2 Meetings, 2 Playtimes, and 2 Hugs

Late post, as internet went down just before I published the post Thursday night:

We had two meetings this morning (Thursday), one in the office of the orphanage director and one in the office of the social worker in the kids' hometown. Both this social worker and the social worker for the orphanage (who has accompanied us both days) are extremely supportive of our adopting the children and have been amazingly kind. Praise the Lord, it appears that the obstacles we mentioned are probably going to be resolved. The broken Russian I learned last month has proven to be indispensable, both in Kiev and even more here.

We gave a toy and one of our photo albums to the boy after the meetings. We played a fun-filled game of Slamwich and then I helped him get started with putting together the Lego-like kit before we left for a 3:30 p.m. lunch. Then we came back in the late afternoon and he waved excitedly from the window when he saw us coming. For almost an hour before his bedtime, we talked through the album pictures of our house and our two nearest cousins' families, worked on the plane again, and played more Slamwich at his request. He gave both of us really sweet hugs when it was time to leave! (He also asked if he could keep the game overnight, and as we left I overheard him through the window explaining it to his roommate... I think we may be getting another gamer in the family!)

It was an intense, prayerful, and exciting day as we moved from increased concern about whether this would work out after the first meeting to a relieved optimism after the second meeting. Some future days may be just as full, but they hopefully will not offer such an emotional roller coaster. There are still a lot of details that need to fall into place, but the only thing scheduled for sure tomorrow Friday is a second visit to the girl.