A Little Rest-Then Move Forward

So what happen to the Rahns? We are home, save and full of new hope. To step back from everything and renew our strength ( especially our spiritual) has done us good. We are just loving having Yana in our home. She is getting ajusted and seems very happy. Our bond is growing daily and our love for each other is increasing. I am so impressed how God has taken strangers and knit their hearts together to be a family. Yana has had some opportunity to express fears, and the biggest is school. Today we start the journey of finding the right school. I keep reassuring her that it is not going to be that bad. We will introduce her to American schools very easily. Yana is very strong emotionally and physically. She will do very well. We have had lots of great company since we have been back. That has been a blessing for all of us. The more company we have the more I can prograstinate putting things back in order. I am normally a very ordered type of person, but right now I really don't want to get comfortable until we have Marina at home.

Marina--she is not left behind for long. When we got on the plane in Kyiv, it was looked at as a time to regroup and get alittle rest. We had a lot of hope, feeling of joy, and a sense of renewed strength. Was there weeping, yes. We refuse to weep in front of Yana, this was our rejoicing time with her. We had time to draw closer to Yana, that was a good thing. If we became overwhelmed about Marina, we would find a quite spot to weep and pray and renew our emotions. That has not ended. We both have our moments. When I was in church on Sunday, I could feel Marina's hug, smell her scent, and see her face. I saw a rerun of our good-bye at the orphanage, it played over and over and over. I wept most of the time I was at church. That was a good thing, because in my weekness, Christ renewed my strength. I still don't know the whole picture and how it is going to turn out, He does. Remember this is God's journey, He wrote the script. This very morning we woke up to an e-mail from Marina. It said, "Urgent, please get a hold of Galina, she has some new information that is good". Marina's e-mail was a good sign that she has renewed hope.

I can not go into all the details, and I know this sound vague, sorry. We are expecting to bring Marina home in 5 to 6 weeks. Please pray that the doors will all open. We have a plan and God may have a different one, but we are praying that all plans lead to Marina coming home soon. Rick and I have lived almost 25 years as a married couple, no children. There has always been peace about that. All of a sudden, we are missing one of our children and the family feel incomplete. How does that happen. We serve a great God. Two years ago we asked Him, what our purpose was and why would He draw us together. We prayed for Him to reveal this to us. The battle we have fought for with Marina, I could not have done alone, either could Rick. We are a team. He gave each of us a strength that was necessary just at the right time and He made us week at the right time too. Many times during this journey Rick would speak with such discernment that I would be stunned. Many times God gave me information that would open new ideas and doors. We asked for a God journey that would draw us close to Him and He gave it to us. With all the heart breaks and tears, would I ask Him to do this to me again. Yes! There is nothing greater in life then to let God work through you and to be so week that He can work through you.

Please, pray for Marina and her home coming. Pray for Yana and her settling into a new life.
We appreciate you all for following the journey, remember it is not over, we are praying for a miracle.
Fran