Trip 1 – Day 3

I join you tonight with a mix of emotions…joy and celebration for another wonderful day with baby Iliyah - tears and a heavy heart due to news I received from home today. As soon as we got back to the apartment and opened up email, I learned that a friend and co-worker whose labor was supposed to be induced today (after a full term pregnancy) tragically lost her baby. Having lost 2 children myself, I can empathize with her, and I hope her pain eases although I know it will never truly leave her. Unfortunately I don’t know any other news right now but will be praying for this family in the coming days. I invite all of you to do the same. I want to respect her privacy so I won’t post her or her husband’s name, but God knows who they are. Thank you for any prayers you do feel led to lift up for this family.

Given what happened, I feel guilty celebrating our day but I do want to update on Iliyah.

First, we have decided on his name which will be Iliyah Peter. The middle name of Peter came as a total surprise to me when Norm mentioned it tonight because we had never discussed Peter for any part of his name. When Norm explained why he wanted to use it though, it made perfect sense and gave me chills. Over a period of 4 years and 2 different small groups, Norm & I have completed the bible study “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat” by John Ortberg three times. Our 2nd go at this study started when Norm & I began seriously considering adoption back in August/September 07. Our 3rd go at it started in January 08 and finished the Monday before we left for Moscow. It’s a long story as to why our small group did this study twice so close together. However, I find it interesting that we began dedicating ourselves to adopting from Russia around the same time that we started this bible study for the 2nd time, and now our first trip to Moscow is coinciding with the end of our 3rd jaunt at this study. For those who aren’t familiar with this book, it’s about the story of Jesus calling Peter from the boat to walk on water with him amidst stormy, scary seas. (See Matthew 14:22-33). The study itself focuses on how Jesus calls us out of the boat sometimes to do things that are outside of our comfort zone. It also focuses on how we quickly we can sink when our focus isn’t on Jesus – which is what happened to Peter – and how Jesus can pull us to safety when our eyes are back on Him. That’s the short version, there’s actually much more to the bible study.

So tonight, Norm tells me he wants to name our son Iliyah Peter and I just kinda looked at him like “HUH??”. What he said next is what gave me chills, and made me high five him right here in the middle of our little Moscow kitchenette. Basically, he said that Jesus called Peter to walk on water, and he called us to do the same. Look how blessed we have become by focusing on Jesus throughout this entire journey! What better way to represent our trust in Jesus than to use Peter as Iliyah’s middle name. Wow… Okay, so maybe this doesn’t strike a cord with some of you but it definitely did for me and I am so proud of Norm having so much insight into this journey.

Neither of us slept well last night at all. Guess that’s what I get for bragging about how well we slept the first night! Some type of alarm on Norm’s cell phone went off at 2am and neither of us was able to go back to sleep after that. Grrr…

Our day with Iliyah started by taking him to have his passport & visa photos taken. Our little guy did GREAT on his first car ride despite being bundled up with about 20 layers of clothing PLUS a snowsuit. The poor boy couldn’t even really bend at his waist to sit on my lap because of the bulk going on under the snowsuit. For those of you paying close attention to this, you may be wondering why Iliyah was sitting on my lap and not in a car seat. Well, it’s rare that car seats are used here in Russia. Okay, it's actually pretty non-existant! I was terrified driving to the passport place but our driver did great and Iliyah wasn’t phased at all by any part of his outing. He cooperated beautifully with the photographer guy and it really didn’t take long at all. Fortunately for Iliyah's future ego, he didn't have any of the notorious green chapstick or multi-colored ointment cream on him for his first photo shoot. One mom wrote awhile back that it looked like her child had just eaten a green highlighter, and another looked like someone had painted her daughter with neon pink and blue paint all over her body because of the dermatitis she had at the time of her passport photos! Nice! Can you imagine how great a bribery tool that would be when the children become teenagers?!?

When we got back to the orphanage we were allowed to play with Iliyah for nearly 3 hours. He continues to charm us with his smile, his awesome laugh, and his super sweet disposition. This little fella is totally in love with his Papa which is wonderful. He fell asleep in Norm’s arms again and it was just too precious to describe in words. (Looks like Papa will be assigned to all nap & bedtime duties!!) I want to post pictures of this now but I can’t. Once again, I can give you a sneak preview though!

Traffic was ridiculous on the way back to Moscow. R.I.D.I.C.U.L.O.U.S!!! It took forever to get here and both Norm & I fell asleep in the car. We ended up using the rest of the afternoon for the touristy stuff…walking around Red Square, taking the obligatory photo at St. Basil’s, etc. We also visited the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour where we lit a candle for Iliyah and purchased a small icon of the Prophet Iliyah (Elijah in English). We then went to a souvenir shop and pick up a few things for our new family. Traffic again didn’t cooperate from the shop to the apartment but we finally did make it. Here are a few touristy photos that I can share!

So, that was our 3rd day in Moscow! We have to stay put in the apartment this evening as we wait for a courier to stop by to pick up copies of our passports and visas to register at the police station tomorrow. This was supposed to be taken care of today but apparently the apartment manager showed up after we left this morning and forgot his key at home, so he couldn’t get in to get our copies & payment. Registering at the police station must be done within 3 days of arriving in Moscow so I’m really hoping this is taken care of tomorrow so we don’t get in trouble.
We meet “K” and “A” again at 10:15 tomorrow morning to make our way back to Iliyah. We’ll have some paperwork to do at our agency’s office in the afternoon so I’m not sure what time we’ll be getting back to our home away from home. A post will definitely make it’s way to the blog though! Unless we're tossed away, never to be heard from again, due to the aforementioned police registraton issue....