Our Christmas GIFT!: A Trip to Ukraine

Well...actually, we took a trip to the Ukrainian Embassy, in Washington, DC. But technically, we were in Ukraine. This is as close as I'll get for a little while...(Not sure why God has linked my heart with this country. It's more then just having adopted Irina and I cannot explain it.)

A ginger bread house on display made to represent St. Michael's in Kiev.

We were one of several adoptive families invited to participate in a Ukrainian egg dying (pysanky) craft on April 22. The traditional Ukrainian eggs are beautiful and I was so excited to learn. Our contact at the Ukrainian embassy graciously included the boys in her invitation even though most of the other kids were native to Ukraine. Halyna Mudra demonstrated and taught the children.

Things I learned...

Being in the Ukrainian embassy and experiencing the sights and sounds triggered a panic attack in Irina. It lasted about 15 minutes, but it was scary. As quickly as it came on, it was gone. She's never been able to articulate what she was thinking or feeling, but she had a very physical reaction. (couldn't breathe, heart racing, nauseous, sweating, pale, jittery...) I was prepared for a reaction to occur, but didn't expect this. I comforted her as best as I could. Then suddenly it was gone and she was back to normal. There are very deep wounds and many consequences to the brokenness of this world. I know God is redeeming and healing, but it was a reminder that our love alone cannot fix this. We need Him. Irina needs Him. She is flourishing in many outwardly visible ways, but like all of us she has a story to tell that will unfold in time.

Other things I learned... Pysanky takes a VERY long time and lots of patience.

There are many steps of applying hot beeswax and then layering on dye.

Artistic perfectionism and a first attempt at pysanky can be a recipe for frustration.

It is not easy to maneuver the kistka (stylus). It takes lots of practice and determination.

The eggs we used were RAW eggs. They were not hard boiled. They were not blown out. What does this mean? They were very fragile. The last step of the process is holding the egg over the flame to melt off the beeswax revealing the stunning design. After all that work, imagine how sad it is to have a parent drop the hot egg when their fingers start burning. Crack. Given a second chance to make an egg, imagine how very, very sad it is to have another parent accidentally drop your masterpiece onto the floor. Splat. boo!

Another lesson learned... if hot beeswax accidentally gets flicked onto your skin by an innocent child, quickly remove it. My burns are still healing 25 days later. ouch!

Last lesson learned... carrying a FRAGILE and SPECIAL egg in a styrofoam cup along bumpy sidewalks can have devastating effects. I can still picture the scene of Aaron walking back to the car. One false step resulted in him tripping, which launched his egg out of his cup. Smash! Sobs.