A Long and Wonderful Day (and post)!

After receiving our referral yesterday, we packed up our apartment in Kiev and got ready to head to Krivoy Rog.  Our driver, Sergei, picked us up and Sveta (from adoption agency) was with him.  We headed for the train station (see picture at left), which was much larger than we expected and was very modern.  Sveta explained that the section of Kiev where the train station is more of the shopping and business side of Kiev, and therefore is much brighter and more colorful.  It was nice to finally be on our way to Krivoy Rog, and we were looking forward to a nice night of sleep on the train.  Others that had gone before us had recommended that we spend the extra 400 hryvnia (pronounced grivna) to go in first class, which simply meant that we would be alone in our own sleeper cabin.  This sounded good to us, and after spending some time with Sveta, we settled in for a nice night of sleep on the 9 hour train ride.  The problem is, IT WAS 150 DEGREES ON THE TRAIN!!!  Between the anticipation of seeing Artyr, again, and the hot train, we barely slept 2 hours combined.  The picture at left is what we both felt like when our train pulled into the second Krivoy Rog station at 6:15 AM this morning.  All in all, heat and lack of sleep aside, we were grateful for the train ride as opposed to having to drive by car, which we are told takes much longer.  The excitement of going to see Artyr kept us from being grumpy as we met our driver in Krivoy, Andre.  He took us to our new apartment (we'll try to post pictures tomorrow), where we met up with Mick and Janel, who were packing up there things in preparation for going back to Kiev tonight.  Mick and Janel graciously provided a lovely breakfast for us (thanks, again, Mick and Janel!) and then we headed to the orphanage around 9:15 AM.  We arrived at the orphanage and were ushered into the Assistant Director's office.  As we sat there quietly, we heard Artyr being brought into the neighboring room.  He was told to sit down out there.  So, here we were . . . we had traveled halfway around the world and our future son now sat less than fifteen feet away, and we couldn't see him or talk to him . . . yet.  But we knew he was there, and he knew we were there.  When everyone was ready, they asked us to follow them into the Director's office.  It was at this time that we saw Artyr face-to-face for the first time in 6 months.  It was great to see him!  After being told it was okay, he came over and gave us each a big hug.  During the meeting with the Director, Asst. Director, Inspector, and Doctor, we answered questions regarding our family, our employment, about bringing a teenage boy into our home, and other general questions regarding the adoption.  Artyr was then asked several questions and he answered them in a very reserved manner.  We could tell he was nervous, but he did a great job answering all the questions they asked him.  We showed the ladies in the room a photo album with pictures of Grace, Jordyn , and our family.  They were very interested to see these pictures.  Overall, the meeting went very well, and we were all dismissed.  After the meeting, Artyr gave us several more hugs, but was still quite reserved (you can tell the children know exactly how they are to behave in this atmosphere).  Andre took us back to our apartment and then, Mick and Janel walked with us down to the Market and the Pizza Shop.  What a blessing it was to have them show us where everything is and how to get there.  We had some lunch, picked up some needed items from the market, activated our internet stick, and headed back to the apartment.  After a trip to the notary to sign a couple of documents, we went back to the orphanage this afternoon.  When we arrived, Artyr was standing outside waiting for us.  He was grinning from ear to ear and was now more like the Artyr that we met in August.  We were able to spend some time with just Artyr as he showed us his group room and where he sleeps.  He then led us to the art room where we played cards and just goofed around with each other.  It didn't take long for some of the young boys to find us in the art room, with Andre being the first to poke his head in the door (Doug and Lindy, He is just as cute and sweet as he was in August . . .what a treasure!).  He came right over and gave us big hugs before politely taking only one piece of candy out of the very full bag that we had brought.  Another little boy, Dan, came in and grabbed up several pieces, so Andre followed suit, and they both soon had pockets full of goodies.  They quickly left, because their group was going ice skating for the evening.  The room then became alive as Anslee and Vika (being adopted by Russie and Cheri) came into the room along with several other young ladies.  Vika (Mick and Janel's daughter - pictured above right with Mick, Janel, and the Director) then followed and suddenly the room was alive.  The bananas that we brought quickly disappeared and the very full bag of candy suddenly became very empty.  It was a great time of playing cards and beginning to get to know some of the children with whom Artyr has grown up.  At the same time, though, it is heart breaking to realize that these beautiful children do not have a family to love them.  We are grateful, however, that they DO have a Heavenly Father that does Love them very much.  And we are grateful that He has placed us in their path to show them His Love while we have the chance.  We are also grateful that God has so blessed our family by giving us the opportunity to adopt this wonderful young man pictured at left (with us and Vika).  Please PRAY and ask God to show you how He might use you to show His Love to these children.  There are so many that need a family.  Please PRAY that God would find them a family (perhaps it is you!).  We should really get some sleep.  We are allowed to visit with Artyr from 11 AM to 6 PM tomorrow.  We will likely go ice skating or bowling or something fun like that.  We will also have more pictures from tonight's visit.  Artyr kept our camera for the night, so he has all our pictures.  Please PRAY for our day tomorrow and also for Mick and Janel as they are on that wonderful train, as we write this!  Thank you so much!  God Bless!