Our coordinator - who believes less is more when it comes to sharing details about what happens in Ukraine - cautioned us to keep the details of our court hearing private, just like she has cautioned us to keep many other things private. There are a lot of valid reasons for her recommendation, most importantly that what happens in one courtroom in Ukraine can be extremely different from what happens in another courtroom in Ukraine. And as we've been cautioned many times, it's never a good idea to compare adoptions!
But there are just some things about going to court this week that we just can't be expected to keep to ourselves! In retrospect, we could not have expected our court hearing to be any more successful. We experienced so many blessings in that room, and we could feel the prayers of everyone who has been praying for this day. There were three of us going to court to petition for Anya and Sasha - the two of us and God. A court hearing in a foreign country is stressful. Your life and motivations are put under a microscope, and you have no idea what the prosecutor or witnesses will ask. They might be cooperative and your court hearing could be as short as 20 minutes. The witnesses have the right to ask questions, so alternatively your court hearing could last many hours and include some pretty outrageous questions, depending on the position of the witnesses. Our hearing felt stressful at the time, but the questions were predictable, and the time that it took was very reasonable considering the fact that we were talking about the futures of two young children!
We were very blessed that they allowed the kids to stay outside the courtroom for the hearing except for when they needed to come in and answer questions. This meant that they did not need to be present to hear in detail about how they came to be in the orphanage, or how relatives that they may not even remember have never come forward to take care of them or even visit them. The kids did a great job of answering questions. When the judge asked if anyone had any additional questions for them, Anya said "No" and then realized that it wasn't a question for her. Everyone got a chuckle. After that, the mood lightened as we finished up. We have great stories about how everyone reacted to us once the official proceedings were over, but the best is... as she congratulated us, the prosecutor remarked how much the kids look like us and said it must be "from God."
The bonus of being in town for 4 days for a 2-hour court hearing was seeing and playing with Anya and Sasha for several hours each day. Since the kids are done with school for the summer, we were able to spend 5 or 6 hours with them each day. There is a bond there that can only be from God. Each minute with them is precious and we are starting to understand their personalities more and more. It is going to be a fun, scary, crazy, exciting, and wild adventure once we get them home! We can't wait to blog about their growth and transition, in just a few weeks!
We have been so blessed by all the great people we have met at the orphanage. They are all great examples of people who are spiritually gifted with children. We can't understand them, but their passion for these kids is clear to see by the way the children respond to them. I hope their lives are as blessed by the kids as the kids are blessed by them.
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