Have had trouble with blog...Sorry!

I have tried and Erin tried to enter a blog and it would not work. The last blog was a fun day of ice skating on Saturday.

We then had horrible Sunday. We were hit in the face with the realization that we are indeed in a spiritual battle.

Woke Sunday morning, leisurely got up, showered, dressed. When we told Christina and Kolya that it was time to go to church, their faces got ugly and their talk became harsh and then they ran up the spiral staircase saying "no!" when we asked them to come down. I immediately asked Erin and Jake to start praying. Dan picked up Kolya and Christina came down. We got coats, boots, gloves, etc. and off to church with 2 very mad children. We held their wrist so that they would come with us, they kicked things. We entered the church and for 2 1/2 hours (worship was long because of communion) the kids sat calmly and quietly. There was still an undercurrent of anger but it did not surface during church.

However as soon as we stepped out of the building Kolya immediately became defiant again. They had both wanted to go to the carnival near our flat. We were planning to go after lunch but Kolya was so angry he would not walk with Dan. We got back home and Dan immediately went into the room with Kolya. I took in lunch and they were in their for over 2 hours working out things. We are not spanking as they are not yet ours so Dan was doing a lot of waiting, praying and loving. The rest of us were praying also. Christina understood that a consequence of Kolya's anger was that no one got to go to the Carnival. The rest of the day went well but we stayed home.

Erin and Jake spent the evening playing "Settlers of Cataan" at the Quatermans. Jake came in the victor! We had spent a quiet evening with the kids.

We do realize that there is a spiritual battle but seldom it is so evident. Satan can have no victory over Dan and I but he can attack us through the kids. We must pray for their salvation. We are truly in a battle for their souls right now.

Monday we walked over 45 minutes to the Dolphinarium. It was a long cold walk but we had a lot of fun! The dolphin show was very good. Then we ate pizza and walked back. I am sure there were buses but since we did not know where we would end up and none of the buses looked like the right number, we chose to walk back in the low 20 degree weather with light snow flurries!

There is still an under current of anger with Kolya. He is fine until we say no about something he thinks he should get. We are praying for him and working through this with him.

Tuesday we took Jake and Erin to the airport to return to the States! We got news that they have arrived safely in Chicago. They spend the night there and return to Atlanta today, Wednesday, at noon. We miss them . I thought Christina was going to cry! Even Kolya was very quiet on the ride home.

Today is Christmas Eve. Yes, it is here again:) The Ukraine Christmas celebration of Christ's birth is on Jan 7th so tonight is the Christmas Eve service and tomorrow a Christmas pagent. We have already told the kids today that we are going tonight so we will see how it goes.

We are ready to be home but do not think we will be able to leave for 10-14 days. We ask for your prayers!

In Him Alone,

Leslie