March 29, 2008 Sunday

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be longing for heaven and home?
When Jesus is my portion a constant friend is he.
His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me.

I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free!
His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me!

I sang this morning at church. I was nervous. Why, I do not know because they would have never understood if I would have said the wrong words anyway. I noticed the lady that had lost her daughter to cancer was crying. I hope the song was an encouragement to her. After I sang, Sergay, the pastor mentioned that sometimes they call their children, "sparrows" because of their responsibility to care for their children when they are small.

One of the deacon's wives asked if I would sing again another time. That was an encouragement to me. I was so surprised because I wasn't sure if Gene would come to church, since he came into the church when I was practicing yesterday. But this morning he did come to church and so did Natasha. I was so thankful that they came again. I still believe that many people that are their age and younger need a different kind of sermon that is more life applicable. When Gene picked us up to go to church he gave me a crocheted cross that his mother had made for me. I was so happy to receive it and will carry it in my bible as a remembrance of the lovely Ukraine people we have met here.

After church Gene and Natasha took us to eat at a little restaurant. It was very good. Then we went and had tea and coffee at the same cafй we went to last Sunday. We talked about how much people get paid here versus in America and how much housing costs. We also talked more about them wanting to learn English, but it is very costly to take lessons here.

Now we are back at the clinic to take a nap. At 4:00 pm we will pick up Luda and go to visit the kids. After we visit, we will go to Peter and his wife's house to try and SKYPE…..Yeah, a visit with the boys…hopefully!

We visited Caleb first. He wanted to go outside, but it was cold and I have not been feeling well. Still the same cough, I left Minnesota with and now It seems to be getting worse. After we told him we brought him a toy, he was glad to stay inside and when we pulled out the army truck with two army guys inside, he said a long….Wow! Paul and Caleb played with this for the full hour except for a short break to eat a banana and drink some peach juice. Afterwards we went to see "D". She was outside walking a small baby with some older girls. One of the staff had brought their very new baby and they were walking her in a stroller. We realized very quickly that she wasn't that thrilled to see us, because she wanted to stay with the baby. I'm not surprised. It is starting to get quite boring and what child would not want to stay and play with friends instead of having to figure out things to do with adults. We started to walk away and the older girls tried to convince her to go with us, but she was not interested. We then took her aside and told her that it was okay to want to play with her friends and we understood and would just come tomorrow. She said okay.

We then left and went and got me some antibiotics at the pharmacy. Yes, U.S. friends….no prescriptions needed!!! I took one right away hoping that my cough which I believe had turned into an infection would begin healing. We then left to go with Luda to Peter and Katya home. When we arrived we also met their son Andrew. He spoke very good English because he lived in the U.S. for his senior year of high school as an exchange student. To our surprise Katya had cooked dinner; we feasted on stuffed peppers and a meat/noodle dish, spiced tomatoes, salad and tea. For desert she made a pound cake with cherries inside that was delicious, and ice cream on the side. It was the best meal we have had so far here. Plus, the fellowship with this wonderful Christian family just lifted our souls After we had eaten Peter's oldest brother, Vasi, came in. He was staying with them and for us it was a true Ukrainian style visit that we felt so blessed to be a part of.

Vasi is part Kozmo Kramer with his cool persona and part Robert Deniro with his intensity, wit, and story-telling ability. He is a retired coal-miner with plenty to say on world affairs, politics, and religion as well as more localized versions of these. With Vasi at the center of conversation we drifted off into a comparison of what major religions hold as their beliefs about God and then onto the state of affairs in both Ukraine and America. I was amazed at the frequency and level of corruption here as described by Vasi. No matter how many stories I told of American politicians abusing their power ( the biggest being ex-gov of IL trying to sell Obama's vacated Senate seat), Vasi had two or three comebacks. Wow! Yet he also commented on the durability and hardiness of his fellow countrymen.

As we neared the end of the evening a discussion of views on marriage produced several Ukrainian folk stories that just had all of us rolling on the floor. Maybe something was lost in translation but the manner in which Vasi delivered each was priceless! We finally said our goodbyes to Peter, Katya, Andrew, and of course Vasi and headed back to the clinic after what had turned into a pretty busy day.