Rostik came with me into the orphanage today to ask the caretakers about clothing for Maria. And it is what I expected, I must bring everything - she will be given no clothes or shoes to leave the orphanage with, including no clothes for that day. I completely understand this… they need all they have for the other children. The nya nya he spoke with and translated with for me happens to be my favorite and I am glad she was working today. Her name is Antonina. She has been working at the orphanage for 30 years - since the day it opened, and she is the only one there who has been for so long. She has two sons of her own and 5 grandchildren. One of her grandsons is 11 years old, and is an invalid. In the early years of his life he was at the orphanage where Antonina could take care of him. Her son and his wife have gone to Italy to earn money so they can come back here and buy a home so they can properly take care of their son. Right now this boy is in a home that specializes in children with his disabilities, located not too far from Kamenets-Podilsky, where all the castles are, approx 100 km south from Khmelnitsky. She told Rostik she appreciated me taking the time to have a personal conversation wth her and she enjoyed it.
For the past few days I have been working on a letter from my family to the caretakers and other staff at the orphanage including the Director, Katarina. Rostik is translating it for me as I want to be able to speak to them in their own language, Ukrainian. He said he believes Katarina has a “guest book” which he will write the letter in. He will write it using the Ukrainian alphabet, vs the Latin letters he used for my translation so I could read and pronounce the words. He asked me if I was going to memorize the letter - certainly not! I’ll be lucky if I can pronounce all the words correctly! I will just read from the paper and look up as I read. I mentioned in an earlier post that Rostik told us we have changed his life forever. He shared more today… he said that he so appreciates this letter from my family and how our family has responded to the Lord’s call on our lives. He said that he had a relationship with our Heavenly Father. He did some preaching for three years, and handed out Christian literature and Bibles, but then he went away from it trying to find himself in other ways, primarily materially. That did not work. He said that he realizes his relationship with God was more theoretical than it was personal… he acknowledges who Jesus is but has a hard time accepting him in to his life. He said that he wants to experience God’s love, and that to see God’s love in action through the lives of me and my family and through the letter from my family to the staff at the orphanage is a beautiful witness.
All Praise and Glory to our Most High, Lord Jesus.
I want to begin this blog by giving glory to our Creator...His design is perfect. This is a fiddle head fern bud ready to unfold...they were all over on both sides of a trail we hiked during one of our weekly nature walks."All of the parts of the frond of a fern bud are tightly folded spirally within the bud and every fold of every leaflet is also folded in a spiral. But the first glance at one of these little wooly spirals gives us but small conception of its marvelous enfolding," (Handbook of Nature Study, p. 698)."...so intricate is the action of their multitudinous spirals, that to watch them unfolding impresses one as would a miracle," (HNS, p. 699).Can't you just read this and feel that it describes all life?! It is a privilege for me to know Reece's Rainbow ministry, the precious "miracles" that give this ministry purpose, and to share with you my family's "unfolding" as we walk by faith. Thank you for sharing our walk...may you be richly blessed.
What a BEAUTIFULLY written post! Praise the Lord is all I can say. I truly believe that adopting these children is so much more than just that. God is honoring our journeys and hopefully blessing others lives in the process. What a blessing to have such a Christian witness. PRAISE GOD.
ReplyDeleteAs the pebble flew through the air toward the pond, we all watched for the delightful splash to follow. It's so exciting!
ReplyDeleteYet, watching with amazingment, we observe a multitude of concentric cirles moving out from the point of entry; the energy behind the throw of that one small stone is now moving the water outward, multiplied in the form of ever growing, ever reaching ripples. Where does it end? How far do they reach?
So it is with anything we do; any action we take, for good or ill.
When we are obedient, ... what a blessing it is to others!!
(Truly, God is the definition of energy efficient, yet generous beyond our imagination as He lavishes underserved grace on us all!!) :)
I love you, Mich. May you continue to allow the Lord to lead you. The effect on others is life changing!
ps I will be praying for you on your Wednesday.