Lessons in Adoption Part 4
Our time in court seemed would never come. I asked the interpreter if there were any questions that we needed to talk about. Was there anything that she needed to prepare us for. She repeatedly said no. I was still so nervous. The interpreter even asked Marcia if I was ok. I could not shake this feeling of being completely alone. I continued to pray for God’s help and guidance. Finally, our turn came.
We walked into the courtroom. It was basically a smaller version of what you see in courtroom dramas on T.V. The judge was in the center with the prosecutor seated to our left and the court reporter to our right. The room was gray and dreary. The judge, prosecutor, and reporter were all very solemn. Very few people that we saw smiled over there.
The judge began by questioning Marcia first. This went totally against the way we were told it would happen. They asked Marcia general family information type questions. She was asked about our home, jobs, and family support. Marcia did great. She was a rock (at least on the outside). Then the judge’s attention was turned to me.
The questions began very simple. Asking personal information. Some questions were almost identical to Marcia’s. I believe they wanted to see if we would answer the same. I thought that I was finished with my questions until the prosecutor asked me one question. I was hoping to avoid the topic and thought we were about to succeed in doing so. She asked me if I had ever used corporal punishment with our daughters. My intended response was to answer “Yes, but I know that in dealing with an adoptive child I have to address discipline in a very different manner in order to build trust between us.” However, I was cut off by the prosecutor after the word “yes”. I begged the interpreter to ask them to allow me to finish my answer but they said no. The problem with this response is that the Russians wanted any reason they could find to not allow an adoption to go through. I just provided them the loophole.
The judge took back over the questioning from there. She proceeded to ask me what religion I followed. I told her that I was Christian/Baptist. She asked me what I believed. I knew we were sunk. There was not a doubt in my mind. I could feel my blood pressure rising. I took a deep breath and told her:
I believe in one God and in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the one and only way to Heaven.
She asked me, “Don’t you know there are many gods?”
No ma’am, there are not. The Bible says Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Him.
She responds, “No, you are wrong.”
And with that, our court session was over. We were told to leave. I begged the interpreter to ask them not to stop our adoption. She did not even try. We walked outside the courthouse out on the sidewalk. I just sat on the street curb. I was completely shocked. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I was furious. I asked the interpreter what just happened. She said that they would make a decision and let us know. I told her I knew exactly what the decision was. I asked her about the discipline question. She responded that they don’t believe in corporal punishment. I asked her if she used corporal punishment and she stated yes but that they didn’t believe I should.
We were driven back to our hotel. We spent the entire night in tears. I don’t believe I have sobbed so heavily in my life. I felt responsible. I repeatedly told Marcia how sorry I was. Every time Marcia told me that I did nothing wrong. She was very supportive. That night our adoptive agency called us at the hotel and asked me what happened. I told her the story. I knew from her tone that she couldn’t believe I said the things I did. I simply told her “I couldn’t lie.”
You know there are many times in our lives that we feel that we are all alone to face a cold hard world. That is exactly how the devil wants us to feel. He wants us to feel hopeless and defeated. He wants us to give up. He wants us to say, “What’s the use?” or “Why put myself through this?”. The devil knows that if he can get us in that type of mindset then at that point we are defeated. He has won a battle. Not necessarily the war but at least a small battle.
I encourage you to look in 2 Kings 6:13-20. Elisha, the prophet was facing incredible odds. His servant/sidekick thought all hope was lost as they were surrounded by the Syrian army. But Elisha knew something his sidekick didn’t. He knew that God was in control. He prayed to God to allow his servant to see what he could see. God answered his prayer and when the servant looked out the window again, he could see that although he was surrounded by the Syrians, God had the Syrians surrounded by horses and chariots of fire. God had Elisha’s back!
At the time, I could not see the chariots of fire surrounding me in Russia. I was like the servant. But, after finally getting through this process, I can look back and see how God was surrounding me also. I don’t know if my testimony has ever had any impact on the people in that courtroom. I hope it did. I hope that someday I will find out that there was an eternal reason for what we went through that day and the weeks to come. If I don’t, so be it. That’s up to God. As for Marcia and I, we had to press on.