My daughter is the joy of my life. She is just turning 4 this week. I am so blessed. She is a very curious, sweet, affectionate, kind hearted, sensitive child. Her laugh melts my heart.  I know children are a gift from the Lord, and in her case, this was a very real thing. At the time my husband and I decided to try and have kids of our own, the Lord was telling us to do something else. We were sent to Russia on a short term mission trip. I reluctantly, but expectantly followed this call in obediance. While there, as I prayed for the Lord to show me just one child I could help while I was there, God very clearly showed me that he had a son there waiting for me. This was a shock, but our God is a big God that does big things. After returning to the US, I was on a mission to get back to russia as soon as possible to get him out of that orphanage and to bring him home to the family God had chosen for him. This meant putting off having children of our own, and waiting on God to create a path back to our son. We knew it would be a few years before having a biological child, as our new son would need a lot of time to adjust. We went through so much for the next 8 months, but found during this time, that when everyone else said it couldn't be done, God was able to make a way when there seemed to be no way. We were finally given an invitation and a court date from the russian government in March of 2001 to adopt our 11 yr old son, in Vladimir, Russia. The day before we were leaving to go get our son, something didn't feel quite right, I felt different, and knew I needed to see a Dr. before going back to russia. We quickly ran to a walk in clinic, as we were in a different city getting ready to catch a plane the next morning. To our complete surprise and amazement we were told I was 6 weeks pregnant!  Our precious daughter was born the following Sept. Our son had a little sister and he was so excited! To this day, they have a very special bond. God's plans for us were not what we expected, but he knows what he is doing! God knows the desires of our heart, and he is so faithful, and blesses us abundantly far beyond anything we could possibly imagine!

Michelle