Wednesday, October 10, 2012

A Victorious Meeting

Court is scheduled for this Friday.  However, without the 'agreement' letter from the main Adoption office in Kiev, we cannot meet.
So, this last week, I have been in Kiev waiting to hear if this letter would be ready in time for our court date.  In the meantime, I have been helping out a friend who has four kids and whose husband is on out of the country.

When I would call this main Adoption office and ask about the letter, the answer would be very non committal, like, "well, maybe...(long pause) we'll have to wait and see."  I was running out of time to wait.
On Tuesday I called again and just got a "we will know for sure in the morning" type of answer.

So, this morning I made my way to the office full of nerves and very little faith that they would have completed this letter.  I walked to the bus, then took the metro to the bottom of the hill, then rode the finicular up the hill and walked another 1/4 mile to the office.  I opened the door to the tiny hallway and was overwhelmed by the crowd of people jammed in the small space.  Oh great.
I just stood there and waited.  With each passing minute my stomach began to tighten and my knees began to weaken.  I started to feel nauseous and thought, "Lord, I really can't handle another 'no, you have to wait today' response from these people." I was gearing up to be let down.  I was pretty much expecting to be disappointed.
As I stood there waiting I asked if anyone else was there to see O. Victorovna.  I got many strange looks and then one man said, "she did not come in to work today, there is someone else in there."

My heart sank.
I just knew that meant she was hiding from me and the truth that she did not finish my letter.

So, finally after 45 minutes or so, it was my turn to go into the office.  There was a nice lady sitting there with long black hair. A bit breathless, before even setting down, I said, "Hello, O. Victorovna told me to come today, I need my letter, we have court on Friday and everyone is waiting..."  Then she cut me off, smiled and said, "please tell me your last name so I can look for it."
My heart was beating out of my chest, I really thought that I may throw up all over this poor woman from all the stress and anticipation.  She kept looking and said that she thought it may be in her packet.  Then after what felt like forever, she said, "Yes, here it is!"

I exclaimed, "Praise the Lord!"  and she just smiled.  I told her how I had so little faith today that I did not even bring a file folder with me.  She was so sweet, she gave me a folder and all of the paper work.  Then I asked her name and she said it was 'Victoria' which means 'Victory!'
I asked again if this was all the paperwork that I needed and if I need to come back again.  She replied that it was indeed everything and the last time I would visit the main Adoption office in Kiev.
Really?

I remember the first visit back a year and a half ago when we were just seeking advice and instruction on how to adopt independently in Ukraine.  It was a bit stressful, since we were on our own, and they wanted to speak to us in Ukrainian.  And now, the last meeting was finally over.
We are finally approved to have our court this Friday!

God is so good.  He knows how much we can handle.  He probably thought, these poor office ladies could not handle another nervous breakdown from an adoption parent, better get that paperwork done!  =)  Thank you Lord!

No comments: