This morning is one of my last to wake up to an empty crib next to me... :)I can't wait to see how he looks when he's sleeping, find out which blanket he prefers, watch him wake up with slow blinks and big yawns. Just a matter of days now!
Our family leaves this weekend for our third and final adventure to bring Lukas HOME. All of this long waiting will soon come to an end! Thanks for "anticipating" along with us...
The house is buzzing with excitement: Mikhail thoroughly enjoying all of the "powerful Big Brother" tasks he is assigned for our preparation, Papa diligently preparing the paperwork for our US Embassy trip to get Lukas' passport and visa, and Mama squeezing in few more nursery details so everything is just right.
It all reminds me a lot of Christmas- so much rushing around in anxious anticipation; fun, good plans for someone we love so much, and yet has absolutely no clue all that awaits him. He has NO CLUE how much we love him, want him, and have already incorporated him into our lives!
At the very peak of our anticipation, we ask you to join us in praying for this precious little clueless guy... while we fully understand the safe and loving home he will soon inhabit, Lukas' initial experiences will be foreign and even scary to him. Despite all the change and all the loss of familiarity, please ask our capable Father to speak peacefully to his little heart and help him to find comfort in our arms.
Here are a few specifics:
- Comfort for Lukas- just imagine as an adult going through all the changes he will encounter (new country, new language, new food, new people, new smells, new experiences like plane and train rides), let alone as a little 22 month old little guy.
- Care for Lukas- that we will know how to treat him if he has any illnesses when we pick him up and that we will have wisdom to feed him the right things as his whole diet is about to change and he has some special dietary needs.
- Peacefulness for Big Brother's heart as he not only adjusts to sharing Mama & Papa, but as he also once again faces so many of his own fears. I am unspeakably proud of my little Warrior.
- For our safety in the weather, especially my bouncy little Mikhail navigating on ice, and as we carry Lukas in our arms- the day we pick him up from the orphanage the forecast calls for "snow, sleet, and freezing rain."
- That the language barrier not be a hindrance in communicating our love to Lukas, and that when language is necessary, we would remember the right Russian words!
- That we would be a light for Christ where ever we go, and that we would love well those God has brought into our lives through both boys' adoptions. Our Russian facilitators hold our well being in their hands while we are in their country, and they have been phenomenal. Such special people...
Thank you for prayers, friends. :)
I have been obsessed with Psalm 121 the last few weeks. One of the most powerful mental pictures I keep having is this scene of us carrying Lukas out of the doors of the orphanage, never to return again as an orphan. Then, a short time later, Lukas walking into our home as a Fortner, a beloved, chosen child and forever member of our family. "The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in..."
Psalm 121
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day nor the moon by night.
The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.
LUKAS, HERE WE COME!
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