Two Days with Danielle

Today is Sunday and we woke up wanting to praise the Lord. We are in our ten day wait for official papers and can not take Danielle beyond a short walking distance of the hotel property. She is still the responsibility of the Director of the Baby House and it could cause great difficulty if we were asked to show papers and did not have a passport for our daughter. So we had to stay on property and praise the Lord within our family. Then I opened my emails and discovered my brother a missionary in Honduras had prepared a word for us from the Lord about Adoption:

In roman times a natural child and parents could be legally divorced.(Israel/Gent) But an adopted child was permanent and the parents could not separate from them by law.When Paul says we have been adopted…And uses it in this context. These passages will now carry a heavier truth in your lives that will always be with you… amen

Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Eph 1: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Again God has the answer before we ask the question.

The last two days have been wonderful getting to know our daughter. She has been so happy. I have chosen to have Papa to do most of the bonding right now, before we know it he will be back at work full time and will never have this much time to spend bonding with his daughter. She has instantly become a daddy’s girl. She still loves the mama, but she is really enjoying getting to know papa. The weather is perfect, late summer with cool mornings and evenings and warm afternoons. Danielle loves to go outside. She understands when we ask her, in English, if she wants to go for a walk. Vlad Inn has installed a playground, it is very popular for the neighborhood. On Sundays it is full of children and there is a clown. Today the clown picked up Danielle and we got a picture. She was not afraid. I do not think she has had any fears since she has been with us. At the playground she has tackled all the slides but the big tube slide. I think I counted six slides on the playground. She did go down the tube slide once, but got all turned around and came down on her back head first. She did not seem scared but for now she did not want to go in it again. She did create a game, she climbs us the stairs, goes over a bridge and goes to a landing about three feet above the ground, she then leaps into papa’s or my arms. She must really trust us and that feels good, it keeps us on our toes, we do not know if she will leap even if we are not there waiting for her. For now we just want to be there to continue building the trust. I am sure we will have opportunities to make what if discoveries at home where the playgrounds have protective ground cover. She has been eating well, and goes to bed and sleeps through the night and at nap time. What a blessing. When we put her shoes on, she loves to hear the shoe stomp on the floor or sidewalk, she sounds like such a big person when she walks. We have been enjoying every moment of this special bonding time.

I think there are seven adoptive families here at this time, three have babies, close to one year old, four of us have toddlers to 5 year olds. The older group has been getting together after dinner in the White Rabbit room to let the little ones play with play dough or coloring books. It has been a great release and social time for the kids and the chairs in the White Rabbit are much more comfortable than sitting on the edge of a bed. Last night some of us ordered dinner in the White Rabbit, tonight we just met after dinner. The families with babies are welcome too, the social interaction with other adoptive parents helps with the ten day wait.

There has been a change at the Vlad Inn. On our first visit, they took dollars and did the exchange for us. The new policy is to accept rubles or credit cards only.

We do miss our son and can not wait to reunite our family soon. Little David, we love you.

Thank you all for your prayers,