Jodi Speaks Her Mind

Still waiting… 8/3/2005

Well, it’s pushing Wednesday night here and still no further word on our appointment. It is most likely going to be next week. Tick, tock, tick, tock. The clock goes especially slow when you want it to go fast. We have learned just today further details surrounding the circumstances of the boy we visited and the girl whose file we had been shown at our first appointment. This new information has caused us not a little consternation regarding the appointments and referrals process. I am afraid I do not feel at liberty to share publicly what this new information entails, but please be in prayer regarding our appointment and the referrals we will be shown in the future. I can’t stress enough how much we will need divine intervention in order to succeed with this adoption. I’m sorry I cannot say more. Also, please know that while we find the news distressing, we still feel strongly that God has promised us that He will prevail and that we will be successful. Still, we feel a lot like the Israelites must have felt looking at the huge giants dwelling in their promised land and fearing that the odds were most definitely not in their favor save the Lord’s own hand and promise to win the battle for them. Such is our situation. We need prayer for faith, strength, courage, and peace. Thank you!!!

On the lighter side of things…

Last night we had a nice treat and met 2 other american adopting families for dinner. One family I have mentioned before (the ones we met at customs) and has just completed the adoption of two siblings, a boy and a girl, making them a family of 7 (5 kids). The other kids came along for this trip, so it was great to meet them all. The other family that joined us is a family with a 7 year old daughter who was adopted from Ukraine 3 years ago. They are here to adopt a sibling for her and are heading out soon to meet a boy they hope will be the one. It was wonderful to be around children, and all in all there were 4 children at the table adopted here in Ukraine. They all got along great and the restaurant we ate at was very nice. It was a Ukrainian restaurant but catered to foreigners as their menu was in English. The food was all delicious and it was time very well spent. We were encouraged to see that live flesh and blood children can be adopted through this current system fraught with difficulties.

Dinner with our new friends

Back to today, we had the privilege this afternoon of spending a few hours sight-seeing. Our translator made arrangements for us to have a private tour guide at Lavra, which is a collection of churches and a monastery - the oldest and really the original monastery in Kiev Rus. Much of it had been built around the 11th and 12th centuries. The original monastery was underground in caves, where many of the original monks, scientists, and artists of that time are now mummified. It is a little creepy I guess, but overall, we found the tour to be fascinating and we learned a lot about Kiev and Ukrainian history. There are a total of 20 churches, 6 are underground (we saw one of them - the oldest) and 14 are above-ground. I think we saw 3 or 4 of these. Parts of the complex are off-limits because it is still a working monastery and is also used for study. Every once in awhile you would see a monk dressed all in black robes with long beards. Definitely not something we’re used to seeing on a daily basis. The atmosphere at Lavra was very peaceful and contemplative. I don’t necessarily agree with all of the doctrines of the Orthodox church, but you can learn a lot about the bible just by studying the murals and frescoes on the walls. Much of it was very beautiful.

View of the main church through an arch

The famous bell tower, which is the tallest at least in Ukraine if not in all of Orthodoxy

The main above-ground church at Lavra

Within the grounds of Lavra there are also 4 different museums. One of them is essentially a “gallery” displaying the art of this one scientist/artist called Mykola Syadristy. He basically invented a new form of art called micro-art. Honestly, it is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen!! The guy is still alive, but I don’t think he is still creating these masterpieces. What he did for many years is make microscopic sized art. Just as an example he made ships out of gold with 370-400 different details and the entire ship is only 3.5 mm in length! You have to look through a microscope to see it. Each “piece” had an explanation and then you would look through the microscope to see the art. I expected them to be crude, but they were of exquisite detail. He used a lot of seeds as his “canvas” or medium. For example a lot of his art uses poppy seeds cut in half. He has a website, I suggest you go and see for yourself: www.microart.kiev.ua (but really until you have to lean your head in to a microscope in order to look at them you cannot appreciate the precision and detail required). ((Also, the site seems to not be working at present. Keep trying.)) I cannot fathom what tools he used to do this work, and supposedly he invented the tools himself as well. Obviously a total genius!

Tonight we plan to just relax and watch a movie (we brought a pretty good collection of DVD’s) but I’ll continue to update if we do or see anything noteworthy. Thanks to those who continue to follow along. Hopefully we’ll be back to the actual ‘adoption’ part of our adoption journey soon enough.

God bless!