Tentative Relief

This morning, I was awakened at 5:30 and asked to come downstairs. As we all gathered, Mom's face was sad and it scared me. She shared with all of us that the Russian government had declared a moratorium on all adoptions with the US. Right then and there, we prayed together, asking Him to lift this freeze quickly for the sake of our precious siblings in Russia. All during the rest of the morning, there were many tears and many prayers offered up to Our Heavenly Father. All of our hearts were aching.

I felt so confused! What was God doing? I knew He was in control and this was completely in His sovereign plan, but I couldn't see how it was fitting in. How could this be good? Immediately, I thought of Romans 8:28. Of course it was good, because it was from God and God works all things for good to those who love Him! I felt an incredible peace. I really clung to this song today, playing it over and over:



I left the house for awhile this afternoon. I found myself driving around town praising Him, when only this morning I had felt incapable of opening my lips in praise. God is so good! Focusing on the cross and what was accomplished there put my circumstances into perspective.

When I walked in the door, I found Mom and several of my siblings waiting for me with hope in their eyes. Mom told me, "Our agency sent us an email and has said there is no moratorium!" I was floored. All of that mourning for naught? Or maybe this information was wrong too? The relief that washed over me was incredible.

Apparently, the Russian Foreign Ministry had declared that there had been a suspension on all US adoptions, but they have no jurisdiction over adoption. The Ministry of Education is the Russian government entity that is responsible for adoptions and has said there is no freeze on adoptions at this time.

So our family is cautiously rejoicing in this news and frantically finishing paperwork on this end. We want to accomplish all that we can on this end as quickly as possible. Hopefully, a moratorium never has been issued or will be issued. And tonight we are praising our Rock whether there is a moratorium or not.

~ Tessa