March 18, 2009 Wednesday

NUMBERS 14:24

"Because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land…"Numbers 14:24.

We were sitting at a table talking to the Psychologist when the beautiful little boy came into the room. He wore a baby blue crocheted sweater. It was everything we could do, but hold back the tears, but this was not the time for tears, because it might scare the little boy. So, you compose yourself and smile a lot. His teacher asked him questions, to show what he knew. She asked him, "Who sleeps in a cave all winter?" He took a deep breath, paused and then said, "A Bear." She asked, "What other animals live in the woods." He said, "A squirrel and a fox." She said, "Where does a cow live?" He took another deep breath, paused and then said, "On a farm." She said, "Where does a lion live?" He said something that the lion lived in a house." So, we all laughed. He then tried to recite a poem. He was nervous which obviously made it difficult to remember all the lines. "Mama, I can button my shirt. Mama, I can fasten my shoes. Mama, I can put on coat." Obviously, this was memorized for our benefit and, it worked! He is endearing. We only had about 15 minutes with him. The rest of the time was spent going over medical records. We were told about his background ….what little they had. It is obvious that he has one crossed eye. They had him scheduled for surgery, and they asked if we wanted to proceed with the surgery here in Ukraine. Obviously, we told them that we would take care of it when we arrived in the U.S. We are excited about being able to see him tomorrow for 2 hours in the morning.

We picked his name to be Caleb, and will keep his birth name as his middle name. So from here on out in the blog, we will refer to him as Caleb. We still won't be able to tell you "D's" name because it is her birth name. We will only give her an American middle name.

We went back to the clinic and had some lunch and then took a long needed nap. After yesterdays, road trip, we feel as if we have jet lag.

At 2:30 pm, we took a walk up the road to some food stands to get some grocery items. Paul decided to make chicken noodle soup. Well, we knew what to get for the chicken and the noodles, but seasoning is another story. I played charades with the girl who was working and finally she handed me a pack of some kind of seasonings. It started to sprinkle and it was cold so we headed back to the clinic. Paul put the chicken on the stove so it could cook a while before we left for the "D's" orphanage.

On the way to the orphanage, Natasha (lawyer) was in the car with Jene, They wanted to tell us something and tried to make us understand when our dates would be for a pre-interview and then the date our court would be. The more they explained our fears grew. Paul, being the numbers man he is, quickly figured out it would throw us over a weekend, which would add another week or even two on to our time here in Ukraine. It was hard not to begin to get disappointed because we miss our family and want to bring the children home to begin our life together. He called Yulia our facilitator in Kyiv and asked her what we could do to make the court date happen by the end of next week. She said for this to be possible we would have to get all the paperwork to her by Monday. We didn't feel very encouraged, but just began to pray in our hearts. We knew we had to put this on the back burner, because it was time to visit with "D". We had a good visit, which lifted our spirits. "D" was ready to play and allowed Paul to pick her up and put her on his shoulders and spin around. She also sat in his lap of her own accord. We couldn't believe it. It may have been because we were gone yesterday and because we kept to our word and returned as we said we would, she has more trust.

After we left the orphanage, things had turned for the better. During the two hours that we spent, Paul's request to try to get things moving…was in full swing. We praise our Father in heaven for showing us favor. We were told that we needed to be ready in the morning at 8:30 to meet with the inspector. We didn't know at the time, but the next day would be process of "in the car- out of the car" and "in one office" and "out of another". We went to bed thankful that God had given us hope that we wouldn't have to add two more weeks on to our trip. Please continue to pray that everything will go smoothly. We know that our words and actions can only do so little, but God can move the heart of any man in our favor.

March 19, 2009 Thursday

We were ready at 8:30 am. Jene and Natasha picked us up from the clinic and we headed to where Natasha works at "D's" orphanage. Then we went and picked up Luda our translator. From there we went to the inspector's office and were told what we would need to complete in a specific order. Until we completed this paperwork and brought it to the inspector, we could not go forward. Paul gave a humble plead hoping that this would help move the transactions along. We then went to one orphanage and to the notary and then to the other orphanage and then back again to the notary, because the orphanage name was typed incorrectly on a form. There were more signatures, more waiting, more smiling and nodding. Then to Natasha to get more forms and then an hour wait for more forms from Caleb's orphanage. At one point, Jene's car wouldn't start. I'm thinking, "oh great" but unlike in the U.S. he jumped out of the car, waived down the next taxi that passed us, (he probably knew him because Jene seems to know everyone here….hence the name Jene Bond, superstar!), went to the trunk to grab a towing rope, hooked it on the front of his car and to the back of the other taxi, jumped back in, squeezed out of a tiny parking space, were pulled another Ѕ a block, jumped back out, unhooked the tow rope, jumped back in and we were on our way in about 5 minutes! Amazing! Since we had to wait an hour we suggested eating in the "Val-mart" cafeteria. We bought lunch for Jene and Luda and had a nice lunch. It was nice having Luda there to translate and Jene told Luda to tell us how happy he was to be involved with us. He said that when people come to adopt in Ukraine they are usually so focused on the adoption and that is all. They don't spend time getting to know anyone. He was moved because we were so full of joy and spent time getting to know him. We didn't treat him just as a driver, but as a friend. He asked about what Paul did for work. He also asked what I did. When I said that I taught piano and voice lessons, Luda ask me if I would sing in church on Sunday. I told her I would sing, but didn't know if I could sing on Sunday, because I have had a cough since I have been here. Jene said that if I sang, he would come to church and bring Natasha. They do not attend church, but Jene's mother does attend at Luda's church where we visited two weeks ago. I will of course sing, because I feel this is what the Lord would want in order to share Christ with our new friends. Pray that God will continue to open doors for us to touch the lives of the people in Ukraine. We have been so blessed by their kindness and always want to express Christ's love in any way we can.

Of course we missed the visit with Caleb at 10:00 am and hoped to be able to visit him for a while in the afternoon. After lunch there was more "in a door, out a door, in the car, out of car, wait, wait, and wait again. Poor Luda was I'm sure exhausted by having to basically take charge of all the transactions. We had completed everything we could do by 3:30. At 4:00 we went to visit Caleb for an hour and then walked over to see "D".

The little unassuming boy, was not longer unassuming. Let's just say….HE IS ALL BOY! When we went into his groupa he ran and hugged us. We took him outside and the first thing he did was head for the swing. "Thank you"…..Jason and Kelly. The caregivers at the orphanage don't swing the children, because then they would have to do it over and over for all the children. Jason and Kelly had been swinging some of the children during their visit with their new son.…Caleb being one of them. He swung and swung. He wouldn't have stopped except, I knew we only had an hour with him today. We went inside and gave him a toy, juice and a banana. He devoured the banana and then started the open mouth food antics. Yes, ALL BOY! He did mind me when I told him to sit down. He also repeats everything we say. I think that is why the younger ones learn English faster. He was trying to count to three and he did say Caleb and "D's" name. It is hard to tell much about his development because we don't speak Ukrainian. Oh, this is another interesting fact. "D" speaks Russian and Caleb speaks Ukrainian. They are two very close languages and both will be able to understand each other. Unfortunately, we understand mostly nothing, but Caleb things we can understand. He rattles off what he wants to say. We know it is a question, because it ends with a question mark sound. We just say "sure, whatever you say!" and laugh. We have no idea what he is saying and it doesn't seem to matter. He just goes on to the next thing. Jason and Kelli came in to visit their son, while we were meeting with Caleb. It was a short visit and he seemed sad when we had to go.

We walked over to "D's" orphanage. We only had an hour left of the two hours we normally spend with her. We called Luda so she could explain to "D" why we were late. I think she must think the cell phone is the "Luda Line" because every time we hand it to her, she only speaks to Luda. She automatically says, "Hello" when we hand her the phone now. It is so cute. Then she says, dah, dah, dah, dah, and then hands it back to us. We showed her the picture of Caleb. She said, his name with excitement and then immediately started to go around to the friends in her groupa and show off her brother. This was a good sign, that she is happy to have a brother. Hopefully, we will get permission for her to visit him soon. We went outside to play. It was cold because the sun was going down. The kids danced and played in the dirt digging holes. They climbed on Paul and loved trying on my earmuffs…even the boys. I don't think they have ever seen any before. They are just used to hats. "D" continue to be more affectionate and even though she will go off to play, she always comes back wanting our attention for time to time. We left at 6:00 and went back to the clinic to eat and what a movie with Jason and Kelly.

One side note…..Paul was offered to drink with an older gentleman at the clinic. We weren't for sure what he was asking so we called Luda. After some translation, Paul guessed that he wanted Paul to drink with him. Paul told Luda to tell him he couldn't drink because of medication. This is the "polite" way to turn down alcohol here in Ukraine. It must of worked, because he threw up his hands, shook his head and walked away. We knew we would have to cross this bridge at some point in our journey. Drinking is a pass time and part of life here. Turning down a drink can be offensive because when you are offered a drink it is a sign of goodwill. Hopefully, no feelings were hurt in the process.

We just got a call from Luda. Jene will bring us another form in the morning at 7:45 AM for us to sign. Then around 9:00 we will have to go back to the inspector's office and then to the notary's office. Hopefully, we will be able to visit Caleb in the morning. We can visit him from 10:00 to 12:00 each morning because he isn't in school. Then we will continue to visit "D" in the afternoons from 4:00-6:00. We are hoping that we can have our interview by the latest on Monday morning so that the papers can all be sent to Kyiv for Yulia. Our hope is that our court date will be no later than Friday, March 27, 2009. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY! Good night and sweet dreams to everyone in the wonderful U.S. of A.!!!!!


March 20, 2009 Friday

Jene was knocking at our door at 7:30 am for us to sign 4 papers. He then left as quickly as he came Around 9:30 we left and had to go and take the papers to the Notary. One of the papers that was made yesterday had an error in the medical form for Caleb, so we had to go to the orphanage and then take the new paper to the notary and then to the inspector. After 10:00 am, we were able to go and see Caleb. It is different at this orphanage because it is considered a "medical" orphanage with children which haves special needs. Since Caleb has the crossed eye, he is considered to need special care. So, we have to go in and get a signed slip ever time we visit from the doctor. At "D's" orphanage we are allowed to just walk right in. When they told him we were there, he came running out and gave big hugs. He then said something to us and ran back into his groupa room. Then he came back out with a small stuffed bear we gave him yesterday. Jason and Kelly were there with their son playing in the play room. We joined in. After a while we decided to go outside and see if Caleb could learn to ride a bicycle that Kelly and Jason had bought. They also had one fixed that was already at the orphanage. They are small bikes with training wheels. Their son learned to ride a few days ago. Caleb was unable to learn because his "outside" boots are huge and we realized that it was not going to work regardless of how hard he tried. We pushed him around for a while, but because Paul is not feeling well with his cold, we decided to go in. We also had Luda with us and wanted to talk to Caleb to see what all he knows. We showed him the family album and I don't think he even grasps the concept. He did repeat everything we asked him to say and he has clear speech. We brought him juice which in Russian is pronounced "soak". Paul said, "Skraw-szee - Juice" and he repeated juice clearly. I got out a book of animals and we had him repeat ,…cat and dog. He could repeat them. We then tried to see if he could pick out the cat or dog randomly when we asked. He did get this right a few time. We will see tomorrow if he remembers. I did think that he had problems visually seeing the animals that were at the bottom of the page at first. When I pointed down at the bottom he would have to bend his head down to see them. Of course this is only an observation and until we get his eyes checked with our physicians, we will not know what the results are. However, he can see because he was able to catch a ball when thrown to him. He does like to share food with his groupa.

After we left, we went to the "Val-mart" to get some food and snacks that we take each time we go and visit the orphanage. We usually take a piece of fruit, something sweet like cookies and a juice box. We also take snacks for the children to share with their groupa, about every two days. Not anything big, just something like animal cookies or pretzels, gum or candy. If you are coming here, you can buy all of this at the stores. It seems they may prefer oranges, more, because at the two orphanages we have visited they are served bananas or apples for snack on some days. This could vary, however, at individual orphanages. Either way, they love to get snacks. I use M&M's or some small candy like that as prizes when we play games. Like for every animal they get correct, I give them one M&M. However, at Caleb's orphanage, they said not to give them chocolate, so I will use Skittles. Another treat that they "D" has loved is the microwave popcorn. I will make some tomorrow and see if Caleb also likes it. We did find this in the store, but you could bring this from home, because it packs easy. Also, a note, you can find baggies here, but they are limited and I haven't been able to find the smaller ones. These are absolutely necessary, because some of the children like to save their snacks. If you have plenty of baggies you can use them so they can keep their treats for later. I did pack some of my clothes in the larger zip-lock bags and I am finding uses for all of them for leftovers and just to keep crafts and other things separate. I would also get a picture book that is for 3 year olds so you can start teaching them English. I got animals, but I wish I would have brought ones with the basic colors and also other pictures, If the pictures look like photographs, or "real" things it is better instead of what would be in a color book or cartoon book. Also, I would bring flash cards that have the letters in lower and upper case. This is fun for them to try and spell out their name. They have no "English" learning games here, except you can use the number games that are here, because there are not letters and the numbers are written the same. They are only pronounced differently.

By the time we finished Val-mart, Paul was really not feeling well. We went back to the clinic and he took a nap. We thought our Interview would be today at 2:30, but it never happened. This was really a good thing, because Paul's voice is hoarse. After he took a nap, he did feel better though, and was ready to go and visit "D" at 4:00. I took some crafts that I brought from home, for "D" to do. She made a foam visor with small foam shapes that had adhesive on the back. We also brought the two large balloons that had a rubber band attached to play inside with. We thought it would be better to stay inside, since both Paul and I have struggled with a cough or sore throat. We had a wonderful time with the balloons bouncing them on our head, trying to keep them from hitting the floor and then trying to get them through a hoola-hoop. It is amazing what you can think of to play. We even rubbed them on our hair to make our hair stand up with the static electricity. Paul tried to do it, too….and "D" laughed for obvious reasons! We also got her on video reciting a poem. We will have to wait and share this after the court date!

Speaking of court date…..well, first we have our interview on Monday. We want to thank everyone that has been praying, for all our friends here in the Ukraine that have worked so hard to make this happen and mostly to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for granting our requests for a timely court date.

Our court date is…….WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2009!!!!!!!!!

Praise the Lord!!!

Then we will count 10 days starting on Thursday, March 26th for our waiting period. After this we will have to get the original birth certificates from the town they were "abandoned" in, go to Kyiv for to get their passports, get the plane tickets and then we are on our way home!!!! YEAH!!!!

That will put us somewhere around April 11th. That is only tentative and hopefully it will be even a few days before. WE'LL SEE!!!

Also, keep Jene and Natasha in your prayers that the Lord will speak to their hearts that they may grow in His knowledge. Today, Jene pulled out a student English book that is used to teach Russians in school. He said, "Now I am a student." We laughed! He also asked Luda if the book was good and she instructed him to also get a different book that will help him speak more like we talk with the pronunciations. We are encouraged that he wanted to learn English, hoping that this is just another opportunity for us to continue the relationship we have formed with him since we came to B-D.

Keep praying that everything will continue to go smoothly….cause the Lord is hearing your prayers!!!!