Vacation

Soon after Raia left we had another wonderful adventure. A missionary pastor in Mukachevo had written to Will, saying that he had been lying awake praying for us, and God had prompted him to use a financial gift that had come in to offer us a vacation in the mountains near them. We were absolutely floored. Who can turn down an offer like that? So, on March 19 we got on a bus and headed that way. Joel and his family met us at the bus, took us shopping for groceries for 10 days, got us dinner, and then drove us out to the place they had reserved for us. Wow. Like I said, we were wonderfully overwhelmed. I don't even know how to express it. 

It was dark when we got there, but the next morning we discovered that we were in a really lovely place. We settled into a pattern that was usually Bogdan and I hiking in the mornings, maybe getting coffee together, then showing Will and Asya a place that we had discovered. Ira, Asya's friend from Kherson, had planned to spend her spring break with us, so she came and joined us there for a few days, too. 

Also, a family that I had met many years ago when they adopted now lives in Mukachevo. We got to spend time with them, too, and our kids--who hadn't met before--really hit it off well. Even Leo found a friend among their many dogs. We went to church with them, visited two castles, and spent time in their home, too. And someone we had spent time with many years ago in Luhansk actually serves now right near where we were staying, so she came over for a short and sweet visit, too.

In the bus

From the bus

First morning in the mountains

And there I run out of time to keep sorting through these photos, at least for now. That was a taste of some of them from beginning of our time away, plus Leo and his friend.

Raia's visit (and Bogdan's birthday)

A highlight of the whole first part of this year for me was Raia's spring break visit to us way back in March. I can't believe how few photos I have from then, though. 

When Raia didn't come for winter break, she comforted us by planning to come in the spring. But then it looked like not even that would work out. It's such a long, hard trip, and she was so busy. Then at some point she wrote and said that I could go ahead and get tickets for her. She asked if I could keep it a secret from Bogdan, so that her presence could be a birthday present for him. At the time, I was buying tickets for one of Asya's trips to Kyiv, too, so I thought I would just get all the tickets, and not say anything at all until I got Asya sent off. Will would know, because he would see that I was spending money and calling back and forth with Raia. But he didn't notice. (Raia and I were also doing a lot to renew her residency in Lithuania at the time.) And I didn't say anything to Asya before she left. So, pretty soon Raia and I realized that we were the only ones who knew she was coming, and we liked that, so we left it that way. 

After all the grueling travel, Raia got here on a Sunday morning, way earlier than scheduled, so she just walked to our house, and I let her in. Bogdan was very happily surprised. Will was still asleep, and he woke up to a surprise, too. That night Raia sent a photo of Will and me with Leo to our family group and thought that she messed up the surprise for Asya, but somehow Asya didn't notice. The next morning Asya's train from Kyiv got in about the same time as Raia's friend came in from Kherson, so Raia surprised Asya at the train station. It was all a lot of fun. 

Raia's photo

Then, on Bogdan's actual birthday, Raia went with him on a hike, which was exactly what he wanted. That night we had a little celebration with our small group. 

Then, the next evening Bogdan's friends came over to celebrate more. Will grilled meat for them, and they ate and played outside until it was really dark.

We really appreciated Raia making the effort to come all this way for a relatively short visit, and we treasured every moment with her here. Bogdan had a great 14th birthday, too.

Christ is Risen!

Oops. I haven't written here since January. Will has pretty much taken over with chronicling every single day on Facebook, but he doesn't usually include our photos. I find more and more than I go back to old blog posts to look up pictures or dates from our family history, so I still want to record things here "for posterity."

Amazing sky the night before Easter

I will start with yesterday. Easter is my favorite holiday of the year. To prepare our hearts in the week leading up to it we watched the videos from the God on Mute series. They're based on a book that I highly recommend, and I wanted to share that with the rest of my family.

Then Easter! After lots of late snow, we now have full spring weather and flowers everywhere. The leadership team at church had been really busy lately with setting up foundational ideas and documents for this young church, so we didn't meet about Easter plans until the Sunday before. We decided on a minimalist celebration. That doesn't mean we didn't celebrate, though. I think we had kind of a minimalist version in our home, too, but we touched on all our traditions, remembered Christ's resurrection, and enjoyed our day very much.

Of course, the blind dog decorated the eggs.

At Sunday school the younger group made a beautiful photo zone and took photos:

Afterwards we headed out to a church picnic at a park.

Will and I were some of the last to get there, and as we approached where the rest of the church group was, I just loved this tree:

But then I didn't get many more photos, because my hands were full:

(Oh, yes, that's the baby we were waiting for way back when I last posted here.)

We also really enjoyed having one of the young guys from the Capernaum club with us. He came to church by himself, sat with us, and then got permission from his mom to go on to the picnic with us, too. Asya took this photo; apparently we didn't get anything with our family. That's Bogdan, me (with Leo), Will, Lyusya, and Andriy.

I hope everyone had a beautiful Easter day and will continue to bask in the Easter season, remembering resurrection every day.

Empty nest

 

We have an empty nest here. At least it's just temporary. I had planned that Bogdan, Asya, and I would all travel to help with a winter Christmas program, but I also agreed to be here to watch two little girls from Kherson when their baby brother is born. I thought he would have made his appearance well before it was time for us to go, but he had other plans. So, on Monday Asya went off by herself to serve. Her little dog, Leo, actually cried when we saw her off. Of course, he misses her when she is gone, but he hasn't seemed to understand the actual leaving before. Then, on Tuesday Bogdan went with his local friends to help in a program for kids in a nearby village. He's staying out there until Saturday. We hear very little from him, so I guess all is going well.

And we're not exactly sitting around crying here. Last night our small group came, getting restarted and catching up after a short break for the holidays. I have already been working through a good bit of reading, writing, and watching videos to catch up on a Young Life course I need to finish taking, and I'm working with the other Sunday school teachers to plan what's next there.

I'm waiting for this baby to be born....

Jaan's visit

Jaan and his girlfriend Yana came to visit us for part of his holiday break. They started out from Lithuania on Christmas Day, but didn't get here until the 27th. We really enjoyed our time together. Bogdan was especially glued to Jaan the whole time. He misses his big brother a lot! We ate good food, went on lots of walks, played, painted, celebrated the New Year together, and then said goodbye again.

Here are tons of photos:

(That's a baby nutria.)

Meanwhile, in Lithuania Raia was going for lots of walks with the cat and dog she's caring for and enjoying the holidays there:

We missed her! But we were glad she could rest there and that we could see Jaan and Yana here.