Your Guess is as Good as Mine!

The most often questions asked me these days is; "When are you going to get Koyla". Your guess is as good as mine, only God knows the plan. We are doing all we can do, our facilatator, Victor, is doing all he can do, so now we just keep the faith that it will come soon.

The lastest update story is a tale of United States Law and Ukrainian Law and the Rahns are in the middle. On April 16th Victor went to the SDA office with the final 3 pieces of paper. The dossier was now complete, accepted and ready for the date. They told him to come back on the 23rd to get the date. On the 23rd they told him they could not give him the date yet because there are two major holidays coming up in May that will affect when people can have appointments. They had not decided how much time they were going to take off for the holidays. They asked him to call on Monday and they would let him know. On Monday he was told that the office had been so business that they did not have time to schedule appointments, but if he came in on Wednesday, the 29th, they would have the appointment scheduled. On Wednesday he was told that they found fault with the I-171H form, which is our American form for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. They said the dates were wrong and that they had never heard of an extension before. Victor explained that we were granted an extension and that this paper was still valid. Victor has to go to the U.S. Embassy to get a letter that stated that this form has been approved and the extension is a new law that was passed in July 2008. Victor called the SDA who said that the letter would be accepted but that he would have to come back on May 7th because the deputy director of booking appointments has gone home and is now on vacation and then there will be the holiday (Labor Day is May 1st), so therefore we can not book the appointment, but we promise that it will be booked on May 7th and we will get them in at the end of May. Victor wants me to get a new form that has dates changed and our government agency can't change the dates on the form because it make the form illegal. Who will win the battle? Who knows? God does!!! In the mean time I lay awake at night repeating,
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, Be still I am God, I am the vine you are the branches, Be angry and do not sin, and Don't be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord's salvation. It did work. I finally got the peace that I was needing to fall asleep.

In the mean time, Koyla will turn 13 on May 7th, and Yana will be done with soccer by the time we leave, and Rick will wrap up work that needs to get done, and I can think about all the things I want to do in the Ukraine for the summer, since more and more of my summer will be there. I am still hopeful that we will have an appointment somewhere around the 20th or 21st. I am praying that I am in God's will on that. I would love to be back in the United States before the July 4th holiday. We do know that God's timing is perfect, even if we think he is looking at the wrong datebook.
Fran

Hold the Flight!!

We are not making our flight plans yet, we are still waiting. On March 26th our facilitator had his appointment with the SDA. They gave him 3 papers to return to us and have us do over. The facilitators can't keep up with all the changes that are taking place, but this time they are splitting hairs. We got them back in record time, but not perfect time. Our papers arrived in Kiev on Monday, April 6th. They made it by FedEx in 3 days!!! They had to be translated and notorized and then run over to the SDA office. All done in record time. The SDA office is closed to dossier work for 15 days April 1st to the 15th to do quarterly reports! Oh no.......another red light. Hurry up and wait, Hurry up and wait, Hurry up and wait. I did learn this as a child. We played the game hurry up and wait all the time, Red light-Green light. Why is it as an adult it is not as much fun? Maybe my problem is fun, I should make this more fun. Turn it into a game, a guessing contest, create a game similar to monopoly or .... Am I missing an opportunity here?
Now I think I am going nuts. I think I do better at hurry up and wait.

God did not leave me without seeing His Glory. In this period of hold, God showed me that He is sitting on the throne. I love to see this, it gets me so excited. In 2005 a group of children came to United States with the "Old Russin Shoe Maker" performance. The children were from Berdyansk Orphanage, Yana was one of these children. During the performance at the Williamsburg Community Chapel, I spotted a young girl that looked just like one of my nieces. I welted up with tears. The thought that these children didn't have family overwhelmed me. The sight of this young girl made me stop and think about the importance of having someone helping you direct you path as you get older. It is easy to see the lack of nurturing that a young child would miss living in an orphanage, but the older child missing the guidance and security that comes from a family unit. I have thought about that young girls over and over. I never got her name or found out anything else about her, but her face and the feeling that I got when I saw her has never left me.

Last summer one of Yana's friends came to visit Williamsburg from North Carolina, she was also adopted from Ukraine. This year she returned to visit with her sister. This young sister is the young girl that stirred up my emotions in 2005. It is so exciting to know that she has a family and the couple adopted her whole family at that. How is that for God's Glory. It makes hurry up and wait well with my soul.

We are still praying for a fast appointment, hopefully in May, maybe even the first or second week. I have been hearing that they are setting fast appointments.

For now we are going to change our focus. We are celebrate our Risen Savior. He has Risen indeed and His grace is given to me daily. Happy Easter
Fran