New Wine in Old Skins

Linda Goodnight here, marveling at God.

Remember that scripture in the Bible about putting new wine in old skins? Well, we have a rather convulted metaphor of that going on at our house. The old skins are my husband Gene and me. The new, fresh, sweet and delightful wine is Maria, a beautiful 13 year old Ukarinian child that we are adopting! The story of just how God brought Maria into our family is long, but it was clearly His doing and His will. She is revitalizing these old skins, giving us great joy, and we just couldn't be more delighted - or stunned - at what the Lord has done.

Right now, we are debating home school or a Christian school instead of the public school where I teach. Do any of you home school? Anyone attend or have their kids attend a Christian school? Both are new arenas for me, so all advice is appreciated!

Cultural Exchange

I am fascinated by other cultures which is just one of the reasons my family often hosts a child from an orpahange in Ukraine. It's also a chance to share Jesus with a child who otherwise may never hear his name, to show how loving, Christian families interact, and to share our Okie culture and learn about theirs. We are doing so right now. Our host child is 15 and a living doll, both inside and out. She's also funny and a real gamer, willing to try new foods--and ride the Zipper at the country fair. AWK. Never again.

Tonight we had fried okra, a staple for us in the summer months. She doesn't like our ice tea, wasn't crazy about corn on the cob(poor deluded child) but this girl loved okra. In her thick Russian accent, she kept saying, "What is this? Okra? Mmmm." She had also never had M & Ms. My husband believes M&Ms are a staple of life, so he introduced her. She calls them M M Ms. And yes, she likes those too.

This was our first teenaged host child and I was a little nervous at first, being a little kid person, but she has proven to be so much fun. (And she washes dishes without me asking!)

So tell me, have any of you had experience with another culture?