And his name shall be called...Papa

Yes.

You read that correctly.

Jon is officially Papa.

On our 2nd visit.

I know.

Unbelievable.

This can only be a gift from God.

Do you remember what Vera's reaction was to the first family that came for her?

She screamed at them that they are NOT her mama and papa.

She knew.

Thankfully, they knew too.

WE are her mama and papa.

When we arrived for our afternoon visit, the kids were having their snack. So we waited in the entry way for Vera to come out. Sasha had gone to see the secretary to get some paperwork started. When Vera came out, it was just us. And she was happy to see us. Another gift from God. She was still a bit nervous with us and asked to stay inside again. She did not want to go outside with us. No problem. She went back and forth from us to her locker and would pull something out. First she pulled out a book with sticker things and we played with that for awhile. Sasha came in while we were doing this and asked Vera where she got the book. "From some other guests that came to see me." Sasha asked Vera who we were and Vera replied, "My guests." Sasha pulled out an old picture of Vera that she got somewhere and gave it to me. I showed it to Vera...she grabbed it and...

she was SO excited! She took that picture and ran into her little groupa room to show whoever was in there. She came back and asked if she could keep it. Sasha told her 'no' and she gave it back to me. Oh, and when Sasha came in she commented to Vera about ANOTHER change of clothes and Vera replied, "Only Vera gets new dresses."

She's a princess, I tell ya.

And her hair was different from this morning.

Sasha left to go speak to someone else and we played with Vera a bit. I got out some crayons and a coloring book and she knew just what to do. She is very independent. She did not want help opening the crayon box or trying to close it.

She asked if she could keep the coloring book and crayons and when we said 'da' she went and put them away in her locker. Then she grabbed her hat, came over and grabbed Jon's hand and led us outside. Sasha found us at some point and said we could take Vera anywhere on the grounds. Vera led us to the playground where parents usually visit with their children. We played in the sandbox for quite awhile.

Vera would venture out and find sticks...

and break them up...

and she and Jon built a little creation.

I have a super cute video of the above going on, but it is taking FOREVER to download.

The videos may have to wait for another day.

After the sandbox, Vera walked over to this slide.

She climbed up the steps (with me right behind her),

got all situated and slid down to Jon.

She came back, climbed up the steps again, got herself situated and said,

"Papa....." (something we couldn't understand.)

Papa? Did we hear her correctly?

She hardly looked at Jon during our first visit, and now he's Papa?

Perhaps she said something else.

But no. For the rest of the visit, Jon was Papa.

Papa this...

And Papa that.

Melt our hearts.

Hold back tears.

We held back many tears today.

It was just amazing.

Oh, how HE loves us! My friend, Pam, who is really the one who led us to Vera, posted a video on Facebook last night. It was a video of Kim Walker singing How He Loves Us. Jon and I watched it twice last night. I cried both times. Yesterday I was so anxious about meeting Vera. What if she screamed at us too? Knowing the first family wasn't the only one who came for Vera and rejected her. Vera has NO reason to trust us. She has NO reason to put her faith in us and trust that we're here for good. She has no reason to believe we won't leave her. BUT we are the only ones who came back for a second visit with this little treasure. Perhaps Vera is ready for a papa. And Jon is the best one she'll find. Anywhere.

Oh, How He loves us!

I needed that reminder last night. God LOVES us.

He DESIRES peace for Vera.

When we ask Him for bread, He does not give us a rock.

He loves to give us GOOD gifts.

He delights to delight us.

And today He delighted us.

Big time.

After our visit with Vera, we took the bus back to our apartment. Sasha had pointed out a nice restaurant to us this morning and we stopped there for dinner on our walk back from the bus.

Where this was our view.

We are so undeserving, friends.

But oh, how He loves us.