We Have Arrived!

We have arrived in Murmansk, Russia--finally! I've lost count of the hours spent sitting, the hours of waiting, the hours spent breathing recycled air. We are here safely and with all of our luggage in tact. It looks like a Winter Wonderland (at least from what we could see in the dark). It feels so good to breathe fresh air. It may be freezing cold air, but at least it's fresh!

We heard lots of nightmare Russia stories as we got ready for this venture, but experienced none of them. It strikes me as similar to when a woman is 9 months pregnant and everyone feels the need to share their nightmare labor stories with the expectant mom. I suppose this journey is just like labor and we're right in the middle of it--and the end result is a new child in our family.

For now we will wash off the grimeyness of our travels and try to catch a few winks before we go visit our daughter. We were told by our coordinator that we will get to see her 2 times each day (for 2 days) for about 2 hours each time. Woo hoo!

Many of you have asked if she knows we are coming...well, we asked that question tonight. Apparently she has known that parents will be coming to adopt her since we were sent her picture. Tomorrow she will know that some guests are coming to play with her, but our coordinator said she is not dumb. She knows the routine from watching others and knows that we are ones she has been asking for every day. Apparently she asks our coordinator and her caregivers often about when her parents are going to come and take her to live in the US.

Please pray for us tomorrow because I know that the Lord hears you. Pray that we would have a blast with her and we would "connect" with her even though we do not speak the same language. Pray that we would pick up some Russian while we are here. Pray that everything would go well as we visit with government officials and fill out paperwork that begins the Russian side of bringing our daughter home.

II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."