We picked up the girls in Atlanta on Dec 11 at 10pm. It was a great reunion with Rita and I was able to give Lera that hug that I should have given her last August! We spent the night in Atlanta and then headed to Starkville on Monday to meet with Marks professor. The girls surprised me with how well they got along...I guess I was expecting more fussing. But I began to see in the girls what I suspected- they bring out each others strengths. Rita's english is amazing in verbal communication as well as very good written skills. Rita speaks Latvian, Russian, some Italian, and English. Lera speaks Russian, a little Latvian, and completely understands English but refuses to speak it! Rita is Lera's translator. I just sit amazed when they talk together. I see so much more of Rita's personality now; her silly, funny side, her serious side, her moodiness, but mainly her laughter. I've heard many things about Lera from her previous host families and most of it was very good, and seems to be accurate (including her stubborness!). We enjoyed our time in Starkville walking around campus, watching the squirrels, going to Bulldog Lanes to shoot pool. We met with Cathy, my best friend from college days, and saw her two girls. It was great to reconnect, but sort of eye-opening when we realized it had been nearly 25 years since we spent afternoons at the Entomology Department taking care of the moth cultures and sneaking off to TCBY for a vanilla and coke float! Oh, those were good days! I dont' feel this old!
So, Tuesday Mark headed to campus to meet his professor and the girls and I made our way to the breakfast buffet for fresh waffles and fruit. After some good news from Marks professor, we left Starkville and headed to Vicksburg. We stopped in Bovina to pick up Bella, and then drove home to introduce Lera to her new home.
One of the first things Lera did was head to her bedroom that she shares with Rita, climb on her bed and smile. I have so enjoyed watching her relax here, a first hug initiated by her, a smile, a laugh, and then the pranks and tickles. Over this past week she has even felt comfortable enough to stay at home alone with Mark. They spend time working math and physics problems. Mark writes out Algebra problems and she works them. Then Geometry, and she works them; then calculus and she just looks at him and laughs! Great thing is math transends all languages! He showed her physics problems dealing with fulcrums and stresses, and friction, and she was able to work them... Her spatial understanding is excellent. Of course, Mark already has her entering Engineering at Miss State! (ok, maybe I do too!).
Rita has reacclimated really well. She amazes me with her patience and caring for Lera. She loves to be busy with any kind of work, be it raking leaves, vaccuming, washing the car, or bathing Max. She is so responsible, so caring, yet she loves to have fun and laugh. My heart simply overflows with compassion and love for this girl! Ok, I have dreams and visions for her also...Vet, Social Worker...something helping those in need! I know God has placed so much inside this 15 year old girl and he has her on a path to be used in His Kingdom. I just can't wait to see exactly what that will be!
I have loved getting to know these girls this past week. From watching the first taste of shrimp and crab legs, to watching them make 'gogo', to listening to their whispers in Russian, and hearing the music that God has placed in their hearts. I look at them and just think, these are my girls; can this really be? Everything seems so right; not at all stressed...except for when Rita asked if we had paid everything for the adoption, and if we could get our money back...ouch! I told her no, we couldn't get it back and asked if she still wanted to come live with us. She said yes. Only thing we can figure is she had skyped with her foster family that morning and she was homesick. She really loves them, and it seems that she helps them out an awful lot with babysitting. I know she misses them so much. She did say that this would be a huge change and would be hard; I asked if she realized her life was going to be different whether she stayed in Latvia or moved here; she said yes. We told her to listen to what God was speaking in her heart. She seems happy now. Lera seems happy. Mark seems happy; Michael seems happy; I'm happy! So we wait to see where we go from here...and when... and where... why is all we know, and sometimes we even ask why! But in our heart of hearts, we know why!
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