Invitation to the Thirsty - Isaiah 55

9-28-2009

Okay for the news we have all been waiting for....yes, we will be here a little longer. We are hoping to fly out on October 9. It could be sooner if everything goes well, but we are changing our tickets from Thursday the 1st to Friday the 9th. We hope to be able to clear up all the remaining issues by then. The deeds always are an unknown in these adoptions, and with 6 siblings involved this one has been a doozy. In the end it appears that the steps we are taking will be for the benefit of all six of the children so the extra time and expense will be a way we can help the two older boys in a very tangible way. That has been our desire all along.

We are all eager and ready to come home though, so it was disappointing today to realize that it would take this extra week. Please pray:
1) for the additional finances involved in this process
2) for the kids to be patient with sofa beds, and
3) for patience on days when were cooped up in the apartment.
The children are use to being very active so it's an adjustment.
4) For all the details at home that need to be taken care of.

Last weekend was a little more laid back. No offices to visit or documents to sign. Natalia still had documents she was gathering but she didn't need us. The kids were happy that we could just be together.

On Saturday morning the kids discovered Carol's Tae Bo video and had a lot of fun with that. In the afternoon we took a tram ride down the coast of the Black Sea for about 3 or 4 miles just to see the area and let the kids have a good look before we depart. We took the street car back to the center and spent another quiet evening to be ready for church Sunday morning.




We had to chuckle when we heard funny noises in the bathroom and Andrei was out of bed. Carol went to explore what he was into and found him ironing his shirt for church the next day. All of the kids clean all the time. It has been so ingrained in them. As soon as you get up from the table, dishes are washed, tables washed, floors mopped....no we are not kidding. So a portion of time each day is spent just cleaning. Another day we bought a stainless steel scrub bud to clean some of the pots in the apartment. Galia used it one night and said, "Wow, it's magic." She'd been using a knife to scrape the pots clean.


Sunday we awoke needing encouragement. We we drained. The Lord gave us the following:
Isaiah 55
Invitation to the Thirsty
1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

We attended the same church as last week. They said we are regulars now. They were happy to have extra kids in the children's group though! The pastor, Sasha, shared how our goal is not to ask God to come into our desires and bless them but to learn of His desires and bless Him through our obedience to accomplish His desires. Just what we have been hearing for over a year now. It's not about us...it's all about Him. It was good to be reminded again why we are here.

One of the men at church is named Kosta. He had a friend visiting from Italy. Actually the friend is an US soldier. Imagine our surprise when we were introduced to him and we realized that he had lived in South Carolina. He name is Kevin. Of course our next question was, where in South Carolina. He said Columbia. Again we asked where. He said Denny Terrace. Imagine our surprise to realize that Kevin had lived on our very road as a child while his father attend Columbia Biblical Seminary or (CIU). Talk about a small world. It was so good to hear his very southern accent. Didn't get a photo...sorry! Now that we're delayed we may get his photo yet.


The weather is supposed to get colder this week. So we made another trip to the Second Hand store. Steve enjoys visiting with two of the men there that like to practice their English skills. When the kids heard one of the men say that one table had clothes for 5 grivna (about 75 cents) they had a great time digging through the stack. In the end they still gave us a bigger discount. Lyonya asked if Steve was good friends with that man. It's hard to explain the Lord's favor with our limited vocabulary.

The Lord continues to be with us each step of the way. Please now pray that the final issues can be resolved and we can make it home very soon. We have a lot to get back to there. We miss you all.
Love,
Steve and Carol,
Lyonya, Pasha, Galia and Andrei