Perspective...

If there is one thing that this experience has given me, it is Perspective.

Look at our children:

I had this experience with Lake about a month ago in that one day I realized that he was growing into a young man.  I remember looking at him and thinking WOW..when did you get to be this young man sitting next to me.   Then, when you see your kids every day, you don't realize the changes as much I think but, I saw Vika for the first time in almost 3 years and WOW, she looks a lot different.  I remember this little girl that was kind of overweight but, now she is much taller and thinner.  Not that I would love her any differently but, what a change.  I will post more pics later of all of our adventures but, this is one of the things that sticks out to me.  It makes me appreciate the days that I have with my children and the future days to come with all of my children.  They are changing and growing so fast.  It is awesome to see them grow to become young men and women.

Look at our relationships:

When we began hosting exchange students a few years ago, we wanted to learn a little bit of the Russian language and culture while getting to know these kids from other countries.  I never expected that I would see them in their own homes and that their families would host us for a short period of time.  Daniel and Katya's family have shown us such hospitality that it is amazing to me.  This has been an amzaing experience of serendipity that God has blessed us with.  While these families are allowing us to stay with them we are literaly saving hundreds of dollars a day.  The drive from Zapporyzia was about 4-5 hours.  Katya's dad drove to get us and then turned around to take us back to his home.  While we can't do anything to further our process in adoption, we would have been sitting in an apartment in either Zap. or Kiev and paying about $100 / day for the apartment, let alone anything else we would have done like eat.
Today, we are in Katya's home and the boys are playing with her brother.  Her grandmother made us a wonderful breakfast and I am sure we will spend the entire weekend as if we are part of their family.  
What a blessing it has been to have these young people in our lives and in our homes.  As I said, I never expected such a return of hospitality.  This will be a reminder to me to keep my relationships close and give people the unexpected love and relationship that I am receiving from these families.

Look at our country:
Visiting Ukraine has given me a lot of perspective related to our country.  There are a lot of things that we can all think of to make better or that we think are wrong but, there is a lot right also.  Ukraine has some very rich history, and if you know me, I love history.  It also seems to be in the throws of a young democracy.  We have been taught that Communism is bad and socialism is bad but, there are several people here who believe they had a better life and that more people had a better life under communism and, if they had a choice, would go back to it.  Most people seem to live in apartment buildings here that I would call a flat I guess.  Single level dwelling with multiple rooms.  The amazing thing is that the outside of these buildings and the area around them is dirty and a little scary at night to the visitor.  There are two doors that go into the apartment.  First you have to go into the locked door to get into the building and then there is the outer door into the apartment.  Then, there is the inner door and it has multiple locks.  The inside can be whatever the family makes it to be.  The first apartment we were in wasn't s0 nice but, it was liveable.  The second one for just $10 more per night was much nicer.  Again, kind of scary on the outside but, pretty nice on the inside.  We have so many things that we take for granted.  I am sure that there are places in America that are like what I see here in the inner cities but, this seems to be everywhere and in every city that we have passed through.  There seems to be a lot of looking and funny faces at this huge American that people see but, everyone has been very nice to us.

Pics to come soon....

Mike