Peace

After the excitement and energy of yesterday, this was a much quieter day (thankfully!). Mark and I went to the orphanage this afternoon about 1:00 and learned that Zhanna was going on another field trip with about half of the group to the University, to see the art museum. Ella was going to stay with some of the other kids and a caregiver at the orphanage.

It turned out to be a sweet afternoon. Ella asked me to go play dolls with her and some of the other girls. We had the best time playing with the odd assortment of dolls. We made up names and pretended to feed them and put them to sleep, etc. Then the girls brushed the dolls' hair and even painted their fingernails! That led to me brushing and French-braiding Ella's hair. She liked that.

Then we all went to another room to watch movies with some of the kids. The movies were American-made with voice-overs. We watched a movie where Morgan Freeman was speaking Russian! It was great! While we were watching the movie, Ella, who was sitting next to me, leaned over and laid her head on my shoulder. I loved it.

Zhanna and the other group arrived home late in the afternoon, so we didn't have as much time with her today, but we still got to see her. Mark bought the girls a CD of their favorite Ukrainian "girl group" today - Rynetky. They were thrilled. Ella was listening with headphones when we said good-bye.

We are finding that we never know what the next day may hold, and yet in some ways, it's like the days keep repeating themselves redundantly over and over - much like the movie, "Groundhog Day." We can't communicate with the orphanage. We must just go along with whatever is planned there for the day, and try to fit in time with the girls as best we can. Even though we are the official parents of the girls at this time, they still live at the orphanage. They aren't legally ours yet, and truly, they are not quite ready to be. They still need this time with friends and with the structure and security they know there. They honestly have no idea what we have done for them up to this point to be able to adopt them. They have no idea what the future will look like for them, and don't know what we'd like to do for them and how we want to provide for them and bless them. They can't see beyond the familiar of life at the orphanage.

As Mark and I walked home today, we had time to consider all this and ruminate on the spiritual correlations. There was Another who entered an incredibly foreign world in which he was considered a stranger. He had no home. He lived among the people as best He could, sharing grace and peace. He couldn't tell His children what He had done for them, or how much He wanted to bless them or the future He had planned for them. They wouldn't understand. All they knew was what they could see. He tried to explain to them, but to them His words were a foreign language. He was willing to do ANYTHING to bring them Home, because He loved them that much. Jesus spent 33 years on Earth. I guess we can spend 33 days in Ukraine.

Thank you for your prayers. God is good. We are at peace. By the way, we understand that the adoption moritorium vote by the Ukrainian Parliament has been pushed back to an indefinite date. The way things go here, it may never be voted on, or it may suddenly be brought up again any day. You never know. We'll let you know if we hear anything. In the meantime, please continue to pray for orphans everywhere, and families attempting to adopt.

May the peace of the Lord be upon you!
Dawn and Mark