A red thread

We started our day attending church this morning. What a blessing to be able to feel at home in this church building in another country. 

After the meeting we were talking to some of the members and this sweet man, Voldimor. came up and started talking to us in Russian. So we had the mission president come and translate as he told us this special story....

Voldimor was baptised a few months ago. He said he came here after he and his family were driven out of Donetsk when the take over happened recently. They had to leave all they had behind and come here to try and start over. When they got here his wife got ill and passed away. He told us he adopted 3 children from Donetsk (they are now grown) and that God needs us to help the children in these orphanages. He shared the 3 adoption stories and said how grateful he was to us for doing this work of saving the children. He told us how passionate he was about helping these children and that this is the only thing he can leave this world when he dies....his legacy and his children. He told us with tears in his eyes that God is grateful for adoption. 

He hugged us all and tearfully expressed his love for orphans and what we were doing.

I do not think its a coincidence that this man was from the same city as Mia, or that he happened to cross out path today. 

The Packers.....the mission president and his wife

It's amazing how much faster the days have passed with this girl here! Not to mention the anxiety level went down having another adult with me again 


After church we ran home to change clothes and then headed out again. By the time we got back from church we were too late to go see Noah for our usual visiting hours so we went to lunch and decided we would go see him for the shorter visitation in the evening. This meant a trip on the metro for the first time.








We managed to navigate our way through the metro system and walked from the metro stop to the orphanage without getting lost!



In front of the orphanage

They brought him out to us in his fluff blue and white outfit and Adrie insisted we take it off to see him without it 

and boy was he darling.....and tiny

You can see and feel how weak he is when you hold him without all the layers 

There is an ancient Chinese Proverb that says, “An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread will stretch and tangle, but it will never break.”

 

We were feeling this thread gently guide us to this sweet little boy over the last year but had no idea all the ways it would connect to other people and experiences. 



Last night Kris and I were talking about how in awe we are of our Heavenly father and the way he weaves these threads in our lives.

Every detail has been guided by His hand and we have sat in astonishment looking back and thinking


"What if we had not taken this path, at this time, to this little boy?"

I remember a story shared by one of our church leaders ,Sister Dew, that talked about this idea of doing what you are supposed to do....she shared this :

"I have always loved basketball, and I was really good at it. So when I entered college my dream was to play basketball at that level. " On the day of tryouts, she reported to the Building, opened the gym door a crack, peeked at the players inside and the confidence drained right out the bottom of her shoes. She couldn't make herself step through the door. She thought she could work up her courage if she paced the hallway outside the gym for a while. She walked back and forth — for three hours.

She never did enter the gym. When the tryout ended, she walked slowly to her dorm,  regretting that she had not had the guts to try out.

"It's is one of my biggest regrets," she says. "I've never gotten over it."

Then years later she was invited to speak to the basketball team at BYU and Sister Dew told the above story for the first time in her life, one she hadn't even confided to her family. Her point was that these athletes were doing something she had wanted to do, but lacked the courage to try.

Afterward, the athletic director came to her and said, "I remember my 1971 team really well. You know why? We played all season one player short. I tried to fill my roster, and I couldn't. That year I was looking for a tall center who could post up."

Sitting in her office, Dew finishes this story and says, "I felt as if I had been kicked in the stomach when she told me that. That was supposed to be my spot on the team. You mean out of 25,000 students they couldn't find one girl who could fill that spot?!

"The truth is, nobody can take your place. "

We know with certainty that we are right where we are supposed to be

What if we had chosen a different path and missed out on the miracles that have already come through this little boy? 

There were hundreds of reasons why we should not have ventured on such a journey , 


but there was one reason we should.....



this little boy 



and that reason outweighed all the rest. 

Unknowns are scary



but often the unknowns turn out to be the best adventures yet 

Noahs' story has already been weaving itself into a beautiful tapestry and it has only just begun



Little buddy, we only have one more official visit with you at the orphanage tomorrow and then if all goes as planned we will be busting you out of those orphanage gates on tuesday evening! It seems surreal that it is happening !!!!

Tomorrow marks the end of the waiting period and we get our official court decree that he is ours! But because it is a monday and the vital statistics office is closed tomorrow we will have to wait until tuesday to run around gathering all the needed paperwork to break him out of those orphanage gates forever!!

On our walk home from the metro we enjoyed the sunday night life in the city with beautiful scenery 

and very entertaining dancing through the streets