It has been several days since we blogged. No real reason except maybe it's so much easier to FaceBook events. The young lady pictured here is on board, always was & always will be. Took this shot on the couches at the orphanage where we have spent a lot of time. I love those couches! She's sitting right where she was when she spoke her heart, Satan took one in the a.. & the process to get these two out of here moved forward. To me, it's sacred ground, the exact location where the battle was won. We had our paperwork get to Kyiv this morning. All is good, in order and a confirmation that the Interpool clearance is good to go. Will have documents to submit for a court hearing on Monday. Good possibility we could have court next Wednesday. Is that really still a whole week away? We've been skeptical for about a week about the time, distance & travel path taken to get to the orphanage by our translator. I tend to pay attention to directions. We rarely went the same way twice, had lots of u-turns, back streets (if you can imagine a streets worse than the ones I posted as a video on FaceBook) and it was taking approximately 20-25 minutes, one way. Last night we took our 1st real Izmail taxi ride. It went exactly how I had mapped it out on Google Earth, cut the distance by 1/3 and took about 6 minutes. We knew something was really wrong last week when some on bikes started not only honking at us, but passing us. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to be sitting in a taxi and have a 70 year old guy on a crappy bike wave his finger at you as he bolts by? The other three rides we've taken have been only 30% of the cost we were told it would be and just as fast. We have settled into that mode where you wake up as late as possible, eat breakfast as late as possible, slowly make your bed, remake it, look outside and start wondering if it's OK to wander out without getting lost because all the streets have really long names and end in, "...skya, or ...ova". Had our taxi guy, Zhenya, take me to a gym near the port to see when they played basketball. I brought shoes, a ball and a pump-no luck. It's all about indoor soccer; guys the size of linebackers playing indoor soccer...pleeeeeeeze! For those who met Oksana; imagine her about 20 lbs. lighter, if you can. To describe her as thing would be a stretch. It's very hard on me.A few things that drive me crazy: when people criticize shows like, "Extreme Make Over-Home Edition" or, "The Biggest Loser" because it's just about promoting the advertised products or cashing in on someone's weight problem. Aren't they still doing a good thing, meeting real needs? Or those who pronounce judgement on a religious sect, movement or belief system because certainly their good works or intentions cant't be as good as those whose theology is rock-solid. When Jesus used a Samaritan traveler to be the leading man in one of his greatest parables, do you think it was an accident that He chose someone other than God's chosen people, especially the two mentioned who would have clearly had the correct, "theology"
and instead inserted one whose heart was in-tune with the spirit of Jesus? The woman to the right sits at this spot every day. We watched as dozens walked by. If ever the skill of NOT making eye-contact paid off, this was it. We watched. We went shopping for her. She sits, strategically, on the sidewalks that surround the church. Why? Why would she do that, of all places? I submit that at the core of who we are as humans is an innate sense that those who talk of religious issues or would be in a location to present that religion is a part of their lives, are the very people you expect ACTION from. Read Matthew 25. I want
to make it perfectly clear that I am not self-righteous and have made too many errors to pretend to assume a position over others I know I'm not qualified to fill. What I do know is this: if you SAY you're a believer in Christ you are bound to manifest that in tangible ways that meet the needs of the outcasts: the poor, the widows, those unfairly imprisoned and the orphans. Those are identified in scripture so if you have a problem with me saying it or are offended, you don't have a problem with me; you have a much bigger problem. I think it fair to say that God has no use for lip-service. I've really got to stop reading this stupid book, "Red Letters", by Tom Davis. I'd much prefer to go back to my comfortable life in the greatest country in the world, at least for a while. I have a whole perspective/blog/discussion venue on that: I think God is slowly allowing our country to suffer the consequences of a nation that has the resources to be Jesus to the world and is finding every excuse under the sun to justify our selfishness. God used the Assyrians, the Persians and Babylonians to dismantle His chosen people, it's certainly within the realm of possibility that He would allow us to destroy ourselves from within, IE: socialism. While Jesus had some very socialistic things to say, it wasn't the kind were heading down as a nation. I've read through the Bible, cover to cover, chronologically, twice in the last three years-it's there! If there is a growing burden concerning adoption, that burden is the Holy Spirit. Ignore it or excuse it to your own detriment. We are not called to comfort, we are called to a cause. Or, as I heard it was stated in Sundays service at Rocky Mountain Christian Church, "Comfort does not trump calling". I love that. Did I mention our driver stops for black cats? The melting snow is revealing streets that were better off covered in it. With the way this affects me, will it ever end? I don't have the money or any more rooms in the house. Can you hear the Lord right now? "PERFECT, just what I need! Someone who can't take credit." Another thing: there is NO biblical basis for retirement as we define it and strive for...anyone want to correct me on
that, feel free. I can't find it. Wrestled with Vlad yesterday. Was wonderful to let him dominate me and see his confidence grow, up to and including yanking off his shirt and flexing as some sort of warning for me that I'd better back off or more of that was coming after me! Look out indoor-soccer-playing-linebackers...here comes "Vlad The Huge".
To the left: dinner last night! Can I interest you in tonight's special? We have instant mashed potatoes, with or without chicken flavoring. We have Ritz type crackers & a cheese that is completely unknown. Very expensive grapes and day old bread that appears to be a pizza, "wanna-be". Washed down with flat Fanta & lukewarm soda water. Bon-apa-puke!
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