Day 22 - The Preacher Blogs

My apologies before you read for the lack of eloquence tonight as my wife has given me (Jason) this responsibility for day 22.

Today began early with a return trip to Southern Dental in Carrollton.  Our appointment was for 7am so we arrived about 6:45 and waited in the lobby with my now new friend from Cuba- who introduced himself as follows:

"Hey!  Do you speaka da englas?  Well Me very little!  I from Cuba- my wife over dere- she Spani- You probably never understand me"

So it was me, a Cuban his Spaniard wife and a Ukrainian in the Lobby at 6:45- At this point I'm thinking I should have been more on time!  Denys was mostly asleep and my Cuban friend was sharing his disgust with Obama (that I understood as it crosses all language barriers).  As everyone arrived I was invited to go back with Denys and sit right in front of his chair.  I love Denys and was glad to be there with him...however I am not a fan of dentist office noises- especially the drill!  I've never seen it from that angle however and am almost certain that I will not cry the next time I sit in the chair now that I realize it is not an 18 volt Dewalt with a 3/8 in bit

I do still here the noise in my mind and it creeps me out.

Denys however could not have been more calm.  Two cavities filled and one old filling fixed with no Novocaine!  Way to go Denys.  (I asked for some and was rejected)

Thanks be to our God for His servants!  The Doctors Mr. and Mrs. Drew donated their time and service for Denys.  That's right- no cost!  I tried to pay and expressed that people had given us money for this expense however I was told to spend the money on Denys and to keep them informed as to Denys' future. THANK YOU DREW FAMILY!!!

Let me say if you are looking for a dentist- try this place.  If you are not looking for a dentist try this place.  Yes they blessed us and Denys, but more importantly they loved on Denys as well as provided extremely professional service (not to mention they are in a really cool historical house!)

The rest of the day included a trip to MiMi's for chicken dumplings (everybody say Yeah!) and ice cream, oatmeal pies, apple pies, rice crispy treats..... the list goes on and on- it was MiMi's

It was so good to see Mamaw up and about showing glimpses of her old self again.  Thanks for your prayers on her behalf.

The afternoon featured bicycle riding in the yard and a special appearance by Papa Jim who carried Jonah, Millie and Denys across the road to ride the bikes on the track.  They loved it- however Denys was a bit disobedient on the way back across the street and rode his bike instead of pushing as instructed by Papa (and did not look for cars).  I understand that a death threat from Papa Jim translates to most any language including Ukrainian so he got the message never to do that again.

Next Tuesday is looming- pray for us but mostly pray for the will of the Almighty in Denys' life.  We want him to know Christ and live out his purpose.  We want him to have a forever family

Days 4 & 5

I am so excited about a long afternoon and evening with nothing to do! The 3 big kiddos have been riding bikes and playing. The temperature is entirely too cold for me, but if your general geographic location is closer to Siberia, then temps in the 40s don't seem painfully low. (That means Denys doesn't even have on a coat!) We are short one adult sized bicycle helment, so we are improvising and Denys will be riding in a baseball helment. Hey, the rules say he must wear a helment; a helment is a helment? Right? Once inside, it was time for the Wii. Here's a little clip of the moment I like to call "I Might Lose My TV."

This morning was our first time at church. The nursery workers were stoked we brought the screaming monkey Anna Ruth received from Honey & Papa. (Hmmm . . . another video might be in order.) Denys went to class with Jonah and Millie Grace. That crowd was probably a bit young for him, but Mrs. Wanda and Mrs. Pattie are two of the best Sunday School teachers we have at FBCT so if he was going to learn anything he would certainly do it there. I'm sure he didn't understand much, but our church family loved on him anyway. I caught him copying the inscription of the Lord's Supper Table on his doodle paper. "This do in remembrance of me." I was gently reminded that it's in remembrance of what Christ has done that's entirely the reason Denys is here!

How Denys would've spent the entire weekend,
if we'd let him!

We had lunch at the wonderful Crossroads Restaurant here in Tallapoosa. (If you've never been let me share that it gets 4-Stars for a great Sunday Buffet of country cooking at incredibly reasonable prices.) Denys's plate looked a bit different than what I would have let my kiddos choose normally - fried chicken, puree (mashed potatoes), twice baked potato, macaroni & cheese and a biscuit. A plate full of starches! He put a hurting on it and as long as he's not hungry, I'm good.

I had every intention of blogging when we got home last night, but our 2 hour trip was rather elongated  We were all very sleepy and grumpy when we tumbled through the door at 9:30pm and I sent everyone to bed - ASAP!

Trying on Papa's old helments!

I have always known I have a fantastic family. Dad, Mom, Abby, Wes, and Taylor are some of the coolest people I know, but getting to see them in action, loving on a kid with whom they can't fluently communicate and whom they've never met, is truly a beautiful thing. These guys did such a great job helping Denys feel comfortable that we all got to learn more about him that we didn't know - he can do back-hand-springs!

Since Abby and Wesley shared Dexter, their boxer, we got to see how much Denys loves dogs and how gently he is willing to play - or not so gently as the case may be. Mom & Dad shared their time and food and home and toys. Denys was so comfortable that he asked my mom if he could bring home a couple of her old Hot Wheels cars - the Ferrari and the Porsche  And I have to give a shout-out to my little bro. I've never noticed before, but he gives the most AWESOME hugs - the kind that just wrap you up and don't let you wiggle until he's done. For a kid without a family this is a BIG deal!

This weekend I've seen Denys interact with Anna Ruth a bit more and even help her up when she's fallen. He's playing until he's wiped out and sleeps soundly until at least 7am. (And yes, I know this because baby monitors aren't good only monitoring babies!) He seems a bit more adamant about the things he doesn't like, but not to the point of anger or acting out. Jason and I are able to use Google Translate (the app we couldn't live without!) to make sure he understands what we want him to, but he is not as efficient at using the Ukrainian keyboard so we're not sure what he's thinking. He seems plenty happy and I suppose as long as he's smiling we're in good shape. We'll have him call the chaperone again tonight to check-in and get ready to celebrate Christmas with the big families tomorrow and Tuesday.

Merry Christmas and (Jason's new holiday greeting of choice) Happy Incarnation!

~Megan