Independence Day!!!

Thoughts on Kids + Working

To say that adding a new baby child to the mix has been a challenge would be an understatement. It has been challenging x2.

It has also been amazingly fun and a huge gift. This little guy has the sweetest personality and it has been so cool to see how Solomiya interacts with him. (She LOVES him.)

At the same time, I have had to completely stop my work in OT at the present (and pretty much everything else) and this has been hard. 

For the past couple of months, the question of "What am I doing here?" has been looming over my head every day. Feeling guilty b/c I should be involved in ministry and helping others through providing occupational therapy; and feeling guilty b/c these 2 little kids need me and I shouldn't think about leaving them to help others; and feeling guilty b/c we are held accountable for how we spend our time and money here. 

I was venting my frustration to Mike and he reminded me of a passage from a book. This woman (Dr Margaret Brand) was a medical missionary in India and raised 6 kids: 

"The psalmist says that children are a heritage from the Lord and a reward from Him (Psalm 127:3-4). A heritage is a gift we haven't earned. We don't earn our children, nor do we own them. They are the Lord's. His to give for a while. His to use in His kingdom. As a parent, I was aware of the awesome responsibility of my temporary assignment in nurturing them for the Lord- getting the right balance of toughness and love, of teaching by word and by example."

So- I've been pondering on these words for the past couple of weeks. 

I don't own these kids, but God has made me responsible for their upbringing. 

That is a scary thought. I don't want to screw them up.

This is a daunting task. 

This definitely looks like a daily ministry right there. 

But, I struggle with missing my old schedule.

I think I miss it all so much b/c it was easy. It was comfortable. It was definitely challenging at times, but I loved it. 

Being a mom 24/7 is hard. Being a good example 24/7, in my words, in my actions, is even harder. Being patient 24/7 is freaking hard. Oh my goodness. 

God is definitely using this time to show me all the areas I need to work on. 

When I told my almost 3 year old, "You need to speak to people nicely even if you are tired/hungry/mad etc...", I heard God say, "Interesting! You should do the same thing, right?!".  

So... we move on to a new phase in our lives here. 

Uzhhorod Timelapse

For those interested, this gives some great views of the city where we live:

I cannot get the video to embed within the post here, but if you want to see some great footage of our city, it's worth taking the time to open up a new web page :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm3yF4H3l88

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/cm3yF4H3l88?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Walking Around Town

Greek Orthodox Church

Hotel Zakarpatia

Taking a walk with Fedya around the pond.

Afternoon at the Lake

детский сад (Ukrainian Pre-School)

Solomiya started going to Ukrainian pre-school the last week of July! It is actually called детский сад, which translates as kindergarten, but it is not the American version of kindergarten. детский сад is more like pre-school, as it prepares children to enter first form (or first grade). Children usually start around 2-2 1/2 years old and go until they are 6 years old. 
We started with just 1 hour on the first day and have worked our way up to 9-11:30am. It's definitely a huge transition for her, but a good and much needed one. We know that this experience will give her the courage to start speaking Ukrainian more and help her learn how to interact with other kids. I think we will stick to the 9-11 or 12pm for a while. The kids actually eat breakfast, lunch, have a nap and eat supper there- that is a super long day for a little kid.  
 

You can see the playground behind Solomiya.

Her classroom is at the top of the stairs.

The name of her group: Snowdrop

The just built a pool for the kids.

Each classroom consists of 3 rooms: a locker room, class/play area and room with beds for nap time. When the kids first arrive, they put their things in the locker and change their shoes.

Solomiya's locker. Each kid has their own animal to help identify it.

Leaving for the day...