Denton and I were up early to finish packing, eat breakfast & take an estimated 3 hour taxi ride to the airport in Donetsk. I will add that we do not speak Russian (remember) and we cannot communicate with this taxi driver. We are trusting that he will actually get us to Donetsk - and on time. Sergei thought the taxi driver would probably follow all the traffic laws to avoid a ticket, thus the 3 hour estimate. We arrive an hour early. Does this mean the driver didn't follow the laws?
Two things Denton and I observe: 1)Dodging potholes is a sport, 2)The stark contrast between the black soil and the bright green winter cover crop along the way is breathtaking.
After a very bumpy ride to Donetsk, we get to the airport about 1:30. Denton's 4pm flight is international, so we have to be there early. My 5pm flight seems forever away. Denton departs from me to head through security & back home. I can't cry because this man from PA who has been talking to us is standing beside us (hello! privacy please!). I put on my big girl pants & send Denton on his way. The kids will be so happy to see him tomorrow! I will be happy at Belichi Bible Church among friends. As Denton walks away, the PA man resumes his talk about airline safety these days and how ludicrous it is to pat down and strip search a 5-year-old boy. I am praying that we sail through all security check-points. I am just not comfortable with getting molested - for myself or my children! I didn't realize it was that bad.
At the end of the day, I arrived safely in Kiev; Denton is in Munich safely. He should arrive home tomorrow afternoon. Thank you for your prayers!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Day 15 (friday) - Dinner guests
We are so excited to be invited to Inna's home for dinner tonight! (I love her borscht - glad she taught me how to make it when she stayed with us in America!)
After much begging, Ola was allowed to go with us (shhh).
We slept in a little after yesterday's hectic & exhausting day, packed for tomorrow's travel & then went to visit Ola in the orphanage. When we got there, it was a frenzy of kids everywhere - school was letting out. One friend of Ola's met us in the hall on the way to her floor & said she wasn't in her room, but we knew where she was (did I miss something? - we have no clue where she is if not in her room). So we call Ola - she says "you know where I am" - maybe she meant that as a question. Eventually she finds us (we actually told her where we were:) & we are taken upstairs to the party room. It is the last friday of the month - a time of celebrating the November birthdays. We have music, funny skits, and entertainment from the kids. Each birthday boy & girl gets a gift & recognition. Then off to Ola's room for another form of entertainment, Olga M. She is such a funny character! We're praying her Mom & Dad get to come *soon*. We skype our children at home & then time to walk to Inna's.
What a treat! Borscht, chicken, pickled tomatoes, compote, sausage, cheese, bread, homemade sauce - I am sure I'm forgetting something...
Inna tells us about her garden & that every vegetable we see is "real" and all from her garden. She plants, picks, and preserves the foods we ate. I am going to need those recipes, Inna! My favorite was the raspberry compote. Recipe: put fresh raspberries in a glass (not plastic) jar, pour hot water over them, add sugar & put the lid on. A delicious & traditional Ukrainian drink.
The tomatoes were great too - they had herbs & stuff, but Inna couldn't translate/mime that recipe - will try again to learn how.
We had a wonderful visit with Inna & Zhennya. Looked through photos of their life and children, talked about family, and laughed together as friends. Ola translated some. Zhennya & Inna expressed their thankfulness to us for adopting Ola.
After much begging, Ola was allowed to go with us (shhh).
We slept in a little after yesterday's hectic & exhausting day, packed for tomorrow's travel & then went to visit Ola in the orphanage. When we got there, it was a frenzy of kids everywhere - school was letting out. One friend of Ola's met us in the hall on the way to her floor & said she wasn't in her room, but we knew where she was (did I miss something? - we have no clue where she is if not in her room). So we call Ola - she says "you know where I am" - maybe she meant that as a question. Eventually she finds us (we actually told her where we were:) & we are taken upstairs to the party room. It is the last friday of the month - a time of celebrating the November birthdays. We have music, funny skits, and entertainment from the kids. Each birthday boy & girl gets a gift & recognition. Then off to Ola's room for another form of entertainment, Olga M. She is such a funny character! We're praying her Mom & Dad get to come *soon*. We skype our children at home & then time to walk to Inna's.
What a treat! Borscht, chicken, pickled tomatoes, compote, sausage, cheese, bread, homemade sauce - I am sure I'm forgetting something...
Inna tells us about her garden & that every vegetable we see is "real" and all from her garden. She plants, picks, and preserves the foods we ate. I am going to need those recipes, Inna! My favorite was the raspberry compote. Recipe: put fresh raspberries in a glass (not plastic) jar, pour hot water over them, add sugar & put the lid on. A delicious & traditional Ukrainian drink.
The tomatoes were great too - they had herbs & stuff, but Inna couldn't translate/mime that recipe - will try again to learn how.
We had a wonderful visit with Inna & Zhennya. Looked through photos of their life and children, talked about family, and laughed together as friends. Ola translated some. Zhennya & Inna expressed their thankfulness to us for adopting Ola.
Thanksgiving
Please allow me to revisit Thanksgiving now that I have had time to collect the thoughts from a whirlwind of the past 4 days...
from http://dictionary.reference.com
from http://dictionary.reference.com
thanks·giv·ing
[thangks-giv-ing] - noun
ɪŋ
1. the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, esp. to God.
2. an expression of thanks, esp. to God.
3. a public celebration in acknowledgment of divine favor or kindness.
4. a day set apart for giving thanks to God.
Normally, our family celebrates Thanksgiving with extended family - a time of eating delicious food when everyone brings her specialty dish. We visit, say a prayer of Thanks to God, eat & then some have a nap (due to tryptophan coma). After reading the definition above I ponder how much of the 24-hour day called Thanksgiving do we set apart for God - to give Him proper thanks - how can we give Him proper thanks?
Pastor Kolia preached today on the 1st of God's Commandments - "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The following 3 commandments also deal directly with man's relationship with God (Exodus 20:1-11). One way to show our Thanks to God is to follow His Commandments every day. Jesus gave 2 Commandments in Mark 12:29-31 which are most important: "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
I am now alone - without my husband or children. I am Thankful God has me here; thankful to be at our church in Kiev amongst God's people. My heart keeps repeating Ola's words after court "I can't believe I have a family. It has been my dream." I also know that Ola prayed diligently for God to bless her with a family & asked others to pray with her. She asked, "what if God does not answer my prayer?" to one friend. I am so Thankful that God in His divine plan has orchestrated me to be Ola's Mother, Denton to be her Father, and Emary, Alex, & Abigail to be her siblings. I am certain that even with a much larger vocabulary I could not express my thanks to God. My prayer is that we will show our thankfulness through obedience to the Lord our God who has brought us out of bondage.
Exodus 20:1-2 "I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."
Normally, our family celebrates Thanksgiving with extended family - a time of eating delicious food when everyone brings her specialty dish. We visit, say a prayer of Thanks to God, eat & then some have a nap (due to tryptophan coma). After reading the definition above I ponder how much of the 24-hour day called Thanksgiving do we set apart for God - to give Him proper thanks - how can we give Him proper thanks?
Pastor Kolia preached today on the 1st of God's Commandments - "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The following 3 commandments also deal directly with man's relationship with God (Exodus 20:1-11). One way to show our Thanks to God is to follow His Commandments every day. Jesus gave 2 Commandments in Mark 12:29-31 which are most important: "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
I am now alone - without my husband or children. I am Thankful God has me here; thankful to be at our church in Kiev amongst God's people. My heart keeps repeating Ola's words after court "I can't believe I have a family. It has been my dream." I also know that Ola prayed diligently for God to bless her with a family & asked others to pray with her. She asked, "what if God does not answer my prayer?" to one friend. I am so Thankful that God in His divine plan has orchestrated me to be Ola's Mother, Denton to be her Father, and Emary, Alex, & Abigail to be her siblings. I am certain that even with a much larger vocabulary I could not express my thanks to God. My prayer is that we will show our thankfulness through obedience to the Lord our God who has brought us out of bondage.
Exodus 20:1-2 "I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Day 14 - Thanksgiving and Court (thurs)
Happy Thanksgiving! Our court day was today at 2(ish)pm.
What a wonderful day to have court and welcome our 4th child, Olga Joy Elliott!
After a 30 minute visit with the judge & a 20 minute recess, he stated that Ukraine would allow Olga to be our daughter. The photo is taken outside the courthouse: Denton, Tamara, Ola, Inspector General of Children's Affairs in Severodonetsk, and the Orphanage Lawyer (Yanna).
Praise God! What a work He has done.
Ukrainian law requires a 10 day wait for any appeals to the decision to be made, but since the 10th day falls on a Sunday, we must wait 11 days. Denton will travel home and I will travel to Kiev to stay with our church family there. This was a long day - more details to come (especially since I am a few days behind - it is late & today (actually saturday) was a really long day of travel. More later on our interview with the Ukrainian news.
I am so thankful to be able to worship with our church here (Kiev) tomorrow!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Day 13 - tour
What a treat we had today! Our friend at the orphanage gave us a tour. We saw 3 incredible museums in the school, many classrooms (the children are so respectful - when we entered the room, they all stood and said "dras-vwe-te"!), and the school chapel - beautiful! After a tour of the school, we were taken to the "kindergarten" building. Can you imagine a dozen little cuties *all sleeping*! They are so sweet - precious - beautiful. The girls' hair was decorated so cute with braids and bows. This is where Ola began her days at the orphanage nearly 11 years ago. We saw their playroom, classroom, kitchen, sleeping room - all miniature for toddlers. The caretakers were so nice - this school is a good one in which they truly love the children.
Since all the children were asleep, we asked to come back later to deliver a package from a family in America. While back in the school, we asked to see Yuroslav to deliver his package. He seemed shy and was very quiet. Then we went back to see his little sister & deliver her package. She is such a playful & sweet girl. Yuro is a wonderful big brother (he went with us to deliver her package) & let his sister play with all of his gifts. We could tell he adores her. Ola went with us too - to help translate;) Denton had a great time playing with Violetta and her new dog, "Dru-zhok" (it means best friend - animal, not human). She couldn't seem to understand why we couldn't talk to her - she kept repeating things slowly in Russian and taught us how to count in Russian. Such a clever girl. Ola commented too that she was a smart young lady. Yuro mostly watched & giggled at his sister's delightful play. On our way out, all the children were seated for dinner - so quietly! They all spoke to us & Ola showed us her favorite little boy Koyla. He is tiny & I am certain he could fit in my purse (kidding of course - I wish it were that easy). When we skyped our children & told them about our day Abigail asked if we could buy them & bring them home:) Oh I certainly could bring them home! The caregiver told me that all of these children want a family. We could give them that! So could families here. We are praying that more families will want to adopt. More on that tomorrow...
Since all the children were asleep, we asked to come back later to deliver a package from a family in America. While back in the school, we asked to see Yuroslav to deliver his package. He seemed shy and was very quiet. Then we went back to see his little sister & deliver her package. She is such a playful & sweet girl. Yuro is a wonderful big brother (he went with us to deliver her package) & let his sister play with all of his gifts. We could tell he adores her. Ola went with us too - to help translate;) Denton had a great time playing with Violetta and her new dog, "Dru-zhok" (it means best friend - animal, not human). She couldn't seem to understand why we couldn't talk to her - she kept repeating things slowly in Russian and taught us how to count in Russian. Such a clever girl. Ola commented too that she was a smart young lady. Yuro mostly watched & giggled at his sister's delightful play. On our way out, all the children were seated for dinner - so quietly! They all spoke to us & Ola showed us her favorite little boy Koyla. He is tiny & I am certain he could fit in my purse (kidding of course - I wish it were that easy). When we skyped our children & told them about our day Abigail asked if we could buy them & bring them home:) Oh I certainly could bring them home! The caregiver told me that all of these children want a family. We could give them that! So could families here. We are praying that more families will want to adopt. More on that tomorrow...
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