"The Chicken is in the Pot"

No, this isn’t a coded message to sleeper Quiram operatives across the globe to begin telling corny jokes and promoting a move of the U.S. capitol to the hard nucleus about which the nation forms (Iowa of course) – rather, it means that following months of work, a small mountain of paperwork has been submitted and accepted by the Ukrainian Adoption Ministry.

Next step is to get an appointment date and then travel. We hope to know both when Katya is available and when we’ll be traveling in the next month or so. It could be as early as December!

We had a nice phone call with Katya last week. We hadn’t been able to connect with her for about 3 weeks and I was wondering what the may portend. Was she having second thoughts? Turns out that she can’t wait to come to America & has been taking English lessons with the daughter of one of the orphanage caregivers.

In a very interesting development, we met Bill & Oksana Brower. They are missionaries serving in Berdyansk Ukraine and focusing on the Orphan’s. We had them over for supper on Friday. The evening started with Sophie being very quiet (she informed me that she was shy). An hour after supper she was sitting at the computer showing Oksana pictures from the orphanage and alternately speaking excited English and Ukrainian. Here’s the link to their website if you’d like to learn more, or perhaps donate toward their monthly support in so then can return to Ukraine. (photo is Shophie showing photo albums to Bill & Oksana)

Finally, as we prepare for this trip and a lifetime of having another daughter, we would appreciate your prayers. Specifically, we are going to need someone (perhaps several people staying a week at a time) to stay here and run things at home while we’re gone. Also need your prayers for a smooth adoption process and that the Lord would be preparing both Katya and us for her to be a part of our family.