As I write this, it is 10:30 a.m. in Irkutsk - Saturday morning. My friends are there, frantically preparing for their court hearing on Monday. I can only imagine what they are going through, what kind of roll-playing Q&A they've got on the agenda, the knots in their stomach.
But this post isn't going to be about my friends. Although my heart, thoughts and prayers are with them in a way bigger than my words can convey...this post is about the Judge.
Judge Stepanova. She is the one who will be hearing their case. She is of Mongolian / Russian decent (or so I've been told). I hear she is a single mother (not sure if that is true). I doubt she knows Jesus, and doubt that anyone has ever shared with her the love of Jesus Christ.
It's sad. So many lives hang in HER balance. HER rule and decision is one that is governed by what? I don't know. THAT is what scares me the most.
I am feeling an overwhelming need to pray for Judge Stepanova's heart and mind. My prayer is that as she goes into court on Monday, that she is awestruck at this family. At the light that comes from this couple, the child they have from Irkutsk, and the one they want to bring home. I pray that she grant this adoption in such an expedient manner, that no one in the room will be able to understand what happened.
I am on my knees in the hopes that she see in this American family a grace, a love, a determination, and a heart that she has not ever seen in a family in her court. That what she sees in this family will BREAK HER HEART for other American families waiting to be granted a hearing in her court room.
My hope is that at the end of this process, she will meet all of us - all of the American families who have been determined to bring our kids home. She will see in us one common thing, and that thing she will see - she won't be able to understand, but it will make her curious. That "thing" is Jesus. The 'thing' is, that we love HIM enough to love and pray for her. As hard as that is, and as much as I've fought that over the years...THAT is what THIS TIME is for.
please join with me...
2 comments:
That has been on of my prayers all along that judge's heart will be opened and will break at the pain she has caused and that her eyes will be opened and she will know on that day she needs to fix all she has done. I have been praying for the judge's for soooo long. Families too. I cannot even imagine the feelings this family has.
Wow, Kathy, what a great post. And yes, when she sees how Jesus shine through all our lives may she have her heart and eyes opened! We pray!
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