Treading water, day 4&5

Not much happening on Saturday.  Just enduring the cold weather.  We got to see Julia for about 1-1/2 hours.  We had both some serious conversation and playful.  We are continuing to try to break down barriers between us.  Language is such a huge barrier, though.  There were times when I really wanted to be able to convey an idea, but couldn't seem to do it.  Sunday morning, we went to a local Baptist church service, that last about 1 hr and 40 minutes.  It had a good format for being long.  We started by singing, then one man spoke, then singing and prayer and another man spoke, then singing and prayer and another man spoke, then singing, a time of prayer requests, prayer, and we were done.  Many people came to greet us and were very friendly.  Some spoke a few words of English, and two or three spoke enough that we could communicate.  We met a very unusual family - they had four biological children and three adopted children.  I told them we also were about to have seven children, so we had a fun connection with them.  Most families in Ukraine are only 1-2 children.

I was happy to see that LSU was beaten by Georgia.  CBS needs to step it up and get highlights posted a little bit faster, though. Mr. Fox is a big Ohio St fan, so I am forbidden to tell him the score until he gets a chance to watch the game tomorrow.  That's it from the chilly NE of Ukraine.

Libby's post

The Fox family have been a great blessing and encouragement to us.  They have been like a Welcome Wagon to us.  They invite us to join them whenever they can and we have enjoyed their hospitality very much.  They are so enthusiastic about meeting people and trying new things and new experiences.  They are lots of fun.  Of course we love being with their adorable children,too.  Their six year old, Moriah, told me she wanted to come to my house when she grows up and stay two days.  While she was there she would cook mushrooms and onions for me that I would love.  Her four year old brother piped up that he wanted to come, too.  Moriah told him he could pull up my weeds!  They keep us entertained and charmed. The family has introduced us to so many people, but our favorite is a young man, Andrew, who just graduated university with a degree in physics.  He is gentle and kind and quietly helpful.  I wish we could bring him home with us!  God has made our paths straight and we see His blessing and care for us all day long, every day, in these kinds of details.  We know we are not alone.  His people are everywhere and His glory IS over the whole earth!  One fun detail about the worship service--the first two songs we were able to sing because they were familiar in America!  First they sang "Count Your Blessings" and then "In His Time".  The rest of the songs were beautiful, but in Ukrainian .  It was good to be in God's house on His day with His people.