Another Day Filled with Blessings

Sunday was a very special day, not only because it was Sunday and we get to go to the Bethel Church, but we are going to Grandma’s house after church. Rick and I still have no idea who Grandma is so we are looking to put together pieces of Yana’s past. We are greeted with such warmth and love when we walk in the church. How good it is to see old friends both English and Ukrainian. What a sweet group of people. After church our friends Don and Inna join us for lunch at a café in town. Don, in his little red hot rod car drives us to Grandma’s house. We discover that Grandma is Yana’s great aunt on her mother’s side of the family. This lady took Yana under her wing as an orphan. Yana used to go there for dinner and sometimes spend nights there. She is very fond of her Grandmother and GREAT GRANDMOTHER. We have heard a lot about both of these women, but there is nothing in the records about them, so we had no idea how they were really related. I always thought it was Koyla’s grandpa’s sister. It is easy to see where Yana gets so many of her great values from. These two ladies are jewels that we are privileged to meet.
We show up unannounced and grandma comes to the door. When she saw Yana she lit up with happiness. “Yana, Yana, Yana”, kiss, hug, kiss, hug, kiss. This goes on and on and on. Great grandma then has her turn. Once again Mama and Papa are fighting back tears. The two women received us as if we were their own. We got hugs and kisses too. The two women are pioneers in the true sense of the word. They live together in a house with a little land surrounding it. The house is small with an outhouse, an indoor winter kitchen and an outdoor summer kitchen. There is a bathhouse outside that you have to heat water on the coal stove to get warm water. There are 17 chickens and 24 chicks. The rest of the property is gardens that go all the way around the house. The effective use of this little bit of land provides them with all the fruit and vegetables they need. The summer kitchen is where they do their canning and hidden under a hug rug is their food basement where they store their food. The great grandma who is 91 years old still works the gardens. Yana’s great aunt and her mother have a little competition of who grows the best vegetables. There were different gardens growing some of the same foods, like tomatoes, at different stages of growth.
Both women were so hospitable. We accepted a cup of coffee and tea in the summer kitchen. It was such a treat to sit in this little building as we tried to have conversation. They wanted so much to tell us things and I wanted to understand and pick their brains as well. Yana did a great job of interpreting but after awhile her brain got tired. Great grandma did manage to explain that her and her husband had built this place and that she lost him 18 years ago as well as 3 of her 4 children. The daughter that lives with her is her oldest of her children. I can’t express how I wanted to find out the details about her life. She was rich with history.
As we were visiting we heard a little cry in the bedroom. Yana’s cousin who lived with this grandma is now 25 and has a 4 year old little girl. Yana has talked about her a lot too. What a beautiful little girl. Unfortunately her cousin was working and was not going to be there any time soon. Hopefully we will have a chance to meet her before Yana and Rick leave. We promised to come back and bring Koyla with us. When Yana found out that we were going to adopt her she went out to visit them for advice. They told her to go and not miss the opportunity for a better life. Yana has so much respect for these two women that she listened to what they told her. Even on Sunday, they were giving Yana their blessing, they are so happy for her.
Then a taxi showed up. It was another cousin. The grandmother and grandfather to the little girl (the parents to the 25 year old cousin that was working), who live in Moscow now. They were here on vacation. They moved to Moscow when their daughter was young and left the daughter to be raised by her mother. The economy was so bad that they left to make money. What hardship these people have seen.
We said our farewells to the family, with lots of hugs and kisses, and went to the orphanage to see Koyla. We spent a couple of hours with him and left Yana and Koyla at the orphanage to play with friends. Rick and I walked into town. We are both going to need new shoes when we get home, we are putting the miles on them. Down time is not really down time. We have to get food, wash clothes by hand, buy water and a few other basics before we send the taxi to go get Yana. By the time we go to bed we fall asleep within seconds of hitting the pillow.
Monday we headed back to the orphanage to see Koyla. It is a God thing how our lives are knitting together. We now come to the orphanage and Koyla will run to us. He is trying to learn some English words and is very proud of himself if he answers in English. Yana is spending a lot of time with her 3 friends. We know that they will now be scattered, Inna is the only one that stays at the orphanage. Yana has stayed in touch with the 3 girls by e-mail and phone (thanks to skype). I am hoping that they can continue to have this relationship forever.
The last few days we have had a chance to see the sacrifice that Yana made emotionally when she made the decision to be adopted. Relationships are important to Yana, she left special people behind. They all encouraged her to go, even her 3 friends. I believe that God has picked Yana out of her situation in Ukraine to make a difference. I pray that she will receive the opportunity that God has given her and follow his will for her, whatever that looks like.