Passports, Puppies, and Promises

What do passports and puppies have in common? (Sound like the beginning of a bad joke, I know.)

They both turn a regular day, into a wonderful day!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying! Two days ago, we were told it 'could' take another month for us to get Rachel's passport, and to check back on Saturday to see how long for sure. This morning, our facilitator stopped by the office to see what the word was, and came back with wonderful news – "Come back at 11:00, and I'll have your passport ready"(!)
Of course, 11 turned into 12:30 before we were finished, but who cares, we have Rachel's first passport, praise the Lord! Now, we just need to get Rachel's new ID# (prayerfully on Monday) so that we can then apply on Tuesday, for her travel passport. One. Step. At. A. Time. Ugh.

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Puppies! Our wonderful hostess, Tanya, brings food to and checks on an elderly man every week. This week, she got him a companion; look at this cutie pie!

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And finally; promises. God has taught me an important lesson today. Earlier in the week, we had someone promise to pay for my and Rachel's plane tickets home - they would have the money to me by Friday. I was overjoyed! I couldn't believe it! But when this person called on Friday, it wasn't to make good, but to apologize profusely that they wouldn't be able to help with the tickets after all, due to unforeseen personal expenses. Of course, I understood. This call was on the heels of being told that Rachel's passport could take days or even weeks longer to get than we had anticipated. I would be a liar if I said I wasn't at the end of myself and emotionally exhausted after these two conversations. But here is what I learned. Promises, are just that. Promises, and nothing more. Even when we give our most sincere word and our intentions are at their best, our words mean nothing, because we are not the ones who are in control. When promises leave the lips of a man, they are meaningless. The only promises that I should be holding on to are God's! His word is the only word that we can always, 100% of the time count on coming to pass. What God says will happen, will happen, and no man can turn him to the left or to the right of what He has already set in place. Thank you so much, Lord, that you are my foundation now, and forevermore.

As God promises in his word in Proverbs 16, verse 9: A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. Amen.  

A New Name

Now that the adoption is finalized, I'd like to share something with you.

Some of you have probably figured out by now that 'Rachel' is not the name that Rachel was born with. I've been purposefully hiding Rachel's birth-name because, up until this point, she has not legally been our daughter. She has been Ukraine's daughter, and I've wanted to respect that, and keep in their good graces so as to not unnecessarily endanger the adoption process.

So what was Rachel's birth-name? It was Valeria. Valeria has Italian roots. It means health or strength. When we first me Valeria through an orphan hosting program, she went by Lera; the shortened version. She was quick to tell us with a scrunched up face that she did not like the name Valeria. “Okay, I'll give her that,” I thought. “The Russian pronunciation of it does kinda of sound like a disease.” (think: Malaria)

Two days before Lera was to return home, at the end of her three week stay, she approached me sheepishly, and asked if we would adopt her. We (and our children) had fallen in love with her after the first week, so “Of course!” was not a hard thing to say! The next day, she approached me again, and through our on-line translator, said, “Mom? If you adopt me; I want a new name.”
“You do? But Lera is such a beautiful name. All of our friends think so too!”
Resolutely, she looked at me, said, “No.” And typed, “New life. New name. You pick.”

Who was I to argue? “Okay, I'll think about a name for you.”

A few months later, as I was considering this, the name Rachel popped into my head. I had no idea what it meant, so I hit the internet for a search. The original Latin root was 'Traveler'. I thought, how cool is that? I'd say it fits. And it's Biblical!

When I asked Lera if she had ever heard of the name, she said, no; immediately followed by, “What does it mean?” She was happy with 'traveler'.

Fast forward a year: Right before we were to travel, I was visiting a friend, who's sister is also named Rachel. “Did you know, Rachel means innocent?”
I didn't! I had only looked at the Latin meaning; I hadn't looked at the others. Huh. Innocent.

Three days ago I sat at a school table with Rachel. I pulled up my trusty translator.

“You know, Valeria means, healthy, or strong.” I typed.
She nodded yes.

“I believe God gave you this name because he knew that you would have some hard times in your life. He knew you would need to be strong to get through them.”
Another nod.
“But now, Lera is your second name. You still need strength, but not as much. I know that I told you Rachel means 'Traveler', but do you know what else it means? It means innocent.”
She looked at my translator app with a cocked head and shrugged her shoulders. “Ne ponimayu.”
So I expounded - “Innocent means, spotless, or pure. That's who you are now. God has given you a new name; you are spotless and pure. You are innocent.”
Her facial expression slowly softened from a quizzical look, to one of timid belief, and she just looked at me for a while.
I typed in one last entry: “It's true.”

*Rachel, looking at her new Birth Certificate

I don't know what the first 16 years of my daughter's life have been like. I don't know what she's had to endure. Maybe I'll know someday, maybe I won't.
But I know that my God renews lives.

I'm reminded of Revelation 2:17 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him (or her) who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.

This is my Rachel Lera, my Innocent Strength – and today is her second Birthday.