My husband and I packed our bags and went on the journey of a lifetime. In an orphanage in Votkinsk we met our precious gift. Her name is Ksenia. The orphanage director brought her in the room. She was smiling and looking around at all of the faces in the room. She was and still is a very happy child. My husband described her as beautiful and I couldn’t agree more. We only saw her for a couple minutes that day.
The first trip was very busy with documents and such, but we were able to visit with our daughter several times before we had to come home. It was so hard to say goodbye! The only consolation was that we could replay our camcorder and flip through photos of her, taking us back to when we were together.
We were home for exactly a week when we got the call that our court date was set. We couldn’t believe that our adoption was finally happening!
Our second trip went very well. We visited our daughter for a couple of days prior to the court hearing. To our delight she remembered us from the first trip and it felt like we hadn’t been apart. She was babbling more this time and was crawling even faster.Court was long, but the outcome was all that we wanted to hear – that she was officially our daughter. After the court hearing the judge who seemed to be pretty harsh during the process, said the books are closed for this hearing and then I couldn’t believe what she said next. She said:
"People do not believe in miracles anymore, but they still happen. This is the first of many miracles for your family. December will be a celebrated month as it is your husband’s and daughter’s birthdays, your adoption day, and Christmas. Winter will be special for you as New Year’s is in January as well as your birthday. Miracles still happen.”In my heart, I felt like that was not the judge’s words, but our heavenly Father answering our prayers.
The next day we were able to finally hold Ksenia in our arms, not to say goodbye, but to be able to take her with us. Our flight home was five days before Christmas. What a Christmas gift! We are so blessed. We celebrated Ksenia’s first Christmas in our hometown of Fort Worth where she met many of her family. We also were able to celebrate her first birthday as a family in our home in El Paso. God’s Perfect Timing. We couldn’t have dreamt for it to be better. During the process, my adoption consultant shared this scripture with us and it was something that we drew strength from: I Samuel 1:27 – “I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.”
It has been two months now that Ksenia has been home with us and we don’t re
member how life was without her! She is a beautiful, happy 13-month-old who loves to sing, dance, and be outside when the sun is shining.Everyday is a new adventure with her. We learn something not only about her, but also about ourselves. Everyday we thank God for her. Our prayers have been answered in ways we couldn’t have imagined.
--Danielle Riddle, TX
Danielle and her husband Jason adopted 1-year-old Ksenia from Izhevsk, Russia, in November 2007.
