We don’t have any new pictures to post today, unfortunately. The other children at the orphanage were out playing on the grounds while we were there with Mikaela this morning, so we decided not to risk catching the other kids in a picture with our kids. We’re not sure whether that would actually be against the rules, but our smattering of Russian is nowhere near sufficient to ask such a question, let alone understand the answer, and we would rather be a little too cautious at this point than risk jeopardizing Mikaela’s adoption. We are still so thankful to be here with her, and our hearts long to have her home with us. After what we have gone through since we got here, we are trying harder than ever to stay above reproach in every way, something which is not easy to do. God has graciously been teaching us to lean more and more on Him and to seek His will regarding even the seemingly smallest of details, and doing that has made the path before us considerably clearer.

During our time with Mikaela this morning, Kristie and I both felt that, against all expectations, she was beginning to bond with us. She seemed to be snuggling in even closer with each of us than she had the first three times we visited her, and she appeared to be much more comfortable with us than before. At one point, she even reached for Kristie while Meghan was holding her, and we can only surmise that she knew her mother was close by. God has wonderfully answered all of the prayers that we have prayed on her behalf over the last five months, including our consistent request that He not only prepare our hearts for her, but her heart for us. God be praised!

We’ll try to post something longer later this week, and hopefully some pictures, as well. Thanks for praying!