Here goes nothing... you will have to be patient as I go in order. ;) Sorry!
As I mentioned in a previous post, Sunday afternoon and Monday morning were hard days for Irina. The realization that the trip was coming to an end really saddened her and of course it saddened us too. With the help of a translator, we were able to confirm the reason for her tears and comfort her. I am thankful that she accepted our comfort. It broke my heart to see her so vulnerable.
By mid-day Monday during our shopping trip, she was back to her giggly confident self with a little extra contrariness thrown in for good measure. Darin reminded me to extend her extra grace as she struggled to sort through her emotions. We heard a lot of "Nee Ha Choo" (okay... no idea how to spell this, but this is what it sounded like with a LOT of girly drama and facial expressions.) This translates to "I don't want to!" We had a good bit of this Monday and Tuesday.
We tried to spend as much time doing what she begged to do the most... riding bikes. At the end of the day Tuesday, I was pretty disappointed. I knew we only had one day left and my expectations were high. I wanted every minute to be special family time and it just didn't turn out that way. She wanted to do the opposite of everyone else most of the day. She would take off down the driveway on her bike and zip down the street laughing and laughing. Either Darin or I would run alongside her to remind her to stay on the side of the road and help her to not crash. (She is still mastering the use of brakes. She prefers to just crash into whatever is in front of her.) Darin joked that she was planning her escape route for Thursday.
Wednesday morning came and I was encouraged to just enjoy the moments together however they turned out. God heard my prayer and helped me put aside my tasks to just be present. It was probably one of our best days. He put a song in my heart! Whenever we were not outside, we listened to Seeds Family Worship (a recent Christmas gift - thanks J&J!). It is scripture set to music and God's word washed over me and helped me get through the day knowing that our time with Ira was nearly over. The contrariness was not there in Irina and we all played together throughout the day. A complete blessing!!!
"Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."Philippians 4:6-7
We concluded our day with a special dinner out and extended bedtime. After we got the boys in bed, Irina, Darin and I added her remaining photos to her photo album (a grand total of 187 photos!), read books, played, laughed and prayed. We tucked her in bed knowing that it would be the last time. These last 19 days have been both a mix of wonderful and super hard. They have stretched me more then I would have chosen to be stretched and have taught me a lot about myself and my family. I had no idea what we were in for when we signed up, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!!!
Airport photos coming soon...
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