Do I say too often.... God is awesome! We are now back from Ukraine. God's timing and plans were amazing. We planned to visit all 8 of the children we hosted. We were only able to visit 7. One was in a different city. We did not know before we arrived and had no time to find him. One, the youngest, Leeza was in the hospital. Nothing wrong with her. Just keeping up the quota of used beds there. We encountered that with others we had met before and were blessed to be able to see the while we were in Ukraine.
We joined the Reach Orphans with Hope group for the first few days. They went to Poltava. We were able to see many of the children that had been hosted on summer programs and many I had met the year before visiting there. The kids were glad to see us and we were glad to see them. Lots of hugs! We were able to go with some of them to the park. We took bubbles and balloons. Great fun.
We took the orphanage 75 blankets. The director was pleased.
Natasha planned to take me to see the city on Saturday. Rachel said she just wanted to spend time with the children. I told her it was a privilege. We went and saw churches and an author's home. All this in 1 hour. Her husband drove us. (Later God multiplied the time we lost with the children.)
On a personal note on the night we arrived.... Our boy was asked by a friend if I was his mom and he said yes. I clearly understood this in Russian. I don't understand much. Occasionally I can understand sentences. We had not specifically told them of our plans. I was glad to know he already knew. He and his older sister would come up and hug me every few minutes throughout our time together. It is hard not to have them here with us. They are, in our hearts our children. We love them.
We had a great time with the group. It was an easy time, little responsibility, follow the leader. they were in Poltava 2 and a half days. They left for home on Sunday.
My dear friend Masha joined up Saturday morning. She helped many to talk with their future children. She was such a blessing. She rode the train all night to come, with drunks. (You will understand now why I took the day train later. I learned from her bad experience.)
Sunday we were given permission to take the 3 we planned on adopting to Sumi with us to visit Ira and Rita. Natasha and her son went with us also. Masha came to translate for me. It took about 3 hours. Natasha had the driver pick her up, they picked up the kids and then us. We had a bumpy, long van ride. It was good to have some time with the children alone. We played Connect Four and would have played checkers if it had not been too bumpy.
Ira was hysterically excited. She was jumping up and down calling Rita. She had seen us from a distance. She could not decide if she should get Rita or come to us. Finally she did go get Rita. I asked permission to go across the courtyard to meet them. Big hugs and a little shy. They showed us their rooms and introduced us to their friends. We sat in the sitting room awhile then outside to the playground. They introduced us to the puppies under their building. We gave out candy and rubber insects.
We asked permission to take them to lunch. We went to town and walked around. It seemed too short a visit. We hated taking them back. They began to tear up as we headed back. Their teacher said they asked if they could come to America again.
The time came to leave and they were crying. Then I was crying.
The van ride back....I asked Masha to translate and David to occupy Natasha and her son. I knew the oldest was sad and she finally told me why. We talked about it some. I had waited until that day to mention them becoming a part of our family. I only talked with the older 2. The boy was incredibly excited. The surprise was the older girls lack of excitement. In the van she explained her father had died 2 days ago. She was not allowed to go to the funeral. I expressed my sorrow for her loss. We had a fun time on the ride back. She felt better after telling me. It had not affected her siblings like it did her.
The day was done. The children went back to the orphanage.
