A Little Reprieve And An Early Christmas

     This week we're on Whidbey Island with Leif's side of the family.  We feel so blessed because we had prayed that all of our needed financial support for ministry would be raised before this week.... for two big reasons:  One, we needed to buy our plane tickets before the prices went way up and before we lost our residency status.  Two, we are tired and wanted to enjoy this time without having our  minds in a bazillion places.  And God was is so kind.  He even brought the money in with a couple of days to spare!  The kids always get really excited to ride on the ferry to get to Irene's place.  And it's also nice to break up the drive a bit.

Such a cute father/son picture on the ferry!  I love these guys SO much!!

     We started a tradition a few years ago with an advent calendar that begins on December 1st and goes until Christmas.  Each day we do something special along with lighting the advent candles each evening and having a special time of focusing on Jesus and singing Christmas songs.  On this day we made gingerbread cookies.

     I forget how much I actually like gingerbread cookies.  It sure is busy to make them with little ones!  It was nice that there were three adults present.  =)

     Leif and I recently celebrated 12 years of marriage.  We have a little tradition of buying a new game together each year.  This year we got the game Pandemic.  We really like it and have had fun playing it in the evenings (often until very late) with Irene and Lark (Leif's mom and brother).   We've have been loving eating spinach dip and chips.  Irene's neighbor made us some spinach dip that is so good it should be illegal.  I guess we are just putting  on a little extra warmth to prepare for the Siberian winter!

     We're soaking in being able to be OUTSIDE, as soon we'll be in a super-cold climate.  On this day we went to Ft. Casey.  The sun was shining, the grass was green, and the wind smelled so good... and felt so good to breathe in deeply.

     Ella and Irene took the more gentle incline down, but the rest of us went down the fort on this ladder.  When Ike and I went down, he hung onto me (like a monkey) and I held onto the ladder.  Thankfully he's a strong little boy!

      The lighthouse had this wreath as a decoration on the porch.  It was so cute because Ike saw Leif and me kissing and wanting a picture of me kissing him in the wreath...

I love the smile on his little face!

We propped up the camera in another tree for a group shot.

     On Wednesday I helped Irene pass out food at the food bank.  It was a really good experience, and I met a lot of neat people.  One of the ladies there told Irene she would make her a cake from a family recipe (she's from Mexico).  It was this incredible chocolate flan cake.  We lit a candle and sang happy birthday to Jesus one evening.  We had our coats on because we knew that Santa would be coming through the neighborhood on a firetruck and we didn't want to miss him!

 

 Santa's helpers passed out candy canes.

     We enjoyed a lovely church service on Sunday at Irene's church.  There was a bell choir and a contata with a beautiful choir.  The words of so many Christmas songs are RICH and wonderful to reflect upon.  It truly is amazing to think of God coming to this world as a baby!  The kids even went up front to sing a song.  (Ella and Anneka are pictured here).  It's nice that they're able to adapt to
different churches and up-front situations.

     After church we enjoyed an early Christmas with the family.  It was perfect because Leif's niece and nephew and aunt and uncle won't be here on the 25th (and we won't either), but we were all able to be here for this special day.  We didn't know all of this ahead of time, but God did.  I love how He plans these things out.  

We all acted out the Christmas story.

      I love this picture of "Mary" and "Jesus" with the sheep looking on from the background.  =)

      Leif's dad is with us for a couple of days, too.  This morning we went in search of gnarly driftwood that he uses to make into artistic creations at their flowershop. 

... and we all made a trip to the vet to visit uncle Lark and the animals.  It was fun for the kids to have a tour!


     Originally when we'd made plans to come to western WA at Christmastime and so near to our departure, I'd felt kind of stressed about it all.  But it's turned out to be a wonderful reprieve and so nice that we'll be able to be with both sides of the family during this special season!

Much to be thankful for!

     Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday to be in the States for, so it was especially sweet to be here with family this year!

      I just decided today that turkey dinner (with mashed potatoes and stuffing) is my favorite meal.  Not only did we get to eat it on Thanksgiving, but a sweet lady who prays for us and supports us served us a FEAST after church today.  The abundance of food in America is quite shocking.  I gained 16 pounds within the first 6 weeks of being back here.  There's no getting away from the food!  But, oh, it's so delicious!

     The kids enjoyed a tractor ride on uncle Dan's tractors.  And Leif was so happy to watch both of his football teams play live... and both won!

     Family, of course, is my favorite part of Thanksgiving, and the thing we miss most when away (yes, even more than food, tractors, and football)!  This is me and my mom.

      Our kids ADORE their cousins, and it was so wonderful to see them giggling and running around.  Myah, Nora, and Erik are so sweet to play with them and show them such love.

     We are aware of all that we have to be thankful for! 

     Our time here has been racing by, as time seems to do.  We're now working hard to focus on Jesus in the middle of the Christmas season, wanting to make special memories with family, and also preparing to return to Russia very soon.

     We have a small window of time where we need to raise our remaining monthly financial support in order to buy our plane tickets back to Russia.  We need to be at 100% of our support before we can buy the tickets, but we will lose our residency in Russia if we wait past early January.  Your prayers for this are appreciated.  We are reminded that God always provides, and often in the last minute!  He loves to increase our faith!

Encouragement

We visited our dear friends and former Ulan-Ude teammates up near Calgary, Canada.  We enjoyed walks outside in beautiful places and a trip to an indoor mini water park for families.

We had fun visiting Matthew and Heather Ann as they worked at Starbucks.

Leif pretended to be Heidi's bodyguard and picked up her boyfriend, Josh, from the airport.  He was very surprised and was worried that he may be kidnapped!

     Our past few weeks have been filled with encouragement.  We have gotten together with many dear people from various walks of life and have enjoyed times talking with them, hearing about their lives, sharing from ours, and praying for one another.  As you can see from the pictures above, we had the chance to visit our former teammates, who are now living in Calgary, Alberta.  It was really fun to laugh with them and share our hearts with one another.

     There have been two things that have really struck me the past few weeks as we've been talking with many dear people.  One is that SEVERAL different people and families, when asked how we can pray for them, said that they want to serve God and to be shaken out of their comfort zone.  They want to be willing to go and to do whatever He asks of them.  Wow!  I love this.  It's so encouraging, and it creates a snowball effect.

     The other thing that has blown us away, is the increased prayer support we have received from many for our family, our ministry, and the people of Siberia.  Several people have told us they are committed to praying for us DAILY and one couple would like to start a prayer group for us and a handful of other missionaries.  People have written us letters saying "I'm in!" with praying, and we are deeply humbled and oh-so-grateful.  We are excited about what God is doing, and have a renewed sense of hope for the days ahead.  What would we do without the body of Christ?

Upcoming Churches

We've been enjoying the beautiful fall leaves and jumping into them!

We'll be at these churches in the next couple of weeks:

Sunday, November 30th- Cheney Church of the Nazarene

Sunday, December 7th- Addy New Life Christian Center

We'd love to see you if you're able to make it!

The next two Sundays....

We'll be at Cheney Church this Sunday (Nov. 2)
and New Community in Spokane the next Sunday (Nov. 9)

We look forward to those we will see there!!

Settled Into a Bit of a Routine

     Besides sharing with lots of churches and people about our ministry, catching up on doctors appointments, raising support, and utilizing the library to catch up on books on the recommended reading list from our organization for where we live and work, we've also settled into a bit of a routine with our family.  One of the biggest blessings is that my mom is homeschooling Anneka!  She is in first grade now, and they both are loving this time together.  It's fun to see my mom have the joy of teaching and Anneka have the joy of learning!

 

     Another blessing of being here is getting time with my grandma. She has special toys and puzzles that she bought for the kids to play with when we visit her.  They have liked eating at the dining hall in the assisted living place where she lives, as it's like a restaurant and they can order whatever they want.  =)

 

     Each Wednesday we take the kids to library story time at our local library.  The librarian leads the time with reading books, singing songs, and playing with educational toys.  We've really enjoyed having access to so many books in English for our kids.  Anneka is really taking off with reading and Ike and Ella love when she reads to them.  On this day there was a special fort making time at library in Cheney.  We met up with some friends and their kids and had a good time together.

 

     Also on Wednesdays, our kids are in a Bible club called Awanas.  I was in this club as a little girl and still remember many of the Bible verses I learned almost 30 years ago.  It's so great because they even have a class for 2 year olds!  Each of our kids love it and are learning a lot and sharing what they learn.  It was so cute the first night when we asked Ike what he learned.  He told us that God made the sunshine and the clouds and the stars.  I loved to hear his little voice speaking these truths. He always asks when he can go to his school at "Mawanas".   Ella and Anneka have been learning Bible verses and enjoy the songs and games there. Leif and I take advantage of this time to go on a date!

     On Friday nights, the girls are in a Russian school.  Ella is in the zero grade and Anneka is in first grade.  They are making friends there, and growing in their skills in reading and writing.  It goes until 9:00 which is pretty late for the little ones, but the girls have a good attitude about going and it's been really positive for them both.  Often my parents will take Ike on this night, and it's freed Leif and I up to do things like to go a conference about God's passion for the city, visiting one of our supporting life groups, going to a prayer meeting for some of our friends who are missionaries in Africa, and getting together with others. 

     We feel thankful and blessed for these opportunities that our family has had this fall.  Our kids have made the transition to the States well.  Thank you to everyone who prayed for this!

October Church Schedule

Sunday, October 5th- Crossroads Community Church (Valley, WA)

Sunday, October 12th- The Vine Community (Deer Park, WA)

Sunday, October 19th- Southside Christian (Spokane on the south hill)

We look forward to seeing any of you who can make it!

Upcoming Churches

Here's where we'll be the next couple of weeks.  Thank you, Harrison Church family for so warmly welcoming us in this past Sunday.  After our day with you, our little Ella said, "Church today was GREAT!  It was like a celebration!"  As it should be.  =)

We are in the Spokane area now for the fall!

September 21st- Nine Mile Falls Community Church
September 28th- Olive Branch Community Church

We should know our October schedule in the next few days and will post it soon!

A Special Day for Darrington... And For Us!

     We've been traveling here, there, and everywhere the past month and a half.  I counted, and we slept in 14 or 15 different places (depending on the family member).  I'll take the next while to post pictures and stories from our time (not in chronological order).  But today I want to share about a special time for our family in Darrington, Leif's hometown.

     Probably most of you have heard of the devastation from the Darrington/Oso mudslide this past spring.  I snapped this picture as we were driving and it doesn't begin to show the devastation to a MASSIVE area- houses and lives totally obliterated.  When we first learned of the mudslide (Leif knew several people directly affected or killed by it), Leif had a really hard time concentrating on anything else for about a month.  He was continually checking the news for body counts and checking in with friends to hear if they'd found their missing family member.  It was very much on his heart to return to his hometown this summer and talk with people and hear how they were doing.  We were blessed to have a week in a family cabin and God opened up opportunities to talk with several people while we were there.

     On the Saturday we were there, a church from Stanwood (nearby town) hosted a special day called "A Day for Darrington".  It was all FREE, and was a wonderful time of food and fun for everyone with the intent of bringing hope and a new beginning.  We felt so privileged to be there for this day!  The kids got snow cones, and Leif got a free haircut.

     The girls had their faces painted, and all of the kids enjoyed the many carnival games with fun prizes!  If they didn't win the prize they just went back to the booth later to try again.  One game had stuffed animals as prizes.  I think our family left with 6 or 7 stuffed animals!

     There was a kiddie pool full of bubble-blowing equipment.  We spent a long time making lots and lots of bubbles!  It's such a beautiful place.  We all loved being tucked in the mountains.

 

     They had a jumping castle as well as this fun bouncy slide!  We met a man who showed great love to us and prayed for our family.  It was wonderful to see the body of Christ working together to bring encouragement to this town, and to us, too!

     Leif's friend, Darrin, was there with his daughter.  Our girls played while the Dad's talked and got caught up.



     There were free burgers, chips, drinks, and watermelon.  Ike was all about the watermelon.  I don't know how many times I went back to get him another piece!

     It was so special for Leif's mom to be with us all week in the Darrington area.  The kids enjoyed their time with their grandma, and the feelings were mutual!  Ella didn't want me to take a picture of her face paint all day.  She was Hello Kitty.  =)

 
     We had opportunity to share at 3 different churches that week in Darrington what God is doing in Russia.  It is always so amazing and humbling to me how many people pray for us.  Even people we've never met!

After one of the services, the pastor and his wife treated our family to a special lunch at a ranch where the kids got to ride horses!  Thank you, God, for these special times!

August Schedule

Here's where we'll be in August.  We'd love to see you!!

August 8-10 Vashon Island

August 17 (Sunday) Darrington First Baptist Church

August 20 (Wednesday) 6:30pm dessert and sharing at Mountainview Baptist Church in Darrington

August 24th (Sunday) Darrington Gladtidings AOG Church 

August 31st (Sunday) Coupeville United Methodist Church

Conferences in Michigan

Families at the SEND Reconnect Conference

      We enjoyed time in Michigan at two different conferences put on by SEND.  The first was called
"Reconnect".  It was smaller scale and allowed for great times breaking into groups to process through our last years on the field as well as training times to prepare us for the future.  They had a great kids program that helped the kids in this time of transition to America.  We enjoyed the connections we made.  We were also able to do things like make new prayer cards and brochures that explain our ministry a bit more.

     One morning we all shared a couple of short stories of how God is at work in our countries.  Afterwards, people prayed for us.  It was encouraging to hear the many accounts of all that God is doing!

     In between the conferences, we rented a car and drove to our teammate's (The Jordans) house for the weekend.  We were still struggling with jetlag, so it was very nice to be with a family who understands and didn't mind us getting up EARLY in the morning!  On Saturday we walked to Lake Lansing.  It was so special because Juli invited Jennifer (who came to Ulan Ude on a short term trip 3 years ago) and Diana (who prays for us FAITHFULLY) to come and join us.  Diana had made a special backpack full of goodies for our kids.  It was PERFECT to have for our travel back to Washington! We cherished these times of talking and sharing.

     Saturday evening John and Sharon (old teammates) flew in and also stayed with the Jordans.  Their hospitality was amazing, as they had just moved into their new home that week!  We had a good time going to their church with them the next morning and meeting the people who love and support them.  What a gift to have time with these two families!

     The next conference was a lot bigger.  I think 300 people were there, and I didn't really get many pictures.  But it was a week of great teaching from the Bible, good seminars for growth, times of hearing what God is doing all over the world and praying, and connecting with others.  This family (pictured above) became very dear to our hearts.  They loved on our kids and we really enjoyed one another.

     Our kids were each in different groups for the kids program, and it was a week full of wonderful teaching and fun activities for them.  Both girls made friends.  Here, Ella is posing with Ella.  =)  By the end of the week, Ike was tiring of being away from us, so we let him nap next to us on the bench and run around with us in the afternoon.  But overall, the kids did great and made many fun memories!

     All of the meals were incredible.  I didn't know it was possible, but I've gained 10 pounds in 2 weeks!!  One meal we looked over to see our kids like this, under the table.  There was a service assistant dog under there!  They had a little tradition to go and run with their friends in the lobby after the meals.  There was fun to be had around every corner!