Tangled

Thank you for your prayers. I woke up at 8:15 for church. I tried to wake Valera up. He is not a morning person on the best of days but I knew this morning might be especially hard because of the mood in which he went to sleep.

He hid his head under the sheets. My dad and I decided I would go to church and my dad would stay home with Valera. I told Valera that plan, and with his head still under the sheets, he said, "sorry Mom". I climbed on his bed and gave him a big hug, while even his head was still under the sheets. I told him it was okay and that I loved him very much. He hugged me back, through the sheets, with his head still under them and said, "I love you too."

Sniffle. Sniffle.

When I got back from church, Valera kept saying, "sorry tomorrow, sorry tomorrow".  What I realized he was saying was "sorry for yesterday".

We had a quiet day. My dad took over for the day while I put a hot was cloth on my eye, napped, prayed, got "still".

While I was laying in the bed, I was thinking about the movie 'Tangled'. Valera loves to watch movies- in Russian or English. We have watched Ratatouille (more times than I care to count), Superman, Shrek, Toy Story 1, 2, and 3.  His new favorite is Jungle Book.  We have watched Tangled a few times as well.  I can really relate to Rapunzel, who is trapped up in a tower, by a mean woman who uses Rapunzel's magic hair to stay young.  This woman stole Rapunzel from the king and queen, when she was just a baby. At any rate, one day Flinn Ryder enters her tower and promises to help her see the lanterns on her birthday. This means she will leave the tower for the first time in her life.

Rapunzel lets down her hair and slides down it....experiencing all these adventures for the first time. One minute Rapunzel is swinging around a tree saying "this is the best day of my life". In the very next scene, Rapunzel is face down in the grass saying, "I am a dispicable daughter...how could I do this to her? " Next scene....Rapunzel is running, skipping, and jumping saying she'll never go back to the tower. Next scene....Rapunzel is beating herself up for disobeying her "mother".  All the while, Flinn Ryder is just twiddling his thumbs as she rides her emotional roller coaster.

And there you have it.....We are "trapped" in Ukraine and I am "tangled" in my own web of emotions. One minute feeling complete peace that we are obeying God's will for our lives, the next minute thinking, "how will we do this?" Then reminding myself of God's words....He will strengthen me, He has a plan for us.  All the while, Jim McNamee plays the role of Flinn Ryder watching ME ride my emotional roller coaster.  I have said before - it's not an easy job.

Please keep praying for us. This is a big week. Tuesday we go back to court...to mark the end of the 10 day waiting period.  We will also go to Valera's birth city to get a new birth certificate. We will go to his orphanage to have a goodbye party. Valera's grandmother and aunt would also like to say goodbye to him.  We have to apply for a passport as well. Once we get the passport, we will travel back to Kiev for our Embassy appointment and medical clearance for Valera.

So although we pray that we are in the homestretch, we have a lot to do. My energy is running low. My dad and I combined have probably lost 20 pounds. I am definitely low on nutrients, among other things.

On top of everything else, mosquitoes or flies of some sort come out every night and fly around our heads. It's like torture. Truly.

I share this so that you can know how to pray for us. We are so grateful. We really are.