Ouch

Well...here I was thinking I was doing so well from my surgery -- and I guess I pushed things a little to much. Apparently, I pulled an internal incision -- and while it is painful -- the doctor says it will heal just fine if I will stay off of my feet for a couple of days. So -- here I have sat -- moving from the bed to the couch...to a little bit of time in my scrapbooking room (sitting VERY still in my chair). I feel like I have gone back to the days right after my surgery...I hate it!

Anyway...I did get my layout finished that I started at the crop last Friday night. The layout is about a little girl, named Danara, that Royce and I met in St. Petersburg, Russia. We both fell in love with her...and wanted to bring her home with us -- but it just wasn't a possibility.

We met her in a Child in Danger shelter where she had been placed because she had been abused, her mother was in prison for drugs and her father was dead. I met her when I walked through the "dining" area and she was sitting at a little table drinking a cup of tea. The shelter was almost out of food (that was the reason we were there -- to bring them much needed food and medicine --and toys for the kids). No matter what, I couldn't get her to smile. It was her eyes that haunted me. Royce met her later and fell in love with her too. We stayed after the group left and continued to play with her -- and gradually, she warmed up to us. Royce is great with kids -- he can be so silly and it just makes them laugh...it was so wonderful to see her wariness turn into laughter as she played with him...with a small red dog, a "cell phone" and a teddy bear. We went back day after day just to spend a few hours with her...and to say that we were devastated when we discovered that she was not adoptable doesn't begin to express what we felt.

It has actually taken me three years to pull these pictures back out. We went back to find her the next summer -- and she had been released to her 83 year old grandmother who was trying to live on her pension (less than $25/mnth) and take care of Danara. I understand why she didn't want us to take Danara away from Russia -- but at the time I so wanted to convince her that Danara would have a better life -- good food, medicine, great schooling and opportunity to be anything she wanted to be were she to come home with us. It just wasn't meant to be...and I have to trust God with that and with Danara.

Since my goal for this year is to scrapbook things that matter to me -- I felt like this was one that needed my attention. The story I have shared here is underneath each of the pictures...with the numbers letting you know which one to read next.

Thanks for listening and looking...appreciate you all as my friends allowing me to be transparent.