Blessed be the Name of the Lord...

(sent on January 13th) hi friends- thanks so much for all of your prayers as we get ready to travel to Russia to continue our journey to adoption!  We have definitely had an incredible peace as we prepare to head 1/2 way around the world- 3 different planes and a car ride away waits the newest addition to our family.  God's faithfulness has reminded us over and over that He loves us and is committed to drawing us closer to Him... Late this morning, we received a phone call from the Director of our adoption agency-  she immediately informed me (Jenny) that while she was not calling to cancel our trip, she did have some pretty intense news for us.  First, she told us that Rustam had recently been switched from the Baby Home (in Biro) to the Children's Home-  (the Baby Home is for children 0-4 years and the Children's Home is for kids over the age of 4).  More importantly, she told me that somehow, in the process of the move, the Baby Home discovered that Rustam (despite his paperwork, which indicates otherwise) has an older brother (he will be 5 this spring).   It is likely that while the boys have the same mother, they may have different fathers, but we don't have any information regarding the older brother.  The boys have lived in different baby homes since they were placed over a year and 1/2 ago. Understandably, the orphanage feels strongly that they would like the boys to be adopted together, and do not want them separated. Obviously, this came as quite a surprise.  Amby and I were both surprised, confused, and a little frustrated that we are finding this out at the last minute (our flight leaves tomorrow morning at 11).  At the same time, we completely understand that the boys need to stay together, and our heart breaks that they haven't actually seen one another in 18 months...remarkably, when we visit them next week, we will be able to play with them together!  (how great is that?) And now to the big news: We have to decide if we are going to start over (again) or if we are going to adopt both boys.  Crazy, right? Friends, we are moving forward in faith.  We will travel to Russia tomorrow (arrive in Biro late Monday morning).  We will meet Rustam and his brother on Monday afternoon.  Then, depending on what we decide, we will meet other children who are available to be adopted. Amby and I are trusting the Lord to lead us.  This all seems much, much bigger than we are.  We are incredibly thankful that we can trust the Lord-  it's amazing to think that (from the beginning of time) He has known that this would be part of our journey.  We are humbled by all we are learning-  we are grateful that He has never left us alone.  He is not finished with us, and all of this is drawing us closer to Him.  We know that His ways are higher than our ways...His thoughts are not ours.  Our hope is in Him.   Thank you-  thank you for praying for us.  Thank you for continuing to pray for Rustam, for Luda, for Erica and Shannon's little boy...and now, we pray that you will add Rustam's brother to your list (we don't actually know his name).  We pray that all of these children will be adopted in to homes where they can learn about God's great love for us! We are incredibly blessed.  We are hopeful-   And although we have no idea what the next week holds for us, we praise the Lord.  And we trust in Him. Missy will be sending y'all updates while we are in Russia-  we don't know how often we'll get to communicate, but we'll keep you posted.  Cold weather, snow, no cell phone service, and limited wi-fi availability...we'll have lots of time to journal and play cards.  :) Blessed be the name of the Lord- Amby and Jenny