Seeds planted and watered ...

Look at this cutie.  God gave me a "heads-up" when Bill said to me, "Can we take her home?"  She lives in an orphanage in the Rivne District of Ukraine, but unlike Katya, she is not a "pure orphan," she's a "social orphan."  This means that there is still family somewhere in her picture.  This could be good, or not so good, depending on how involved that family is.  For some of these "social orphans," it would be a blessing to be moved to "pure orphan" status so they are available to become part of a family.

While at the orphanage we toured spotless bedrooms ...


Chlorine scented bathrooms ...


And the youngest children's classroom.  Our group brought over 11 blankets to give out at the orphanage.  How in the world would we choose who would receive these blankets?  Listen to this "coincidence."  In this classroom of 23 children, 11 were "pure orphans."  So, I was able to talk with these children (with Svetlana's help) and explain to them that women and children in America had made these blankets and prayed for the children who would receive them. Rather than simply give them a blanket, we had them choose their own - one by one.  I was amazed.  Unlike what I would expect in America, even in my own family, there was no jockeying for who would get to go first.  This little boy did let us know that if possible could he please have the one with the lion.  Of course I set this one aside for him.

 

This little girl in the front didn't stop smiling.  You can tell that she's been at the orphanage for awhile because her hair is long.  It is standard procedue in many of the orphanages to shave the children's heads when they first come in. 


While Katya was with us this summer, one day I went up to the attic and found that we had made not 11 blankets but 12!  In God's providence He had provided the perfect number of blankets for the orphans in this Rivne orphanage and for Katya to take home with her.  And the one that I found in the attic was one the I and the Finley kids had made.  :)

Seeds were planted that day in Ukraine when my heart broke as I pondered the reality of over 200 children living in an institution.  These seeds were watered as that little cutie climbed into Bill's lap.  God had been preparing  the soil of our hearts long before we set foot on the soil of Ukraine and He alone is responsible for the sprouting of this seed. 

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the growth.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."  1 Corinthians 3:6-7