This will be short as it's past my bedtime....Ukraine is 7 hours ahead so when it's noon in VA Beach, it is 7 p.m. here.
At any rate, the plan for today was that I would call Anya when we were ready to go play soccer. I went to call her around 1 but couldn't get our international phone to work. Three weeks ago this would have completely stressed me out. For today, I shrugged my shoulders and figured sooner or later she would come looking for us. I did email our new friend Ben, who Den and Anya introduced us to. I emailed him asking him to call Den to explain our phone dilemma and to come pick us up. Ben got my email four hours after I sent it. Den and Anya were here by 6. I was so relieved.....we would not be stranded forever!
What did we do all day you ask? UNO, UNO, and more UNO. It's ridiculous....Valera is beating me something like 80 games - to my 20. I used to think UNO was luck....but he knows something I do not.
We did go play soccer tonight and Valera used his goalie gloves. Me, Pa, Anya, and Den tried scoring goals on Valera. We made a goal using Den's flip flops. Just like in UNO, I didn't go easy on Valera. It was hard to shoot one past him. He is not afraid to dive, take one on the
face, etc.
After soccer we went back to our favorite pizza place. Den, Anya, Pa and I had a great conversation sharing our journeys with God. Den told us that about six years ago he met the Lord and gave up smoking and "a lot of other bad things". It was a really special conversation and a reminder to me that people all around the world, literally, are changing because of God's grace in their lives.
I am grateful for Anya and Den. I thought Anya would be our translator/facilitator and Den would be our taxi driver. Turns out they are becoming much more than that. The genuine care they have for Valera is amazing. At times I am envious of all the conversation they get to have with Valera. I want to be a part of it all....but then I just "let go" and praise God for these two additional people loving on him.
How did he get so good at uno so fast??? It sounds like you are having so much fun! Have you enjoyed all your adventures? Miss ya!
ReplyDeleteSorry Lisa, forgot to tell you that UNO is the national card game of orphanages. Every America, Canadian or any other country bring UNO cards to the orphanages on their mission trips because there is no need for "language" to play the game!!! I know Yuglegorsk has a thousand decks. The kids were so good at UNO the last time we went we had to start our own rules ... for instance, if a 2 is laid down no one can speak a word until another number is laid down. If someone speaks while the 2 is lying there that person has to take the whole pile!!! :) Don Roberson was the best at getting the whole pile! ha. Hoping that you get to go the the House of Gospel church and meet Pastor Alex and his family! The church is in Enakievo ... It is all in Russian but well worth the trip. Tell Pastor you are from Grace Bible Church ... he will be so happy to see you!!! Tell him all his friends say hello. Praying daily for your needs. "And he said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." Exodus 33:14
ReplyDeleteThank you for reming us that God is global , that he wants everyone in the entire world to know him and love him .
ReplyDeleteLisa,
ReplyDeleteYou are being a real trooper. You just can't get stressed out while you are there because once yourealize you have absolutely no control over anything it is sort of liberating and makes yo a very easy going person in the face of great change. You will see it will carry back home with you and people will notice a difference. It's cool how God does that for us since it opens the door to tell more people how He works in our lives for good.
Enjoy those UNO games! I agree with Karol though that new rules need to be added. Watch out, however, because once you say there are new rules then Valera will want to add his own and if he is like all the other Ukrainian kids I know, he will change them part way through the game so that they work to his advantage.
But one thing we know for sure: God is the same yesterday, today and forever! Hooray, something we can count on that doesn't change like the wind. Take comfort in that :)
Blessings,
Laura