Six months

 It was November fourth when Max dropped us off at the airport in Zaporosia. The first (and possibly only) time we flew from there. As we approached the airport, we talked about how nice it was to not take the train to Kyiv and how in three months, Max could pick us up at two am.

Of course, that didn't happen, first the plane to Zap was cancelled and we were going to be flying into Kyiv instead on February fourth and would have to take the train or get Victor to come get us, then we postponed because Canada raised the caution level for Ukraine. Garry really wishes he'd gone, since Russia attacked February 24th, four days before our flight was rescheduled to go, and then we couldn't fly into Ukraine. He could have gotten things set and then driven out (I hope). Our mission's official policy is if Canada says do not go, we can't. 

If that changes, Garry would go, he misses our farm and our people there. He feels guilty for being safe here, while so many Ukrainian Christians we know are still there, many endangering their own lives to try to help others by driving to dangerous places to evacuate people to safer areas. He feels bad for feeling sad when we just can't go there, since we have so much here.

Garry talked with Max for a few minutes yesterday, he was out with the van looking to buy diesel for the tractors. He could only buy fifty liters at each station, so he's been going to several stations daily recently. He said the price went up three grivna a liter between morning and afternoon. He stopped and got out to show Garry the wheat field, it looks good, a foot tall, it was fertilized a while ago, they were planning to spray herbicide and insecticide yesterday. I think I wrote that the corn is all planted and they were starting to plant sunflowers this week.

You might remember I wrote that Julia and Dima are now in Turin and I thought Karina, who'd been in Kyiv was out of Ukraine. Garry actually talked to her today and Karina is still in Ukraine with her husband and baby is due in a month. She told Garry it has been two years and three months since she quit drinking and turned her life around. 

Three months was going to be the longest time for Garry in Canada away from Ukraine, now that it's been six, with no idea when he can return, he is looking for something meaningful to do. This week he's putting flooring down in the house reno, and soon he'll be able to help the boys here with fieldwork, but his heart is missing his other family in the village (and no our biological kids are here in Canada, it's the family we found in Ukraine he worries over.) There are more babies due, Alona is due in two months and Kolya and Oksana let know they are having another baby in the fall.

I keep seeing people here that make me think of people we know in Ukraine, at church or at the mall and I stop and think about them and say a prayer in my mind for them. This Sunday at church a smile reminded me of an older lady in Dnepro at the church there, she was one of the generous ladies who made and brought us meals when we were in the hospital with covid last year.