An Interview with Andrew and Kathlena

Remembering 1yr ago today

Andrew at 4 almost 5

Andrew today at 6...learning to write his name
and read in English.

Kathlena we believe at 2yrs old

Kathlena today sitting with her dog "Chase"

in our front yard.

One year ago today we received the news we had longed to hear, "We have a referral for a couple of kids". I don't think I will ever forget that moment of running about our ordinary day and answering that phone call. I was stunned, surprised, excited, terrified, crying inside, cautiously trying to guard my heart the next moment ready to get on a plane, afraid of medical information and no information, but so hopeful that this was really my two babies that I had prayed for years to meet. Staring at 4 little pictures and 3 pieces of paper we mostly didn't understand; thousands of unanswered questions would pass through our minds, but then were quieted by faith and hope that the Lord would give us what we needed when we needed it. It was by that faith that we ultimately accepted those unanswered questions this side of the Atlantic and began believing these are our longed for children, clinging even more to the Lord to trust what we could not see or understand at the time.

Over the next three weeks our hearts were drawn to this far away place called Arkhangelsk, Russia that we would soon lay eyes on and never forget this city because it held our precious Andrew and Kathlena, the place of their birth. Adopting Andrew and Kathlena has tested and challenged us on so many levels. We had no idea how hard and how wonderful this journey would be. You begin this journey with this burning desire that somewhere out in this world are children that are yours. You have no names or faces to look for only groping through the dark, trusting and believing they are out there. As we fought through the system to be given approval to adopt it was in our weakest moments that the Lord strengthened us to become more resolved at all costs through every hardship that He had given us kids to bring home--our hearts ached to know them. As in all fights there are bumps and bruises, moments of "I QUIT!, this is too hard and maybe we were wrong, this is never going to happen!" then after much time before the throne of God we would get back up--stronger, more committed and resolute to find and bring home the children we believed the Lord had given us(John 10:29;Romans 8:37-39; Jude 24-25).

Adoption-the beautiful picture of redemption. Through it all we were washed anew with a vivid picture of our own redemption in Christ. Paying a debt we could not pay, rescuing us out of a life of sin and misery(although we didn't always see it as miserable-as we were dead in our sin), given a new life-hope in Christ our Saviour. Walking(and sometimes running!) through this adoption we recaptured the picture of God's grace through salvation in His son. Earthly adoptions remind us of our own greatest deliverance through Christ alone. One day Andrew and Kathlena will have to sort through their understanding of their earthly adoption and we pray that the answers they seek will always lead them back to their saviour, Jesus Christ who sovereignly delivered them to us in their earthly adoption and we pray earnestly for His ultimate deliverance of them as their Lord and Saviour, and only redeemer for their second adoption for eternity.

Ophthalmology Update...progress!!!

We went for our follow-up appointment today with Dr. Mazow, Andrew's pediatric ophthalmologist (maybe I will finally learn how to spell this word!) who specializes in strabismus and amblyopia. We were so thrilled to find out that Andrew had improved 3 lines, from 20/100 to 20/60. He is almost back to where we thought he was at last summer, although now we have to wonder if he really was 20/50 since two other Dr.s showed him at best 20/70. At any rate it was a great relief to have him going in the right direction. So, we continue to patch all waking hours for another month and pray we can get him to 20/30. This is Dr. Mazow's optimum for him before surgery. The truth is this would truly be a miracle given the likely length of time he has gone untreated as we believe him to have had this since birth. We trust our sovereign Lord and pray His will be done as He created Andrew's eyes and knew all of this would come to pass.
Dr. Mazow will do the surgery even if Andrew does not improve from where he is right now, but we are unsure how long he will wait. I believe as long as Andrew is showing improvement that we will continue to patch month to month. Once progress plateaus I am sure we will begin to talk about surgery options.

Patching all waking hours is difficult. We are seeing some changes in Andrew. As you can imagine he tires more easily, concentration and focusing on tasks has become much more challenging for him. In the evening I can more visibly see his nystagmus in the left eye as he is so tired. It is a sacrifice as his learning has slowed also although he continues to amaze us with his impeccable auditory learning and memory. The Lord has given him such a sweet spirit of perseverance and joyful attitude with all of this. Of course that smile says it all. We know the sacrifice is short term for long term benefits. We trust the Lord to guide us to make the best decisions for all of Andrew not just his eyes.

Dr. Mazow was so excited and so good with Andrew. It was a good day as we all went to this appointment together so, we all got to share the joy of this news first hand. In talking with the Orthoptist she noticed Kathlena's head tilt and we talked to her about Kathlena's nystagmus. We will be taking Kathlena in for evaluation at Andrew's next visit too. We feel so blessed by Dr. Mazow and his staff. All of them have been so good to us and the kids. We praise the Lord for leading us to this Dr. at just the right time.

I continue to research on both nystagmus and strabismus and surgical options. A book that has been very helpful to me is Navigating Nystagmus with Your Doctor. The man who wrote it has lived with nystagmus his whole life and fought to get the treatment he needed. He has done tons of research and even has yahoo groups of people who share this diagnosis. There have been some new surgical procedures in the last decade that may be what Andrew and/or Kathlena will need. I am continually in awe of how the Lord is providing for them in ways I could never have imagined.

Both Andrew and Kathlena continue to grow in stature and knowledge. They are truly incredible kids. I am so privileged to be their mom.

After our appointment we headed over to the Houston Zoo. That Zoo pass is going to get lots of use as we are going monthly for Dr. appointments. Here are some pictures from our day.

My beautiful girls!

Zebras were Andrew's favorite.

This little lizard was too funny. It was playing with Kathlena.

It would jump towards the glass at her and she would giggle.

I wished I had videoed it. It was too cute! The reptiles are not

usually so lively so we were surprised.

Andrew and Kathlena's first time on a carousel. They are

hooked now and can't wait to go back next month to ride

again.

Daddy is coming to pick us up and none too soon

as the littles are ready for a nap. It has been a long,

exciting day. Mommy is ready for a nap too!