Light Hearted Advice Wanted

Today I took all the children with me to take Ephraim to his CLEP test. It still snows almost every day. I put on warm socks and hiking boots. I pulled on long johns, blue jeans, a black wool skirt (made my Xea) and the green and red skirt that I made in Vancouver. Now my legs would be warm. I put my red shirt on with a tunic over it. Then a thin vest, black button up sweater and my wool cape. If I were out long I would wear gloves. This is the outfit that I usually wear.

The old books talk about wearing long skirts and going for walks. I have been doing this for many years and it's terribly uncomfortable. I walk fast and they wrap tightly around my legs and twist my jeans or long john's. I end up holding them up to my knees for the entire walk. I've tried it with a slip and that didn't help. Does anyone have advice? I have to be able to walk fast and vigorously.

:)

April snow and updates

It's been snowing every day for the past several weeks. During the day it will snow and then sun, then hail, then snow again. Sometimes the snow covers the ground but you can still see the tips of the grass blades. The highlight of the strange weather for me was last week. I stood out on the lawn under blue sky sipping hot chocolate. It was sunny and cold and snowing.

This picture was taken this morning from the front porch. There were 2 inches on the ground. Now at 1:30 it is almost gone and the sun is shining here and there in between the white snow clouds. I can see my laundry on the line out there in the sun. I hung it while the snow was blowing in my face, knowing that it would be dry by the next day. I love seeing it out there but it is miserably cold on my fingers to handle wet laundry outside in snow weather.

One of my delights these days has been laying in bed praying for the little ones in those cribs that our friends the Kelley's have been visiting. I am excited to go to bed every night. I say to myself, "now I get to be with Levina."

Here are some things coming up for us: We will soon be taking a week vacation to Yellowstone National Park. We are excited to be together and also to get to know our friends the Hockstettler's. They will be staying in a room next to us. After that we are looking forward to making a short film with the church that we meet with. Then we all get back in the van and head to Oregon for our annual family reunion at the beach. Wow! what a line up. This year the reunion is extra special because we have added Zion and Simeon to our family!

3 photos

This is just beyond our backyard and looking into our woods. You can see the burn pile in the front where we enjoy big bonfires and sometimes roast potatoes and hot dogs. Leon and all the boys have been busy turning all the area in front and to the sides of the woods into a large wild flower patch.

This is our adored 'baby' Elsie Ammiel (20 months). She sleeps here now with Zuriel beside her to cover her up during the night and whisper stories to her when she needs to go to sleep.

Below is Elsie being wild and funny.

Photo

Zion 11, Zuriel 9, Naphtali 7, Simeon 9

A Day in the Life of our Friends

This is written by my friends who are overseas right now. It is an account of what their days are like while they are away visiting the orphans.

We have to be at the orphanage at 10:00 am! We hurry down the garbage covered walkway to the parking lot of a mall where our taxi man, Nickoli, is waiting to take us the five-minute drive to the orphanage. There is garbage everywhere and it smells like garbage all the time. We hop in the car with a quick, "Priviet" or "Doh Bree Dayn" and then our driver speeds away at 200

miles per hour (or so it seems).

Soon we pull down the back street and see the green railing that leads up to the door of the orphanage. At this orphanage there are many scattered, run down buildings with children in them. We have only been allowed into the one where our children are. We hop out of the car and climb the steps.

This harmless looking building hides harmful secrets behind it's closed wooden doors. No passerby would know a starving six-year-old, who weighed only 15 pounds, laid immobile in a wooden crib, or two blind boys named Timofey and Ivan rocked back and forth, back and forth in their dark worlds--no one touching them or talking to them.

I feel frightened every time that I arrive at this door. I hope that this day will be the day I get to touch the children.

After hanging up our coats, one of the workers brings Timofey out of his room to us. When I gather him in my arms he instantly starts to squeal and laugh and talk to me. He doesn't speak English, but he doesn't speak Ukrainian, either. He's never been talked to, so he doesn't know Ukrainian. He speaks to me in "Timmyian" which mostly consists of, "Walla, walla, balla, balla, walla..."

And Pasha is brought out by the hand running to us and laughing as we swoop him up into the air. Dad zooms him through the air and plops him on the couch. For two hours we play with Pasha and Timofey before I lead Pasha back into his room. He always cries when I leave him. Anya used to run and grab my hand, but he always got yelled at by the workers so now only his eyes grab me when I walk by. Then we bring Timofey back. Timofey doesn't ever cry. Maybe it's because he is blind and by the time he realizes he has been left it is too late.

We take the taxi home to have a bit a family time and some lunch before we go to the orphanage at 4:00 and visit until 5:00. It is so hard to be holding Timofey and looking through the door at hopeful Rasla, confined behind bars. Please, he seems to say. Come touch me, and we can't.

Calli Part 2

Please remember these children (I have changed the names). They are real children and they are really there, today, and tomorrow and maybe for many tomorrows.

Calli Part 2:

On another day I go with my family into a different orphanage. I meet a child named Ivan, he has a smile and laugh that lights up the dismal place. He has Hydrocephalus and is blind. I think that He doesn't know he is blind. I wish that he could have surgery so that his head wouldn't hurt. "Bye, bye, Ivan" I say, "I will try to come see you tomorrow". Later I find out that Ivan has a family coming for him from America. This is the happiest news that I have heard all day.

In another crib I meet Rasla. He is 2. I hold him for a few minutes and say,"little darling you are so gentle and sweet. I think from your smile, that you must be an angel", I think to myself, how can he survive in this mean place.

David is not happy. His vacant brown eyes have given up hope. He was seen happy once when his grandmother came to see him. I wish that I could take him to her now to live with her.

The last child that I am allowed to see is Anton. He was recently brought to this orphanage and left here because he has Down Syndrome. I wonder if he knows he is alone now. I wonder if he knows that they are not coming back to get him.

They are making us leave now. I start to cry.

Calli Part 1

(This is a true story about my friends. They are still there in Europe, but they have to leave soon with or without Kolya. Please, please, petition God to intercede and place lonely Kolya in a family. I have changed all the names for now)

Calli Part 1:

My name is Calli. My family and I live in America but today we are waking up in Europe! I am very excited. Today we are going to the orphanage to get Kolya. He is a little 4 year old boy who has no one to love him.

My dad tells me that I should try to eat but, I keep thinking, "what will Kolya be like? will he like me?"

The train ride is 15 hours long and when I finally arrive I am so tired.

I go with my family into the mental institution that Kolya has been moved to.

Something is wrong. They won't let us in. They say that they found his 2 aunts and the aunts refuse to let him be adopted.

I am worried, but my mom and dad say, "It is good that he has a family now to take care of him". "no,no", the worker says, they don't want him. They will leave him here.

Oh, how can this be? I know that Leaving him here means, he won't be able to have surgery, to run and play. Maybe he will never get a chance to walk, He will never go outside, never get enough to eat, never be read to, never be loved. He will die here, alone. We beg them, but they refuse.

Our facilitator tells us that we must get on the train now and travel 15 hours back to our hotel. We go. I know that each hour is another hour farther away from Kolya.

.....to be continued

goings on

We had a good Pelt community meeting. It was a little smaller but, very sweet. This time we had ; one band, one solo act, a duet, one true story, one magic trick and a bee hive demonstration. Don't miss the next one if you are in the area.

It is such a good opportunity to bridge the gap between people who like different kinds of music as well as reach out to others in the area, keep our children from becoming snobs , preach the gospel to each other, learn how to share in front of a group etc.

This May we are going to Yellowstone National Park for a whole week. Then in the middle of May our home church group is entering a contest. We are VERY excited about it. We will have 48 hours to make a 5-10 minute film. There is a prize but, we are doing it for the learning opportunity. Then at the end of May we go to Oregon to my annual family reunion. We hope to also see the other grandma's and grandpa's and maybe (if time permits) some friends.

Nadia's Hope

One day the Smith family came to see Nadia. The orphanage workers said, "she can't move her arms and legs. They are as stiff as boards". The Smith family took her to their hotel room eased her into a nice warm bath. Her arms and legs seemed to loosen a little. Every day they took her and put her in the bath and every day her limbs loosened more.

The orphanage workers said, she won't respond to you. The Smith family took her to a rocking chair and talked gently to her. They sang to her and stroked her soft cheeks. Her blind eyes stared and her mouth and face showed no understanding of their attentions, but they believed that she was listening.

Every day they rocked her. One day she turned toward their touches, one day she touched them. Soon she was getting excited and making happy sounds whenever she heard them coming close.

The orphanage workers said, "she won't live long, she has Cerebral Palsy". It was obvious that Cerebral Palsy wasn't her main threat to a long life. She had been severely malnourished and neglected all her life. "No", said Mr.Smith, "I don't think she will live long on this earth, but she should be loved".

So saying, he picked her up and carried her outside.They took her on the airplane and they all flew home together. She did live long, 730 days with the Smith family. Each day was an offering to the Lord. Each day they worshipped God by loving each other.

When they were all reunited in heaven, Yeshua came to them walking hand in hand with Nadia. "Thank you, he said, for loving this little girl that I made. when you loved Nadia, you were loving me. Every thing that you did to care for Nadia you were doing for me."

This is not a true story. In truth Nadia (not her real name) is 6 years old and weighs 15 pounds. She is not held, not played with, not looked at and not ever talked to. She is fed through a feeding tube, but not nearly enough. She has never experienced the love showed to her in this story. The orphanage workers do not realise the worth of any of the children in their care. They don't know that God created them on purpose and in His image.

She will probably not live long. Because she has turned 6 years old, she is soon to be transferred to the same type of loveless facility where the other little girl died.

Is there anything that I can do for her? I do love her. "I love you Jesus and I am so thankful to you for making her. She is beautiful to me, but so much more to you. If someone brought her to me, I would care for her. If I could go get her I would. I don't know how we can leave her there alone. Will you go get her?