Daddy Daycare, Food Choices, and Education

I've added some pics from the summer of Zhanna and Ella and Nathan and Annie. It has been a fun one. We see Zhanna and Ella transforming before our eyes. They seem to be learning new things everyday. Each day brings new awakenings and greater understanding of this new world into which they have entered. They were asked yesterday if they missed Ukraine, and they said, "No." I think they are finally settling and feeling like this is home and they now have a forever family. The extreme emotional responses we had a few weeks ago have lessened. They seem more able to cope and to peacefully take each day as it comes.

We celebrated an anniversary this weekend. One year ago, on August 1, we left Camp Yestrebok in the Ukrainian area of Svetagorsk. We had to say good-bye to Zhanna and Ella with tears streaming down our faces. We made a promise to them that we would do everything we could to come back and adopt them. I'm not sure they believed it, and Mark and I wondered about what the future would hold. It felt as if we were stepping into a black hole of an unknown destination. But God is a big God, and a year later, here we are! A family! We all remembered and spent time praising God this weekend for what He has done to bring us together.

A huge breakthrough came this week between Mark and the girls. He determined that he just needed to spend one-on-one time with them alone, apart from me and Annie. On Friday the girls and Mark went to Babushka's house to make and decorate cupcakes. They had a blast, and came home with the fanciest cupcakes ever - decorated like flowers, and dogs, and bears, etc. Beautiful and delicious! On Saturday, Annie and I attended a wedding in the morning, so Mark stayed with the girls. When we arrived home, we found Dad and Zhanna and Ella sitting on the living room floor having a "Teddy Bear Tea Party". It was the sweetest thing! Mark had pulled out some of Annie's old doll accessories and toys that I had put away for sentimental reasons. The girls were amazed that we had so much! They kept saying, "Wow!" They loved the doll cradle and the big Fisher Price doll house, etc. They were playing as if they were little girls - about half their age. But they never had toys like this before. They are experiencing things they were never able to enjoy as little children. It is precious. They have also come to see Mark as a pretty good playmate, rather than an extra appendage in our home. They have turned the corner and are beginning to call him "Dad." Praise God for all these blessings.

There are many things the girls are catching up on. Sleep is one of those things. I'm sure the energy they are expending everyday to learn English and take in all the new experiences is exhausting. They want to sleep a lot in the mornings, and when we wake them up they have a hard time thinking in English. They seem to think in Russian in the morning, but adjust to English as the day wears on. They are slow to warm up in the mornings, but have a hard time settling down and going to sleep at night. At night we have to push to get them in the shower and to gather for prayers and Bible reading. Then they want me to read them a book, and sometimes they have many questions and want to talk. It is rare when we get to bed before 11:00. We'll have to work hard next week to have an earlier bedtime and earlier wake-up time so they'll be ready for school when it begins on August 17.

They have also been eating a lot! They seem to want a lot of protein. I'm sure their bodies need to catch up a lot. But some of their food choices make us cringe. They seem to adjust to one new food at a time, and then they want to eat that food over and over and over. For the past few days it has been hard boiled eggs. At first they wouldn't eat one, because it was cold. But then they decided they liked them, and now want them all the time. On Saturday, Zhanna had two hard-boiled eggs for breakfast, then four more for lunch, along with 4 hot dogs! She wanted to eat a raw onion with that! Blech! One day Ella ate 4 bananas at one time, after macaroni and cheese and watermelon. I keep thinking they will have stomachaches from the excesses of their food choices, but so far, so good. I guess they must need what they are craving. They are filling out a little, but they could stand to put on a little more weight. They are both thin. So, for now, whatever they want to eat is usually okay. We are trying to introduce them to more salad and vegetables. They love cucumbers and tomatoes, but are slow to warm up to lettuce and other food with texture and flavor that is unfamiliar to them. They won't eat any kind of cereal yet, although we have tried waffles, and they like those. Their tastes seem to run to simple "kid foods" right now. It's all a process.

We're preparing for the girls to attend Albuquerque Christian School where I teach. I'm so incredibly grateful to the school board and administration for their willingness to take this on. We have been a school focused on an advanced curriculum and a college prep focus - even though we only go through grade 8. We have never had an other ESL students attending the school. But because I work there, and because of the commitment to share Christ with those who don't know Him, the school has agreed the girls should attend ACS. I'm so excited and pleased. I had a hard time thinking about putting the girls in a public middle school, even with an ESL program. Throwing them into public school at ages 12 and 13, and having them exposed to all the attitudes and junk that is out there did not feel right at all to me or to Mark. They will both be in the 5th grade this first year, as they work on English and catch up in math and other areas. They will have a specialized program catered just to them. They will be with the middle school kids part of the time for devotionals, enrichment classes, etc., and will have individualized help in English and math. We're also looking for a Russian speaking person to serve as a translator a couple of hours a day to help with the harder comprehension issues needed in reading textbooks, etc. At the Christian School Zhanna and Ella will participate in a Bible class everyday, which they need more than anything. They will be surrounded by people who care about them and are kind to them and are demonstrating the love of God. They will hopefully make friends with kids who can show them that the latest and greatest toys and games and clothes and activities aren't nearly as important as the kind of person you are on the inside and how you treat others. They will hopefully see that God has created them to be a uniquely special person in His kingdom, and that they are valuable and loved. These ideas are all so foreign to the girls - as foreign as the new language. The Soviet mentality is all about obedience to the State, and that the individual is not important - the collective is what is important. They have been basically taught that they are not important. They have been taught to fear authority rather than to respond to loving direction and understand that obedience is done out of love, not out of fear. I'm excited to see how God will use all this in their lives and what changes are ahead for the girls.

Right now we're still working on getting them to feel comfortable enough around new people to be able to talk and not feel embarrassed or unsure of themselves. They have not learned the art of simple conversation around people they don't know well. The language issue is a part of that, but yesterday we were invited to a birthday party for the son of a friend of mine who is from Russia. There was also another woman there from Ukraine who spoke to the girls. They would hardly speak to either of the women, so that helped me to understand that it is not all about the language. It is simply a skill they have not been taught. We will have to keep working on it. I think they will begin to feel much more connected to people when they have a voice and can share.

Aren't we blessed to have a loving Heavenly Father who cares so much about us that He created us to be creative individuals with a voice? He has given us equality and freedom! He has offered us love and grace. He is not the condemning rule-oriented god that so many think of Him as. He only longs for relationship with us. He wants us to come to Him with open arms and open hearts, knowing that we were created as unique individuals and He has equipped each one of us uniquely. I know when Zhanna and Ella come to understand that better they will have a greater sense of confidence and self-worth. I long to remember these ideas every day of my own life, too. But I often forget. When I remember that my worth is found in Jesus and because of Jesus, and not in anything I do, and that God made me who I am to freely live for Him, it takes a lot of pressure off of me. I don't worry so much about what others think. I'm free to live and breathe and create and laugh and serve, without all the baggage that comes with fear and insecurity. Praise God for freedom! I pray that Zhanna and Ella come to know freedom in Christ!

Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouragement in this faith journey. God is good and equips us everyday for what that day brings.
Much love,
Dawn and Mark