Frequent Railer Miles

I'm going to start this post the same way I start every post these days. Sorry it has been so long since the last post.

Ok. We got that out of the way. Here's the update. Securing all the documents has proven to be a much more daunting task than with Elijah's adoption. The boys health insurance company refused to give us a letter that we need for court stating that Aleksandr was going to be eligible for health coverage and stating what those benefits would entail. Bureaucracy to the max! Nobody wants to sign their name to anything. So we had to redo about 8 documents to find another route for giving the court what they need for proof of health insurance coverage. In the process, I had to secure two more deeds to the house (California's deeds are different than most of the country). We were able to get all this done in a week, and yesterday I hopped the train to L.A. to get the documents apostilled and sent off.

On my way back home on the train, feeling rather satisfied that all the documents were finished, I got a phone call from Sara informing me that the letter we had requested from the insurance company showed up in the mail. State Senator Mark Wyland's office came through and with their influence to back us up, insurance gave us what we needed. (What an answer to prayer!) Only one problem. We had redone all these other documents thinking that we were not going to get the insurance letter. So guess where I am headed tomorrow. I'm getting used this train travel. Back to L.A. for hopefully the last time (No. Seriously. This is going to be the last time. I'm not kidding...)

But maybe through all this God has a bigger plan. Here's what happened last train trip. I missed my train heading back home, so I had to wait an extra hour. While I was waiting I met a man, Jerome, who asked me for money for train fare to get back to Riverside. I told him I would help him with the ticket, and so we walked to the kiosk. When he reached the kiosk, he informed me that he had lied about the ticket, and that he was homeless and an addict, and didn’t really need a ticket. I told him I couldn’t give him money, but I could buy him some food. As we headed to get a sandwich, he told he that he had recently committed his life to Christ, but that he was still struggling with the addiction. I told him that it was only through God’s strength that he could overcome his addictions. He got his sandwich, we prayed, and I left to catch my train. On the walk to the train, I thought about Jerome. The struggles with drug addiction are so much greater than any of my struggles. If I could tell Jerome that God’s grace and strength were enough to get him through his addictions, how much more should I believe the same about my struggles?

So I get ready for another trip to L.A.. Maybe God has more people I need to pray with next to the Subway sandwich shop in Union Station. Or maybe He just wants me to get a little more exercise jogging the 1 1/2 miles each way from the train station to the Secretary of State's office. Either way, may I continue to praise him through all the ups and down, whether this is the last train ride or not...

JP

Through God’s grace shown in the donations of his people, we are now under $8000 away from being able to complete the adoption. This means that at this point we will have enough to travel, but we still need the rest to cover the $11,000 foreign fee. God has been so gracious to provide thus far, and I know he will see it through to completion. If we get these last documents to Russia by Monday, it's possible that we could be notified of a court date in the next couple of weeks. This will probably mean a mid-March court date, and travel towards the beginning of March. This is definitely not set in stone, but it will give you an idea of where we are with the process. Please continue to pray that God will provide a quick exit for Aleksandr from the orphanage and into his new home. Thanks!