Two weeks have flown by. Today marks the beginning of the third week which means we have just three weeks left, I'll mention my thoughts on that matter further down.
We have settled into a nice groove. The language barrier hasn't magically gone away but we know how to work around it better. If I speak to you in broken English please forgive me because I have at times caught myself thinking in broken English, "Family no like melon, mama no buy!". It is an art to live with someone who doesn't speak your language and you don't speak theirs. You have to be able to think of about five ways to say the same thing in the most simple ways and then add in some gestures and charades and that is a good snapshot of what conversations look like in our house.
Some may wonder how do they spend their days, what does she like to do, how do you entertain small ones and a teenager at the same time, well folks, I will let you wonder no more.
We live life!
Profound stuff, huh? Our lives have gone on. We play games, play with toys, watch movies, play outside, go swimming, watch the rain fall, fall fall, fall (it has been nonstop rain lately), clean house, do laundry, cook meals, giggle and rough house, and all the other normals that happen. L enjoys cross stitch so I have taken her on two trips to the craft store to buy supplies. She is fast and extremely good but very modest about her skills.
Living with a teenager has rocked my little people world in some ways. We have had the joy of having an extra set of big hands to help with the little ones as well as the housework. She is young and able bodied and flies through chores! I wish I had her energy! There is the flip side of having a teenager. We get eye rolling and sullenness. And sleep, oh my word, I forgot how much sleep teens love to have.
Reflections from week 2...how scary life would be without Christ. I take Jesus for granted I think. It was a startling realization. I grew up in a Christian home and have never felt what hopelessness would be like. Watching L dislike church so much has been hard on me. Yes, I had friends growing up who weren't believers and yes, I even have encountered people who don't believe in God at all. But I have never lived with someone who doesn't love Jesus. I think that is what makes this feel so different for me. There is such a difference between knowing something and feeling overwhelmed and moved by knowing something. The picture below streams with my reflections this last week.
We are being so exposed and I have such a burden to share the love of Jesus and His gift of salvation. I grew up in church and was told to spread the word, go light up the world, be a disciple of Christ, and while I understood the need and importance, and even knew it was a direct instruction from God, I didn't feel the intense, overwhelming need to minister and evangelize. I never connected with an unbeliever in this way before. Maybe it is somewhat different being a mom now. Praying over my children's need of God and salvation and praying they would choose to walk with Him and accept the gift of salvation has weighed on my heart since I first held my oldest after she was born. But I also know my children are being exposed regularly to the Bible, prayer, what sin is and why salvation is needed. They don't feel hopelessness surrounding them. L has been surrounded by a life that has been hard and hope wasn't offered on a daily basis to her. She is trudging through a hard life and has no family but more importantly doesn't rely upon a heavenly father for all her needs. To say my heart is breaking seems inadequate. Think about being exposed to church for the first time in a foreign country where you don't understand or speak the native language. It must be so overwhelming and I am trying to be patient with her. It is extremely hard for me on Sunday mornings to watch her huff and puff and roll her eyes about church. She doesn't want to say prayers as a family or read the Bible. I want to shake her and say Jesus loves you so much and life would be full of hope if you would trust in Him!!!! But I know that would do nothing other than push her further away. So prayerfully and, probably, inadequately at times, I am trying to show her Jesus in the way we act as a family, I act as a wife and mother, the words I speak, the things I laugh at, the activities we participate in, and on and on. I print off the songs a friend of ours who runs the AV stuff at church translates for me each week and I hand them off to her so hopefully she will read the lyrics and get another glimpse of God, even when she rolls her eyes and mutters in Ukrainian. She is a delight to be around and a good girl. She is helpful and loving but she doesn't know Jesus. I ask that you get down on your knees and pray so hard for her heart to be softened. Pray in a hopeless world and hopeless life she would see the hope we find in Jesus. Pray she realizes and understands despite being poor on earth, she can be rich in soul and heart with Jesus' gift of salvation; despite being an orphan on earth, she can be adopted into God's family, as we all are; despite being alone on earth, she can walk and talk to God anytime of the day or night.
Phew, okay the baby is crying so I have to end this now! Hopefully I will be able to post again next week! : )
~Katie
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