We have put some HOURS on the road today. The morning started out at SIX A.M. Did you hear me, six o’clock in the morning!!! We had to be ready for Sergey to pick us up at 7 so we could be at the courthouse in Vasilivik by 8 to see the judge. I made it, just barely! We arrived and guess what we had to do, just guess…..
See her immediately……….NO
Talk with her secretary to see what we needed to do………………NO
Talk with a court clerk to get her instructions……………..NO
We had to wait. What is it about showing up to places in UA and then having to wait. So, we waited. We played games on the phone, Jon played games on the PSP and finally she agreed to see us. We waited 30 minutes to see here for 2.5 nanoseconds. We went in and she proceeded to tell SERGEY what we needed to do, and we had to sign a sheet saying that she gave us a sheet saying that she wanted us to changed some things and that Sergey could translate the sheet saying that we had the papers saying that there were some things that needed changing. See I have finally got the hang of things here, you just go round and round in a never ending circle until you run out of paper. The person with the last sheet wins. O.k. so we got the directions as to the THREE items that needed changing. Have I mentioned that we have been trying to adopt him for three years, completed three different dossiers, and turned in every shred of anything imaginable already. So back to the three items to change. Seems that a phrase in the petition was in third person. Can’t have that, Sergey had to retype the entire thing, run new copies and we all had to sign them. No problem, got that covered lickety split. Second change, (there will be a brief interlude to explain the process so please read this in a newscaster type voice to get the full effect)
When adopting in Ukraine you submit your dossier (a 40 to 50 page combination of documents that approves you to adopt anything, anywhere, anyhow) to the SDA, which is the national adoption center in Ukraine. They give you a referral letter to proceed to the inspector’s office in the region where the child is located. The local inspectors give a referral letter to the orphanage director. The orphanage director allows you to see the child. The inspectors write a referral back to the SDA (we call this the return serve) stating that yes, they agree that you should be able to adopt. The SDA then sends a referral (another return serve) back to us stating that we can in fact have a court date. This letter is taken to the local judge and voila, you get a date. Now most of the time the judge goes ahead and chooses a court date because you have to send and invitation to the SDA to attend the hearing they have not given permission for you to have. But you gotta be nice. It is like sending an invitation for a wedding to a church before you book the place. Now back to our regularly scheduled day.
We had to write a petition stating that we would receive the SDA court approval letter on Thursday. Not a problem for Super Sergey. We just did this right in the car and had that completed as well.
Third change, this was a hum dinger!! Back to the edge of the world we went. We had to go back to the town that Petya was born in to get a list of all his living relatives. Not that the child has been an orphan for NINE years, and there is NO record of ANY visits by any family in his files, none the less back we went. Can I just say that the ladies in this town were super sweet today to us and that took off some of the pressure. While we were on the road for 1.5 hours they did all the research and had the document ready when we arrived. They did not have to do this, and we are so very thankful for their help. This was our bright spot today and we ask God to bless them for their help. This was no small task and they had everything waiting on us when we got there. We picked up the documents and turned around for our next 1.5 hours on the road.
Keep in mind that the judge told us we had until Friday to complete everything and Sergey told her we would finish it today and she told us to come back this afternoon with the new documents. So we arrived back at the courthouse only to find out that the judge had left for the day. Actually she left 30 minutes after seeing us previously this morning. Look, there wasn’t enough Nexium in the world for Jerry today. Normally he is laid back and just goes with the flow. Today, his river was turned in the wrong direction! He was not a happy camper. Sergey, well let’s just say that he was in the same boat with Jerry. So Jon and I just sat in the car quietly until they got to feeling better. So the men-folk decided that we would be there tomorrow BEFORE the courthouse opened which translates to getting up at 5:30 a.m. Is this really a time? Isn’t there a verse in the Bible that prohibits waking up at that time? I am afraid that my vital organs may not wake up with me at that time. I suggested that we just sleep in the chairs outside of her office no longer than we have until morning. The suggestion was not met with positive enthusiasm.
I know, you are thinking “What’s the deal about ring around the roses”… well outside the inspector’s building there are several rose beds. While Sergey is in their office petitioning the petitions to be a petition to be petitioned to petition for a petition to petition a petition to get a petition we just walk around, and around, and around, and around the rose beds. I know every leaf, thorn, petal and dirt clod on a first name basis. At first people just stared, now they just walk past us as if we are a normal everyday sight. Trust me, when three Americans clad in MSU attire, speaking English circle Ukrainian flower beds for several hours people take notice. I know they just want to come and ask us if we like roses or what. But we have done this for so many days that we are losing our audience. They come to expect it from us… you can hear them “The crazy Americans are back, you know the ones, the idiots that just walk in circles for hours around the rose bushes.” I think tomorrow we may walk around the beds BACKWARDS! That should stir things up a bit. Who knows, maybe Jon can try walking on his hands.
So still no court date, but thank goodness we don’t have anything in third person, law me how embarrassing. We do have a letter stating that we expect the SDA to give us a court date so that the judge can invite them to the court date so that they can decline as always, but its good manners. Last we have the lineage of Petya’s family starting at Noah. I am offering one of my kidneys and a lung from Jerry to sweeten the pot! Jon has practiced crying on command just in case we need a few tears. To be honest, I could easily shed some myself. Of course it doesn’t help that I am reading To Live is Christ, a study about the life of Paul (aka Mr. Shipwrecked for three days, beaten and everything else). I can’t even complain without feeling guilty. So please read the above blog with a smile on your face and a song in your heart (may I suggest the song I Have Resolved No Longer To Linger) In the famous words of one of my dear friends, “I am not whining, I am laying down prayer requests!” So there you have it. Where we stand, and if anyone figures it out please email me and let me know.
There is one thing of which I am confident… In this adoption God is to receive all the glory for the wonders He has and will do. No human will ever be able to take credit for our adoption. Every instance of this journey will be to show the greatness of God and His love for His children. So tomorrow, whatever happens and whatever documents we have to do, I pray that God will show Himself mighty to all. Let it be known that while we were walking around the roses, God was moving mightily among the thorns!
We send our love and we are missing you all so very, very much!
