Court?

We are up early & ready to go! It was hard to sleep last night. I ended up praying & checking out Facebook at 4am since we have free Internet. Our translator picks us up at 10:30 & we get a cab. We arrive at the courthouse. The security guard at the desk asks for our passports. He remarks about Obama winning the election a few hours ago. We walk through the metal detector & another guard looks through my bag. We wait upstairs on the fifth floor. Our court translator shows up & briefs us on some of the common questions the judge will ask. She tells us that there is no need for the photos we brought with us. This judge will not want to see them. It is almost 11am & everything is set. Our translator asks the court translator if the social worker has arrived. She calls her. I comment to Corbin that many Russian people seem like they are yelling by the tone they use. We are told that court usually takes about 30 minutes. I look at the time. In 30 minutes from right now, we could be the parents of 5 children! I thank God that He has brought us here. There were so many roadblocks, so many times that I cried out to Him because it seemed like this was never going to happen! But, here we are. 

I'm rapidly shaken out of my day dream. Our translator is upset & is actually yelling. She tells us that there is a problem. I smile but, say nothing. She explains to us that the social worker who observed us on Monday is not present. She is the witness from the Ministry of Education & holds part of the documents we need. Apparently, there was a signature missing from one of the documents therefore, she didn't come. OK. There are no words. OK. What else can you say? We are here. We are ready. We are all dressed up for goodness sakes! It is quite a strange feeling to not have any particular feelings about something so important. Maybe I'm in shock? I just wear this odd smile across my face because I know there is absolutely nothing in the world that I can do. Calmly, I pray- alright Lord, how are you gonna get us through this one? I am fully aware that the judge could tell us that we will need to reschedule & that could be three months from now.

The door opens. They call us in. The judge explains that we can not proceed since the paperwork is not complete & the witness is not present. Since the orphanage is a 5 hour drive from the courthouse, there is no way that this can happen today. He tells us to come back tomorrow morning at 10am. Thank you Lord ;)