Great Day!

Today was a really great day! When we found N this morning she was wearing her new Mississippi State hoodie from mama and the necklace we gave her with the daughter inscription. I can’t complain about the hoodie since all the Bama gear we brought is short sleeve, but I have noticed her wearing a houndstooth scarf, so I will be counting on equal time when we get her stateside! Anyway, we got a wireless modem on Saturday, and today was our first day to take it to the orphanage. Boy did that make a big difference. We could “talk” with N and her friends using Google Translate without a lot of difficulty. We found out that N and her best friend were making plans to go to the city center to feed the pigeons. We asked if they would like to meet us at McDonalds for Ice Cream. They wrote a note to the Director and asked permission. She said yes, and we made a date. We hung out in N’s room with several of her friends for a long time just laughing and talking on the computer. It was hilarious hanging out with a bunch of silly girls. I think we are getting a taste of what life will be like. We left at lunch time and came back to the city center for lunch and a little rest. While we were at the apartment, we set up a little surprise. The girls have really been wanting to talk to the Drake boys, so we Skyped with Barbara and set up a call. Then, we rode the bus back to the orphanage at 4 and met them and all rode back to the city center to McDonalds. We grabbed some food and called the Drakes. Watching that video call was a hoot! The kids had a great time. We laughed at N trying to hide outside the camera range eating her hamburger (especially when a pickle fell out of her mouth). Teenage girls are more the same than different no matter where they are from. I think it really began to sink in to us tonight about how different our lives are about to become. Most of our lives have been spent ministering to teenagers, but we are now about to have one! Oh my!!!!!! Let the fun begin!!!! N really seems to be a sweet girl. I know there will be challenges. Everyone is on his/her best behavior right now, and we have yet to start parenting. Pray for us that we bond well during this time and that we use this time wisely. We want to make the most of our time with her.

We still have no word on court. Not that we expect to before next week. Please keep praying. While the Judge holds the power to set the date, God holds ruling authorities in His hand. We assume that everything with our papers is moving along. We expect that our paperwork should be back from the SDA later this week so that we could have court next week.

Blessings,

Rick