Our Little Butterfly

I'm not even sure where to begin. I'm overwhelmed with thanksgiving. 

We arrived in Donetsk on Wednesday at 11:15am. We were delighted to be warmly greeted by our facilitator, Angelina, and her husband. They loaded our luggage and we began our two hour drive to Irina's orphanage in Nikolaevka, with a few stops along the way. 

We learned about a few bumps in our process on Tuesday that I'm not free to share. Due to that, we were prepared for a potentially difficult day. We were told that the only thing normal about a Ukrainian adoption is that you should expect the unexpected. Indeed that seems to be the case. The blessings of our day are a true testimony to the goodness of God. Perhaps the blessing isn't that the bumps were completely smoothed out, but the blessing is that God gave us eyes to see His goodness in the midst of it all. I could feel His hand upon us!

We arrived at Irina's orphanage at around 1:30pm. The area was very remote. The houses nearby were tiny little shacks with fences around them. Here are some pictures of her orphanage. It is made up of three buildings: the dormitory, cafeteria and the building that houses the administrative offices and school. 

This is her dormitory. Irina's room is on the second floor. 

This courtyard is where the children play. That small building may be where they eat?? I'm not sure.

This is the end of the building that houses the administrative offices and classrooms. 

When we arrived, the children in Irina's school class were outside playing. The children all came running over to us and Angelina. They know Angelina and love her. The children crowded around us clearly hoping we brought them goodies. We have seen pictures of a girl named Katya, one of Irina's friends. She came over to us and said, "Luke, Ethan, Aaron." We were blown away. She knew who we were and she knew all about Irina's new brothers!! It breaks our heart that now another one of Katya's classmates will be leaving her at the orphanage. Katya asked if we could host her. (Through a translator) Anyone want to host her? I can get you the information. :)

Katya

The children were calling for Irina and she came running. She gave us both hugs and then grabbed each one of our hands and led us into the director. As we were walking in, she spoke quickly in Russian to Angelina. "I prayed very hard last night to God for Mama and Papa to come and that's why they're here." 

We got to be with Irina for the next four hours. Much more then we even expected! Irina flitted about like a little butterfly. It was as if 10 months hadn't even passed since we had seen her. The only way we could tell the passing of time was her long hair and that she was a little taller. As she did when she was here, she was quick to grab my camera and take pictures. We'll need to work on that, but I was glad it was her taking pictures of the director and not me!

The director informally interviewed us asking why we would want to adopt Irina when we already have three children. Then he permitted Angelina to let us take Irina off the orphanage property. Wow! After a little more waiting around, we piled into Angelina's car and headed to the next town to find lunch about 20 minutes away. Oh what a treat to be squished in the car with Irina between us!

We ate lunch, went to the city council and then made our drive back to the orphanage. Irina was so delighted to show everyone the photo album I made for her of her room, the boys and other family members. She was quick to hug us and hold our hands. We even got to call the boys on the way to lunch so she could say hello. She was grinning from ear to ear while the boys each said hello and said their names! Priceless! I wish I had thought to capture a picture of that. 

Heading in to city council with Angelina

              

snuggling up on my shoulder

Views from the car

 A man trying to gather his cows, many of which were on the road in front of us. Don't worry, our driver didn't slow down. He sped up, honked the horn and swerved around them!

Irina asked for dessert at lunch and instead we bought a cake for her to bring back and share with her 12 classmates. She was thrilled! We had the cake cut and bought plates and spoons. Here she is carrying her goodies into class. 

We then had to say our goodbye's and make our approx. 2 hour drive back to Gorlovka where we are staying in a hotel. Sadly, we will be so busy taking care of paperwork and other things to complete the adoption (part of those bumps I referred to) that we will not get to see Irina on Thursday at all. Her orphanage is just too far from the closest hotel. We will get to see her again for a one hour visit on Friday before heading back to Donetsk for our flight to Kiev. We are so grateful for the time we had to soak up her joy and to see first hand that she is indeed happy to be adopted by us. 

Thank you for praying! Please pray for smooth completion of all our paperwork tomorrow and the opportunity to ask Angelina all our many questions. 

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; 

make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

Look to the LORD and his strength,

seek his face always."

Psalm 105:1-4