Slava Isuzu Cristu! Glory to Jesus Christ! (UJ : ) This is our second Sunday in Ukraine and
we’re still catching up from jet lag.
Finally, no one is around the house working or directing us and we can
try to catch up on some rest. What
better day to do that than the Lord’s Day.
We are adjusting to our home away from home quite well. Each day is an improvement with a few
setbacks here and there. But it’s
nothing that couldn't happen in the states.
(If your hope is in the Lord, who can be disappointed?)
Getting on a routine for school has been really difficult
since we walked into a situation quite different than we expected. The children have been amazing troopers
though and have taken on the responsibility (without prompting) to push for
school despite all of our exhaustion and difficult living conditions.
I must say, being here is a homeschoolers
paradise. The children have little
distractions, plenty of time to concentrate and finish up every day (so far), on time, just as the children from the neighborhood are coming home from school. We are
blessed to have very nice children nearby who come and play nicely until dinner
time. Our children love it since they
are not used to having neighbors back in the states.
AND.... the best part is
they have so much more added time that Mike and I are finding them using their
creativity to explore ideas they never had the time to explore before. Matthew independently created his own
animated movie by taking photos of drawings he sketched. Who knew he had all that creativity up there in that
big brain of his! : ) It’s really great because they are teaching
themselves things by trial and error.
They are doing fabulously so far.
All this in one week.
Jennifer and Mike are quickly learning the language. (AND I
DO MEAN QUICKLY!) I’m trying, but having
a hard time trying to fit more studying into my usual routine of housework,
cooking and little tikes. We have
arranged a family language learning game with CANDY for incentives! All are geared up for this Friday nights
first game night to see who has learned the most Ukrainian words since we’ve
been here.
THE CIRC!
It just so happened that when we came into town we saw
circus posters all over for a show that took place last night. Mike being the adventurous type, decided
that he was going to take us to our first Ukrainian circus. It started a 6 pm and, of course, we needed to
walk there and back. So, we packed
diapers, sippie cups, flashlights, pumpkin seeds for snacks and fall jackets
and set off for our first circus! We
were relieved to get away from the happenings at the home and
have an official family evening with cellphones turned off. Ahhh, nothing but us and the night air and
our new community.
When we arrived we
didn’t know what to expect, nor did we really care. We just were glad to have a Saturday evening
of family time. When we arrived there
was a long line of children and we didn’t think anything of it. We thought it was a line of families. As we got closer, we realized it was the
younger children from the local orphanage. Kroo-tay (cool!) Here they were, all lined up and we were able to see them for
the first time without anyone arranging it but God! We wanted to play it low key and just see if
there was anyone we recognized. We also
didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves so we went along as if we didn’t
know them. After we were inside, we sat
down up in the bleachers behind them.
They were lined up in two rows (about 50-60 children). This gave us the ability to try to memorize
faces and look for already familiar faces. AND
yes, we did recognize them. AND guess
what? They recognized us! It was a perfect opportunity to connect
without connecting formally.
In fact
there was a little boy who I became close with last year who sat in the first row. He was the only child I allowed myself to
wave to. I gave him the tiniest wave
‘hello’ in case he didn’t recognize us.
Well, he did and he melted with excitement. He gave a tiny
wave back and the same smile that melted my heart last summer. He’s probably about 11 years old but looks a
little younger. We call him Lil’ Banana Boy because of a precious moment that was exchanged last summer at the
camp he was staying at. He clearly
wants to be loved. He’s been on my
mind all night and our family talked about it a lot today. His eyes long for a mommy. You know, we often hear over and over that these children need a
mommy and daddy, it seems very clear to me now that what they are really saying is that there souls are starving
for a mommy and daddy. God created us to thrive from the love of
parents, which, in turn; if they are good God honoring parents, will resemble God. God is our heavenly parent and
he made us in His image to carry out who He is in heaven to these little ones. Lil’ Banana Boy's soul is starving. I could see
it in his eyes and in one or two years his heart could become hard and give up
hope that he has any purpose here.
Despite the fact that these children are taken very good care of in the
orphanage, they are still 'numbered' and that doesn’t mean you are special. Family (which God ordained) plays a huge part in what makes you
feel you have purpose.
I think that is why we came here. We hope to be vessels
to give them hope that they are, in fact, very special until loving people choose
to be selfless and adopt them. They
need to know that God’s word, the Bible, says that God is the defender of the
fatherless. That he will protect the
orphan. That they are loved. The Body needs to love them. Ultimately, they need a personal relationship with Him.
