Russia Bound!

It has been a while since our last blog and a lot has changed in the last few months! God continues to show us how much He is in control and has everything mapped out so perfectly. Ryan and I continue to grow in our love as a couple, which is preparing us for parenthood.

Through prayer and family and friends counsel, we have switched gears and are now working with Russia instead of Lithuania. This was due to realizing with our parameters, the wait time is around 3 years for us in Lithuania and considerably less in Russia. As most of you know, Russia was the original choice for us, so it is interesting and amazing to see how we have been led back to this country.

Over the last year, we have also developed a strong friendship with a couple from our church that have traveled to Russia for 2 of their beautiful children. So we have been blessed with their experience and wisdom which helped us with our total journey. In addition, God has placed so many friends in our life over the last few years that have experiences with their own children that applies to this time in our life. Their transparency and love for us has made an impact on where we are today in our journey. We are amazed by God's grace and love.

In easy terms...the transition to Russia simply means we need to update our Home Study and complete the Dossier for Russia. We are in the process right now and hope to have everything complete by the end of March. After that we will be added to the list in the region we have identified as the best option for our family...it is the Moscow Region. Once we receive a referral for a child, we will travel to Moscow 3 times before bringing our sweet child home to Tennessee.

Ryan and I have also updated our parameters in our Home Study to reflect where God is leading us as parents. This means we will more than likely not bring home a sibling group, but will hopefully go back to Russia for our second child later. This will allow us to focus on their needs and the transition before adding another child to our family.

For now, we are just focused on paperwork and getting everything ready for our Dossier! Please continue to pray for us and for everything to move just as God planned it.

We are so thankful for all of our family and friends that have supported us through prayer, encouragement and financial gifts. We are so blessed and continue to pray for your families as well.

We will send an update once our Dossier is submitted!!

Love,

Teri