The day I will not soon forget...

On September 7th, my 36th birthday, we went to the Orphanage in Kherson....the orphanage where Lidiya lives!!  Of all the days that we could have went to her orphanage, it happened to be on my birthday!  Not the day before my birthday, not the day after my birthday by on-my-birthday!!  I've had some unforgettable birthday's in my life...spending my 18th in basic trainining, 19th in a mission field, in the Army, in Korea...but this one tops them all!  I got to spend my 36th birthday in a Ukrainian Orphanage with the girl that stole me heart during the past summer!!  She was so excited to see me!!  She didn't know we were there!  I had to go to the bathroom, which was upstairs.  So, I was walking up the stairs and much to my surprise, I hear Lidiya yell, "Ohhh....April!!!"  I ran up the stairs to meet her and give her a big 'ol hug!!  Of course, I start to get emotional and Lidiya does not like emotion!!  Not to mention, all of her friends stopped and were staring.  So, she kinda shut down.  But that's OK because I finally got to see her!!

I got to spend about 3-4 hours with her and it was just awesome.  I gave her the gifts that Danny I bought for her and she read the letter than Danny wrote to her.  At the end of his letter, he signed it "Your American Dad" and she giggled!  When I asked why she giggled (even though I knew), she just shook her head!

Here she is reading Danny's letter

I also got to meet her brothers, Andre (11) and Vlad (15) and I got to spend some time with them as well.

This is Andre (left) and Vlad (right) looking into the 

classroom where we were interviewing children

I think Lidiya and her younger brother, Andre look soooo much alike!!!

Not quite sure where Vlad gets his blue eyes!

We played UNO and I also tried to talk to them the best I could, in the very little bit of Russian that I can speak.  The best thing I know how to say is "Do you like ________?"  So, I kept asking:

Do you like strawberries?
Do you like milk?
Do you like onions?
Do you like tomatoes?
Do you like peaches?
Do you like cucumbers?

I'm sure they were sick of me asking "Do you like" but that's really all I know to say in a Russian conversation.  I did learn how to say "Stay" and "Do you understand?" when the little boy we hosted was here but that really didn't seem appropriate this time!  Haha!  I asked most of the things I actually knew how to say in Russian.  Andre was very giggly and every time I asked him a question, he just giggled at me.  Then, he would say yes or no.  I would ask, "Why are you laughing?"  And he would just giggle more!  Vlad was more serious and seemed very reserved.  I actually got to speak to Vlad's teacher and she just confirmed what I kinda felt.....she said he is very reserved and quiet, he doesn't associate with anyone including friends or siblings and just keeps to himself.

We were playing UNO and Lidiya was trying to tell her friend 

how to play "the right way"  Haha~!

This is a perfect picture of the personalities of Vlad and Andre!

 I asked Andre to put the UNO cards back in the box...

He was having a hard time!  But he did get them back in there!

After we were done playing UNO and the team was finished interviewing children, Lidiya got to take me on a tour of her orphanage.  Just me and her!  That was sooo awesome!!  I was really disappointed when we got to her room and it was locked.  She said the teacher has the key.  There were other rooms that were open, so I am not sure why hers was locked.  I was hoping to see what "her space" looked like and of course I was very interested to see if she got to keep any of the things that we gave her.  Oh well...at least I got to spend the time with her.  That was more important!

This was the outside of her orphanage...the building where she lives.

This was one of the "living" areas...she was so happy to show me around~!

This was her bathroom!!  I couldn't believe it...totally not what I expected!

I figured it would be a huge bathroom with many sinks, toilets and open showers.

This was a little kitchenette!  Wow - I was really surprised

at what these kids have available to them!

This was another sleeping room.  I believe there were only 4 beds 

in this one.  It was very nice!

This is another one of the rooms.  They had a couch and this entertainment center.

Very nice!  Again...just not what I expected at all!

This was from the 4th floor of her orphanage, 

looking down outside through the window.

This was  also from the 4th floor of her orphanage, 

looking down outside through the window.

This was outside, looking out at the grounds behind her school.

After we toured her orphanage, I called Danny on the phone so that she could talk to him.  Of course I knew there really wasn't much they could say but at least he got to hear her voice and she got to hear his.

One of the important things I found while on this trip was that Lidiya and both of her brothers ARE eligible for adoption!  Wow - that really puts a spin on things.  I will be writing up another post on my blog explaining what that means for them, for us, regarding hosting, etc. because this is really important!

I can't even begin to share the emotion and feeling I had on this day!  It was by far THE BEST day of my entire trip and one of THE BEST Birthday's I've ever had!  I thank the Lord Jesus for the sovereignty He has in our lives every day....He knew where I was going to be on my 36th birthday long before I was even born.  I am just glad that I had the opportunity to be blessed!!!

 I sure do love this girl

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

This verse is a recurring theme in my blog because it is the reason that we hosted Lidiya, the reason that our hearts are in this to take care of the orphans and the reason that we ask for support...we can't do it alone.