Bonds of Love

Is it possible to fall in love with a child, just from a few paragraphs of information and a picture?

It is.

For the last 8 weeks our family has prayed and prepared for the upcoming arrival of sweet Viktoria from Ukraine.  We've bought her clothes, a Russian Jesus Storybook Bible, a winter coat and the start of some Christmas presents.  We've begun learning Russian in hopes of making her more comfortable in those first few days of being here as she settles in to life in a new country.  We've made a count-down chain to have a visual of how many days we have left before she arrives. We've prayed for her everyday. In fact, we've been praying over this family opportunity for nearly 10 months.

The kids are giddy excited anticipating her arrival. We talk about her life, her needs, and how we can share Jesus love with her.  We share ideas of fun things we can do with her and show her while she is here. 

Me. I talk online with other host families and we all share ideas and encouragement and books and senerios to prepare for.  We pray for each other. We see God work miracles in fundraising and we watch the hosting list get smaller every day and rejoice.

But, I was not prepared at all for the call I got at 12 noon today.  The call that stopped me dead in my tracks and left me speechless.

"Mrs. Posey. Due to issues of paperwork, Viktoria is no longer clear to travel at Christmas."

I've read all about how hard adoption is. The waiting. The snags. The surprises.  I was prepared for that...when we would embark on the adoption front. But, I was not prepared for this. It never crossed my mind.  

How do I tell my kids?

It's time for dinner, kids and oh, by the way, Viktoria is no longer coming for Christmas!

There is so often a curse to lining your ducks all up in a row and planning it all out to a T. When someone comes along and rearranges your ducks or yanks it right out of your pretty line...it's earth shattering. 

I'm not angry. I know God knows exactly what is best for us...
For Viktoria.

I know that in the end we'll see His hand all over this experience and give Him glory. But, the sting is still there. It still hurts not knowing if she'll ever make it to our home...into the arms of these sweet kids who have loved and prayed for her to know Jesus and to feel safe in our home.  But, God does. And as she falls asleep tonight somewhere under the stars of Ukraine, I know that the hand of the heavenly Father who holds her is the same Father that will wipe our tears as we drift off to sleep tonight as well.

Will you pray for our family as we grieve this loss and seek God for His leading for His next steps for us. There are still many needing homes to host them this Christmas, but the profiles close out tomorrow night at midnight. Your prayers for us are coveted.