Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, today is Thanksgiving. We just left from having a wonderful, and familiar, lunch at TGI Fridays. The kids were so thankful for food that they recognized!! We miss all of our family back in the US, but honestly there is no place we'd rather be today. We are getting ready to go to the orphanage after we finish posting. We went around the table at lunch and all said what we were thankful for. It was so sweet to hear all the kids say how thankful they were to be here and for the opportunity to be with the orphans. It is so good to know that this is a journey that God has called our whole family to- not just Ande and I.
Yesterday, we sat around the apartment half the day waiting to move to a bigger flat (apartment). After repacking everything, we got a call that we were not moving. They were afraid of renting to a family with three kids- go figure- and they didn't even know that we had one more coming in a few weeks. So we are still at our one-room flat. And our toilet continues to overflow- last night about 1/2 inch of standing water. And the water won't turn off in the kitchen. But we're really not complaining- it just makes us thankful for our house in America. Please pray that we can move soon. We've called in help from our friend, Oleg V.
Anyway, we went to the orphanage and were so excited to see Sonya from 2 summers ago. I had called her and asked to meet her. She was so excited, and there were hugs all around. Her English is amazing, but I was most taken with her sweet disposition. For those of you who don't know Sonya, she was probably one of the more difficult orphans we've met in the summer program. Brilliant, but angry. Beautiful, but cold. But we all loved on her, stayed in contact with her during the year, and she became a Christian this summer at Radooga camp. To see a girl like her literally transformed by the love of Christ, that is what I am most thankful for today. To get to see it close up, and to know that only God can save these children. But He allows us the joy and privelege of coming alongside. What an amazing Father we have! So have a wonderful Thanksgiving and please say a prayer of thanks on behalf of children like Sonya.