Life Changing...

On Wednesday, we went to the local office to get new birth certificates for the girls.  They actually make new ones, with our names listed as their parents.  It was quite interesting...we were there almost 2 hours, but in the end we got what we went for.  We were instructed to sit down in a woman’s office and told she would prepare the certificates.  She was a little on the cold side and did not say too much to us, except for the time she told us we were not allowed to say anything while in her office.  So for 2 hours, we sat there in complete silence, while she printed the new certificates.  We have noticed that all the paperwork and such takes a lot longer than it would in the US.  Some documents are hand written, and they don't use computers for very many things.  After we were done, we went back and got a few snacks ready for the orphanage and headed to see the girls.  They were anxious to play uno with us again, so we played with them and ate the snacks.

Yesterday, we were at the orphanage at 8 am to pick up the girls to go to a different region ( I would attempt to spell where we went, but I know it would be way wrong ) to apply for their passports.  We saw Artyr, and some other boys on the way to school, so it was nice to give him a hug and say hello.  Remember in my last post when I said about the car ride and how it was comparable to being put into a filing cabinet and pushed down a brick road?  Well, just when I thought that could not get too much worse, I was wrong.  Russie, Anslee, Vika and I were crunched into the back of a small car yesterday for a 2+hour drive, each way.  Andre, our driver, his car, is comparable to a chevy cavalier back home.  So the four of us were in the backseat and you really cannot even appreciate these roads.  It is crazy, there are pot holes everywhere, there is no such thing as staying in your own lane of traffic, you swerve where ever you need to when ever you need to, so I would look up and see trucks coming straight for us and at the very last second Andre would swerve in our lane….it was excruciating to say the least.  Please as you are driving on your new smooth roads in America today, think of me telling you this and thank God that you have that.  At the end of the day though, we did what we needed to do and so we can call it a good day.  This was the last thing we have to do while we are here in Krivoy, we now just wait for the passport to come and we will head to Kiev to finish up things there and then come home. 

So I have been thinking a lot about something else in all of this, so I am going to get spiritual now.  When we came here the first trip, so many things were different here.  It is sometimes hard to get used to something that is different in so many ways.  It didn’t take long though, to find a routine and rhythm here.  The positive things and experiences here, defienently outweighed the negative things.  Ofcourse when we got home, everyone’s first question for us, was, “How was it?”  Most of the time we gave the short answer, but for the true answer it would take hours.  It was hard for me to adjust back into real life in the first few days home.  I had gotten used to it over here and it was so different being home.  I started to look at things differently, started to notice more things, and started to do some evaluating.  I realized how materialistic, and how distracted our country is.  Here in Ukraine, there are not near the amount of “things” that we have in America.  Yes, the people do take pride in themselves, how they dress and the things they have, but it is not WHO they are.  I have found myself so many times in America, thinking, okay, if I have this I will be happier, if this happens we will be better, so on and so on.  We are ingrained in our country to get more, do more and we will be happier.  These people live on less and are used to less and are happier with less.  The apartment we are staying in now, is called “the penthouse” here and is one of the nicest apartments you can get here.  When we brought the girls here the last trip to spend the afternoon here with us, they were amazed and said they had never seen a nicer apartment than this.  At home, this would be a small, very average apartment.  The kids at the orphanage share everything and nothing they really have is their own.  17 girls share clothes, shoes, coats, and everything else.  They are in a difficult situation being at the orphanage, but they are happy kids and make the best of their situation.  In America, we feel like we are owed something and if we don’t get it, we become put out or upset.  All these kids want is a family, someone to take care of them and Love them.  Sure, the added things they will get when they come to America will be great and exciting for them, but it is not their first desire.  Being around that for some period of time, changes you and makes you long to be different.  Unfortunately, the battle starts there, because once you are home for so long, you fall back into so many things and so many ways of life.  The hard part is living your life, and not be distracted and pulled back to the things you once thought were important and found value in.  A specific bible verse jumped out at me when I came home, and that is Matthew 19:23.  Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, it is harder for a rich man to get to heaven than a camel to go through the eye of a needle”   Like many of you reading this, when I would hear that verse, I would dismiss it and think that it does not apply to me because I don’t consider myself a “rich man.”  We look in our country and we see many people who are rich and wealthy everywhere we look.  We compare ourselves to them and we think those are the people Jesus was referring to.  Well, I learned through being here, that if you live in America and earn minimum wage, you are the “rich” in the world.  No, I am not a rich person compared to others in  America, but compared to the rest of the world, yes, I am rich.  So what did this realization mean for me?  It means that I have to up my game and I have to live my life the right way, all the time, and be aware that the devil has put so many things in my path to distract me and get my focus off of God.  If it is hard for a rich man to get to heaven, then I need to make sure that I am as in tune with God as much as I can be.  The reality of it is too, Ukraine is not a third world country, there are many countries that have no running water and no food, to them Ukraine would be life changing to have the opportunity to live here.  In America, it is easy to forget about all the others in the world in need and only think about our selves and how to make us better, but there are lots of others out there that need our help and need our Love, we just need to be aware of that and let God lead us, and not the world.  Sorry this post is so long, I have had these thoughts in my head for  a few weeks now and felt like I needed to share them.

I will try to post some pictures later, our internet is slow today and the pictures are taking too long.