Day 51

I'm not gonna lie, Sundays are lovely here, and I may miss the ability to sleep in until 10am, have a cup of coffee, and then leisurely head out to church.  A little.  I mean, yes, life is a thousand times better when we get to share it with our kids...but slow, kidless mornings do have their perks :)


We made it to Calvary Chapel for our very last Sunday service here in Kharkov.  I say that, and it still doesn't seen real...you mean we actually get to leave??  It's kind of bittersweet, because we have made a home here, whether we intended to or not!  We will definitely miss our church family here, and hope to continue to stay in touch with everyone.  They have helped us spiritually- lifting us up in prayer in and out of worship, emotionally- being our friends and family here in UA, and translationally (yes, I'm making that word up!)- helping us find our way around town, even translating via phone for the irate lady knocking at our apartment door who was trying to tell us that our electricity was going to be shut off if we didn't pay the bill!

My advice for future travelers:  get plugged into a church in region.  You'll be thankful for it, you'll grow from it, and you'll have a chance to bless back more people along your journey.  If anyone is traveling to Kharkov, we'll be happy to put you in touch with Nate and the rest of Calvary Chapel here before you go.

Today the pastor (Victor) spoke about intention and purpose in our lives, and how situations and people work to hone away our rough edges, until we are repurposed for His intentions.  I don't know, it just felt like I really needed that talk, to put our whole journey in perspective.  Never in a million years did I expect to put my whole life aside for two solid months in our efforts to bring Danila home, and I don't really know if going into this, if I knew that it would mean this long away from our kids, would we have done it?  Would we have been obedient to this calling?  I don't know.

What I do know, is that even though it has been rough- the waiting, the separation, the worry, the financial strain, the stress of everything weighing down on us...all of that will make going home as a complete family that much sweeter.  We will appreciate everything that we have just a little bit more, we will look at what we prioritize with new eyes, and we will see any obstacles in our way with a different perspective.

Anyways...all that heavy stuff aside, we celebrated our last Sunday here with the Laynes, Nate and Diana, Victor and Vika and their kids and Vika's brother, at La Cucaracha for some almost Mexican food (BYO Sour Cream style).  Good times.