You all know about the building of the miraculous Penny
Palace over the past 2-3 years.
Well in the past 6 months I have had a new “Project of Passion” to work
on. I call it the "The Sasha
Project”.
In a
nutshell: Nine years ago I went to
Russia with my brother and his wife to adopt two boys. Kept in touch with Sasha - our
interpreter, driver and so much more.
(There are a whole bunch of miracle stories there). It was always my dream to bring Sasha
to the U.S. to visit our family.
So I began working on that dream a few months ago. More details of the Sasha
Story have just been posted for you. The simple 2-week visit has now blossomed into 5+ weeks with 12 adoptive CA families who will be hosting Sasha!
Last
week Sasha had to fly to Moscow to have his VISA interview at the U.S.
Embassy. Each applicant gets about
5 minutes to present his case. The
agent refused Sasha’s entry! Sasha
does not currently have a job, nothing in savings, and he lives in the family
home (his mother is owner), so he owns no land.
Within
24 hours I had set an appointment with an immigration attorney. He was wonderful with his insight, but
said our chances were not real high.
He recommended that Sasha think long and hard about the time and cost to
try a second time. That night
Sasha and I made the decision to “Go Forth!” and “Believe”
For the
past four days we have been scrambling. Pretty much working it round the clock
(Sasha’s time zone is 11 hours ahead of mine). There have been numerous glitches, hiccups, and delays.
This
morning we FINALLY obtained our new interview date: June 6, 2013. When Sasha gets his OK (notice that I
did not say IF he gets approved), it will take a few days for processing, then
a few days for courier mail, etc.
That ought to give me about 3 days to book the flights!
That brings us
to today’s story …
This morning I was in my stretching/exercise class. At the end of each session, the
instructor has us sit in a circle, tell about our experience in class, and then
she shares a word for the day.
My report this morning: “I have zero idea what my body did
because my mind was racing about 150 mph on the Sasha Project!” The rest of the ladies gave more
normal reports.
Right at the end, the “Nudging” said, “Go home and book Sasha’s
flight!” Huh? Again, I sensed, “Go Book Sasha’s
flight!” My Engineering / German
background argued: “The Embassy websites advises NOT to make travel
arrangements because VISAs are not guaranteed”. “No. This is NOT logical”. The Nudging persisted again.
Within two minutes of that argument, the instructor said,
“Today’s Message is FAITH. ACT on Faith!”
I burst out laughing and the other ladies wondered why? I told them about how I had just been
wrestling. That gave me the
opportunity to share about the Sasha Project! The ladies all said they would all be adding their prayers
to this project. The Goodwill is
Blossoming!
I went home to book Sasha’s flight. I had only a few moments
because someone was expected at my house.
I was frantically working when my guest called to say she would be
delayed by an hour! Thank You
Angels.
I did a search for flights.
My “ideal flight” would have Sasha flying in Sunday afternoon (thus
avoiding downtown LA traffic) to join our family for a Father’s Day
dinner. The return flight would be
after work hours on the planned Thursday in July,
I searched for flights from Moscow to LAX using my Frequent Flyer
Miles. Search #1 had ZERO
results. Search #2 had ZERO
results. I was getting
discouraged. I told the Angels
that THEY were the ones who told me to do this. What were they thinking?
Attempt #3: Arrival
flight 1:40 Sunday afternoon, Departure 9:10 pm. I could not believe it! And get this --
the arrival flight had one seat using only half the Frequent Flyer miles
I was expecting!!! Talk about
AWESOME!!!!
I have booked the tickets, paid the various airport taxes, and
have the Confirmation number!!!!
“ACT on FAITH!”
I can’t wait for Sasha to wake up
and read this posting. He will
probably think he is dreaming…