Please Pray!

Mrs. Beaver:

We had the most marvelous experience today. We were able to speak to our dear friends, Marcos and Jamie, via Skype from Russia.

The two of them are in the same city in which we stayed when we went to court to adopt Daria, Alexander, and Oksana. Seven months following our adoption, Marcos and Jamie are just now ready to go through the legal process to adopt their teenage son. Their process has taken agonizingly longer because Marcos was born in Brazil, and both of them have served on short-term missions trips to foreign countries, all of which has added another layer of complexity. See Lissie's post on Impassioned Purity for a bit more background.

Marcos, Jamie and their son are even staying with the same family we did. We were able to send along our greetings to Luda, who's the best cook in Russia!

Below are a few photos of times when we've been together since the two of us first met Marcos and Jamie in Moscow in January 2010.

They live in central Illinois so we stopped in to see them last summer after meeting Aaron's familyin Cincinnati. Marcos isn't in these pictures because he was in Korea on a missions trip.

This spring Marcos and Jamie drove from Springfield to Anna's wedding. We were so honored to have them! They're presence was especially meaningful to Daria, Alexander and Oksana since the two of them are a connection back to Russia.

Marcos and Jamie are so very special to us. In all of our adoptions, they are the only ones with whom we've ever made a deep friendship, which I suspect will last a lifetime.

It's significant, too, that their son and our three come from the same orphanage. In fact, Daria tells me that she was born in the same town as their son.

Please pray that court, which will begin about midnight on Monday our time (a nine hour difference), will go smoothly for them. Please pray that God will bless them with the favor of the judge, the orphanage director, the inspector (social worker) and the prosecutor. They will be very grateful for you prayers that this precious orphaned teen could gain the parents and home he so desperately needs!