeyed? Erik nudged me and so I stood up and feebly told her that we were simply grateful for the opportunity to adopt another child and grateful for the orphanage director who had obviously taken such good care of the children in his Detsky Dom. I thanked them and told them that we believed Nikolas was a great match for our family and we would give him the medical, education, spiritual and emotional care he needed. I sat down feeling awkward, especially since I saw a rather odd look on the judge’s face and had no clue if I had possibly overstepped some cultural or courtroom boundary. Adoption Granted The long and short of the whole story is that in the name of the Russian Federation, the judge declared us to be Nikolas’ new parents. I really love that line "in the name of the Russian Federation..." it just makes you feel like the whole Russian nation is entrusting you with this incredible gift and responsibility. It really is an awesome moment because you feel a special shift in the heart, "WOW! This is it. We are parents of three children now! I'm a mother of THREE!"
We made sure during the court hearing to especially thank the judge for the opportunity to adopt this new child and thanked the orphanage director in front of the judge for having taken very good care of the children in her orphanage. Our translator expressed that the judge was a bit shocked by this kind of statement toward herself and the orphanage director, especially during the court proceeding. (We know that all other adoptive parents also say thank you, but I think she might have expected a complaint from us because of the mix up with paperwork and not a thank you and/or encouragement instead). The orphanage director was more than elated and felt we had honored her before the judge, especially since she probably felt very responsible for our difficult situation during the previous hearing by not having all possible documents available. The birthmother specifically requested that her mother not be told of the child’s existence due to her weakened heart condition so the director was between a rock and a hard place. What we thought was our sure demise turned out to be for God’s intervention and made for a rather "eventful" adoption after all. We almost didn’t have an adoption story to tell you. There would have been no story of a new son. We needed to consider the fact that our adoption was dead and we might come home empty handed and empty hearted, but God who is able to resurrect the dead for His purposes and glory granted us to taste a bit of adoption resurrection power. What encouraged Erik and I the most was that we had originally asked for two children (a boy and a girl). Our hearts were set on two, but the Lord in His wisdom and through the good counsel of our agency decided to grant us just the one child, our little boy. We are content, but we also wondered during this trip if we would end up ever having a foursome, maybe it was just plain unreasonable to think of it. That judge will never know the impact and power of those three blessed words, "come back again". It was a flicker of hope for us that maybe God would allow us sometime in the future at His perfect time and under His direction to call us back to Russia for the little girl we hope would complete our foursome. Jenna is adamant about a little sister and we have a hook already mounted on the bathroom wall for her washcloth. We just keep hearing those words from the judge going back and forth in our heads and hearts: Come back again… God willing, judge, we will! :o) |