Do You Believe In Miracles?

by Craig Hahnlen

Lisa and I had been married for 10 wonderful years. We both love children and enjoyed our times with our nieces and nephews, so we knew it was time for us to begin our family. It’s amazing the things that you look back on in life that seem small at the time but in retrospect were life-changing. That’s how I feel about the night my wife was “surfing” the net, visited Brittany’s Hope’s website and showed me a picture of a beautiful little girl with the biggest brown eyes you can imagine.

In the course of her work, Lisa had been introduced to the Abel family and had come to learn about their passion – helping unite orphaned children with the family they were meant to have. We learned a little bit about Brittany’s Hope and, since we had discussed the possibility of adoption in the past, Lisa decided to learn more. It was on that fateful October night in 2004 that she saw Anastasia. With her expressive eyes and brown hair, she looked like my wife's little sister as a girl. It sparked a powerful emotional connection in Lisa, one which I didn't realize the strength of for many weeks or months. I remember the tears as she wondered if we could adopt her, and I remember the fear of the unexpected which prompted me to say, “Let’s wait a few weeks and then make a decision.” My hesitancy lasted through the holidays and I knew that it would break my wife’s heart not to pursue Anastasia so, trusting that God was leading, I agreed.

Life became a whirlwind of paperwork and deadlines. I couldn't believe the timing involved. It was an intricate dance of appointments, notarizing, mailings, and emails, but with Lisa's diligence and organization I am happy to say that I was mostly a spectator to that dance. “Sign here, here, and here,” was a common phrase when I would get home from work. One good thing about all the paperwork is the first few months of the process flew by.

Then came summer and a slowdown in the Russian program. I was getting antsy, but Lisa was a picture of patience. Every time the phone rang I thought, “This is it!” and it wouldn't be. Lots of thoughts crossed our minds, and there was some frustration at the bureaucracy, but it melted away on that morning in September, 2005 when our case worker called my office. Her first words were, “You're going to Russia,” and I couldn’t stop the tears. I couldn't believe it was finally happening. “How many weeks until we go?” I asked. “You mean how many days!” was her reply!

Less than two weeks later, we were on a plane to Moscow wondering what our little girl would be like. Question after question crossed our minds; "Will she like us?" "How has she been treated?", and the big one, "Will we be good parents?" There is so much that we didn't know, but it was amazing to me how our love for Anastasia had been ever increasing, building in our hearts to the moment of meeting her. As the worker led her into the room where we were waiting and we saw our daughter for the first time, I experienced love in a new and amazing way. She had a cute little dress and lots of frilly girl things in her hair, but in her eyes was a meekness and uncertainty that melted our hearts. We couldn't wait to pour ourselves into her life and give her all of our heart. It would be only a month until she was home with us.

Over the past three months, life has been a whirlwind. When I look at her it's hard to believe she's the same little girl. We love dancing and singing together, and I can't help but smile when I see kiss marks on all of the mirrors at her level! The joy of seeing her express herself and use her creative imagination, consistently bring me back to what is truly important in life. She brings laughter, joy, love and a few tears to our home and has truly made us a family.

We can't say or do enough to express our gratitude to Brittany's Hope, its volunteers, board of directors, and the Abels. You introduced us to our daughter, provided us with the means to pursue her adoption and in doing so, have united a family. May God continue to bless all that you do.

– Craig, Lisa & Anastasia Hahnlen