(Happenings in January 2020).
Natalia seems to be doing so well ever since she found the c-community. She has decided not to return to Igor so that nothing bad happens again and she wants to always be there for me. She is praying for Igor and he knows that she is a phone call away to talk to when he is sober. Natalia really wants to remove the distance between us. I agreed and said this distance is only temporary. Ever since the last big incident Natalia was involved in, she lost her DNR (DPR) passport. The laws there are such that it is a long process for people between the ages of 20-45 to get a new official passport. She had received a temporary passport. She cannot apply for an official one until she turns 45 on May 23rd. By then, it could take anytime from 3+ months for her official DNR passport to arrive. The DNR is not welcome to Americans so we have to obtain a visa to travel to Russia instead of to their area in Ukraine. They cannot come to Western Ukraine, because their area is in conflict with them and identifies as a separatist group. Meanwhile, E. and D. already live in Russia. Natalia cannot travel to Russia with a temporary passport. This is really pushing the last-minute range of availability. This means that if everything goes smoothly, the soonest we can see them will be early August before my classes begin in the Fall. If it takes her three months or longer to obtain her passport, then we will have to wait until the next Summer to meet them, over another year. Please join me in praying that every detail works out smoothly. God knows the desires of our hearts, that we want to meet as soon as possible. Pray most of all that His will be done and for peace of mind. I am more at peace knowing that God did not allow it to happen rather than by means of fate or coincidence. This can only be because I am confident in who God is and my place in His divine order that can make something out of nothing and use for good what was once meant for evil.
Sometimes I forget that Natalia and I don’t speak the same language, because we are gaining so much more in common. Then there are other times when it feels so exhausting to communicate because of the language barrier. A close relative died of a stroke, but we recently celebrated grandma Nadia’s birthday! I’m learning that no person’s story is our own... Natalia has gotten to meet more of my friends and it greatly inspires her! Every time she says to me afterwards that she feels deep joy in her heart! She wants people to know her story and how God has saved her from so much evil; she encourages me to share with all my friends. Often she forgets everything she wants to say in Skype calls, and I do too. I tell her that she can share with any of her friends anything that I have said that she believes would be profitable for the individual and whatever God leads her in sharing. Believe it or not, there is so much between Natalia and myself that isn’t shared. There is a whole other side to this journey that can only be experienced, as with much of life. I want to, in the most effective way, share some of this experience with whomever may benefit from it. Whatever this was, I don’t even know anymore, because it isn’t that anymore. I’m adjusting. I constantly have to ask myself in however I move forward, is what I say true? Is what I am doing loving? Is this glorifying to the cause of Christ?