Before attempting to catch a few hours of sleep, I will try to post a brief visual update of our past 48 hours...
FIRST - Please pray for Tony and Sasha as they are currently pulling an all night run BACK to Zapporizhia to pick up the kids' passports... long story, but just when you were being lulled into believing things worked along a certain set of parameters here and THEN you WAKE up and remember... Wait... we're in Ukraine!!! The same time we got the phone call with that news our entire apartment building was completely without water for 4 hours... which is really fun with toilets.... Anyways... on to more exciting things...
Tuesday...
Yesterday began slowly and then was full speed ahead from mild chaos at the orphanage to catching the overnight train with 4 children to Kiev! By God's amazing grace, we made it with no real complaints! Thanks for your prayers!
When we went to pick up our kids, we brought juice and cookies for each class for a kind of farewell party. It was sweet to watch our kids serve the others...
Angela fixing Jana's hair before we left...
Victoria helping Papa get the cookies ready to serve...
Victoria and Jana's class party...
Angela and James' classes gathered in the cafeteria for their regular snack coupled with juice and cookies...
James and Angela joyfully served their classmates. It was precious...
Some from James' class huddled together...
This sweet teacher doted on James. She gave me her cell number to call if he has any problems... very sweet...
Tony and I made the mistake of getting a cheap electronic toy the kids were asking for - Tetris. Working with the sound is quite obnoxious... We will be confiscating batteries before our flight home...
I took James and Angela upstairs to change their clothes... they leave with nothing. We had put little back packs together with a couple outfits to survive here, as well as some activities to keep them occupied. It was Christmas for them. They dumped them out immediately and began holding up each item to show it off with glee...
We finally got everyone gathered in the Orphanage Director's office, Larissa, to sign our children over to us officially. Before leaving, Larissa gave our kids a little "pep talk"... She is a good director...
Larissa locked arms with us as we walked down the hall to leave sharing sweet words of blessing on our family...
On our way to the train station we ran through the McDonald's drive thru... known here as the "McDrive" for various and a sundry reasons...
Jana and Victoria were with me while James and Angela were with Papa...
The kids did well, we were very blessed. Tony and I got about 30 minutes sleep though...
We made it to Kiev at 6:00 AM and were met by chilly temperatures and our faithful facilitator - Sasha. He got us situated and then we were off to: drop visa paperwork off at the U.S. Embassy, grab some McDonald's, and do medical evaluations... When we got back to the flat it was quiet time. The girls decided to wash their socks and underwear. This is something they are accustomed to in the orphanage (and we are here living in Ukraine since the beginning of April!)...
Afternoon quiet time also involved a little play dough and puzzle making...
Upon receipt of her backpack full of activities and clothes, Jana Sophia (especially though not alone) has unpacked and repacked her things, as well as tried on all of her things every hour it seems - hilarious! Our children are precious, if I do say so myself! :)
When we got work of Tony's need to travel back to Sasha to Zapporizhia, I confess, I cried... God knows our needs and I was needing some sleep and the knowledge that my husband was around... BUT, God knows are needs that go beyond the things we see, think or feel sometimes... Despite the fact that I am sad Tony had to make this trip and leave me alone our first regular night as a family together, I have reaped the blessing of a sweet night...
Our friend, Ben, helped provide a getaway for dinner to T.G.I. Fridays. We got in traffic and the kids all fell asleep on the 15 minutes taxi ride. Adorable. We had a great dinner, got balloons and then a few survival groceries. THEN it was time for BATHS! Oh what excitement! It was pure joy! This was a day I'd been looking forward to since we met them! We had so much fun! Afterwards, we unwound with the movie "Madagascar" in Russian. James and Angela were the only two who really watched it. Jana had a 30 minute meltdown. Victoria helped me wash some of their clothes. When the movie was over, all four jumped in the beds and begged me to sing to them. So, I began to sing...
Amazing Grace...
It is Well...
and then a song the Lord gave me back in 2004 from a verse of Charles Wesley's (taken from Tozer's "The Knowledge of the Holy") coupled with Romans 11:26. Here are the words to my song and as I sang, the tears rolled down my face in awe of our Sovereign Grace...
Sovereign Father, Heavenly King
Thee we now presume to sing
Glad Thine attributes we confess
Glorious all and numberless
From You, Through You, To You are All things!
From You, Through You, To You be the glory!
God of Justice, Merciful Lord
Your salvation none could afford
Word made Flesh our sins You bore
We are free enslaved no more!
From You, Through You, To You are All things!
From You, Through You, To You be the glory!
Image of the Invisible God
All creation to You applauds
Glorious Savior upon Your throne
O to know You and make you known!
From You, Through You, To You are All things!
From You, Through You, To You be the glory, forever!
As I sang the kids cuddled close... falling asleep as I sang. Oh what a treasure this trial-some day has become. Thank you, Lord Jesus for Your good and perfect gifts!
13 comments:
What precious first memories with YOUR children! Our prayers remain with you as you complete this last part of the journey home. These children are so very lucky to have parents that love them completely because they first love their Creator. May He saturate you ALL with His great mercies. Enjoy the sweet fellowship with your family and your Father.
"My heart has heard you say, 'Come and talk to Me.' And my heart responds, 'Lord, I am coming!'"
Psalm 27:8 (NLT)
Precious! I am so enjoying your updates and the pictures.
And I love Tetris! But I confess, it is better with the sound off :)
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
Love,
Julie
Thanks for posting an udate, ever since I found your site I have been hooked. It all sounds so wonderful! Congrats on your train trip and a first night together. You're picture of Jana unpacking and repacking brought great memories back for me of our daughter who did the same thing with her bag while in Kazakhstan. When we arrived home we knew she was becomming comfortable with her new home when she began to leave things out and away from her immediate reach. :) We have a video on You Tube called "5 Months of English" with Oksana(9) reading and talking, I would imagine that they will all pick their second langauge up very quickly once they are home just like Oksana has been proving to do. :) (Little sponge) I'll bet you have a lot of things already for the kids to bring home and for the plane trip, I just thought of a suggestion more for Angela and James's ages. When we went to a bookstore they had small "workbook" like stories for children such as Thumbelina and PeterPan, they are written in both Russian and English. (Or Ukrainian/English)After arriving home, We sent them to school with Oksana for grade 3 at the beginning of the last school year and we were told they had been an amazing tool for a child her age, especially when all the other kids are already reading in English. Oksana got to continue reading in Russian as well as learn the words in English at the same time. Just a suggestion though! :) I hope that Tony gets some good sleep after his passport run and that you all have a great trip home. Can't wait to read the next post. Bless your new family!
Catherine, Jamey and Oksana
Oh Kimberly....thank you so much for sharing this incredible journey with us....I am sitting here with tears in my eyes as I picture you singing with that sweet voice of yours and those babies falling asleep to their mama's lullaby....I am so thrilled for y'all and all that you have in store for you. Even after 13+ years of being a mama, my children can still bring tears of gratitude to my eyes....I STILL can't believe that GOD CHOSE ME to nurture and influence these two incredible little people....you and Tony are in for the ride of a lifetime....
I am so sorry that y'all are still dealing with "bumps in the road" and we will continue to pray that God will go before you and iron out all the details....can't wait to get y'all back home!!
Love and prayers...
i love reading what you are sharing...so sweet. praying here still!
Wow! You are a rock! I'm so glad the first night at "home" with their Momma is going well. By the way, you did a great job dressing them. The girls' matching outfits are adorable, and denim skirts are invaluable with little girls.
Can't wait to see you all!
Rhonda
Simply beautiful. So very thankful for God's goodness to you and Tony. Praying still.
Love,
Stephanie
Beautiful... :)
What a wonderful post! I'm so very excited for you! You are going to be an incredible mom to these kids...well, you already are! They are so blessed to have you in their lives as you are blessed to have them.
I am praying that all will go smoothly from here on. I know how hard it can be to have four by yourself. Very frustrating. We were stuck inside because of the rain. At least one of my four spoke English. That was a help. Keep up the good work. Congrats on making it this far.
Tammy
Sounds like a perfect day...Praise the Lord!
i have loved reading your journey and have been lifting you all up in prayer.. i'm so happy for you, you look radiant. what blessed kids to be able to listen to you sing everyday with your beautiful voice! i was in dc today and thought of you and our adventures up in the city way back in the day :). miss you and am lifting you and the family up in prayer daily.
I have so enjoyed reading your blog updates. I am also a pastor's wife near H'burg, so I understand that part of your life as well. We have two children in our church that were adopted from an orphanige in Ukraine, too, and they have done beautifully.
My girls and I have been following your blog with great interest, as they are they same ages of two of your girls. We are so excited that you are coming home and we are praying for a smooth transition, as it is going to be culture shock in so many ways for those precious babies.
If anyone can do this, it is you and Tony. Remember, God does not call the equipped, He equips the called!!!
One other thing, maybe its just me, but I think the kids look like yall! God is some kind of good!!!
Blessings~
Jessica
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