Jim and I have always had the desire to be parents and when all efforts failed at having children of our own, we prayed and felt led by God to pursue adoption. We had no idea where we would adopt, but God did. In our pursuit of other avenues, He closed many doors. After much prayer, we felt that God was leading us to Russia for the children that He had chosen for us.
We were referred to Dove Adoptions by another couple that was in process at the time. After speaking with Dr. Kennedy and Naomi, we decided that this agency was best for us. We began our paperwork in July of 2004. As you know, the cost of adoption in Russia is not inexpensive. We were only able to receive a loan for $10,000. We did not know where we would get the rest, but God did. At this point in the adoption, we truly turned the whole adoption over to God for we knew that we could not do it on our own. From that point forward God was shown to us in miraculous ways. We had several fund raisers (barbecue dinner, family and friend dinner, six pampered chef parties, donation garage sale, and golf tournament) and the funds raised at these events were astonishing. We had friends that we had not seen in years send checks for thousands of dollars. There was definitely no doubt what God wanted for us. Toward the end of the money raising process, we realized that we would still be short and that is when we turned to A Child Waits Foundation. With your help, we now had the total amount needed to adopt both of our children.
We were told by Naomi that because we wanted to adopt a sibling group that we would probably have to wait a little longer than normal in order for their staff to locate a brother and sister in the age range that we were looking for. This was in mid August and we were traveling to Russia at the end of October. Again, God knowing the two children He had for us, we were able to go in October. A family that was going to see a brother and sister sibling group withdrew due to unknown issues. Because of this, we were able to go sooner than expected.
Once in Russia, we could not have asked for better service from Dove Adoptions. We were looking at two children in the Krasnodar region of Russia and Igor was our interpreter and guide during this trip. He was absolutely wonderful. When meeting our children for the first time, I cannot even put into words the feelings that my husband and I had for these children. I have never felt this way in my life. They were absolutely beautiful. They bonded with us and us with them and we knew that these were the children for us. Again, God showing his grace, love and perfection in everything that He does. We hated to leave our little ones but knew we would be back soon to put our family in place.
We returned to the States and waited and waited and waited. We did not get to go back to Russia in the normal six to eight weeks. We were caught in the holidays and the restructuring of the adoption process in Russia. It seemed like forever. But the day finally came when Naomi called and we were able to return to Russia and finalize our adoption on April 4, 2005. We were able to bring our family together and it was truly an experience we will never forget.
We love our children and are having the best time. God's timing was perfect and our family finally complete. We are so blessed to have seen God work in such a way that we feel that we need to share it with whomever will listen. There can be no doubt of our God when you have a story of this magnitude.
We thank you for your help and the opportunity to share our story.
Sincerely,
Jim and Myra Lynch