January 2, 2009  The agency sent us the official court document for us to put what Micah’s new official name will be and to petition the court to adopt him.  After a little further discussion about how difficult it would be to be named one name and called by another, we decided to name him Micah James Nichol.  Micah is a variant of Michael and has the same meaning.  Michael, Michelle, and Micah are all variants of each other and have a Hebrew origin meaning “who is like God.”  Now we begin another round of paperwork to obtain and send in to prepare for the next trip which they say will hopefully be at the end of February when we will go back for court.  After the 10 day wait period and everything it takes to bring him home, we hope to be home no later than mid March.

 

January 14, 2009  We have sent in the paperwork needed to complete the dossier minus the mortgage letter as I am waiting on it. Right now it is just waiting and praying.  This morning during my prayer time I saw how God’s sovereignty is at work and how big it really is.  Out of 1.43 million orphans in the world, God led us to Micah.  My prayers right now are very specific.  I am praying for Micah’s health, safety, to be loved, and to be well fed.  I am praying that Russia will accept all the paperwork as it is and not require anything else.  I am praying for the rest of the process to run smoothly.  I am praying we are home with Micah before Haley’s birthday on March 12.  I am praying when we get Micah home that he learns English quickly and that he fits seamlessly into our family.  Many have told us that their first year home was very difficult.  I pray that is not the case.  I am prepared for a difficult month while we adjust to Micah and he adjusts to us, but after that time I pray it is as if Micah has always been with our family.  I claim this from God knowing God always intended for Micah to be a part of our family.  This may seem like a lot to ask, but not for my big sovereign God.  I trust Him with all my heart and know beyond a shadow of a doubt we are doing His will. Praise you Lord for being the God who orchestrates our lives events to the tiniest detail and for being the God who answers prayers.  Just like you say, “seek and you will find, knock and I will answer”  Thank you for answering Jason and myself. Answered prayers: our first year was great, Micah acts like he has always been with us. He has learned English very well and can communicate pretty much everything he needs and wants and understands most of what we say. He is very healthy other than the cerebral palsy which we are working on.  God answered our prayers beyond what we could imagine! Praise Him!

 

January 22, 2009 Still waiting…. Waiting on a letter from our mortgage company they need, then we will have all the papers to send in…then we will have to wait again.  She emailed yesterday and the 1^st set of papers sent still need a few things.  Of course it wasn’t things that the packet said I needed.  I am getting frustrated with the poor communication and preparation from the agency.  The time seems to be moving more slowly now.  I bought a digital photo frame and put it in the kitchen so I can see Micah’s picture everyday.  We pray for him everyday.  We are ready to have him home.

 

February 12 – all the paperwork is turned in and we are still waiting.  We had issues with the mortgage letter and employer letter.  They keep adding things it should say – after the fact-

 

February 19, 2009  Sarah called today and they have given us a court date on March 19.  Then we will travel back the first 2 weeks of April to pick Micah up.  They still want another letter from Dr. Weeden saying that Jase is independent and we had to refile and change our warranty deed to add our address.  The court date is dependent on getting these items in.

 

February 27, 2009  We sent in the letter and the warranty deed along with pictures of Jase playing soccer so the judge could see how active he is.  We pray that the judge will accept this and we will be done with the paperwork.  I definitely pray that nothing comes up at the last minute.  We are having a hard time getting the details we need for these trips, we pray to have a full picture of the process soon.

 

“You are the God who performs miracles; You display your power among the peoples. With Your mighty arm You redeemed your people…” Psalms 77:15-15

I pray Lord for your miracle to bring Micah home – redeem him – use him for your Glory.  My desire is to raise up warriors for You and I pray Micah becomes one of them.  I also pray for the miracle of a smooth transaction once we get him home.  I pray that very quickly it will seem as if he has always been with our family.  I love Your awesome mighty power and I call upon it now.

 

I will most likely finish my posts next time, so keep checking back!

December 15, 2008 We left Bentonville at 1pm and everything was great until just outside McAlister.  Believe it or not weather that was not even in the forecast hit.  We ran into freezing rain and ice all the way home.  We drove in it for about 150 miles going anywhere from 15mph to 30mph.  What should have taken 2.5 hours took 5.  I have never been so nervous and scared  because cars were sliding all around us.  The car in front of us slid off into the ditch.  Behind us a semi slid into a car.  Two trucks in front of us nearly slid into each other.  We had to pull over for awhile for me to collect myself and pray for safety.  Jason was checking the weather on the computer to see if we were going to drive out of it.  He told us to keep going it should get better so we did slowly.  In Dennison a car was crossway on the bridge and had ran into the guardrail, but after that it got a little better.  It was the longest drive ever, but God delivered us safely despite the slick roads and cars sliding all around us we never slid.  We next begin praying for Jason’s flight to make it in safely on Tuesday with all the bad weather.

 

 

December 16 More answered prayers – Jason made it in finally.  He was delayed but made it.  Now he has to repack his suitcase for Russia because we leave tomorrow.  So many people are bathing this trip in prayer.  We are praying for every detail we can think of.  Of course we are praying for a safe trip with no cancelled or heavily delayed flights.  We are praying that we do not get sick while traveling.  We are praying that Michael doesn’t cry when we see him.  We are praying for God’s wisdom and discernment to know if he is the child God has picked out for us.  We are praying that everything goes smoothly through customs etc. So many prayers and one BIG GOD!

 

December 18 – We made it to Russia with no problems or delays more answered prayer.  It was around 15 hours of traveling and we are tired.  Our driver met us and picked us up as planned and took us to the hotel.  The Pushka Inn is a small comfortable hotel.  The staff speaks English which is nice.  We couldn’t wait to take a shower.  It is cold and snowy in Russia.  The driver told us that daylight right now is from 10am through 4pm.  It is a gray cloudy daylight too not sunny.  They only get sun 60 days per year in St. Petersburg.  We are staying in the heart of the city by a canal that runs into the Bay of Finland.  The driver also informed us that Russians don’t really like Americans coming to adopt their children, so if anyone asked why we were there that we should say we were volunteering or tourist.  Not many tourist there that time of year though.  He also asked us why we were adopting and we told him basically because we wanted to help a child. The real reason is because God told us to, but we can’t discuss any religion in Russia.  He also told us that wasn’t a good answer because Russians would be offended by that because they do not need help from Americans.  All this made us very nervous about saying or doing the wrong thing.  I fell asleep quickly from exhaustion, but Jason couldn’t sleep due to being nervous.

 

December 19, 2008 It’s our 16^th anniversary today.  Our anniversary will be spent meeting our new son!  First we had to have a brief meeting with the minister of Education who just gave us the information she had on Michael and verifying that we wanted to meet him.  After that we went to the grocery store to pick up meat, cheese, bread, coffee, tea, and a cake to take to the orphanage.  It is their custom to always take  something to eat and tea with a cake anywhere to visit.  Then we had a 2 hour drive to the orphanage.  It is way out in the middle of nowhere close to a country called Astonia.  The village where it is located is called Convuluge.  By village I mean a few shacks out in the middle of snowfilled  fields.  I don’t know where those people get their groceries etc.  We also had to stop and pick up the director of all the orphanages in the area to go with us.  She will testify in court whether or not she thinks we should have Michael.  According to the interpreter that makes her a very important lady, no pressure there.  Finally we made it there.  It is a very run down building.  We were escorted into a small office.  Jason, myself, our interpreter, the director of this orphanage and the director of all the orphanages and the nurse.  Then the nurse preceeded to read from a file all the information they had on Michael, his mother, relatives and health.  They spoke quickly and didn’t leave any room to ask questions.  Basically the nurse told us that at 2 months old Michael had been admitted to the hospital with inflammation of the stomach, kidney and liver disease because his mother had fed him “poisonous porridge” and he also had double pneumonia.  They feel the “poisonous porridge” also caused his hand and leg not to work and to have palsy.  The officials determined that his mother could not care for him properly and terminated her rights against her will.  At 6 months old, he was released from the hospital to this orphanage.  They also told us he was the youngest one there and that he was their favorite.  They love him and want him to have a family that can help “fix” his hand and leg.  After hearing all the “diseases” they said he had we were nervous, but finally they brought him into the room and other than cp he is very healthy.  He is a big boy too.  It is obvious that he is well fed.  They said his speech is delayed, but he could say about 20 or 30 words in Russian.  The word he said most is “yula” because that is what he calls his favorite care giver whose name is Julia.  He kept calling and looking for “yula.”  He came to us just fine though and never cried.  They call him “Meesha” which is short for Michael in Russian and it means little bear.  He is cuddly like a teddy bear.  We took some snacks and toys and played with him for awhile until they told us to come eat.  Believe it or not this poor orphanage fed us an authentic home cooked Russian meal.  We were nervous because they get offended if you don’t eat their food but it was actually very good.  Then we played with him a little more before it was time to leave.  He appears to be really smart as he understood everything they said to him and did everything they told him.  He gave us hugs and kisses before we left when they told him too.  He seems to be really sweet.  Little bear is good description.

 

December 20, 2008  Today we started early so we could be at the orphanage at 10:30 to see Michael.  He naps from 1-3 so they said it was best to see him before lunch.  We stopped and picked up more meat, cheese, and cake to take.  When we arrived they took us to the small office and brought Michael to us.  This time they left us alone in there with Michael and the interpreter.  We played with toys we brought until I took out my cell phone to take a picture of him on it.  He wanted it and he really liked it.  He would flip it open and push buttons and then he would put it up to his ear and say “Yula” like he was calling her. It was funny.  He looked for her less today and seemed to be more comfortable with us.  We got to spend about two hours with him.  He also loved to run out of the room into the hallway so we would chase him and swoop him up into the air.  He is heavy and that game wore us out quickly.  We are so thankful that he is so well fed though and loved also.  They came and took him for lunch and fed us again.  After lunch they brought him down so we could tell him goodbye because they said he was sleepy.  So we went back to the hotel and took a nap.  We were exhausted. 

 

December 21, 2008 Today is Sunday and they did not recommend visiting him today, so we toured the city with our interpreter Julia.  It is a beautiful city with more history than we could ever remember.  It is also very cold.

 

December 22, 2008  Our last time to see Michael before we leave.  We leave at 8am it is dark and snowing hard.  We make our usual stop at the store.  We buy the food to take and a play phone for Michael since he liked my cell phone so much.  We also buy some diapers for him since he doesn’t want to be potty trained.  Then we start the trip. This time it takes longer because the road conditions are bad with all the snow. We drove for over 2 hours in practically a blizzard.  At one point I looked over at Jason and whispered "I don't know if were are going to be able to make it down the road to the orphanage since it is a dirt country road."  Jason's reply was, "The driver wouldn't be driving us out here if he didn't think he could make it."  So I said a little prayer for the Lord to get us there safely.  When it came time to turn on that little road, I don't know how he even knew where the road was because I couldn't see it. It was under about a foot of snow.  So we began a slow tedious drive on this road with the car sliding every now and then and nobody saying anything. At this point I started praying very hard that we would not get stranded in the middle of nowhere in a blizzard.  Later when Jason and I talked we discovered he was also praying for it to quit snowing and for our vehicle to make it down the road.  I am telling you no sooner had we said our silent prayers did we look up and see not 1 but 2 snowplows coming down the road and it quit snowing!  I am telling you this is an absolute miracle because this was a dirt road with only the orphanage and a few small houses on it that was probably 5 miles long in the middle of nowhere in Russia and there were 2 snowplows on it.  After that, the roads were fine and the trip was without event.  When we arrived at the orphanage, the driver announced that he was going to stay in the car and take a nap after such a strenuous drive. I am glad that he didn't say that earlier because I was comforting myself that they drive in that all the time and must be used to it.

 

Due to the bad roads we did not arrive until 11.  They brought him to us in the director’s office and we played with him for about 45 minutes until they came and took him for lunch.  They fed us again and while we were eating they came and told us that he fell asleep and we had no choice but to leave.  We were very upset that we did not get to tell him bye.  I’m sure it didn’t make a difference to him but it was upsetting for us.  They have no idea how much money, time, and trouble we went to make that visit.  We made the trip back to the hotel, napped, had dinner and got ready to fly out at 6am the next day.

 

December 23, 2008 We woke up at 2:30am because the driver was picking us up at 3:30am since you have to be at the airport 2 hours before your flight.  We made it there and through security twice and customs and was waiting for our flight to begin boarding when we began discussing what we wanted to name Michael.  Jason mentioned he had been trying to think of something close to “Meesha” so it would be easier for him to learn his new name.  So as we sat there thinking Jason said what about Micah.  I said I liked that.  So we said we could name him Michael James Nichol (Michael since that is his Russian name and my dad’s name and James because that was Jason’s grandfather’s name).  We wanted to call him Micah though after the prophet who wrote the book in the Bible.  Micah the prophet championed the cause of the poor which seems to fit since our Micah is coming from a poor orphanage.  So we immediately started referring to him as Micah from then on.

 

Our flights were uneventful other than having to spend 11 hours on a plane across from a bunch of crying, sick kids.  We arrived back into Dallas after about 20 hours of traveling, very thankful to be back on American soil.  Justin picked us up at the airport.  We went to Janet’s, showered and went out for Ed and Justin’s birthday.  Needles to say we crashed that night when we could finally go to bed.

 

I still continue to be amazed at God’s work in this entire process.  We absolutely would not be visiting Micah in an orphanage in the middle of nowhere Russia if he was not the child God chose for us.  Every prayer we have prayed during this process has been answered.

Here is an example from an update we sent from Russia “From the beginning of starting this process we learned how hard it is to get children to attach to you and bond and form a trust with you when they have never had their needs met.  So I started praying that our child was never hungry and that someone was hugging him everyday.  A lofty request for an orphanage in Russia, but God delivered beyond our expectations.  He has always been the youngest in this orphanage which has 31 kids and you can tell he is the baby of them all.  The care givers admit he is their

favorite. It is obvious by his chunkiness (I can barely lift him)  that he has never been hungry.  Not only has he had his needs met - he is spoiled! He even slapped at my hand one time when I was trying to help him and said, ‘I do it.’ He knows about 20 words and 2 of them are "give it".  We have a lot of training in love to do when we bring him home.  God is so Good.  I honestly have been blown away by how He has answered all our requests.  We are certain God has led us to Meesha and have signed the paper to move  forward with the adoption.  The director of the orphanage was so happy she started crying.  She said they love Meesha so much that they want him to have a family that can care for his special needs.”

 

God is definitely growing Jason and I through this process.

 

Slowly but surely I will get the entire story posted, just keep checking back.

 

Have a blessed day,

Michelle

November 4, 2008- an email from Sarah… “Hey Michelle...
I spoke with Judy in Grand Rapids and she said that they would like for you and Jason to put together a list of 8-10 questions...if you have that many.... of things you would like to know about Michael.  She said that in Russia there isn't an official referral but usually they get a sheet of information on a child and then some pictures and that all depends on the orphanage the child comes from.  She said that Irena...our Russian contact...said that she will go and try and get another photo but before she does that she wanted to get the questions from you guys so she can do everything at once.  
And by the way they are very excited about you guys and how it would seem that your family seems perfect for him.  God is just so good isn't he....”

 

We sent the list of questions that day and began waiting and praying again.  At this point I am asking God to move mountains to bring our child home as soon as possible.

 

November 5, 2008 – another email from Sarah, “Okay here we go again :)
I am attaching the St. Petersburg dossier.  There are two sets of document...one before you travel and one that is completed before your second trip.
Some of the things have already been done so hopefully this won't be too painful!
Also I heard from Judy this morning that she forwarded your questions to Irina in Russia and that she thinks it could take a week to get an answer back.  I want you to be aware that at this point they are very serious about you and Jason being the family for Michael and are not looking at other families.
Judy said that she really believes this child will be a wonderful baby and that the cp is very mild.  She said that Irina is very upfront about issues a child may have and that she has never deceived a family into thinking a situation was better than it truly was.
I am very hopeful for you guys and trusting God for his best.” 

We put it in God’s hands to show us our child, we both feel like Michael is most likely the one unless something bad shows up in his medicals.  Remember God, we need you to move the mountains for us.

 

December 5, 2008  We rushed to get the paperwork in and then waited again.  Finally this afternoon Sarah called and said they were ready for us to travel from December 18-23.  We are worried about missing Christmas if any of our flights are delayed.  We will have to wait until Monday to talk to Judy, Bethany’s Russian specialist to finalize plans and get our many questions answered.

 

December 8, 2008  Judy confirmed that we could leave on the 17^th, arrive in Russia on the 18^th, see Michael on the 19^th, 20^th, and 22^nd.  Then we will leave at 6am Russia time on the 23^rd.  We should arrive home at 2:30 on the 23^rd.  Now the work begins to get flights and hotel booked and everything ready to go.  It is scary and exciting but mostly scary right now.

 

December 14, 2008 It has been a crazy week of preparing for the trip.  We’ve had to search tripadvisor to find a good hotel and get it booked.  We had to overnight our passports so we could get our visa’s.  We had to prepare to be gone for 2 weeks by putting a hold on the mail, finding someone to keep Oreo and the fish and get everything ready for Christmas as well.  We have went nonstop from early in the morning till late at night to get ready.  It wouldn’t be so bad if we were not having to prepare for Christmas also.  Jason flies out in the morning to go to Ohio and then he will fly into Dallas on Tuesday for us to leave on Wednesday.  I am leaving tomorrow to drive me and the kids to Dallas.  We wanted to drive up on Tuesday but they are calling for snow and ice so we are leaving tomorrow after lunch.

 

I can't believe my last post was in March. Time goes so fast taking care of the kids. I am going to keep posting till I finish the story. God was so good to us, I want to share.

Have a blessed week,

Michelle

 

October 27, 2008 – Still no referral.  I have begun getting anxious about our child being in an orphanage and possibly being hungry and sick.  I prayed this morning for at least 30 minutes for God to have them show us a new referral if that other one wasn’t the right one, or send information on that referral soon, or give us the name of the child to pray for.  Later I turned on the computer and saw an email Sarah had sent out for a request for a 2 year old boy named Michael who was on the special needs list. He had very mild cp that only affected the right side.  I forwarded it to Jason and we decided to request more information. Sarah said she would try to get more pictures and the medicals. Does God answer prayers fast or what.  I don’t know if Michael is the child for us or not, but I sat in front of that computer looking at his picture crying for about 10 minutes.  Even if he isn’t the one, God showed me he was listening to me. Praise you Lord for being a God who hears.

 

October 29, 2008-  Sarah called and said they did not have any more information on Michael they had requested it from Russia.  She said that they typically would not place a special needs child in the home of a family who already had a special needs child, but since Jase and Michael were so mild and affected the same way the Russian contact was very excited about it and was working on getting us the medicals and better pictures.  She also told me that she had the picture of the child from Moscow but they all felt like he had some serious medical issues and possibly fetal alcohol syndrome and they really felt like he was not the right child for us.  We took that as God’s will and closed the door on it and began waiting to learn more about Michael.

 

Keep checking back, I am posting the entire story slowly.  We celebrate Micah being with us for 1 year on April 11th!

August 25 2008- We were still not sure which country to choose, but decided to go ahead and submit our formal application with all the requested paperwork to get started.  That morning I had it all ready to mail and Sarah from Bethany called me.  She had received notice that Moscow was looking for 3 families who had not logged into a region yet to take 3 boys who were more Asian looking.  She had put our name in and we were to wait and see if we were chosen. If  we would like to do that. We felt like it was the right thing to do because I had said several times, let’s just get our paperwork in and God will show us which country to choose.  I started to pray for our new child daily then.  I prayed for his safety, that he wasn’t hungry, and that someone would hug him at least once every day.

 

September 2008 – We were accepted as one of the 3 families and we began waiting on the referral.  She originally said we should have the referral that week and travel in October and November and have him home by Christmas. We had our interviews, our home study, started the immigration paperwork, and started the online training. We waited patiently the whole month not wanting to mess with God’s timing, but no referral came.

 

October 2008 – Sarah said the home office had the referral but it was a bad picture and they had requested more pictures and medicals from Russia.  They said though, he had turned 2 in July and had dark hair and dark eyes.