We know that Vlad and Dima’s bio aunt has filed for custody of the boys. While I once thought that was a good thing, I have come to believe it might not be God’s plan for them. Apparently both the director of the orphanage, as well as the local inspector (similar to a social worker) who is in charge of the boys, are concerned about Vlad and Dima going to live with their aunt. That made me feel even more unsettled and conflicted than I was already feeling.
Then I read the email that I’m posting below. The email was written to Matt by one of my children Sunday night:
I am so glad you got to see Vlad and Dima! I really really miss them. I just wanted to let you know that I think that the reason you are in Ukraine right now is to get VLAD and DIMA!! I really really feel that they ARE part of our family and that it IS Gods will for them to be in our family. I want to tell you that about 3 or 4 months ago I had a dream and it was the most vivid real dream I have ever had. I woke up crying from my sleep because I was so happy that Vlad and Dima were home. In the dream I walked down the stairs and into the round room and Vlad and Dima walked through the door with you (also this is before I even knew that you would go to Ukraine trying to get them) and they ran and hugged me and never let me go and Vlad said "I love you brother" over and over as I bawled my eyes out. I feel like if God has ever told me anything in a dream it was this because a few nights earlier I told God I wanted to love something so much that I could cry with Joy over it. I had realized that I had never cried for joy before so I asked God for the ability to love someone so much that I could cry with joy over them. So a few nights later I had that dream and it was like God woke me up and told me "you want to love someone with such compassion that you cry for joy when you hold them, then remember Vlad and Dima...'' I feel very strongly that it is God’s will for Vlad and Dima to live in our house, so I think you should do everything in your power to find and talk to Vlad's aunt before you go to look at other children. I'm not saying these other kids don’t deserve to be adopted because I feel very certain that they do need to be adopted but I strongly feel that our role in this should be to advocate for and help these other kids be adopted. Just remember that we love you and are praying for you and that God is fighting for these boys to come home.
OK, so go ahead and rip my heart out of my chest. I did NOT know about this story that was shared via email with my husband. A copy of it was sent to my inbox where my jaw hit the floor as I read it.
Then, a few minutes after reading this email, my friend Stephanee called to encourage me to have Matt visit with the aunt in person before he makes any other decisions. OK, I get the message, God, I’ll try to relay that message to Matt.
I emailed Matt my opinion about things, and I also texted him several times (with the 8 hour time difference, it’s a little challenging to communicate), but I never heard back from him. I figured he was in church and he would call me when it was over. But I didn’t hear from him at that time either, so I tried to call him. But his phone wouldn’t ring and the call wouldn’t go through. So I texted Tara to ask where he was and she said he was fixing to board the train with Mattie to head to Mariupol. UGH! I was hoping he’d be able to head to the Sumy region to hunt down the aunt before he went anywhere else.
I finally got a hold of Matt, but they were already traveling on the train, heading to Mariupol. Go figure, his cell phone worked while traveling on a train, yet not when standing still! Ugh! I read the email aloud that one of my children sent to Matt so he could know what it said since he didn’t have internet access. Then our phone call got cut off.
Then about 15 hours later, my phone rang (at 12:30PM CST), and it was Matt! His phone was working again and they were fixing to get off the train. We wished each other a happy anniversary, then quickly discussed the situation.
I had received an email message shortly before I talked to Matt that I felt was significant, so I read it to him:
I just started following your blog. I have a pretty good idea what you are feeling. We had serious issues with birth family...but it all worked out. Not knowing God's will for sure is the worst part of it. Is it a test or is it God telling you to change directions? Ugh! I will tell you that I think our hurdles were all about ultimately ending up with not only our two adopted daughters but also an extended family including biomom. In less than a year's time, our daughter's half sister has come to know Jesus and we were blessed with the opportunity to save the life of biomom and her unborn child. I could go on but I am travelling and typing on my phone. No one can decipher God's will for you but you but I would do everything I could to find the aunt and talk to her. Our girls Grandma (who worked at their orphanage) and biomom (who saw them weekly) were terrified and ready to stop the adoption at all cost. Once they understood who we were and that we weren't going to hurt the girls things quickly changed. We now call Ukraine weekly and love them all! Anyway, I didn't mean to ramble on but felt the need to share.
By the way, we met the Airharts in Kiev along with the first Tara. They are wonderful and they know our story.
Matt only had a few minutes to visit before he had to get off the train, but he decided he would most likely go meet the 2 boys in Mariupol he received the referral for since he and the translator are now in Mariupol, but then he wants to find a way to get to the Sumy region to try to find the aunt. Right now, we don’t have any information on the aunt, but we are going to pray that if God wants Matt to find the aunt, He will guide Matt to her.
There is apparently going to be a trial to decide if the aunt gets custody. We don’t know the date of her trial, but it could be this week. (Someone at the SDA office apparently mentioned her trial is this week.) Would you please join me in praying that if God wants Matt to visit with the bio aunt, that He would move mountains to make this happen?!?! And if God does NOT want the boys to stay with their aunt, that He would reveal His will to the aunt and change her heart to embrace His will? Pray that the aunt would have her eyes opened to the truth about our family. We love Vlad and Dima and want God’s best for them. If it is God’s will for the boys to stay with their aunt, we want to embrace that and support them. If it His will for the boys to become Pattersons, we would like to keep the aunt updated and stay in communication with her. Ultimately, we just want God’s will to be done, but we feel we must do everything we can to meet with the aunt before her court date so we know we did everything we humanly could to try to adopt Vlad and Dima. If the aunt doesn’t change her mind before court, and the judge rules in favor of the aunt having custody, that will be a permanent decision. If the aunt is stable, competent, kind, caring and able to properly care for the boys, we need to support her in that, but if that is not God’s plan, well, we just pray He will move mountains to make His will be done. His will be done. Period.
Please join us in prayer. Thank you!!!
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