This picture was taken a few weeks ago when Deana and I went to the Getty Center. It was a beautiful day that day, very warm, clear skies (which is sometimes amazing so close to downtown LA!). The next day it rained almost all day and we were so suprised the weather could change so drastically from one day to the next.That is how the last few days have been. Extreme joy with Deana receiving “the call” about her court date, shock and anxiety to hear about last minute, unplanned charges, excitement knowing it would be just days until Deana held her children again, to finding out the trip would be delayed and having a broken heart. It’s been very, very difficult at times. But I can tell you that right now, Deana is relying on the Lord and, although she is definitely saddened by the delay, she is holding onto the joy that only the Lord can provide. This is an amazing testament to how God works in crazy circumstances.

Update – we were able to get a full refund on the original tickets – a real miracle as they are not changeable, but our flight from LAX to JFK had been cancelled during the hour I was on holding waiting for customer service. Because of that, the entire itinerary could be cancelled with no penalties. This was a direct answer to prayer.

Next hurdle – finding a new flight as Delta was totally booked on 3/23 and 3/24 due to the weather delays, and the best cost was $2600 PER PERSON. Deana called the agency and they were not prepared to make up that much for our changes. They asked Deana to wait until Monday to see what they could do about better prices for tickets. However, if you know Deana, her mind was spinning and turning. So she found a NON-STOP flight from LAX to Moscow leaving 3/24 and returning 4/6 for only about $120 more per person then the original tickets. (A real blessing not only for cost, but our original flights had some pretty ugly lay overs both ways – 10 hours going, 17 hours coming back). D called the agency and they said to book it and they would pay the difference. They also said that we might be able to leave earlier – they were trying everything they could to get her out asap.

I must note that Deana’s attitude with the agency has been awesome and the agency has done an amazing job to get this going. Several people, including Deana’s direct contact, had been stranded themselves in the weather and were not able to get to the office, etc. So the fact that they made the effort to contact us today (Saturday) and work with us is great.

Final hurdle – getting the visas re-established quickly as well as getting a quick rescheduled court date.

So keep your prayers going and picture Deana with a big smile on her face.