Not wanting to write this

I've been dreading writing this post. I just don't want to deal with the topic right now...but I know that you will want to be praying with us about it.

Got a call today from the lawyer and after I say "hello" he says, "Michael, I've got bad news." I braced myself for any number of possibilities following that statement. Bogdan proceeded to explain to me how he'd called the ministry today to speak with Ms. Kowalczyk and found out that she is sick...out of work for the entire week. That was only the beginning.

It turns out that there is someone else taking her place...seemingly like a substitute or something. He asked her if she knew anything about the opinion we are waiting on and she began to tell him how according to her understanding of our case the ministry's answer should be no...meaning no adoption. He asked who was the ultimate "decision-maker" and she responded that it is the director, who evidently was not available. She told Bogdan that he could try back tomorrow to attempt to reach her. But, according to him, the does not seem to be a certainty.

What does all of this mean? Let me try to lay it out:

• The director has final say. If he is able to catch her tomorrow, she could still say yes...that the substitute just didn't know what's going on. If that happens then the hearing is a go and everything should be great...done this week.
• If the director says "no" then we've got serious issues. Bogdan said today that our only chance will be intervention from the media.
• If Bogdan cannot reach the director at all this week he will have to wait until next week to contact Ms. Kowalczyk to figure out what in the world has happened...why her positive attitude has somehow turned into what we saw today. At that point, though, the judge will already be gone on vacation. That means nothing will happen until late-July or early-August. This in turn means that we would not be ready to head back to the states until September.

We are actually doing ok. I told my mom today that I'm not sure if it's because we're just numb to all of these things anymore...if it's because of God's strength being manifested in us since we're about as weak as we can be...if we're just in some kind of denial...or whatever. We are just waiting patiently for tomorrow.

Our pray...and we'd ask that you pray in this way as well...is that Bogdan will reach the director tomorrow and that she will give good news. We pray that the lady today just didn't know what she was talking about. The alternative is horrendous and while we've known all along that it exists we cannot imagine it actually coming true.

Thanks for standing with us.