It’s December, folks.  I can now officially listen to Christmas music without incurring the judgement of Jed. Our Christmas tree is up.  The lights are on. The cupboard is stocked with staples of the season.  Our hearts are full.

And we have hope.

  

This past Sunday was the beginning of Advent: the season of expectation, the season of longing for Jesus to come and make wrong things right; the season of searching for glimpses of God’s Kingdom come to earth. 

On Sunday at our home, and across the world, millions of candles were lit.  Millions of prayers were whispered.  Millions of hearts were filled with hope. 

We look back at all God has done thus far and our minds are blown.  In two short (yet sometimes unbelievably long) years He has made so much wrong right.  

-Hearts of directors have been opened and softened.

-Youth from our city have risen up and claimed this cause as their own.  They have chosen time and time again, to spend time with their  beloved boys instead of pursuing other things.  This is not a project to them- this is their life together.

-Doctors and nurses and physical therapists and speech pathologists and many loved ones have traveled across the world to give of their time and talent to our beloved babies. 

-Hearts of nannies have been won over.  They may not understand why we do what we do, but they love us and they appreciate us.  They are our friends.

-Two teachers from the town of Romaniv have been hired to devote their lives to the boys.  They are opening the eyes of their neighbors.

-God laid our boys on the heart of a generous church in Switzerland- and a van was provided.

-One amazing boy now runs free.  Cherished son and brother. 

-Thousands of people ALL OVER the world have given and given and given.  Provision abounds.

-Countless prayers have been prayed, day after day after day by so many believers in so many countries.  “God come.  Have your way.  Set the captive free.  Be near to the boys we love so much.  Bring healing and hope.  Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

And we have hope.

Of course, there is so much yet to be done.  There is so much wrong that has not been made right.  There are injustices and there is so, so much pain.  There are nannies who are cruel.  There are people in high positions who do not understand.  There is unbelievable suffering every minute of every day.

But we have hope.

God keeps his promises.  God sees and He knows.  God has not forgotten our boys, tucked away from the world for so long.  They are tucked up right next to His heart.  

And we are so full-to-bursting with thanks.  Thank you for traveling this journey with us.  Thank you for praying.  Thank you for loving.  Thank you for giving so incredibly generously.  Thank you for carrying the torch of hope with us.  Thank you for believing that these boys are worth fighting for.  

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2

AND WE HAVE HOPE! 

Oh my goooooodness! What an awesome week we had! It was go go go and packed with amazingness.

Jed was in America for 12 days and just got home last Thursday. He had an awesome time of connecting with supporters and churches. He went with the purpose of building a Wide Awake Medical Advisory Team and made lots of great contacts toward that end. It will be exciting to see what comes of it.  We realize that we are at the far limits of our own personal knowledge for how to best help the boys at Romaniv.  It’s time to pull in the big guns. The people Jed met with were so gracious and excited to help. Our Boys are loved by so many!

These past few days we had an extra special treat. You see Wide Awake gets to partner with some pretty special people, and two of them visited this past week. Suzy and Lois visited from Hands of Hope Adoption and Orphan Care and we had a super great time. We got to talk about how we can best work together and how we, along with Mission to Ukraine, can best join forces to care for our Boys. It was incredible!!! We didn’t want them to leave!  Talk about kindred spirits… I’ll share more about that later. Now for the pics!

On Tuesday we celebrated Valera’s 30th birthday! He was over the moon excited!

That pink box was his only birthday wish 🙂

Suzy, Lois, and Romaniv Directors. All four, so precious to us

Baking, baking, baking in preparation for a BIG party for Romaniv nannies!

Four handsome MEN- all ready for their special performances

Addy and Ez came along to help with the party. They were so happy to see their Romaniv buddies!!!

Sweet nannies. We love them.

Stasik welcoming everyone to the special party!

Hands of Hope gave each nanny their own multicooker! They are all the rage here and cost almost a full month’s salary! The nannies were just a tad bit excited.

Meanwhile, the boys were busy being adorable…

Maxim’s first selfie 🙂

Our Friday afternoon team is back in action!

All in all it was a fabulous week. Good things are happening left and right. We are so blessed to partner with MTU and Hands of Hope.

On another note, our fam is battling some sickness and just all around exhaustion, so we would appreciate your prayer. We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired. Ain’t nobody got time for that! 😉

Till next time! Say yes to Jesus this week, okay?

Fun. Laughter. Extravagant love.  Joy.  Triumph.  Compassion.  Excitement.  Tears.  Healing. Hugs and more hugs.  Potatoes and buckwheat.  Creativity.  Singing.  Rejoicing.  Miracles.  Awakened hearts.  And….more love.

A little girl, nonverbal, barely in control of her body and unable to walk, claps her hands with joy when she sees her volunteer at breakfast in the morning.  She tugs at his beard and rubs his face as he beams with delight over her, like a proud father.

Six sweet souls from Romaniv run and swing and slide without a care in the world. I think they laughed for eight days straight.

Weary moms walk with a new spring in their step.  Every day they hold their shoulders a bit higher.  They smile with tears in their eyes as they see their children loved with abandon- just as they are.  “I didn’t think anyone could ever love my child like that.”

Addy runs across the grass holding hands and laughing with Ryan, a most special young man.  Their giggles echo across the field.  Addy gushes, “I love you Ryan!”

Vlad, a little guy with special needs, his first time at camp, holds his head high as he belts out the Ukrainian national anthem for a room crowded with people.  His mom cries as thunderous applause fills the room.

My own children’s hearts fill with love and compassion as they grow to know these special people God has placed in their lives.  They truly begin to understand why we live here in Ukraine and tell me “We have to stay here.  The boys at Romaniv need us to love them!”

My prayers are answered.

Ukrainian volunteers give their whole selves to serve and love those whom their society has cast aside.  Beauty beyond measure.

I stand in the back watching a slide show of pictures throughout the week and realize there is no place on earth I would rather be.

A week absolutely full of glimpses of God’s Kingdom breaking through into earth.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  Matthew 6:10

Mission to Ukraine hosts two summer camps each year for people with disabilities.  The first camp is for children, and the second camp, which starts on Monday, is for teens and young adults. Children with all levels of ability are present and loved.  I can’t begin to describe the beauty.  Today we head back for the second camp and our hearts are bursting with anticipation.  May the love of God fill every single corner of every single heart.  May each soul know the love of the Father like never before.  May mother’s hearts be renewed and strengthened.  May it be on earth as it is in heaven.  Thank you for your prayers!  

Visit MTU’s Facebook page to see many more beautiful pictures and a picture of Romaniv boys doing a traditional Ukrainian dance!

I can’t even believe Christmas is just a week away! I’m a Christmas junkie. I looooove me some Christmas. I may, in fact, be the friend that calls her other Christmas-lovin’ friends the minute Christmas music is first heard on the radio, “K103 is playing Christmas music!!!” Mmmm I love it all.

I love the decorations, the music, the smells, the fooooood, the special Christmasy outings that involve mittens and hot cocoa (except if you live in Oregon don’t do the Polar Express…lame-o), the movies, the family togetherness…ALL OF IT. Havalah was born on December 22nd and that was the best Christmas ever. We had snow that Christmas! My Grandad had to go pick up my parents to get them down their hill so they could make it to the hospital. I remember laying in the hospital bed with my sweet little Hava-bundle, snow was falling outside, and Jed and I were watching reruns of A Christmas Story non-stop. It was a sweet deal because TBS was doing a marathon, so each of the times we woke to feed Hava in the night we caught a different part of Ralphie. Pure bliss. 🙂

So, how does a Christmas lover handle her first Christmas away from family and all things cozy and familiar??? Very carefully.

Glimpses of Christmas at MTU

So far we’ve been doing really good! I got a bit weepy when I saw my mom post pics of my 2 nephews helping her and my dad get their Christmas tree; I felt sad my kids weren’t there. But other than that moment, it’s been A-OK. I know a HUGE part of that is because Jed’s awesome parents arrive here on Saturday and will spend Christmas with us!!! Woot! They live in Kosovo, so it’s just a short little jaunt for them to get to us. They won’t even be jetlagged! It will be so great. The kids are super excited to show Grammy and Papa their new digs.

MTU classroom- best snowman!!!

The other night we had our friends Oleg and Tanya over and introduced them to A Christmas Story. They loved Ralphie, and it was fun to watch them watch it. Classic America right there folks. I made cinnamon rolls (that didn’t rise, ahem…) and thumbprint cookies. We drank coffee and tea; it was cozy and festive and perfect (Until Addy started throwing up. Oy. Let’s just make sure to get that bug through the whole fam before Christmas Day, mmmmk?).

Thtuck, thtuck…THTUCK!!!!!

A couple years ago we started celebrating Advent with our kids. Celebrating it here in Ukraine has been such a sweet experience. I’m really not exaggerating when I say I think our Advent “Family Time” has been key to our kids’ transition to life in this faraway land.

Every night we gather at the table with kids in jammies, pour our tea, light our candles, and turn out the lights. We listen to a piece from Handel’s Messiah and either Jed or I read a portion of Scripture that goes along with the music. We got that plan here.

Then we read from our most favorite Advent book ever: Jotham’s Journey. If you have grade-school-age kids I highly recommend Jotham! We first read it 2 years ago at Advent (thanks Lanny!) and then again this year. The kids didn’t remember the plot twists and turns, so it’s been super fun. It’s awesome how the little devotional at the end of each chapter lines up with our Handels pieces.

Then after Jotham we listen to/review our memory verse for the week. We started using an app from Children Desiring God for Scripture memorization and I’m in love.

The kids thrive on our nightly “Family Time”. They love the tea, the togetherness, and the routine of it all. I’m oddly comforted by it too. Tonight Jed and I were talking about how sweet our Advent time has been and the fact that Family Time will definitely continue after Christmas. We’ve never been a family of nighttime routines, mainly because with work schedules and church and friend commitments we were often away in the evenings. Now that we’re in Ukraine, especially with these early winter nights, we are rarely gone in the evening, so we actually have some consistency. It has been beautiful. Many people thought moving in the winter was a pretty difficult choice, but I think it was actually a gift. God knew our family would need a bit of a hibernation period as we entered this new life. It’s hard to hibernate in the summer! 🙂

So, that’s how we are preparing our hearts and our home for Christmas. It looks far different than any other Christmas season we’ve had, but it’s sweet in different ways as well. We don’t have any Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties to go to, but we have each other. As our new country is in upheaval and people stand in the freezing streets longing for their voices to be heard, we long more than ever for God’s Kingdom to come here and now. In this Advent season, we thank Him for coming that first Christmas Day, and we look with longing and expectation for that day when He will come again. On that day all will be made right. No more pain, no more injustice. Come, Lord Jesus, we wait with expectation for You!

Merry Christmas dear friends! May your hearts be filled with joy this season as you say YES to Him.

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2012.  What a year. 

I think I can safely say this has been one of the biggest years of our lives.  I think I can also safely say, based on the happenings of 2012, that the biggest years are yet to come.

Our lives changed so dramatically in 2012 that it’s hard to put myself in the shoes of “January 2012 Kim”.

2012 was a year of God meeting us every step.  He spoke to us in 2011 that He has big plans for us and we just need to “keep walking” and He will make the way.  My heart is full of thankfulness for how our God kept His promises.  He met us, and He continues to meet us. 

On March 21, 2012 we welcomed Seth into our family forever.  The son of our hearts became our legal son.  What a day. I can not imagine our lives without our baby.  He is our joy, talking a mile a minute, loving trains, interested in big boy undies (Lord help us!)…our unexpected gift.  Sometimes I forget that Seth is adopted and when I’m reminded for some reason and stop at that moment to think about it I simply can not believe he didn’t grow in my belly.  He was meant for us in every single way.  He fits us like a glove and we fit him.  God met us in the hospital 2 years ago when we first met our baby, and He met us in the courtroom that precious day when He gave us our baby for keeps.  Thank you Jesus for our sweet boy.  Yay 2012!!!

April 2012 brought life changes in extreme measures.  April wins the trophy for my favorite month of 2012.  We spent the month in Ukraine and we will never ever be the same.  God met us there.  He met us in the moment we stepped off the plane and awkwardly made our way to our hostel with the help of random kind strangers.  He met us in the walls of Romaniv orphanage where our eyes met and we realized what we were created for.  He met us in the courtyard of the Lost Boys institution where we locked eyes and hearts with the boys whose lives grabbed our attention those many months before.  He met us in the moments of friendship and laughter with Ukrainian believers He placed in our path.  He gave us friends for life in Kiev, Zhitomir, Odessa, and Kremenchuk.  Every step we took along that journey was ordained by Him.  Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness and your voice that guides our every step.  

The summer of 2012 brought the beautiful gift of friendship.  New friends invaded our hearts and for that, I weep with gratitude and a HUGE smile on my face.  We are loved by many, and for that, I can’t thank Him enough.  God answered so many prayers with friends this year.  He knows just what we need.  🙂

In September we sold off loads of our stuff.  God met us in that moment in a big way.  We had asked God to show us where we would live so we could save up money for Ukraine.  The night before our garage sale He sent our wonderful, generous friend Luke to offer his home to us for free.  We stepped.  He met us.  He is too good.  He is too faithful.  

October 2012 saw us moving in with Luke and securing renters for our house with a 5-year lease (HA!).  Again, He met us.  Again, overflowing faithfulness, overflowing goodness. 

December 2012.  From the inside looking out it’s hard to know what to say about this month.  We’ve experienced great personal loss and sadness this month and in some moments the sadness feels almost suffocating.  My heart aches and my soul hurts…but then I look back.  I recount what the Lord has done.  I see how He met us every step along this crazy roller coaster of a year.  Will He not meet us now?  The word He spoke to us at the end of 2011 is still the word for us today: “Keep walking and I will make the way”.  This unexpected turn in our path is not an exception to that word.  Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Look and see what the Lord has done!!  His promises remain and His goodness remains.  

Now we look forward to 2013.  My mind can’t even fathom the plans He has in store for this year.  I’m not even going to try and figure it out. 🙂  I’m just going to say “yes” to Him every day and see what comes of it.  When my heart wants to bury itself in sadness I lift up my eyes and remember this past year.  I look at my 4 babies and my beautiful husband, and my heart soars with gratitude for my God and His overflowing faithfulness and goodness.  

I trust you, Jesus.  Whatever you want to do with us this year- you do it.  We are yours and I mean that.  I mean it with every fiber of my being.  I don’t want to live for myself and my good ideas.  I don’t want to live the version of my life that seems right and comfy to me.  I want to be spent for You.  I’ll let You decide how that should look. 

So here’s to 2013!  May we live with our hope in Jesus and may we spend ourselves for Him.