Caroline is now ten and half years old. When she was a week or so old, Miss Yelena came to work for us. At that time Yelena had only been in the United States for a few of weeks. Speaking no English she left her homeland of Kyrgyzstan and headed to the US with her eleven year old son and $200 in her pocket. She wanted a better life. She is a Christian and was being persecuted.
I am delighted to say that I was her very first client. I didn't realize that she really couldn't speak English at all. Over the years she learned how to speak and read English, taking classes and studying. She developed a steady client base and built her business. She faithfully raised her son, even getting to see him play with his high school football team at the Georgia Dome (Our family attended, too. She was so proud and excited.) She paid her taxes, bought her own townhouse, sent her son to college and just this past year became an American Citizen. I was fortunate enought to witness her naturalization. What an inspiration!
In the beginning of December 2010, we found out that Tom would not have a job in the new year. In anticipation of the end of this job, I had to let Miss Yelena go. I was so dreading having to tell her. Yelena is such a dear person, and I loved her. I knew I could take care of my own house, but I hated not to see her every couple of weeks.
So a bit before Christmas I made my plan to tell her. Her son came with her that day. (He's such a fine young man; helping his mom whenever he is home from college.) I told her of our situation as soon as she arrived. Of course, I cried. That day, Miss Yelena ministered to me. She told me that God certainly had a bigger plan for us, and that she wouldn't be gone for long.(She was right.) She offered her house keeping services for free as a Christmas present. So dear.
At that point, I decided that I would tackle cleaning my house the way Miss Yelena did. I would set aside 3-4 hours every two weeks to get the job done, just like she would. I also included each child, assigning each specific duties.
Next post I'll outline how we went about our duties. All I can say is that it's a hard job.
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