My Ukraine Journal Part I-Joyful Kids

As we were spending a day on a plane to return to America, I began writing down my thoughts about the trip. Here is the first part of my journal...

Our trip to the Ukraine was a very interesting experience, and will hopefully be a huge learning experience. I love many of the orphans as much as I love many of my students. I am glad that my heart continues to have the ability to love kids so much. I wish I could transfer that ability to adults also, and not become so frustrated on a daily basis.
As Megan (a lady in my former small group) described with her trip to Haiti also, it is amazing to see how joyful and kind these kids are, despite living the life they do. They almost always had a smile on their faces. I would joke with them and try to take their food. They looked at me, thought I was serious, and then would push their food over to me. I would not take it of course, but just the thought that they would give it is so heartwarming. They were so appreciative of life and of us, that they had to thank us. Offering their food was one of the few ways they could do that. One other way they tried to thank us was by giving us candy. We had brought a lot of candy to give to them. But, somehow they had their own. In order to show their appreciation of us, they would offer it to us. When we told them, "No, thank you, " they insisted. We said, "No, thank you," again, but they insisted. I hated taking candy from them, but I hated to refuse their gift even more. It wasn't about the candy. It was about the relationship we had built, and their desire to thank us for coming to visit them. How special it is that these kids have so little, but they are willing to give us a small piece of candy that they would love to eat, in order to show us that they appreciate us. I hope that I can be that caring and giving, and show my appreciation better on a daily basis.

My Ukraine Journal Part II-Love the Attention

Coming soon.