Operation "Dinner Out"

Greetings Everyone!

Well, The rescue operation is underway :)
Shannon, Carson, and our friend Andrea are currently in Kyiv, Ukraine.  In a few days' time they will be in Dnep (I won't write the whole name of the city; chances are you might not pronounce it correctly!), the city where our kids have been living for basically their whole lives.
(Of course, if you are reading this, you probably know all about the adoption, as well as Anton and Lena Hazletons, the new additions to our family.)

A theme verse for this adoption journey has been Psalm 68:6,

God settles the solitary in a home; [He] leads out the prisoners to prosperity. (ESV)
God places the lonely in families; [He] sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. (NLT)

That's pretty much what the Lord has done in our family this year: He has granted us the privilege of adopting two orphans who, like all of us, need a family to love and care for them.

...so you may be wondering, Why Operation Dinner Out?


About 10 years ago, there was a movie about a rescue mission (to break someone out of wrongful imprisonment) which went badly, and the rescuer needed some rescuing, too.  He had an influential friend who used all the power and resources at his disposal to get his buddy and [the other prisoner] out of their captivity.  The name for the final rescue was "Operation Dinner Out".

our plans do not include a helicopter extraction.   yet.

And so it is with us.  Our family - our children - have been orphans their whole lives until about 10 days ago, when a judge awarded us custody and we became their family. YAY!!!!!!
...the journey (well, at least this part of it) is almost complete.  By God's grace, the solitary have found a home with us; now our rescue team has been deployed to set them free from a lonely existence and bring them home.  Because of the Lord's work and provision (which He has accomplished due to support from many of you!!! Thanks again!), the jailbreak is on, and our kids will be home in time to celebrate their new sister's birthday.

Sweet.

That is all for now.  More details to follow.