My Heart Longs to Be There

As I sit here today writing this post my heart longs to be in Ukraine with A.  I have been looking back over some old pictures and remembering our days there in 2012.  I have such fond memories of our walks from the hotel to the orphanage, 15 minutes each way.  It was such a beautiful Summer there and Gary and I really got to relax and take it all in.  Such a simple life for people in that area and living off the land that they had.  Most of the yards were taken up with a garden as that was what they would need to make it through the Winter.  Some people had goats tied up in front of their homes and some had a cow or 2.  We would pass by a well on our walk and people would be bringing big jugs to fill.  Most people walked wherever they needed to go or used public transportation.  Very few of the locals had a car.

The hotel we stayed at was very clean and the people were nice even though we couldn't really understand each other.  We would eat dinner each night at the restaurant in the hotel.  There was a big dining area but we never sat in there because it was so big and open and always seemed so formal. We would sit in the bar area which we didn't realize for a long time.  They had parties and wedding receptions almost every weekend and the decorations were so fun.  They also shot fireworks off on the weekends as well.

We would walk to a little convenience store after our visit at the orphanage each morning, to get some fresh baked pastries.  We got lucky one day and got these little cherry tarts that were so tasty! Gary would always get his daily dose of ice cream and we would get water, coke and some other snacks.  There was also a pizza place beside the store which took us a few days to notice.  No English spoken there but the woman was so, so nice and was surprised when we ordered pizza with just cheese on it.  She kept offering more toppings but we weren't sure what they were.  She just snickered at us and we laughed right back.  That was the best pizza I have ever tasted, so fresh and homemade.

Another thing I notice when I look at our pictures is how much the kids, especially Peyton, needed us to get to them.  I didn't realize at the time how super skinny, really sickly, Peyton was.  And poor Caleb with the dark circles under his eyes and all his breathing issues, once again, that we didn't have a clue about. I guess we were so happy we didn't notice.

And, that is why it breaks my heart thinking of A being over there and our need to get there quickly. She doesn't know yet that we are coming. I am not really sure she knew she was going to be hosted only that someone came and took her picture and that she could possibly be hosted.  I am hoping she will be as excited as we are when she finds out that it is our family that wants her, that has chosen her to be our daughter, our sister, our friend.

The following picture is of Peyton's group from 2012.  The next picture is from 2014 of mostly the same group.  See what a difference 2 years can make for children in an orphanage.  How they go from innocent pre-teens to teens that know that soon they will have to leave the orphanage and for some; what will they do and where will they go?

Simply ~ LOVE,

Tina