My Friend Ashley

My friend Ashley is in Russia right now visiting a little boy "Nik" that she and her husband Bart are potentially adopting. It has been so amazing to see God open doors and work in His timing. It was literally only about 2 months ago that she even told me that they were looking into this. That is how fast God has worked. Some of the long story is this: They wanted a boy or girl (they have 2 girls now) who was between one and two. They were getting all of their paperwork done and things were moving along. Ashley was frustrated with some papers not getting mailed to Russia from their agency that was slowing the process some.

However, 3 weeks ago she got an e-mail with a list of kids on the "waiting list" which just means that they had been rejected by another family, from my understanding all for medical reasons. One little boy (Nik) stood out to Ashley, but she didn't think much about it. He only has one kidney. Thinking that Bart wouldn't want to pursue this boy, she didn't say much but sometime soon after she mentioned it to him and he was fine with looking more into it. Ashley did some research of her own and found out that 1 out of 750 babies born, are born with only one kidney. She contacted her agency for more information on this little boy and asked what they would need to do if they might be interested. From there the agency got his medical records for Ashley and Bart to take to a doctor here and have him look them over. So, they did that and the doctor said that from what he could tell this little boy looked like a growing, healthy child! The one kidney thing was not a big deal to him as far as medical concerns. The doctor told them that he may live his whole life and not have any issues from it, or it may come up down the road, there is no way to know. He looked at them and said, "It wouldn't be a reason not to adopt him." He looked at their two girls and said, "I think he'd make a great little brother!" So, Ashely was excited and called their agency about what to do next. They said they'd start the paperwork of them pursuing Nik. Sure enough, last week her agency called and asked if they could leave for Russia in 10 days. There was a lot to do in those 10 days, but if it was supposed to work out, God could do it. Ashley said that she got nervous and started questioning things. One of the BIG things that had to be done was their visas for Russia. That next Monday was veterans day, so when they mailed their things to Washington DC they weren't even sure if they would get things back in time. So, Ashley just thought, "Ok, if we don't get them then maybe that is a sign." They had their visas Tuesday morning! One of the neat confirmation stories!

So, they are in Russia for the week. I got an e-mail from her this morning with pictures of her holding him and Bart holding him. The one where Ashley is holding him, Nik is smiling and it is just precious. I looked at it and tears rolled down my face! This is a lucky little boy! Bart and Ashley love the Lord and are just doing exactly what God called them to do! I am amazed to see the love that Ashley has for this little boy already. I'm sure Bart is the same way, but I haven't seen him or talked to him about it. It is neat for me to think that in God's big plan, He "saved" Nik for Bart and Ashley!

God is good! When you read this, please pray for them and for Nik. They will get to see him everyday this week for a little while, but will have to leave him there on Sat. when they come home. It is supposed to take 2-4 months for the offical paperwork to go through and all, so it will be that long before they can go back to bring him home. Even before they left, a lot of conversations happened about how hard it would be to leave him. I know that it will be difficult for Ashley and Bart to leave what they believe to be their little boy there, but God will, just as he has through this entire process, give them a peace!