Tomorrow is the "big day". We have our appointment with the Ukrainian governmental adoption agency (SDA) in the morning 10:00. That would be 3:00 am for y'all on the east coast EST. we spent the day today walking the streets of Kiev Ukraine. We were basically being tourists, but our interpreter/adoption advocate (that is my term). He is basically the guy who facilitates the legal and logistic aspects of the adoption. He and his lovely family were with us being excellent hosts. We learned a lot about Ukraine and the recent Russian invasion, government meltdown, etc. we also learned a bit about the adoption process here. I will give you a brief explanation of how this works and hopefully you can pray more specifically for the process.

Currently in Ukraine they do not allow the prospective adopting families to meet and choose a child prior to coming to the country. The adopting families are given an invitation (appointment) because the paperwork was approved. At the appointment they will either tell us that there are no children that meet our criteria (it is a possibility) or here is the information for the child or children that do meet your criteria -- you have one hour to make a decision. If they do not have a child for us, or we are not willing to accept the child or children they have given us to choose from, then we have the option of applying for another appointment. This appointment could be 7 days - several weeks away (months?) depending on the number of adopting families waiting. We would have some decisions to make.

In the best case scenario, they have available children to choose from and it is abundantly clear which one or ones God has prepared for us. Then we would make a decision and go to the region to visit the child(ren).

We fully believe that God has led us to this country to adopt a child or children. We fully believe that God has orchestrated this journey EXACTLY as He has planned it to work for the good of all and His kingdom. There have been multiple times in the process up to now where we have considered quitting and He has shown us that we need only to be obedient and patient. His timing is perfect. His plan is perfect. We will trust in Him during this part of the process also. We may have decisions, difficult decisions to make, but we will trust in Him.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight

Proverbs 3:5-6

Please pray that God's will be done. If it be His will, pray that there IS a child or children available that DO meet our criteria, and that He make it clear which child or children we should choose. Valerie has been praying that the page of the child God has chosen for us will glow visibly so that we will know. We believe that He can make that happen, but we will be glad to see any sign that helps us make the right decisions and remain in His will. 

Thank you Lord!