"You Win!"

This morning came with prayer already on my lips. We had spent hours the night before taking and studying notes of answers to potential questions from the judge. We quizzed each other, bouncing questions back and forth like ping pong. By the time we reached bedtime, we were pretty happy with the responses that we had prepared. But the nerves started to kick in at first light, and the praying began. With first court hearing of the day, we only had time to eat breakfast and get dressed before it was time to go. We quizzed each other again all through breakfast, showering, and dressing. Then one last prayer time, and we were out the door and waiting on the steps to the apartment for our drive to the courthouse.

Though cool enough outside to see your breath, the sun was shining bright and felt warm on my face. I looked up at the sky and soaked in the sun, and a peace settled over me. I knew that so many people back home were praying for Aleksandr, and that we had done all the Lord had called us to do up to this point. We were ready. I knew the prayers had started.

The van came nearly 15 minutes late (traffic), and we sped to court (with much honking by our driver...and I think a few illegal turns). It was minutes after we arrived that we were whisked into the courtroom. This one was downstairs, and was a much smaller room with 5 desks and some basement-style windows in one corner. The Russian seal sat over the desk that would be the judge's, and a Russian flag adorned the wall next to it, serving both as monument and it appeared to cover some sort of electrical box in the wall. The prosecutor sat on the desk on the left, the court reporter on the right, and the Ministry of Education representative and Orphanage Director at the table to our right. Sara and I sat next to our interpreter at the table on the left. As I sat staring at the Seal, I felt an overwhelming sense that everything was going to be ok. I could feel the prayers at that moment, and I smiled. I took a deep breath, and lifted up the court hearing one more time.

I spent the next 45 minutes answering a barrage of questions, starting with what in the name of Siberia would possess a family of 6 to even dream of adopting another child. Uhh.....in my mind I'm asking myself the same thing. That's how it began, and it quickly turned to questions of finances, the banking crisis in America, savings for college, homeschooling, our house, and the kids' social lives. This was the same judge we had last time. She is extremely fair and good-natured, but she gets to the point. And she cares about these kids. She even toyed with me by having me sit down, thinking I was finished, and then making me get up again to answer more questions (how cruel!).

Sara's questioning was much shorter, with Sara becoming emotional at one point and breaking into tears relating a story about how Elijah came up to her one day and declared "I love brothers!" I think this scored a few points with the judge. After the Orphanage Director and Ministry of Education representative spoke to the judge on our behalf, giving their approval, we were asked to leave the room for just a few short minutes. A few more prayers, and we were back in. The judge began to read the conclusions. I waited for the words, and then I heard them. "Court grants the petition of adoption" and tears welled up in my eyes. I'm not sure what she said after that. All I know is we said thank you in a daze as the judge exited the room. We thanked the prosecutor and court reporter, as well as the Ministry of Education rep and Orphanage Director, and we were out. We quickly exited the court building, not wanting to give anyone any time to change their mind. As we walked through the doors, our coordinator turned to us, threw her arms up and said "You Win!" I guess that sums it up.

One more to leave you with. A few days before we left, Sara walked into Elijah's room and saw him sitting on the floor with his hands crossed and his eyes shut. As she entered the room, she asked him what he was doing. He replied "I'm praying for Micah." Ok, two to leave you with. Here is a story related to me just an hour after court by my mother, who is watching the boys. It was 7:45pm west coast time, which was 10:45am for us, right about the time Sara was standing up making her plea for Aleksandr. My mother was putting Elijah to bed, and he turned to her and said, "We need to pray." With no prompting from my mother, he began to pray for Micah and the adoption. Let me ask you something. Do you believe that prayer works? And do you believe that God speaks to people? My hope from all of this is that you would realize that God is at work through his people. He speaks to his people today just as clearly as he did in the days of Moses. Two little brothers are going to be united in a home that loves the Lord and will forever tell them that God loves them because His people believed in miracles, and chose to be a part of one. Thank you!

JP

Relief!

Elmo giving the "thumbs up" to the court decision.