A Thousand Words

I'm not sure how to begin telling you about my trip to Ukraine. I've been thinking about it all week, processing...

There is so much I want to share. I feel compelled to write about the special kids I met in the hopes that maybe your heart will be pricked and you will get involved.

But it is so hard to know where to start.

Thank you for your prayers is probably the place to begin. I felt them and God answered them.

To start with, the day we arrived I was reunited with Varya AND Valya. I truly believe our meeting was a miracle, orchestrated by God. I will tell you more about that later. Like I said, I'm still processing.

For now I am not going to write much, just show you pictures (with captions). As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so hopefully these pictures will make up for my current lack of words!

Me and my girls, Valya and Varya!

Dad interacting with the kids at an orphanage near Zap. His favorite phrase that day: Yabba Dabba Do. If you ever hear a young Ukrainian child repeating that phrase, you'll know where they learned it!

Me and Corinna - One of the kids I was drawn to immediately.

Misha - our driver for the week. An amazing man who knows first hand what it is like to be persecuted for your faith.

Sept 1 is the first day of school in Ukraine and involves a big celebration. All the children dress in black and white. Programs with "important people" are held at schools across the country. We saw a very abbreviated program at the orphanage in Zap. Abbreviated because of rain. They asked my dad to say a few words.

He said, "Thank you for inviting us. I will talk long while you get rained on," just as it started to pour. They laughed nervously and were glad when he ended his speech one line later.

I stayed at one of the transition homes. These are homes Lifesong for Orphans has built for kids once they graduate out of the orphanage. To live there, they must commit to certain rules of conduct. The alternative is state-run dorms which are nasty places.

The kids I stayed with are amazing. More on them later too! Here I am with Galya and Natasha.

Playing Phase 10 in Transition Home #2

Denis (president of Lifesong for Orphans, Ukraine) has a vision of creating a camp for kids from the surrounding orphanages to visit. The site is beautiful. You can see the house in the background of the picture below.

An older couple will live there. The ideas is giving the kids a chance to visit "Grandpa and Grandma's house." To give the kids a chance to experience a piece of family.

Our last day in Ukraine we took a tour of a botanical garden with some of the kids from Loubetein.

And then we went to spend a day in Vienna Austria.

Talk about culture shock!

We went on a tour of the Schoenberg Palace. You can tell how excited everyone was from the picture below!

That's all for now.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but these pictures seem inadequate leaving so much to tell!

Wordless Wednesday - When your Bed is Just Too Far...

Book Review: Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear

Fears, we all face them: fear of our children getting hurt, fear of financial difficulties, fear of terrorism, fear of being left behind, …

In his newest release, Fearless: Imagine your Life without Fear, Max Lucado tackles these fears and many more. Breathing a fresh perspective into stories from the Bible, mixed in with personal narratives and stories from the world we live in, Max encourages readers to trust more and fear less. He gives practical tips and reminds readers of the truth: God is bigger than our fears and he doesn’t want us to live life dominated by them.

As I read through this book I found new insight into old stories. I love when an author can help me glean new wisdom from stories I have heard hundreds of times. Max Lucado has a knack for this. I also found encouragement as I read. Encouragement that I am not alone in my fears and encouragement to fear the Lord more, as Max call is, “the one healthy terror!” He goes on to say, “When Christ is great, our fears are not.”

If you want some practical help on how to fear less, are looking for an encouraging read or are simply a fan of Max Lucado’s I think you will enjoy this latest release.

Wordless Wednesday - Because you can Never Have Too Many Straws!

Ukraine part 4 - The Kids

Another post I found while "organizing my blog labels" that was never published. I think this might be what you call perfect timing! Let me introduce you to some of the great kids I get to see this week! Please keep them (and me) in your prayers.

The kids at Loubetine (like all orphans) have had hard lives. Somehow, when I am with them it is easy to forget this. It is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day activities of the camp, enjoying fun interactions with the kids, laughing and smiling with them and forget about what brought them to Loubetine in the first place. Denis (head of Life International Ukraine) shared a few stories with us.

Tonya lives with Denis and Tonya right now. She is one of three kids they are fostering over the summer. Denis told us that she was forced to get her meals from garbage cans until she was found at the age of 12 and taken to Loubetine. Today she is a Christian (and was recently baptized). She lives with Denis and Tonya over the summer and holiday breaks (during the school year she still lives at Loubetine). Once she is out of Loubetine she will probably move in to the Transition Home (more on that tomorrow). She has a hope!

Vanya (pictured with Kory) has grown up in the orphanage. He never knew his father or mother. His last name is the name of the town where he was born. He actually grew up in an orphanage in Saknoshinah, but they only teach the kids through the 9th grade making it impossible for them to go on to college. Because of Life International (LI), Vanya and two other boys, were transferred to Loubetine so they could finish high school and move on to college. Vanya speaks very good English. He and Kory would go around camp singing American pop songs to each other! He goes to church, but is not committed to Christ at this point. Keep him in your prayers.

Andrei (pictured below with Kory) was one of the most friendly guys I have ever met. Every morning he would make it a point to personally welcome all of us back to Loubetine. He would come up, shake our hands and say hello. He was transferred to Loubetine with Vanya. He is a Christian. The day we left camp, he came up to me at least twice and said "You are a good sister". He is a special kid!


Pictured with me is little Tonya (there were about 20 Tonya's!). Kory wanted to take her home with us. Her dad brought her a bag of candy while we were at Loubetine. But, he doesn't want to be involved with her beyond that. There was a family who wanted her to come and stay with them on weekends, but her dad wouldn't let her. He doesn't want to be involved in her life and he doesn't want anyone else to be either.

Alla (pictured with Mom) is a girl my parents have kept in touch with ever since our first trip to Loubetine. Many of her friends have made the decision to follow Christ, but she has held back. She knows the truth. And sometimes, she will go to church. She seemed so sad at camp. So unhappy. Denis said she had just spent a month with her sister who is a prostitute.

So many of the kids have relatives who have made bad choices. So many of them seem destined to make the same choices. It can seem hopeless. That is why LI's work is so important. God is using the LI staff in huge ways in the lives of these kids. They are being taught of God's love and given the tools needed to break the cylce of hopelessness. They are given hope. But, it still comes down to their individual choices. It is not easy. Keep them in your prayers. Natasha (LI Staff who works at Loubetine) told me as we left to pray for the older girls specifically. "They are broken" she said. I am asking you to pray for them as well. Pray that God would heal them and put them back together again. Also, pray for the LI Staff, that God would give them wisdome as they interact and work with these special, broken kids.

Before I go today, I thought I would share about the two girls I asked you to pray for. I didn't get to see either of them (probaly the biggest disappointment of the trip for me), but I did get to talk to Varya on the phone. At one point, she apologized to me for hanging out with unbelievers. Keep her in your prayers. She, like Alla, knows the truth. They have so much baggage to overcome, but with Christ all things are possible! There is hope!

"Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty,
suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it."

"Well, why don't you ask Him?"

"Because I am afraid He would ask me the same question."

-Anonymous

Giving Thanks for Friendships

I sat and looked at their faces as they shared stories about their summers and the start of school. Stories of sibling rivalries, moody nine-year olds, and tween girls trying to figure life out.

A group of moms sharing life, learning from each other and finding comfort in the fact that they were not alone and their kids were normal, at least somewhat.

I realized I was sitting in the middle of a gold mine. One of the youngest moms there, I was hearing stories of things to come. I was being given a peek at what life could look like down the road, an advanced reader copy of older kids issues.

It made me extremely thankful for the friendship of other moms. Moms who are ahead of me in the journey, those who are walking beside me, and those who are following behind.

This mommy thing can be a hard road to navigate. Scratch that, this life thing can be a hard road to navigate. Don't try to do it alone.

Two are better than one,because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10