I realized with all the busy-ness around us preparing for NHFC and Sergiys coming, building skateboards, flying to GA that I never did finish what happened!!!!
OK ya all I will give it to ya in the short version but still grab your cup of coffee! Your gonna need it!
So called the post office asking if they can locate my package with the last piece we need for our dossier, "The Homestudy". I called the night before the whole dossier had to get to Ukraine this is 2 days before Thanksgiving so the post office is nuts. The woman answers the phone and I ask if she could help me and I explained my time constraints and asked if she could help me locate the envelope in the received mail being it shows it is in route if not already in the sort station. As written in the earlier post she was willing to help me but it hadn't made it through the sorting yet that is if it does not get lost or trapped somewhere to be found years later with spiders living in it and covered in cobb webs. She said call in the morning and ask for this specific gal and she can locate it, if it arrives and then I can come pick it up. so I call bright and early in the morning to speak to a gal that did not sound too happy to be there bright eyed and busy-tailed at 6AM. She told me to call back in a couple hours when the lady I originally talked to comes in. I recalled her saying she was not coming in that day. Now keep in mind the time constraints when reading this so you can see the miracle in it all. The dossier had to be picked up from the post office that day before 10AM to be Apostilled and picked up the same day and Fed-exe'd that night by 5PM to make it to Ukraine to be submitted for 1 of the last two slots left for his age group we had listed on our homestudy that following Tuesday. In that time frame it had to arrive and be translated to be turned in hoping one of the two turn in slots were still available. I was thinking OK God you have got us through each miracle when I threw in the towel and then you opened a door big enough for me to run. Now at this point it will take a miracle from you to get this dossier back there. Now also keep in mind that with all the craziness that I thought his birthday was in the summer, it least that is how it appeared on our interview sheet for him. So I was thinking we will give it out best shot to get everything there but if not we jump as soon as the SDA office opens back up in February. So it's 9AM and I just decide to call back to the post office one more time and the manager answers the phone I ask for the gal I spoke to the night before. He explained she was not in today just as I had recalled. So I explained my situation and this guy had no pitty on me. He basically said I will not give you the envelope, you cannot come get it. You have to wait for it to be delivered. I explained by then it will be too late and this was the last thing we needed. He said listen lady I had a guy just call me to tell me his grandfather just passed away and he had to fly out of state for the funeral and needed this document and it has arrived and I told him I would not give it to him either. Whew wee. So then I could see hear the "Grinchness" in him. Good golly. So I hung up with him then paced once again like a hungry lion thinking there has got to be a way. We are so close. Then I grabbed the phone and called USPS main number explained to the manager the situation and that I know it is there at the sort station right around the corner from my house. The manager even said he has it there but refused to give it to me. She said let me call him to see what I can do. Now were at 9:12 AM. I am thinking even if I get it I got to get it Apostilled by 10AM. Holy smokes. I just prayed with Kolya and said "Bud this will be nothing short of a miracle if God opens this door for us". I get a call from her about 3 minutes later saying"Your right he won't budge". She refrained from her comments that he is not the nicest of guys. She said I am going to escalate it. So she said I will call you back hang tight. 5 minutes later she calls and asked if I heard from anyone with escalations with USPS. I told her know she said OK I am going to keep calling you until I know they have called. 3 minutes later she calls me and says "Get in your car NOW and go, go get the documents and get as fast as you can to the Secretary of State". WHAT A MIRACLE!!!!! So off I go hitting the ground running.
I get to the USPS sort station and he won't answer the door to give me the envelope. LOL! Should have known. So I am calling the number I have for him and it is busy. The door had a glass section with blinds. And I jut kept knocking and pacing. No answer. As I turned from the door I heard the blinds making noises. There was a man inside cleaning and he was cleaning the blinds so I knocked again on the door , he opened it and OMgoodness he was a huge big ol'e dude. Like a teddy bear with a awesome grin and a santa hat. I Explained everything and he said OK and then returned with the envelope and looked at me silly. Like lady you were running all the way over here for this. LOL! I smiled and told him thank you and gave him a card with a photo of Sergiy and a little about him and this blog and asked for him to give it to the manager and tell him he may of just saved this child and thank you.
Then I jump in the truck and head for downtown. I get to the parking meter, shove money in it and am running as fast as I can to arrive to the Apostilling desk to turn it all in by 10:01AM. Earlier that morning in case it all worked out but I got everything later then their cut off time to be able to pick up the docs that same day I called and spoke with the gal that has been Apostilling all my docs. She has denied 6 of my docs that were accepted (written wise) for Kolya's adoption. But she wants everything a certain way. She also does not come across as the Happy Jolly type. Well I called her that morning and explained my mess and asked basically if I am able to get the docs but what looks like 3PM in my mailbox with them closing at 5PM will she have mercy on my to help me. Man I knew she had all the abilities to say no. But she said if you can wait for me to process them I will do what I can to help you. Holy Smokes! That was so cool.
So homestudy is turned in now at 10:01AM so I need to come back at 4PM to pick them up. Meanwhile I was asked to help out a family that needed to copy of their marriage certificate and have it Apostilled. So I zoomed over to that office downtown and went through the process to get a copy of it for this couple with their permission. I was processed I felt like a foreigner in my own country. No one seemed to be in the holiday spirit except the lady who asked my name when I walked in! LOL! Ok so got the document and zoomed back over to the Apostilling office and asked if they can put this doc in with my others to be done that day. She said no problem! The heavens opened! This family was also under the same time constraints as us.
So I come back at 4PM like they said. I was asked to take a seat. AH OH! So I do then I see this other gal come in waiting for an adoption document too. We are both listening in (Yes ease dropping) on each others conversation. So she was asked to sit and it turns out that she also needed this one doc and it had to make it to Haiti before the same date as me. Then she was time crunched like myself to get her docs to Fed Ex before 5PM when is the last pick up of the night at all the local locations. So her and I are both on our phone trying to see if any of the locations we can make it to might be open later. NOPE! So we sat there watching all these people come in to pick up their Apostilled docs and being declined that they were ready. Our hearts sank. Then a couple minutes later a gal comes out and says she is working on both of yours right now so please wait. HEHA!! But meanwhile were looking at out watches....4:15, 4:27PM, 4:45PM.....oh my goodness. 15 minutes to get out of downtown and get to Fed-Ex. Another miracle needed! So 4:47PM the lady asks us to come get our docs. The other gal gets her and runs. She said I will hold them down for you if I get there first. So cool! Anyhow the gal asks for my receipts which I had two, one for our homestudy and the other for the families Marriage Certificates. She hands me one envelope and she says the other document is in there with yours. I tell her thank you. Jump in the truck and floor it. At the stop light I open the envelope and holy crap I got my homestudies apostilled but that other families marriage certificate is not in there like she said. So I am sitting there looking at the clock knowing if I turn around I will not make it there by 5pm so I either go straight to Fede Ex and get my doc out and basically I hate to say it but screw the other family or do what I know is right. So I turned my beast of a truck around and gunned it back to the state office. Ran in and told the lady I did not get the doc. She sat there arguing with me it was in there. I showed her then she went back over to the files and said "Oops here it is". YOUZA!! So I jump back in the truck screaming through downtown praying I don't drive on the wrong side of the street which I have done multiple times because I am gifted in that area or get a ticket. Already got a parking ticket in this mess for parking on the wrong side of the road. But I just copied the other car that was doing it to. I feel like Adam and Eve blaming each other in the garden! LOL!
OK pull up to Fed Ex run in to find that other gal in there she showed me all the docs to fill out being I arrived at 5:02PM and the driver was due anytime. Then she was off and headed home on a 4 hour drive. Goodness! So I counted my blessing I only lived 20 minutes away. So I get it all filled out. I am frantic to make sure everything is filled out just as Tonya Boggs showed me as in hopes that is does not get held up in customs. The fed ex gal did some chicken scratch on the envelope crossing out some things I wrote. I asked if I could re-do it because I want it to be perfect and then explained the situation and all at stake. She was awesome and understood. Meanwhile we are both moving as fast as we can before the driver arrives. Then she gives me a price which was $45.00 more then what I was told. Oh my goodness. I explained I what I was quoted. The manager came over and said these are set prices by Fedex. In my case even though it fits in the envelope it automatically says it needs to go into a box although a box would be caverness. I kicked my heels like a little kid knowing there was nothing I can do and I just need it to get there. So I asked her then can I at least have the big old caverness box so that I can feel like I am paying for it and then the docs I suppose are more protected? She said hang on. Made some adjustments and then said I got ya the price you were quoted. Your good to go. ANOTHER MIRACLE! That is $45.00 we can now use towards his adoption expenses.
So I am sitting on cloud 9 counting all the absolute miracle all throughout the last 2 weeks of getting a dossier together that generally takes months! Nothing short of amazing seeing God at work.
So that night I come home and receive a doc from NHFC about Sergiy and his personal information basically stating we are hosting him and will return him and I see the birthdate. Oh my goodness. I came to Joe and said you are never going to believe this. I told him remember how I could not tell if the number for his birth month was one of two numbers. He said yes why. Because he would time out before we could get him if we did not get his homestudy in now, not in Feb. Now we truly see the miracle. TOTALLY AMAZING! I love seeing God at work in our lives, others and in NHFC.
So I hadn't even stopped and though about when we could actually be in Ukraine in the mess of everything. Then my girlfriend called and offered up a luggage for me to have for him and asked about dates. So I sat down and holy smokes. Are you ready...here's the kicker. IN A PERFECT WORLD which we all know is not the case but we could actually have an SDA approval date for him tomorrow the day he arrives for hosting, Dec. 13th. Then should the Lord make it 100 percent clear we are to return for him and he wants us as his family you generally count 4 weeks after your approval date. We could possible be flying literally on the day he goes back to Ukraine or we will be chasing him. OH MY GOODNESS!!! Holy Smokes! Now again this is a perfect world scenerio. Can this happen, well God has shown miracles and this is all in his hands and control. Just where I want it. This is so much bigger then I. I am been feeling very small and humbled over the last couple months and it is incredible. Because I can have no control. We are having to rely on him for the NHFC program, the orphan ministry, this adoption and now coming up with 26K in 4 weeks. LOL! I am cracking up at all this because I CAN'T PUT GOD IN A BOX, just like he told me on the last interview trip when meeting Viktor and Tetiana and the church.
Alrighty so tomorrow is the BIG day. He arrives! We are getting more excited by the moment! We just made his welcome sign. Kolya did an awesome job on it. We have Sergiy's photo on the fridge and Kolya will walk up to it and say "What's up Sergiy, how ya doing"! LOL! Kolya and I have been having a blast making custom skateboards to raise funds for Sergiy's adoption and doing ministry outreach locally at the skatepark. I am so proud of his dedication in trying to help us get Sergiy here and reaching out to others. He is an amazing artist. We have figured out our gifts and how to make it so we work together. Kolya does all the artwork and I paint. It has jived very well. Dad helps with some of the designs and is the board, wheels and truck guy. LOL! If you want to check it out and see what all we have been up to and the boards we are making and are in need of some Christmas ideaers for your kiddos. Know 100 percent of everything raised is going to Sergiys adoption. www.fallenbutsaved.com
Thank you everyone for your support and prayers!!!!!!
