**********PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!**********

We are at the half way mark in raising the support needed to bring the kids home. Our beloved church family and friends have donated just at $20,0000 - the half way point of the $40,0000 needed for this adoption. God is meeting our need, step by step. Our home study is completed and this week is to be sent first to Montgomery for the state government's approval and then to Atlanta to the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) for the full approval. When we receive notification of the acceptance (which could be up to 90 days waiting time) it will be time to update our medical forms and get the next batch of paperwork together to send off to Ukraine for their acceptance and invitation to come for the kids.

We now wait...as anyone knows waiting is the hardest time...patience, Lord give us patience to endure this race!!

Monies are still needed. Our toes are poised at the edge of the ocean, now we need the money to get to Ukraine, stay the required month or so, receive the court approval, wait the 10 day waiting period, and return to the states with 2 new Edwards!! Please continue to pray for us as we try to raise this money! THANKS!!! Leslie

Dan wrote this poem after we spoke to a Sunday School class about the process of adopting Christina and Kolya. At one point Dan said, " if I had only known, I would have done this sooner." A dear friend in the class said "known what?" Dan's response was if he had only gone to the orphanage sooner and seen the kids, the adoption would have happened sooner. However as we thought about that, it, of course, is God's right timing so that Christina and Kolya are there for us to adopt. Dan wrote this poem as he thought about how God has brought this about and especially Christina, as he describes her.


See Christina's toe........:) Yes, we are proud parents!!

CHRISTINA…NOW I KNOW

Had I known…..the heart and the flame…
…..pleading for heaven to spell out your name.
And had I known…..the meaning, and religion that is true,
…..the weight, the worth of revelation, that clue.
Coming would not have taken so long…
…..but now I know, providence is writing your song.

Had I known…..the passage, that crossing and the space…
..…the global fixtures far below, tiny in their place.
And had I known…..the beauty, that scent, the years…
…..a city confused, embracing blindly all its fears.
Coming would not have taken so long…
…..but now I know, providence is writing your song.

Had I known…..the smirks, that smile and the grins…
……the dark, dismal secret occurs before a life begins.
And had I known…..the despair and that loss of hope,
…..the empty eyes, no more fantasies to cope.
Coming would not have taken so long…
…..but now I know, providence is writing your song.

Had I known…..the place, that bare bench and the who…
…..the hush of the hallway when I knew it was you.
And had I known…..the tails, and hazel, that stocking toe…
…..the resemblance of your mother tomorrow to know.
Coming would not have taken so long…
…..but now I know, providence is writing your song.

Now I know…..the why, the when, the where…
…..and now I know, it’s you, innocent, waiting over there.
And now I know, I’m coming in winter, not long…
…..may Heaven keep you warm while singing your song.