Less Than 2 Weeks Now

From Michael: Woke up this Saturday morning early (thanks to our dogs) and immediately the mind goes to our upcoming adventure 13 days from today. Two weeks from this morning we should be in Kiev. This past week has been a blur of excitement at finally nailing down our SDA appointment in Ukraine, as well as anxiety (at least on my part) about traveling to the other side of the planet. Most of all, the reality of not seeing my wonderful daughters Katie and Julianna for approximately six weeks is tearing me up. It's tough to know I won't "see" my girls and be able to hug them for awhile because I love them so much, but God will get us all through this and when we reunite in July it will be the sweetest moment. In the meanwhile we can talk by phone, e-mail and Skype while we are gone. I'm reminded of my life Scripture Isaiah 43:18-19 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." God is making a new Redman family, and the separation from two of our daughters is a sad but necessary part of it, but we will all grow in Him through it. He'll make a way for all of us to get to the other side and become our family of six when our precious son is finally here.

Thank you Chris and Mary Malone and Wayne and Meghan Dickinson for helping us through the whole adoption process. We couldn't have done this without you. BY your dedication to Jesus and your vision for helping rescue these children, we have a son and our son has a family.

Thanks again to the Dickinson's for meeting with us the other night so we could pump you with any and all questions about traveling over there and what to expect. I feel much, much more confident and relaxed now knowing what will happen and other traveling tips. Denise and I enjoyed fellowshipping with you both.

My sweet and wonderful wife Denise has been the one to make all this happen as far as paperwork, e-mails, phone calls, questions, etc....the whole ball of wax. She has a gift for organization. My crazy job takes a lot from me mentally, and I haven't been the best at keeping up with every detail and task in this adoption process, so she rose to the challenge and kept it afloat. Thank you honey for your dedication and your vision for our family. I love you.

To my daughters Julianna, Katie and Emily: I'm so proud to call you my children! You each are a priceless gift to me and your mother, and to the world. I am proud of the fine young women you are turning out to be. I love your sweet spirits and your passion for Jesus. The way you all immediately embraced this rescue of your brother was so key in this endeavor. I know you will be excellent sisters to Erik Victor. He is one fortunate little guy to have you as siblings. You make me a proud papa.

To our family and friends, my heart can't express what I feel towards you adequately. Your prayers, encouragement and gifts have been priceless. Through you, this little boy has a family he can call his own. He'll have the opportunity to learn about Jesus and one day hopefully to make Him the Lord of his life. Thank you for making it possible.

In Christ,

Michael

WE HAVE OUR SDA APPOINTMENT!!!!!!

We finally have our SDA Appt to get our son!!! It is on June 15th and we will leave on June 11th around 11:45am. This means we should be meeting our son for the first time on June 17th. WOW!! I just can't wait to see him face to face and give him a great big hug!! It looks like we will be gone until July 17th at this point. The date we get home could change and probably will but at least we have an idea. WE ARE GOING TO GET OUR SON!!! Praise God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mid June???

We heard from our facilitator today and found out that our invitation to come to Ukraine was signed today but they did not complete it before the end of the work day. Then we find out that they do not do business on Fridays and Monday is a Holiday so now we wait until Tuesday to get our official court date. We did find out that the date is in Mid-June so at least that is something. This waiting is the hardest part so far but I know that God's timing is perfect so we will wait. Please pray that we can get plane tickets when it is time to book them. I called the travel agent today and it is getting harder to get tickets in June and July due to the heavy travel time. We have some held temporarily to leave on June 11th so I pray that this will work out.

To add to all the fun and excitement we are in the process of possibly selling our house and trying to decide if we just put it up for sale before leaving or wait until we return. There are pros and cons with either decision. We also need to find a 4 bedroom house for our larger family so please pray for all the details. There is so much going on right now so I guess I better get busy.

Just waiting...

We are still waiting for our court date to go get our son. Hopefully we will get the date this coming week and be on our way very soon. The waiting is the hard part right now. I have been so busy the past few months with the paperwork and then planning our dinner and now we just wait on the Lord for this final step before leaving home and going to a foreign land. I know the date we leave will come soon enough and life will be busy once again. I will be sure to post any new info as we get it. Please continue to pray for God's guidance and preparation for our long journey to get our son. We still cannot believe that this is happening and that God chose our family for this little boy. God is so good and we are thankful for all that He has done for our family and will continue to do.

An Evening for Erik

Our Evening for Erik was a huge blessing!! It was so nice to spend an evening with family & friends. The whole evening was filled with love and an evening we will never forget!! Thank you so much to all of you who came to show your support and wrap us with your love for our family and this special little boy. I can't wait to tell Erik Viktor about the evening and about all the people that came together just for him. A special thanks to Wayne Dickinson for his beautiful songs of love and inspiration. He was the perfect entertainment for our evening.

We also want to thank Chris Malone for singing the song that has been so close to our hearts during this journey and for creating the slide show of our son. Thank you also for the words that were spoken from your heart about adoption. Another special thank you to my friend Mary Smith for getting the donation of the chips and queso for our event and for coming early to help decorate and just for being such a great support. I also want to thank Meghan Dickinson for the many phone conversations we have had through this process and about the details of this special evening and for taking pictures of the evening. Thanks for being there Meghan when I just needed to talk things out.

A very special thank you goes to my Mom, Dianna Royland for making most of the food and for being such a great support while planning this evening and putting all the details together, I love you so much. Thank you also to my sis, Julie Banes for coming early to help put everything together, I am so happy to get to share this evening with you.

We also want to thank members of our Singles Ministry for serving and cleaning ALL the dishes. Thank you to Sheri Irby, Raymond & Katherine Cox, Donna Jackson, Betty Leighty, Sharon Sheek, Charlene Lock, Steve Williams, Stephanie Avery, Keith Miller, Donna Dodd, Diana West & Lyndi White.

Thank you also for everyone who donated items for our silent auction. Everything was sold and we were not left with a single item. Wow!! We could not have had this evening without all of your help!! One last thank you to my wonderful husband for the words he shared from his heart. I have the best husband in the world and our kids have the best father. I was so proud of the words he shared and know it was genuine and sincere. I am so thankful to get the opportunity to share in the experience with such a great man!! This is all for now. I know I am probably forgetting someone and please forgive me if I did. I especially want to thank my Heavenly Father for bringing Erik Viktor into our lives and letting us be his Mom & Dad. We know there are very special days ahead and we can't wait to see what God does next!!

God provided a good amount of the money we need for our adoption. We are getting so much closer to our goal and we thank everyone for the sacrifices they have made to help bring our little boy home. We know we will be going to get him very soon and we are so excited to see our boy. Love you All!! Denise

Our Dossier has been submitted and approved!!

Our paperwork has been submitted and approved!! Now we wait to get a court date and this should happen in the next 2 weeks. Please continue to pray for all the details. We are very anxious to go and get our son.