Today, we got to experience a kind of temporary jail break. Our plan was to have our facilitator bring girl 'k' to meet us, hang out for a while in the city, and then all of us would take some public transportation out to see the boys. A phone call from the orphanage changed our plans. We found out that big 'k' had a soccer game against an unknown opponent. We shifted plans for our romantic Valentine's day with 4 kids and a translator. Vickie, Kole and I struck out for the last stop on the Metro, and we met our facilitator, girl 'k' and Luda and headed the orphanage first. Our facilitator had plans so he dropped us off. Big 'k' had told us we could ride the bus to the game with them, but there was no bus, only 2 cars. We were pleased to find out that the drivers of these cars were believers, who have been frequenting the orphanage on the weekends to build relationships with the kids. It was good to know that someone is caring for them from the body of Christ in Kiev, Ukraine.
We had a great time watching skinny legged boys play indoor soccer (what a surprise!) against some well trained city girls and boys teams. It is not very often that any boys get to leave the orphanage to go play. So, this was a treat for them as well. Post game activity was a meal for the boys at a local shopping mall, where they devoured twice their body weight in food. It was great to have all 3 kids plus Kole together away from any orphanage grounds. The family dynamic is growing stronger and we laughed as they awkwardly interact with each other. Once the meal was done, we turned heads on a shuttle bus as we headed over to play a few arcade games. Our fun time ended up at the busiest McDonald's in Kiev, next to "word that translates crossways" metro. This was only the 2nd time for the boys to ever eat at McDonald's in their life and the first to ever eat together there. Little 'k' actually remembered begging for money outside McDonald's to eat there the first time.
We all rode the metro and the bumpy shuttle through the night to the boys orphanage, had prayers and hugs, and then we parted ways with girl 'k' and Luda back at Nivky station. We are now sitting in our favorite internet spot writing and listening to a guy play and sing "Sweet Home Alabama". Can you believe it? The guy is from Atlanta, but spent some time in Birmingham, and now he lives in Kiev working as a journalist/singer, pretty funny... It is good to hear music in English, and songs we know.
Keep praying for the kids to bond with us and each other, and for court, and for God to be glorified and for His will to be done in us. We pray for you and are thankful for each of you. We miss our kids and love them very much!
Blessings
3 comments:
Happy Valentines Day! We continue to pray for you guys, I have passed it along to be praying as well!
Hey Friends - just checking in and was excited to see a picture of all the kids together. We spent the day with Jonathan and Karla - tomorrow is the big day for them. We will be praying and missing you tomorrow in M17. Love ya!
Hello,
Miss you guys so much. All of your events take us right back to the blessings and trials of Ukraine. Why have one unified
adoption process when two or three will do just fine! We would try to give ya'll some wisdom, but we would just be repeating what YOU told us in the first place. I am glad that your experiences with our charming three have paved the way for a Ukrainian trio of your own!
Take care and God Bless,
David and Cecilla
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