A Time for Everything

It was decided yesterday that if we're gonna be here a while longer we might as well see all we can of the city. Since there were no documents to sign yesterday we packed a picnic and boarded a bus for the 411th Battery Memorial Park. The older kids had actually spent a lot of time at this park as it is near the camp were they stayed each summer. They were happy to get outside though and glad to be able to take photographs. Steve really enjoyed all the history too.


In the afternoon we took the bus back to the city (about an hour) and rested before going to dinner at the apartment of some dear friends. After a fabulous dinner there was a spirited game of Uno. We finally pulled the kids away and headed home for the night.

Thanks so much to everyone for their emails of encouragement. They were so timely.

Today we had two other adoptive families over to visit this morning. Tanya, one of the mothers, had bought Ice Age II in Russian. That was fun for everyone. Carol has more documents to sign this afternoon. So we're off for a quick walk around the center before an afternoon of games. Some times it seems we're just killing time until we return and get back to life, but we know in our hearts that...


Ecc. 1 There is a time for everything,and a season for every activity under heaven.... 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

So we choose to concentrate on His truth that our time here is in his hands. He will accomplish His plans. We just need to be available and have a good attitude.

Hope you enjoy the photos from the park. The boys had a blast!

While I'm Waiting

artist: John Waller
Album: The Blessing
Year: 2007



I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

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

....and we're still here.

Sorry for waiting so long in updating the post. Instead of slowing down we have been going faster. Now I think we will be waiting. We hope we have all the requested documents to all the correct offices. Passports should be in Monday or Tuesday, but we cannot pick them up until the deed issues are resolved (please pray). As soon as that happens we will head to Kiev. Our time in Kiev should be 1-3 days. We will need medicals on all 4 children there. For one child a two hours appointment, but remember we have to multiply everything by 4. So we are saying we will leave as soon as we can.

Thursday and Friday were very busy. We ran from office to office all over the city on Thursday and then had Grandma, Jenya and Marianna over to the apartment for supper. Supper for 10 and a very full table. Somethings are just like home!


DINNER WITH GRANDMA

It was a difficult night for everyone. Goodbyes are just that way. Grandma was remarkable though and hugged us and thanked us for doing what she cannot do and told her four youngest grandchildren goodbye. We had a taxi pick her up and take her home. She fell last week boarding the bus and scrapped her leg up pretty badly. She's doing okay but has had a hard life. Pray for her as she struggles to meet basic physical and financial needs.

GALIA WITH GRANDMA


Friday was another day running around the city. Natalia and Carol took Andrei and headed off to more appointments. Steve took the rest of the crew with a friend and found a Christian bookstore. The kids picked out a few books each in Russian so they would have something to read until they learn English. Galia has already finished Narnia though! The rest of the afternoon was spent having passport photos for the kids and such. It was nice though that we finally had a quiet evening and were able to have dinner and rest at the apartment. The kids were in bed by 9:00pm and we weren't far behind them!
More soon....

BEDTIME

This weeks update!

It has been a non-stop two days trying to gather documents for completing all the paperwork, saying goodbye to new friends, a congratulation party/dinner at the home of some dear friends (that was an unexpected blessing and surprise), more running around for documents, another visit with the children's Grandma, Jenya hanging out, friends stopping by and, in the midst, trying to deal with the realities of life for a family of 6 like food 3+ times a day!



The Lord is so amazing though; He provides each step of the way and continues to encourage us to just do the next thing and not try to control the timing or outcome. We are in His hands and our job is to be obedient and follow Him.

We now have birth certificates with their new names (and our names as their parents). We visited the passport office and will return there tomorrow with more documents. Natalia continues to work on various deed issues. Our hope is to have the passports in hand and leave Odessa by Monday and arrive in Kiev on Tuesday morning. If that works, we should make our flight out on October 1st. If not, we will have to wait in Odessa for passports and we will keep you posted of our travel plans. Please pray for Monday! Financially it will be difficult to wait much longer.


Tomorrow and Friday will also be very busy with trips to lots of different offices. When possible, Carol has been traveling with Natalia to try to accomplish things and Steve has been keeping everyone occupied with walks, board games, and visits with friends. Fortunately, there is a nice park and playground nearby. Tonight, Steve took them to the small group prayer meeting, while Carol and Natalia remained at the passport office until after 7pm. It was nice evening for the walk to Ron's apartment (it's about a mile one way) and the group offered a prayer of blessing on the children's lives, that the languages barriers would be quickly overcome and that the children would quickly integrate into our family. We are so thankful for the Church.

Thanks so much to everyone for all the encouraging emails and comments. We eagerly anticipate those each morning. Your prayers are more precious than you will ever know. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Love,
Steve and Carol

GALIA'S ART

In His Hands

LYONYA AND PASHA SAY GOODBYE TO THEIR CLASS

Hi Everyone,
The weekend was nothing that we thought it would be. For that matter neither was today, but all four children are finally with us and we are praising Jesus!

We arrived at Internot #4 this morning at 11:15 as planned but as we let the children change into the clothing we brought and waited for a regional representative to arrive, the director left the property. She walked right past us with not a word. We were told we would have to wait for her return. By 3pm Carol called Natalia, as she had walked down the street to get something to eat, and told her something needed to be done. We were ready to file a formal complaint with the SDA. (We needed to get to Internot #9 by 4:30 to meet with Andrei's director.) We had a court order, we had waited our 10+ days and now we needed the director present to sign the children out. Within 30 minutes of Natalia notifying the director's secretary of our intentions, the director returned to the Internot, signed the documents, apologized and wished us a happy life. It's that way with a lot of things here. I guess, if the truth be told, it is that way with life anywhere. Power and control are the only things some people have. Pretty sad actually. We pray the Lord will bless this director and radically change her life. He sure had plenty to deal with today in our own hearts and attitudes.



GALIA SAYS GOODBYE TO CLASSMATES


STEVE LEAVES #4 WITH LYONYA, PASHA, AND GALIA


Steve left Internot #4 with Lyonya, Pasha, and Galia by bus while Carol and Natalia proceeded on to #9 to sign out Andrei. The difference was night and day. The whole process took about 45 minutes, 15 of which was spent with Andrei hugging his teachers and classmates. By 5:30pm Carol and Andrei were on the bus headed to meet everyone else at the apartment.

The whole lot of us were very hungry...especially since some of us missed lunch....so we made a quick walk to the super market. That was a sight. All six of us walking thru this narrow market and loading up on supplies. We made pasta with a a white mushroom sauce and salad (without lettuce). Andrei ate the most! Three helpings! They are all so very thin. We can't wait to see them a month from now.

DINNER IN THE APARTMENT

After dinner, showers, one flood in the bathroom, reading of Jesus calming the storm in Russian then in English, many hugs and kisses, all four kids fell asleep amongst giggles. We wondered if they even remember the last time they were all able to sleep in the same place.

Tomorrow we will head out early to work on their new birth certificates. We will let you know the outcome....we have no expectation and that's probably a good thing. It's all in His hands.