Day 18 - Where You From?

Hello to everyone and thanks for all your continued support, encouragement and prayers for us as we remain in Kiev to complete the adoption process.  I know there is much need for prayer in your lives and ours and I am thankful that He that we lift prayers to is the Almighty, the Alpha & Omega, who is eternally steadfast in His love for His children and that He works all things for the good of those that love Him.

Our worship and prayer time has lost a step in the last couple of days but I am thankful that God's Holy Spirit calls us back to Him.  Yesterday was a bit of a difficult day because I felt like I spent alot of time correcting behavior of the children.  This bothered me enough that I spent a great deal of time last night talking with Ang about it.  I am thankful for the wisdom of my wife which is many times greater than my own.  There are so many things that I want the children to learn for their own good (like speaking English) but I know it will not happen over night.  They need patience and love - the same thing we receive from our Heavenly Father.  During my prayer time this morning, I asked God to give me patience, wisdom and love when I interact with my family.  As it is written in Proverbs 22:6, it is important to "train up a child up in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." But, it is equally important to do what is written in Ephesians 6:4 - "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."  This was my prayer time today.  I am thankful that God is faithful and that my relationship with Him is based on His steadfast love and not my wandering heart.

Now, I know we have been here too long when when I see us begin assimilating into our environment.  When Angelia and I were in church the other day, a lady struck a conversation with Angelia.  The lady spoke quite enthusiastically for a few minutes with Ang before realizing that Angelia didn't understand what she was saying.  The lady called her daughter over (who spoke English) and she apologized for the mix-up.  The daughter said to Ang, "my mother says that she is sorry for the confusion, but she thought you looked Ukrainian so she just kept on talking".  We are beginning to blend in.  But, I am glad to have a Ukrainian tour guide wife because she is great at giving directions in a city that I get lost in ... alot.

Our day started off well enough because I got to spend time with the kids during breakfast.  Just me, Vicka and Tolya - wonderful.  I made the age-old menu staple "cereal & milk".  As we were eating, I couldn't help but notice how cute both kids were as they played with their cereal.  They were being careful to eat just one piece of coco-puffs at a time.  For a time, this was cute but after a few minutes, I noticed some white lumps floating in Vicka's cereal and thought it odd.  I picked up the bottle to smell the milk and learned that it was not milk, but a science fair project in the making.  The milk (which had an expiration date of 9/6/2010) was spoiled.  The kids weren't eating the cereal one piece at a time as playing a game, they were trying to let the spoiled milk drip off it.  They had eaten over half a bowl of cereal containing this spoiled, lumpy excretion from cow udders.  I guess it is a testimony to their resilience and to the difficulty that a language barrier can create from time to time.  I can't imagine what was going through their minds but I noticed Angelia checking the fridge before she laid down tonight and I am willing to bet she will be up with us at breakfast to thouroughly review the menu.

Today, we were able to spend another day out and about.  To off-set mine and Angelia beginning to fit in, I chose to wear my camaflouge duck hunting hat with a gator on it.  We visited the, as it is translated, "bhudda belly" (but it is really the Ukraine Golden Corral) for lunch.  After lunch, we decided to try a movie.  That's right, we don't speak the language.  We walked to where I knew the movie theatre to be, then we turned around and walked the 1/2 mile back to where Angelia told me it was but I refused to listen.  Remember what I said about having my own personal Ukraine tour guide?  So, now that the kids were beat down from walking, we arrive at the movie theatre.  There were 4 movies to choose from.  Two were obviously too violent because even the theatre worker who doesn't speak English pointed at the kids and said "not a good idea".  The other two choices were between flesh eating piranha, and a 3-D animated movie about turtles.  We have a winner!  The movie didn't begin for another hour and a half so we wandered around Independence square giving our best impression of tourists.  The camo hat helped with this a great deal.  We looked for some sneakers for Vicka but they are just too expensive on the main drag here in Kiev.  We did manage to visit a toy store and procured a toy car (Ferrari) for Tolya, some painting supplies for Vicka and some English flash cards with pictures of food on them.  Hopefully, this will help us develop a dialect to communicate the difference between fresh food and spoiled.  Off to the movies we go.

Tolya sizes up a crane (wearing the AU ball cap that Ms. Nancy got for him)

The sea turtle movie was in 3-D.  This was my first 3-D film and I think it was pretty cool.  You can't beat watching a movie with a 10 year old boy who tries to reach out and grab the stuff swimming by.  I doubt Hoover and Oreck combined can create a vaccum to dispose of popcorn faster than Tolya.  After the movie, we exited and came out the rear of the building. As we walked by the entrance, Tolya tried to walk back in and I said "no".  He was visibly upset but he came along.  A few minutes later, he jumped on some steps to be eye level with me and said "toilet".  So, we abruptly turned and headed back to the movie theatre.  Language barriers crumble when "toilet" is needed. 

Pictured (from left) are Tim, Tolya, Vicka and Angelia at the movies!

We found this great place to eat dinner called McDonald's.  It's uncanny how their cheeseburgers taste identical to the ones of the McDonald's in America.  I wonder if they are somehow connected?  Even though the McDonald's here is probably the largest I know of, it was packed out.  No place to sit.  So, I got our order to go and we all walked back up Mt. KievKilamanjaroEverestK2 in the rain with a sack of burgers & fries. As we ate dinner, I promised the kids that once we reached America, we would not eat at McDonald's until after January 1, 2011.

The small amount of news I keep up with from the States shows a Hurricane is affecting the East coast, another oil well has exploded in the Gulf, and our economy is still struggling a great deal which is affecting many peoples employment.  At the same time, the sick are being healed, food is reaching someone who is hungry, new life is being celebrated in families, and prayers are being answered.  Most important of all, God's word is being spoken and people are receiving His grace-given gift of eternal life. 

Thanks for all that you are doing to show love & encouragement to my family. I pray God's blessings upon your family tonight and always.  Good night from Kiev, Ukraine.