Days of Elijah Day 25

Prayer request: Debbie has a bad cough and Elijah's nose has been "goopy" (nice medical term, huh?) for a couple of days.  Please pray for healing for both of them! And protection for me too if you will. Thanks!

We had a wonderful day today! Well, it started a bit slow as we waited an hour this morning to hear back on when the driver was going to pick us up to get train tickets. By the time we got to the orphanage, we only had about 20 minutes there, but that was ok. Debbie got to hold a special little boy, while I held Elijah and helped one of the nannies put up the Christmas lights I brought in. I figured it was after Christmas, so I could let my blinky-flashy-drive-my-husband-crazy lights go. The boys were fascinated by them! Mission accomplished. :-)

Then we went to get train tickets for tomorrow afternoon. We ended up buying 4 "births" in a 2nd class car. Otherwise, since Elijah needs a ticket, we would have been split up in first class and that's not going to happen. When we got home, we had lunch, put on our church clothes and went shopping! Ha ha...We knew we weren't coming back to the house before church. We found a "second hand" store. (Ashley, your mom wanted me to tell you that she picked you up a few things there. Hee hee) I found Elijah a pair of shoes, since I had only brought boots for him. I also got some clothes for the "boys" to help even out the pink a bit in the grouppa wardrobe. After that, we walked down to the HUGE market where the busses pile in 2 or 3 deep. It wasn't as organized as the market by the orphanage though and we didn't find anything we wanted. We bussed it out to the market by the orphanage quick as I knew exactly where to get what I wanted (a bowl, cup and spoon for Elijah on the train) and made it back to church just in time.

The church service was wonderful. It felt great to have worshipped our Lord on (or right after) Christmas. The kids did a cute skit. Although, we couldn't understand what they were saying, we go the jist of it. The choir is amazing! Some of the choir members had "special music" and sang this song acapella (video below). I love this song and I learned tonight that this song originated in this country and is a national Christmas carol/song. I think it's called "Carol of the Bells". So, next time you hear it, remember it's been translated to English. My understanding is that most of the people here did not grow up with our traditional Christmas carols and have only learned them since the church started 14 years ago.

We were also able to see the children of the church get their Christmas stockings/gifts. Over half of these kids are from the orphanage (the older kids one). Very special! I wanted to post a photo of them for my kids since they helped me pick out the stockings and many of the treats inside. :-)

After church, we took the bus out for our afternoon visit, even though we missed a good half hour of it. I'm so glad we still came though. Elijah showed us a new sign tonight - the sign for "fish". Sarah sent a photo of her goldfish along with Debbie, so it's now in his photo album. He signed it a couple times tonight, although never for the camera of course.  I also found out another need that the nannies have for the grouppa room. A microwave. She showed me how their hot plate thingy doesn't work and in order to heat something up, they need to plug the sink, fill it with hot water and set the pan in it. For each meal, one nanny will go down to the kitchen with pots labeled with their grouppa number. They bring them back up hot. But I'm sure there are times when they need to reheat something. Maybe even for their own lunches, which is perfectly fine with me. So, I'll go back to the "all things electric" store in the morning and see what I can find. If it will make their lives more comfortable and the lives of those boys, I'm all for it.

Studying for the quiz he'll have on Thursday night on siblings' names. :-)

Finally, we had a nice dinner with the Spitz's at the Skazka restaurant. This might be my 5th or 6th time there...the waiter has recognized me that past 3 times. LOL It was so nice to just sit and talk with them, instead of trying to talk on the bus or walking down the street. It has been a true blessing to have them here with us and I'm so thankful for the Lord's timing to have us here together for a few days anyway. Please continue to pray for them as they have court on Thursday morning.

And guess what's happening right now?!?! Elijah is sleeping for the LAST night in his crib in a room with 6 other boys. I was telling him tonight how much his life is going to change tomorrow. :-) He has NO CLUE!  I'm SOOO excited!!!!!!!!!!!!  Please pray all goes well with getting the passport and on the train ride. Pray he sleeps well, and eats and drinks well. Please pray all goes well with the Embassy appointments on Tues/Wed too. Next time you hear from me, we'll be in the capital city and I'll have "Gotcha Day" photos to share!!! Praise God!!!