Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign.....

Remember that song from the Five Man Electric Band?

The chorus is :
Sign, Sign, Everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign....

And the last verse:
And the sign said, Everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray
But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all,
I didn't have a penny to pay, so I got me a pen and paper and I made up my own lil sign
I said thank you Lord, for thinking about me, I've alive and doing fine..


I had a very interesting experience in Orlando this weekend and then again teaching Sunday school on Sunday, and it was quite apparent that the big man upstairs is trying to tell me something. :) I wanted to share it on my blog because I know that Baby Kaz will like this story one day and I know that my friends out there will appreciate it too.

The last day of school was Thursday, 5/29 and it ended at 12:30. I picked up my rising 5th grader and we drove to Orlando. A group of several mom's and kids headed to the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando where we had killer Florida resident rates and purchased Univeral Studios season passes. Yes, I was a trader to Disney, but we had a really good time. The hotel was amazing-with a huge 12,000 square foot pool with a huge water slide. It was within walking distance of "Citywalk" which is tons of shops and restaurans as well as entrance to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. There was probably a group of about 10 moms and kids from Sean's school, but really we mainly "hung out" with 2 other mom's and their children. On Friday, after lunch, everyone wanted to head to the pool and hang out. Another boy and I who love rollercoaters chose to stay at the park and meet the group later. So, Sharon and I did the coasters while Sean went back with the other mom's and his buddies.
We got back about 5:45. The reason I tell this is because it's all about timing in this cool set of circumstances. Anyway, keep in mind there are MANY resorts in Orlando (and I am a DISNEY REGULAR ANYWAY!!)and 3 huge hotels that are Univseral resorts, and the pool area at Hard Rock is HUGE!! I found our group, and was talking to them. Earlier, at lunch, a couple mom's were asking me what Kazakhstani babies look like. I was trying to find Sean in the pool and I look up and this cute lil baby girl and her mom are in the water. I look at my freinds and point out the lil girl and explain that SHE is what a Kazakhstani baby looks like. I went over and started talking to her her mom and she asked if I had a child in the pool. I explained that my son was 10, and she commented that it must be nice to have a 10 year old that you don't have to watch every second. I agreed, but said that we were hoping to adopt a baby girl about her daughter's age so I noticed the baby right away. She said "Oh, well, Avery is adopted and just came home about a month ago!" I said, "Where did you adopt her from?" And, YOU GUESSED IT! The reason I totally KNEW BEFORE I even asked, she was a KAZAKHSTANI BABY GIRL!!! Isn't that crazy? They were such a nice couple. She introduced me to her husband and her son, who was about 4, and also adopted from Kaz about 3 years ago. He was from Taldy-Korgan (his name is Connor) and Avery was adopted from Astana. They got over there right before it closed.

Of course, all the mom's FREAKED out and said that was a "Sign" and that I was going to get 'THE CALL' in a couple weeks. I DO think it was a sign that we are on the right path, but not that we're going to get a call this week. I don't think we're going this summer, and I am totally at peace with that. We have a wonderful summer planned and I am enjoying Sean while it's just "us" while I can. I was kinda bummed because I didn't get the parents name or anything. I just knew they were from West Palm Beach. Well,keep singing that "sign" song cuz things just get freakier.

The next morning, I went downstairs to get us a starbucks coffee before we went down to breakfast. I was in line to pay, and guess who gets in line behind me. Yupperdoodles--my Kazakhstani friend Avery and her dad. I said Hello and he asked if I had a piece of paper and gave me their blog address. Now, for me to run into them AGAIN, in this HUGE hotel, at the SAME TIME, when we weren't even going to go in this lil shop before breakast, is just way more than "just a coincidence".

Then, in case I wasn't sure about what these signs meant, on Sunday, at Sunday school, where I teach K-3 EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY, our lesson was on the Holy Spirit.
The holy spirit is God working inside our heart. :)
We did this experiment with a bottle of water, and you add sugar and yeast. It makes carbon dioxide and you put a balloon over the bottle and it blows up the balloon. You can't always "see" the holy spirit but you KNOW he's there, just like the air in the balloon. Well, it takes awhile for the experiment to work. We had another project to work on so I put mine to the side, thinking it just didn't work.
I am so NOT patient, and it's something I am working on. I have really chilled out though in the last couple of years but I still have a ways to go.
I was going around getting the next project started when I look over at my balloon and it's BLOWING UP! The Holy Spirit is ALIVE AND WELL !

So, what I took from this is that we ARE on the right path. Our daughter is in Kazaksthan, but, I need to continue to be patient. God is with us. :)




So, on the eve of my 42nd birthday, I will trust in the man, with the plan, and I will be patient. I will enjoy my summer with my son and my husband, and redo my dossier-so that when the time is right, we'll go get her! The only update I have is that we were told we will NOT be going back to Astana-so we'll be going to Kostanai.
I think it will be awhile as there are several families waiting. We'll just make 2 or maybe 3 trips, it will be fine.

I am excited to follow Chris and Tricia's journey to Kostanai, and a big WELCOME HOME TO Alexa and Shannon, and Alyona and Andrey and Matt and Suzanne!