gratitude for what is, before we get to the big finale

Ethan had a wonderful teacher one year who had the children each choose an word for the year, then carefully choose a rock that "spoke to them," and write that word on the rock. We did it as a family too, it was a great way to take a measure of what our hearts need and what we hope for with anticipation for the year.

Gratitude is the word for the year for me this year. Hope is fitting too as there is so much we are anticipating with great hope. Despite the longing for Lena to be here now, and the stress of different events that have occurred, we love her all the more as we have had to endure time away from her, suffer painful events with her, and experience sacrifice, in the process.  I am grateful for what will be, whatever it may look like, because I am so grateful for what I have received already.

If I haven't made it clear so far, I believe that God has laid out this path for us and "invited" us onto it. At any point we could've said we don't want to go farther, we don't want all that adopting a 16 year old entails, but saying no to the one who gives every good gift, when the invitation is so clear, would be foolish.

So we traveled to Ukraine about two weeks ago. Totally stepping outside of all that felt comfortable and safe, and went. We left our children in the best of  hands and traveled for 30+ hours to get to Kiev.

A quick note on Kiev and being in Ukraine right now- we never felt unsafe. We walked through Maidan where the protests occured, where people were killed just weeks ago, with hundreds of other people also milling around, shopping, eating.  There are still people occupying the area but there is no violence or unrest.

Here are some pictures of that area now. Notice the barricades made of tires, the bottles in preparation for molotov cocktails, the sidewalk bricks torn up because they were used as weapons, the building that was burned...

 The tents in the background are where some protestors are continuing to occupy until (presumably) the new, non-corrupt government is in place. (Is that an oxymoron? Anyway..) But to give you a picture of what the occupation looks like right now, think grilling out, ping pong tables, take out, beer, etc.

 The shops in the background of the above pic are open, as are restaurants, etc. Life is going on around the big mess in the street. Traffic is also going around it, it's a big mess because this main road is closed.

 Above you can see what the sidewalks were like, so beautiful, and now torn up.  One Saturday a bunch of people gathered to start putting the bricks back.

 The black all over the street is because of the tires they burned.

 Bottles in preparation for molotov cocktails. (above)

 There are flowers everywhere memorializing the people who were killed.

Crimea, where Russia has now taken over, is very much separate from the main part of the country. Life is mostly going on as usual, for the average person, so even when we travelled to Lena's town, about 350 miles from Kiev,  life was going on as usual. Kiev itself is like most major European cities, lots of tall buildings, apartments, restaurants, ridiculous traffic, people bustling about, all of the high end stores you find everywhere, malls, etc.

I am so grateful that we always felt safe, that we made new friends to explore Kiev with, that the protests were over and that we had the opportunity to grieve with a country previously so foreign to us.

 The beauty in Kiev is also striking. The old cathedrals are very ornate and colorful, inside and out. Lots of gold on the inside.

The opera house. 

(Note the full sized cars. Unlike most of western Europe where the cars are usually smaller).

The major river that runs through the country, all the way to the Black Sea. It was really beautiful and there are beaches along most of it. 

This is the original gate to the city. It was huge. And beautiful.

The fire department.  So pretty, right?

The entrance to the mall. It was SO clean and really big.

The Mall. WAAY more Western than I anticipated!

Attached to the mall was a store that would be comparable to a Wal-Mart but it was really clean. They sold some clothes, electronics, food, baked goods, produce, meats, dried tea leaves, etc. There were definitely some different products than we would see in our stores, but it's a different country, so expected. It was really fun to check out how they do things differently in the store and to see all the different kinds of products!

Carrots. Not pre washed. 

Quail eggs

Scoop out your own flour and sugar.  

Just a shot of the store. 

The view of traffic and the road from our balcony. Most people live in condos in Kiev and the larger cities.  The outside of  a lot of the buildings do not look very inviting.  But the inside is often very different. Here are pics of the apt. we stayed in:

Like I said, we never felt unsafe, so we met up with two other American couples who were also in country adopting and went to dinner, explored the mall, and walked around alot. We even ventured into the metro! It was SO CLEAN! I heard later that the metro  in Kiev is the deepest underground in the world, build for safety in case of nuclear attack (or something like that).  The escalators were REALLY steep and really fast so it was a little tricky getting on and off. Especially if you are as graceful as I am.




Freddie felt a bit sick, some of the escalators were also really long!
















As we traveled outside of Kiev the result of Soviet occupation in the country's history was evident. (We took an overnight train to the city near Lena's village). There is a lot of poverty (this is an understatement), there is no money to maintain roads, buildings are in various states of disrepair, there are places where there is just trash everywhere.

There are also many pockets of beauty, the landscape is gorgeous. Rolling hills, farmlands, trees, all  amazing when they are green and in bloom, I am sure.  And there are also families who are really making it, they have solid jobs, work really hard, and have beautiful houses.  Unfortunately from what we saw (of course limited), that was not the norm.

There were often fires in the fields or along the road on the (VERY BUMPY, SWERVY) drive back to Kiev.  We were told that people/farmers will burn the land every few years to renew it and it'll just go out eventually. One of the fires was the biggest I'd ever seen. Talk about a cultural difference. But the soil is so rich it is almost black.

 

So we did get to see Lena and visit with her at the boarding house. It was so awesome and so heartbreaking all at the same time. We met some of her friends who are going to be leaving the boarding house in May, just walking out the gate to make it on their own with a lump sum of money from the government.  About 2 of 25 kids "make it". That is, approx. 2 will get a job and live a more normal life, the rest are usually involved with crime, end up in jail, prostitution, die or commit suicide.

I can't even tell you what it was like to wait for her and then have her walk into the room. We all couldn't believe we were finally here. 

The fence at the  back of the boarding house. 

Entrance to the boarding house.  It was SO clean and well kept, it was obvious that the director uses money she receives to better the building and provide extracurricular activites for the children. 

We were invited to sit and eat lunch in the cafeteria. We had borsch (traditional beet soup), kasha, some coleslaw and a piece of chicken. It was really generous of the director. 

The smaller bunks for the little ones. 

The tv and sitting area for the older children.

Lena's bed with the stuffed bear Ethan gave her. 

Lena's wall of pictures of our family. : >

The girls' showers. 

The girls' sinks/mirrors in the bathroom.

Back of the boarding house.

Playground for the younger children. 

So that was trip 1.  Everyone here did great while we are gone.  I am so thankful for everyone who is praying for us.  We are headed back very soon to go to court and have the adoption approved. We then have to wait 10 days until she can come home with us, so we'll come home and then Freddie will go back to get her.

I wish I could show you pictures of the children we saw. They are precious. (I don't think I"m allowed to). We heard some of their heartbreaking stories, how they ended up at the boarding house, how they are like every other kid and really want a family to belong to and be loved by. The sweetest little boy with freckles and spiky hair came and sat next to us and just waved at Freddie. Crushed us.  If you are moved at all there are SO many ways you can help.  One of the best ways is to host a child for a month over the summer. Even if you don't want to adopt, you will get to know them and can advocate for their adoption. Maybe someone you know would want to adopt them. You never know. We never thought we would be doing this and here we are!

Feel free to email me with questions if you want to know more about our story or about orphans in Ukraine. We're all about advocating for these kids!


Second trip to Ukraine is quickly approaching. All prayers welcome, especially for the judge to quickly and easily approve the adoption, and for our time with Lena to be sweet and abundant! Will catch you up on that when we return!

xo
Andrea