The Heart of the Matter

What do you think those eyes are asking?  What is in this precious little mind?  Yesterday, through the kindness of Jamie's in-laws, I entered the orphanage grounds where Sergiy lives and was able to see him, if ever so briefly, to give him a birthday hug and kiss. (It has been since January that I last actually held him.)  Jeanne took three quick pictures while I was holding him, and then we were surrounded by other children who simply wanted to be picked up.  How could we refuse?

We continue to look into the possibility of becoming foster care parents here.  We met our attorney last Thursday at the appropriate office...but it was closed!  Our area of interest is only dealt with on Mondays and Thursdays. ..and only from 3:00 until 5:00. This past Monday we met again with our attorney and also a trusted friend to try to get the letter giving us permission to visit the children.  We had compiled some documents of our own (proof of income, proof of home ownership, passports and visas) and waited in line from 3:00 until 4:30.  When we were finally invited into the official office, we were informed that the woman in charge had been working at this office for 19 years and had NEVER had a foreigner interested in fostering Ukrainian children.  If we could tell her which laws were relevant, she would be happy to help us.  Otherwise, come back with more information.  Our attorney had left at 4:00 for another appointment, so Sasha, Jim and I walked out of the office trying to figure out who we knew that might know SOMETHING.  Sasha shook his head stating that he had no idea that the woman wouldn't know her OWN job!

Together with Sasha we are gathering as much relevant information as we can so that we can try again today.  Additional pressure is on us to get this done quickly -- the woman helping us will be going on vacation soon...and we would have to start all over with her replacement!  Yikes!

The BRIGHT spot of the week was actually visiting Sergiy.  He sat close to the caretaker, obviously one of the favorites.  I began to blow bubbles to celebrate the big day and the children began to squeal with delight, trying to pop them before they hit the ground.  I moved closer to Sergiy and blew a new batch, and he sprang to his feet and waved his arms around trying to touch a bubble.  The fun ended, though, when another group of caretakers said that we were making too much noise (outside, mind you) and we might wake up the infants sleeping in the baby buggies nearby.  NOISY playing takes place AFTER the little ones have napped.

Please continue to pray for this process, for God's will to be done, for His glory to be evident in all that takes place.

Do you ever have one of those days when you wake up thinking you might have a general gist of what will be happening that day...really looking forward to it...only to find out that you were oh, so wrong?!

Jim and I are attempting to become foster care parents of children here in Ukraine.  We've heard that it can take from 3 years to 6 months to less than a week to even the same day to accomplish the required paperwork.  Once we actually receive the documents that we need to fill out, that is.  And how hard can that be?  That is a task for today.

We simply need to take a trusted translator with us to a specific office in our region and "get 'er done."  Just when we think we have our ducks in a row...and we're swimming along following the leader...plans change!  Lead Duck "A" thinks we should take one course while Lead Duck "B" suggests another.  Lead Duck "C" confirms "A" but "B" will actually be the one accompanying us.  Meanwhile, it's 2:00!  Another day down?!

Please pray with us that our ducks will stay aligned!!  And that we'll be swimming towards the office even today...  We would really LOVE to get this process started.  I'm afraid to count how many false starts we've had.  And this is simply to GET the documents.  I can only imagine how interesting it can become once the forms are returned!

Thankfully we trust our sovereign God who sees it all to work all things according to His will.  Though I rarely like to wait, His timing is perfect.  And so we wait. 

Lies I believed about dieting:

Once you reach age 30, or 40, or 50, it is much harder to lose weight than when in your 20s.

The only way to change your body shape after age 30, 40, 50, is intensive exercise.

Long-term diets are boring, tasteless, or extremely expensive (buying prepackaged specialty foods).

You can't lose weight in a country where the staples are potatoes, beets, rice, and bread.

You can't stay on a diet in America, especially if you're on vacation.

The truth:

I am certainly over 50, and I have been steadily losing weight since November, WITHOUT skipping meals (my most effective weight loss program in my 20s).

Even more quickly than the weight loss was showing up on the scale, my clothes began to fit so differently.  I was losing inches around the ol' midsection.  Without exercise...hard to believe!

This diet requires no expensive prepackaged foods, and allows (even encourages) fresh fruit, along with vegetables, lean meat, brown rice, etc.  If I make suggested recipes, they are always tasty...but I typically just make a few minor adjustments to my old standby recipes.  The whole family eats the same food, though I do occasionally make some side dishes that I personally won't eat, but my family still enjoys.

Living in Ukraine, I have been able to maintain this diet plan for over 8 months.  Though I can't find ALL of the wonderful taste treats that I would be able to find in the States, I just make do.  Rather than low-fat laughing cow cheese, for example, I eat the real deal.  No problem.

I was in the States for 5 weeks in the spring, with one full week on vacation in Orlando at Disney World.  Most of my time was spent in a car travelling from one city to the next as my husband and I shared our ministry here with our friends there.  We stayed in different homes every night, rarely having direct input into what the meals may be.  At Disney World, I carefully read menus and asked for suggestions from the very accommodating waitstaff.  The chefs were more than happy to prepare something that I could eat!  I did not gain a single pound!

All of this is written to encourage you, particularly if you are in the same boat that I sat in for so many years.  I have absolutely no connection to the South Beach diet other than that it was recommended and I gave it a very hesitant try.  It is healthy tasty eating for a lifetime.

27 pounds down...several more to go!

No USA.  No Ukraine.  But there is still Henry and Zidane.  How exciting was that game against Brazil?  And if the World Cup isn't enough excitement for France, add to that the first week of the Tour de France...with favorites (since there is no Lance) prohibited to even start the race due to doping allegations and others crashing out before even 3 stages.  It's good to see George Hincapie (Lance's waterboy in the past) riding well, even wearing the yellow jersey for Discovery for a day.  This will be quite an interesting tour...Discovery looks in pretty good shape after 3 stages, but almost anything goes!  Who would have ever guessed that Boonen would be wearing the yellow?  And keep an eye on the Americans and Ukrainians riding for various teams.  We may be out of the World Cup, but we are alive and well in the world of cycling!