The House of Good News!

We enjoyed attending church with one of the New York couples David and Ingrid. We made a joyful noise singing Blessed Assurance in a different tongue with all those Ukrainian voices. That was the only song we knew. They do love to sing. About ten different groups of people took a turn singing a song with a different person playing piano each time. We shared tea and cookies afterward visiting a little with some of the folks.

We went to the orphanage earlier today as the kids have a free day  on Sunday.  They have classes and chores six days a week.  They get to shower on Tuesday.  They wash their own extra set of clothing by hand in a wash tub and wring them outside with a friend and hang them out to dry.  Hmmmm. Gives new meaning to hand wash, eh?

We played outside today with the kids. They say it will be the last warm day so everyone was eager to soak up the lingering rays of sun.  We got to meet Inna's best friend Luda who was here to visit from her trade school where she is learning to be a painter. That would have been Inna's trade, too.  She is thin as a rail, even more so than most of the kids here as she has been finding her own food now that she is on her own at 17 with essentially no skills. I'm glad we were able to spend time with her and feed her some extra snacks we brought.  All too soon we had to pack up in the van and head back for dinner and to the hotel.  It is hard to fill your own stomach thinking about the meager meals they get.  10 chickens for the month to feed 120 kids...

Tomorrow Viktor is expecting us to give him a name of the girl we want to pursue for our second daughter.  We don't feel we can adequately make that decision.  Praying God will make it for us in his unmistakable way. Cherishing your prayers.

Didn't understand a lot of what was said in the church meeting today, just a few words here and there, but one word I heard over and over in various forms was blagadarna, which means some form of thankfulness.  I truly am considering how thankful is my heart? How am I demonstrating it? I am counting the ways he blesses.
Until next time,
Love in him,
Cari