A Melody of Memories: Cooking, Animals, Restuarants, Car, and Helping

We went to our friend Mindy's home to bake Christmas cookies with the children she is a nanny for. The girls had so much fun and make some amazing cookies. They are very detailed when it comes to creations and art-type projects, so you can imagine how nice their stained-glass cookies looked! Thanks, Mindy!
The girls helped make cookies at home, too. They also enjoyed helping me make dinner.
I love the excitement on the oldest girl's face when she made popcorn!
The girls LOVE animals!!! The girls also met my brother's snakes, but they are not pictured here. My brother is a science teacher, so his well-tamed, student-friendly snakes were at his house for Christmas. The horse the girls were able to pet is actually right next door to our church parking lot. The girls had so much fun playing with all the animals they saw, especially Eric's parent's dog, Puggy.

Taking the girls to new restaurants was always a treat. Moe's is one of Eric's favorite restaurants, and is also the restaurant with eat at almost every Sunday night with our college students. It wouldn't be a visit with the Millers without a trip to Moe's!
The girls loved playing on the restaurant playgrounds, especially the giant one at McDonald's.
Eric's mom took the girls on their first trip to Chick-fil-A. The girls loved it so much that we made sure to take more visits to various Chick-fil-A restaurants.
Since the girls have a huge love for animals, they were FASCINATED with the Chick-fil-A cow!
Since our families live an hour away and my school is 30 minutes away, we had a good bit of car trips. We tried to keep car trips minimal, however, because the girls easily became carsick.
On the last ride home from school, I treated the girls to Chick-fil-A ice dream cones. Since it was something sweat, the girls loved it! That was one of my favorite car memories. I enjoyed glancing in the rear-view-mirror and seeing them devour their ice dream cones. I also enjoyed hearing the girls sing songs in the car about Jesus. They loved the music turned up, too! My car is just not the same anymore . . . My backseat is "lived in" now (still is because I have not cleaned it out) and my car is way too quiet now!
The girls were amazing helpers! They actually volunteered at times to clean! (Other times we had to remind them that they needed to pick up their messes.) The oldest made my kitchen sink look cleaner than I have ever seen it! They were also independent, so they did not want much help. We enjoyed our helpers!
We sure do miss our Christmas girls, but they will hear from us soon. We sent a package to them that is filled with goodies. The package will be hand-delivered next week by New Horizons staff. Please pray for our friend Mindy and the rest of the New Horizons staff as they go to various orphanages to visit the children from the winter hosting program and make preparations for the summer hosting program. Continue to pray that the hosted children will remember how much Jesus loves them and that they will share that truth with others.

Not only are our Christmas girls extra special to us, but so is our niece Emily. Please pray for little Emily as she is in the hospital battling pneumonia. Also be praying for our sister-in-law, Karen, as she prepares to have her gall bladder removed and our cousin, Laurel, as she has surgery soon.

Thank you, friends and family, for all your love, prayers, and support. You are each a blessing!

A Melody of Memories: Eric's Family

A Melody of Memories: Erin's Family

A Melody of Memories: Christmas and bringing in the New Year

The first part of Christmas Eve was spent with my immediate family. We all met at my brother's house for a big breakfast, fellowship, and gift-giving.


After visiting with my immediate family, we headed over to Eric's parents house to visit for a little while. Next was the Christmas Eve service with my dad's side of the family, followed by Christmas with my dad's side of the family.
The girls fit in so well with everyone and had a great time, but we were all exhausted!Christmas morning was a real treat for us. This was the first time in our seven years of marriage that we were in our own place on Christmas morning and not living out of suitcases at various houses. Eric and I were able to sneak the girls' presents to the tree. We had so much fun arranging them! Before the girls came down stairs, Eric read the Christmas story to them from the Bible. Although they might not have picked up everything from just hearing it, there was time earlier in the week to explain the story of Jesus by using various nativity sets. It was very important to us that they know that Christmas is about celebrating the birth and life of Christ instead of about presents presents presents! We hope they took that truth with them.
After Christmas morning at our house, we drove back to the other side of Atlanta to spend time with Eric's immediate family. It was that long car ride that let us learn just how car sick the girls could be. I think we had to stop at least four times! I felt so bad for them! From that time on, long car rides meant medicine!
A visit with Eric's family was followed by Christmas with my mom's side of the family.

For New Year's Eve, we went to the college party for our church college students. The girls had fun playing with one of our college leader's children.
What a great way to bring in the new year!

A Melody of Memories: School, Eric's Work, Outings, and Church

The administrator at my school was so gracious and allowed the girls to attend a class while I was teaching. On Mondays/Wednesdays, the girls sat in on one class, ate lunch, and then sat in on one more class (I only teach two classes on those days). The last day they would not go to class so they sat in on mine (as well as a class or two the first day or so they were here). On Tuesdays and Fridays I teach three classes and have a one-hour "planning period" in between, so Tuesdays were long for the girls. Eric is off on Fridays and one of the Fridays was a snow/ice day, so the girls did not have to attend a Friday class. The girl pictured on the right is one of my 10th grade students. She was adopted from Latvia a couple of years ago as a result of New Horizons for Children. She speaks Russian, so she was able to communicate with the girls, spend some time with them, and even share the gospel with them! I'm so thankful for her! Her mom is actually the teacher of the 2nd grade Tuesday class the girls attended. I loved picking the girls up from class and have them call out to me and jump in my arms for a hug! One the way to and from school I also played a Bible verse CD, and the girls caught on to the words so fast. I loved hearing them sing God's Word!

Several times on the way home from school I would take the girls to see Eric at church. The girls loved typing on his computer. Their laughter in the administrative part of the church was a joy. Eric had fun giving them a tour of the church and playing with them for a little while (or even sit in the car with us for a few minutes while the girls ate some ice cream). We had so many laughs during our "Let's go see Eric at church" visits.

Since I was "Mom" for a month, I had the opportunity to take the girls to get new shoes, have their teeth cleaned, get a hair cut, and all the other outings that moms do. Eric and I also took them to the store with us a few times. It's universal: Kids pointing to everything visible, asking if they can have it, and being told no.
We also had outings to the Fantasy in Lights show at Calaway Gardens and to events with New Horizons for Children.


The girls did NOT like having to attend church. They grumbled when told we were going there. At first they would not let go of me to go in their class. I even had to run and hide in the room next door, but they are smart girls and found me right away. On Wednesday nights at church they would not play games at AWANA or eat the Wednesday night meal. By the last time they were at church, they went to their class with no hesitation, ate the Wednesday night meal, and said they had fun at church. I loved seeing the girls make some friends at church and experience the fellowship of coming together with other Christians.

A Melody of Memories: Arrival

Interview: An Update on Our Hosting Experience

One of my 9th grade students interviewed me for an article about my orphan hosting experience. The article will appear in our school newspaper. The interview questions and my answers are posted below.

1. What made you want to host orphans over the holidays?

My husband and I first began talking about adoption eight years ago while we were dating. Although we desperately wanted our own biological children, God has seen fit in his perfect and sovereign plan for us to parent the parentless. The summer of 2009 began our official start to pursue adoption options. Since then the Lord has burdened our hearts for orphans, especially Ukrainian orphans. The Lord took our already-established burden for orphans and multiplied it upon hearing about an international orphan hosting program called New Horizons for Children. This Acworth, GA based non-profit organization is led by LeAnn Dakake. The Lord brought her childrens' nanny to our church college/career ministry, where she was able to tell us about hosting orphans. When I heard that Ukaine was one of the hosting countries, I knew this was an open door the Lord was leading our family to walk through. Our hearts perfectly aligned with the goals of New Horizons for Children: provide orphans with the opportunity to experience a healthy family, to be loved on, to learn about Christ’s love for them, to learn English, and to hopefully find a forever family (NHFC is strictly a hosting program, but many children do happen to meet their forever families through the program).

2. What were your orphans’ ages and what country were they from?

7 and 10 (sisters) – from Ukraine

3. What do you think is the best thing about hosting an orphan?

- Being able to shower them with love and teach them about the love of Christ

- Seeing their confidence increase

- Being daily reminded of what is really important in life as well as reminded of what Christ has done for us

- Seeing a live depiction of what is must have been like for our Heavenly Father to adopt us into His family

4. Did hosting an orphan give you a new perspective of the Christmas season? If so, how?

Yes!

- I realized how much I received for Christmas as a child but did not need.

- Having children in our care for Christmas took the focus off of us and put it on them.

- It was a blessing to teach the girls that we give gifts to others because God gave us the gift of Jesus and then see them pick out gifts for our family members and be excited to deliver the gifts.

- This was the first Christmas since our wedding seven years ago that Eric and I spent Christmas morning in our own home. Since we do not have children of our own, this was also the first Christmas morning we were able to spend with children in our care. We enjoyed reading the Christmas story together before opening gifts. We diligently tried to help the girls understand that Jesus is God’s gift to us and that Christmas is about celebrating the birth and life of Jesus Christ.

5. Describe your favorite experience with the orphans.

- Seeing the oldest girl read our English Bible to my husband

- Bedtime: casting aside all the cares of the day to read a Bible story, pray, and exchange good-night hugs and kisses

- Hearing the girls recite who loves them: Eric, Erin, and Jesus

6. Since the orphans spoke a different language, what did you have to do to be able to communicate with them?

Maintaining patience was important. I also spoke to them as if they understood what I was saying and they did the same. Sometimes I would ask them a question in English and they would answer in Russian. The girls were also amazing actors! We pointed to objects, drew pictures, and acted out what we were trying to communicate. The language barrier I thought would be present was not much of a barrier after all. The girls began using a little English towards the end of their stay. In addition to New Horizon translators, I was also blessed to have TKA’s very own Alexsandra Sanders interpret for me when the girls accompanied me to school. Alexsandra was able to explain to the girls the good news of Christ in their native language.

7. There are so many orphans around the world who have very little hope to cling to. What do you think it’s like for them to come and get to spend Christmas in America with a kind, loving family?

Spending Christmas in America with a kind, loving family is life-changing for orphans. What was merely a testimonial of how these children change as a result of this type of opportunity became a reality throughout the girls’ stay in our home. As a result of this hosting program, confidence is boosted, prayer is taught, the love of Christ and family is experienced, and needs are met.

8. What organization did you use to find orphans to host?

New Horizons for Children (newhorizonsforchildren.org)

9. What kind of different customs did the orphans have compared to us?

- The girls had special “house” shoes that they wore.

- They did the “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” sign when they prayed, and they had a memorized prayer they said when they volunteered to pray out loud.

- They washed some of their clothes in the bathroom by hand before I taught them about the washer and dryer.

10. By the end of their visit, did you notice them picking up any American customs?

- They began giving the “thumbs up” signal when they liked something.

- They learned the etiquette of saying “please,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome.”

- This is not strictly American, but the girls learned how to pray and say “Thank you, Jesus, for ______.”

11. What was it like for your family and the orphans when it was time for them to leave?

Sad and VERY hard! Eric and I were so so sad to see the girls leave. We enjoyed their laughter and footsteps in our home. Calendar days were crossed off throughout the hosting program so the girls could see when it was time to go back home. The oldest girl cried at home two nights prior to the departure date, but not when it was finally time to part ways. I think she was being the strong, big sister. Although the girls did not cry at the airport when it was time to leave our care, my husband and I wept like babies! We are now having a premature experience with “Empty Nest Syndrome.” I told my dad that now I understand how he must have felt when I went away to college and when he gave me away at my wedding.