Court 3/4/08

We met up at breakfast this morning with the Goeppener’s. It is amazing to watch how well they are doing. The breakfast bar has some type of gruel every morning- different flavor each day. I watch Chris feeding their little guy and picture us in less than 2 weeks. How exciting!!

After breakfast, Chris, Penny, Bethany, Dave, the 2 Goeppner boys and Tim and I gathered together and prayed. They prayed for us- for court and for our wait. It is soo great to be able to share this experience with others who share the same faith. To be able to glorify God together and make your requests known. Nothing quite like it.

Both families, Dini’s and Swingle’s left for court this am at 9:30am. The Dini’s were taken in first. Tim and I sat in the hall, chatting, discussing paperwork, looking up phrases in Russian, praying for the Dini’s, etc. At about 11:30 everyone came out of the court room. Then, after about 2 minutes, they were called back in. Just like that, the Dini’s become parents. It was a short labor……. Hehe.

They left and were brought back to the hotel, so they didn’t have to leave Thomas any longer than necessary. Marina, our interpreter, and I had been discussing a few things- me trying to use my Mylenke ruskey- (little Russian) –the small amount of words I have been able to pick up. The prosecutor was sitting there- trying to look like he wasn’t smiling at my attempts to speak Russian. I keep hearing Sadie in my head- Oh Debbie, you are so funny…..

Court went well. It reminded me of our home study. I was very nervous before the home study, but when Therese came out- she was just there to make sure our house was safe. It was formal, but our judge was very friendly- everyone was pretty cheerful looking at some point in the process.

Tim went first- Here’s what he had to say;

Questioning began by stating our names “Swingle, Timothy Jay”, “Swingle, Debra Nicole”, DOB, where we live, what our occupations are. Other questions covered most of the areas that Marina and Elena had indicated. After questions about finances, how our lives will change, how our visits went, the judge asked when we started the process. I told her Feb. 2006. She wanted to know what took so long. I said the agencies accreditation expired with the Russian Federation. She nodded in agreement. The prosecutor then asked how we would know how to care for the child. Debbie and I indicated we helped care for our younger siblings during childhood and my sisters children come over occasionally. That seemed to satisfy him. He then asked about firearms. Now I must admit, the first thought to come to mind was total denial that I even owned any. Not sure what response was expected, I said “all my firearms are locked in a safe”, which they are. He was, also, happy with that. One more down.

The questioning continued about general issues of which I knew the answers, due to our prepping. The judge asked me to sit. All the time I was concerned the documents about the purchase of our house would not meet the judge’s approval. The only part of the court process that I was really uncertain about, in the end, wasn’t even mentioned. I was so relieved.

Next was Debbie’s turn to stand and address the court.

OK- I’m back- the power of prayer. That’s about all I have to say about that. I felt completely calm. Completely. Even though my heels were a bit too small and I had a hair tickling my nose that I refused to push back, I felt so much peace. I felt as though I was talking to a group of friends. I felt such love and acceptance from these dear people whose job every week is to bring families together.

I can’t help thinking that this story is like the story of the Starfish. You know, the one where a man is walking down the beach and thousands of starfish have washed ashore. He saw one man picking up one starfish at a time and throwing them back into the ocean. With so many around the second man, the first asked why he was doing this- it was useless- he would never make a difference. The young man simply picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean and said- I just made a difference for that one. He picked up another- I just made a difference for that one. Today, the judge made a difference for 2 beautiful little boys. They will go from the same home in Sosnovoborsk to homes thousands of miles apart in the US. But God brought their parents together- so these little boys not only have such a great opportunity for life- but they may even be able to stay in contact with each other. Thank you, God. It made a difference in their life.

Well, back to court. The only thing really questioned was the lack of railing around our wood burner. Did I know that children are very inquisitive at this age- and he could be hurt? She showed us the picture from our dossier.

(Side note- I think I understand now why they want their own originals. When documents are prepared here and “stamped” they are actually stitched through with a string, a sticker placed on the back and a seal over the sticker so no pages can be removed- it is really tamperproof- Helps me not be so questioning as to why I have to do so many originals of my documents……)

She asked what I thought of our son. My emotions must have been playing across my face. I spoke of how when I pulled him into my lap the first time it seemed as though I realized my whole life everything had been slightly tilted. But it all fell into place with the weight of that little guy in my arms. She wanted to know about my job and work. The prosecutor wanted to know about our dog- Do I realize that he has never been around dogs in the orphanage? My answer that I had planned to leave our dog with Tim’s sister for a few days after we got home and introduce them slowly was good to him. They all chuckled that we named our dog Cobaka. I told them it was only Cobaka if she was doing something wrong- usually it’s Baka. They did think that was funny- you see- Cobaka is the Russian word for dog. So to them, we named our dog “Dog.” Even they saw the humor in this.

Galena spoke for a little bit about Sergey- his health, having met and talked with us- there were many people that had been interested in our son from his picture. But when they found out about his family and diagnosis, they were no longer interested. Isn’t it amazing the hedge of protection God placed around our son? Oh, my son, we are going to bring you home sooo soon. We’ll be there tomorrow- hang on!!

When they finished- both Galena, the Baby home director, and the head of the MOE had recommended that we be approved to be parents for Sergey. The prosecutor also agreed that it would be in the best interest of our son to be placed in our care. We all left the room for a few minutes. It was very humbling for me- they said how wonderful and friendly I was- and joked with Tim to ask how he was able to marry a woman like me. Humbling, yet it made me feel so welcomed by these wonderful people. Galena said we could come back for as many children as we wanted- she knew we were going to be great parents. That right there is humbling, folks. Let me tell you. My heart was so uplifted by their good words to us.

We reentered the court room. The judge said it was the final decision of the court that we be granted the adoption. Everyone was so happy with us. They all came over and hugged us and wished us the best. What an awesome day. Thank you to all for your prayers and support. You had to be up pretty late at home to pray for us.

We’re back in the room looking forward to starting our 10 days and moving on to the next chapter of our lives.

SO now what are we doing- The Russian Happy Dance- Tansuyet!!!!! (Does anyone have a stool? I’m afraid I can’t do this without one……. Hehhe)

Short version:

Court went well. We are parents!!