I'm Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

I hope John Denver is now ringing in your head, thanks to my blog post title!  :)

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I can officially say we are leaving "tomorrow" because it's after midnight on Monday.  I have been packing for a few days now, trying to make sure I have what I need for both Ruslan and Nastia as well as for us.

I found out on our last visit that the orphanage is not given money by the government for feminine hygiene products.  They are apparently in need of some help in that area, so I sent an email out to some sweet friends and family.  $150 later, I have a suitcase full of supplies for the girls there.  My mom also donated deflated foot/soccer/basketballs and an air pump and needles for the kids.  And we are also bringing crayons and candy!  Thank you to all you sweet, generous people!  I'm so grateful that I get to play Santa.  :)

I have to say...it's been interesting getting ready to go.  I have a ton of cleaning I'd like to do, but there is no way it will get done so I've had to let that go.  Then, there is the fact of leaving my little ones...again...this time, for longer.  I know how much it hurts, how there is a physical hunger to hold your children and to be in their presence.  I know what I'm facing with those feelings and I'm not looking forward to it.  There is also the almost "new baby" experience of preparing for two new souls to enter our lives...finding and packing clothes, shoes, underwear, socks, activities for on the planes/trains/etc., bags of necessities and no-so necessities just to make the travel more enjoyable.  It should be fun, but I find myself suppressing the natural urge to get excited about it because I know that reality lies ahead...and I REALLY don't want to leave my little babies behind.  It's like a mini roller coaster within the big one.

Marsh is sick.  We are hoping he'll be better (and that the rest of us will be healthy) by Wednesday.  He will be coming directly home after court and is facing five days straight of travel.  We arrive the morning of our court date and he gets back on a train to go home that same afternoon.  I am so grateful he will be home with our youngest kids, but I will miss him and the safety I feel with him.  He has always taken care of everything.  I'm going to have to learn to count the money over there now!

An incredibly sweet friend came over today and gave me a pillow case in my favorite color and left fabric paints with it.  She also left the book The Kissing Hand.  She knows how much trouble I'm having leaving my kids.  She instructed us to have the kids make their hand prints on the pillow case so I could have them while I was away from them...my own kissing hands.  Marsh had to put his print on, too, since we will be apart for so long.  I cried, of course.  I think I may be all cried out, actually.  The waterworks have been off and on for the last two days and I think it's time to focus on faith and the mission still to accomplish. 

I know from experience that the Lord can work literal miracles.  He can speed up time, He can comfort my children when I am half a world away...they are His children anyway.  So, it's time to put my shoulder to the wheel and get pushing along.  Court awaits and the next post should be an account of our experiences there.

I wonder what the next post will say....