Last night the Stoddards invited us for a second visit to their home for homemade raspberry cheesecake made from freshly picked raspberries. Oh yum. They had some special guests they wanted us to meet.
It turns out they have friends who are fellow missionaries, a doctor and his wife. This couple works with orphans like Zoya here, with medical needs but with no family to help them through it. We learned that not only do these people work with 'kids like Zoya', they actually worked WITH Zoya, even helping pay for some of her medical procedures. Another missionary family was responsible for paying for her cleft lip surgery years ago.
It's funny, 'cause just two days ago I was talking to Sherry White-fighting back my tears, about little Zoya's medical history, and wondering what it was like for her being in the hospital for so many months with no mommy and daddy by her side? Sherry said we just have to believe that God brought 'Somebody' to her to lay a warm hand on her back and to love her through it.
Well would you believe I got to HUG that 'Somebody' last night, Marianna Peipon, and with happy tears in my eyes I thanked her for loving my little orphan girl through what was surely a very traumatic and lonely time. Marianna even said that she has photos of little baby Zoya somewhere on her computer back home which she promised to get to me soon. :)
I am so thankful that God allowed us to meet these angels and share a hug and a tear in rejoicing that Zoya is alive and loved. Makes my heart so happy.
THANK A MISSIONARY!! They deserve it!
James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
What a wonderful blessing! Isn't amazing how we are given the desires of our hearts.
Wow! One of our prayers that we pray over Aaron is that God will send one of HIS PEOPLE to care for him while we wait. Your story is a reminder that He has been sending HIS PEOPLE to care for these kids long before we knew they existed. The Creator of the Universe is watching with love and concern over his creations! Thanks for sharing that story. It gives me hope!
I'm so glad you got to meet Jim and Marianna! I actually was going to email them to tell them you were adopting Zoya because I knew they would be so happy. We got to have lunch with them when we were in Kiev and have continued to email with them. Marianna did have pictures of Victoria from when she was younger from one of her trips to the hospital. It was such a blessing.
Many people don't realize that when you are in a hospital in Ukraine it is the family members that are responsible for doing all of the non medical care for the patient (feeding, bathing, changing, etc.). For the orphans that have to go to the hospital there is no family member to do this care for them. I am so thankful for people like Marianna that volunteer their time to spend time loving and caring for the orphans when they are in the hospital.
Jaime
God is so amazing. He truly blows my mind most days. What a wonderful blessing for you and your family.
Amazing! (lump in my throat)
How amazing that you got to meet these people who helped Zoya and were there for her when she needed someone. So glad she was not alone during that time.
How wonderful you got to meet and hug these caring people. I'm sure they meant a lot to Zoya during that time. Thank God there are people like that in the world!
Oh my gosh, how awesome is our God!!?? What a blessing to have that comfort, both you and Zoya. God's missionaries ARE such a blessing, not only to those they minister to directly, but to those of us who get to see the results of their work. To God be ALL the glory!
What a beautiful thing and how great that you got to say thank you! Hope you guys are hanging in there. I look at little Zoya and can't wait to see what lots and lots of love, sunshine, and yummy food will do to her. She is a skinny minny but oh so beautiful. Love her smile!
And even more incredible...don't you know that as they loved on sweet Zoya so many years ago, they prayed that one day she would find a forever family!!! Just as thankful that you are to have been able to thank them for being there when you could not be, they are overjoyed that their prayers have also been answered! Seriously...God loves adoption to show off so many of His incredibly intricate miracles!
LOVE YOU FRIEND!
It is absolutely our PRIVILEGE to spend time with these precious children when they are hospitalized. And, yes, as someone pointed out, I pray for families for these children on a regular basis. What a thrill to meet the parents of Zoya! (And last year we met Jaime and her sweet family who adopted Viktoria...)
Thank you and may God continue to bless each one of you who are taking these children into loving homes. He has not forgotten them.
(When Charissa and I met, we both just willed for the tears to not flow. We both were choked up.)
I am in tears... what a blessing!
Post a Comment