This is the Cathedrl of St. Volodmyr, as seen from our bedroom window.
This is the cathedral of St. Andrews, across the street from the office of children's services.
This is for the people clamoring for pictures.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Cathedrals
This is the Cathedrl of St. Volodmyr, as seen from our bedroom window.
This is the cathedral of St. Andrews, across the street from the office of children's services.
This is for the people clamoring for pictures.
Arriving Safe
We have arrived safely. We had no problems with our flights.
Last time we went over the arctic circle. This time, we flew east. This meant that we saw the sun set behind us, then rise again in front of us 6 hours later. That was a weird feeling.
It also made me think - the speed and reliability of air travel can diminish a lot of history. For instance, there are many small towns in the US that used to be thriving until the interstate came through. Nobody visited, and eventually the towns dwindle into obscurity, with people driving by and never knowing the town was there at all. The jet-set socialite crowd jeeringly refer to the non-coastal states as "fly-over country" - country full of peasants and rednecks and assume that there is nothing of value in these states that they never travel to - only over.
In the same way - in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Whoop-de-do. We just flew the same distance in seven hours. Charles Lindbergh flew New York to Paris in 33 hours. We did more than that in seven hours. Likewise - we crossed the English Channel in mere minutes. We crossed all of Great Britain in minutes. Cities that factor prominently in our history (Oxford, Paris, etc.) became just dots of the map that quickly sped by.
Riding above the clouds, above the storms, above the weather, above even the sunset - WWI and WWII just seem so trite and petty. We have been given such a large and beautiful world - and we kill each other over trifles like billionaires fighting over pennies.
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N. picked us up from the airport and brought us to a rental apartment. It is very nice; the decor is good. It is on the 6th floor of an apartment complex (marked 11 in the elevator). We can see an ornate cathedral (St. Volodymyrs) from our bedroom window. We have a very nice apartment; it is very ornately decorated.
We had a bit of a problem yesterday. The wifi in our room did not work, so we were using our laptop. Microsoft decided it was time to run some automatic updates, restarted (without asking) and proceeded to crash while installing the updates..... thus leaving our computer unable to boot. This was a rotten development - this is the only way we can talk to our friends and family at home (especially our daughters). We would much rather be without lights or hot water - we need our internet! We were able to get a technician to fix it today (Ezra had not brought his PC repair tools - packing light and that sort of thing). God is good!
We had our appointment today and got our referral to visit "Bowen" in the orphanage. Remember everyone, we are not allowed to use his real name until we have completed the adoption. "Bowen" is just an alias.
We were able to Skype to our daughters at home. This was the first time the girls have seen a video chat. They have seen still pictures, and they have seen movies - so at first they just pointed and said "mama, dada" (as they do to pictures in our house). When they realized it was more than just a picture - that we could see them and hear them - Juliana waved at us vigorously. She stretched out her arms for us to pick her up; it was very sad for us not to be able to hold her. Skype doesn't work that well yet. :-) Elena was busy making faces into the "reflection" camera and signing "S...k.... y.....p.....e...." (the logo is visible on the screen).
Hopefully we leave tomorrow to go to his region and see him for the first time. We may not be in communication for a day or so.
Last time we went over the arctic circle. This time, we flew east. This meant that we saw the sun set behind us, then rise again in front of us 6 hours later. That was a weird feeling.
It also made me think - the speed and reliability of air travel can diminish a lot of history. For instance, there are many small towns in the US that used to be thriving until the interstate came through. Nobody visited, and eventually the towns dwindle into obscurity, with people driving by and never knowing the town was there at all. The jet-set socialite crowd jeeringly refer to the non-coastal states as "fly-over country" - country full of peasants and rednecks and assume that there is nothing of value in these states that they never travel to - only over.
-------------------
N. picked us up from the airport and brought us to a rental apartment. It is very nice; the decor is good. It is on the 6th floor of an apartment complex (marked 11 in the elevator). We can see an ornate cathedral (St. Volodymyrs) from our bedroom window. We have a very nice apartment; it is very ornately decorated.
We had a bit of a problem yesterday. The wifi in our room did not work, so we were using our laptop. Microsoft decided it was time to run some automatic updates, restarted (without asking) and proceeded to crash while installing the updates..... thus leaving our computer unable to boot. This was a rotten development - this is the only way we can talk to our friends and family at home (especially our daughters). We would much rather be without lights or hot water - we need our internet! We were able to get a technician to fix it today (Ezra had not brought his PC repair tools - packing light and that sort of thing). God is good!
We had our appointment today and got our referral to visit "Bowen" in the orphanage. Remember everyone, we are not allowed to use his real name until we have completed the adoption. "Bowen" is just an alias.
We were able to Skype to our daughters at home. This was the first time the girls have seen a video chat. They have seen still pictures, and they have seen movies - so at first they just pointed and said "mama, dada" (as they do to pictures in our house). When they realized it was more than just a picture - that we could see them and hear them - Juliana waved at us vigorously. She stretched out her arms for us to pick her up; it was very sad for us not to be able to hold her. Skype doesn't work that well yet. :-) Elena was busy making faces into the "reflection" camera and signing "S...k.... y.....p.....e...." (the logo is visible on the screen).
Hopefully we leave tomorrow to go to his region and see him for the first time. We may not be in communication for a day or so.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Dwindle
This time, it is still just us going. We haven't packed as we wanted because our little helpers unpack the bags for us. This time, we leave half our hearts behind; we have never been away from our girls this long. This time, we pack much lighter - yet we are yet more unprepared.
The inescapable question is "Why? Why adopt more children? Don't you know children are expensive?"
We know children are expensive little life-altering bundles of joy (and also poop, as we have been constantly reminded). The inescapable answer is that these children need families. These orphans need someone to love them. They need someone to look out for them and sing songs with them and read to them and to be invested in their lives. So many of these children are languishing in the auspices of the orphanage and the institution. How can we turn a blind eye to their plight? We can not say "these children need families" and yet be unwilling to serve in this way. Empty platitudes are no comfort to empty tummies and empty arms.
The time is so short.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Two weeks
We are about at the two-week point (plus a couple days). Two weeks....... two weeks until we get on a plane, bid goodbye to friends and family (including our daughters) and leave to go OverThere. There is so much yet to do. Mentally, we haven't realized how short two weeks can be. We can only guess how much our lives will be different two months from now.
Bread sales continue to do well. We have had many people make donations and additional contributions to our fundraising. We are closing in on our target amount of funding. We are down to about the last $3300 needed.
The girls are bathed are going to bed. Kelly is reading "I love you Stinky face" to Elena (one of her favorite books). Juliana is giving kisses. Another night draws to a close.
Bread sales continue to do well. We have had many people make donations and additional contributions to our fundraising. We are closing in on our target amount of funding. We are down to about the last $3300 needed.
The girls are bathed are going to bed. Kelly is reading "I love you Stinky face" to Elena (one of her favorite books). Juliana is giving kisses. Another night draws to a close.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Every bit helps
At a yard sale today a person had the picture of "Bowen" on display.
A little boy came up. "What's wrong with that baby?" he asked. "He
was born without arms and legs" they replied. "I want to help that
baby" he said, and paid $20 for $5 item.
It is humbling and touching to hear stories like this. It is humbling to see God's provision for us. Every little bit helps. This endeavor is to big for us to do by ourselves.
It is humbling and touching to hear stories like this. It is humbling to see God's provision for us. Every little bit helps. This endeavor is to big for us to do by ourselves.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Getting Close...Travel Date
We finally got the 'call'. We will be flying out May 18th. This is both super exciting and super nerve wracking. I haven't quite figured out how I will leave my girls this long. Hopefully, we will have a good internet connection and will be able to Skype with them. We now begin the journey of packing and getting everything in order for our stay 'over there'.
The good news is that we have almost a month. That is longer than we had last time, and we know of people who have only had a five day notice.
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! That is the first of many screamings we have to do. There is much to be done and relatively little time to do it. There are many many questions to be answered. There are many things to do and to prepare. We still need to do a lot of fundraising. It is nervewracking - there are so many things that could go wrong and almost all of them are outside our control. At the same time it is exciting - we draw near to the end of months of paperwork.
The good news is that we have almost a month. That is longer than we had last time, and we know of people who have only had a five day notice.
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! That is the first of many screamings we have to do. There is much to be done and relatively little time to do it. There are many many questions to be answered. There are many things to do and to prepare. We still need to do a lot of fundraising. It is nervewracking - there are so many things that could go wrong and almost all of them are outside our control. At the same time it is exciting - we draw near to the end of months of paperwork.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
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