When you return home after four months away, there is catching up to do in every sense.

• Catching up on sleep. We’ve been staying up until 2-3am as part of jet-lag.
• Catching up on paying bills. Our gas bill for this -27 C weather is going to kill us!
• Catching up on grocery shopping. Our car is still dead for the 2nd week in a row, so that requires taxi-ing home from the grocery store, which I’m just not that into. So we’re living on tea, cereal, rice dishes, lunch meat, scrambled eggs, and french toast until we can get to the store…we’ve even resorted to cardboard brown toilet paper because none of the mini-marts around here have the cotton, white 2-ply.
• Catching up on cleaning. The dust was a centimeter thick in places where our house sitter, Syava, didn’t know to clean! And our shower stall door busted before we left, so finding a specialist to fix that is next to impossible.

Most importantly, though, is catching up on relationships. For example, a typical discipleship meeting, one-on-one with a student or leader, lasts about 1.5-2 hours (for us girls, sometimes longer), but after being gone for a 3rd of the year (ouch, that sounds so long), I need days to get all my questions answered and to catch up on their lives, which is taking many, many hours and lots and lots of coffee.

I didn’t realize how much I’d miss my relationships here. The boys at the prison are doing fine, and their caregiver told me that they’ve been asking about my return for months(!). And my girls… L’viv girls are a constant in my life. The scary thing was how quickly we re-enter into life in the US, and how hard it was to faithfully keep up with each of them.

In order to remind six of them how much I would miss them (the last time we were all together was 9/1 for my b-day in the pics), I wrote 8 personal letters to them, all in separate envelopes with dates on each, indicating when they could open a particular letter and reflect on what was enclosed. They could open one every two weeks. The themes were chosen with spiritual growth in mind.

1. Telling people you love them (1 Thes. 1, Phil. 1)
2. Jesus as the center (Hebrews 12, John 15)
3. The Holy Spirit’s power (The book of Acts, John 14)
4. Work Ethic (Colossians 3, Philippians 3))
5. Discipleship (2 Tim. 2:2)
6. A Heart for the Lost (people who don’t know Jesus) (The Gospel of Mark)
7. God knows your needs (Matthew 6)
8. See to it that a bitter root does not grow up (lack of forgiveness) (Hebr. 12)

Now I am in the catch-up mode to find out how the Lord has been working in the lives of our friends while we were away. It is fascinating to hear stories of how God has used these letters to grow the girls. Or how God used our absence to raise up new leadership. Or how we have returned to new pregnancies, new engagements, new jobs, new ministries.

I am praying for spiritual revival for 2012, and from the way the girls are talking, God is moving in big ways.

We have been back in Ukraine for exactly a week. I can count the times I’ve been out on two hands, including to go to McDonalds, to get formula, then again to get wipes, to get to the Horodok boys prison, to go to Sunday service, to Monday night youth group, and to go to our prayer breakfast. Ben, too, has been out a handful of times as well, for diapers, milk, a leaders’ meeting, a dinner with Syava, an evangelism training, and for a visit to the “homeowners’ association.”
11) I can’t find a snowsuit for less than $100 at the toy store…and to think last year I complained when buying Marissa’s winter hat for $20.
10) The thermometer shows -4 degrees here; it is +58 in Philly. This is weather where you are wearing 4 pairs of pants, including long underwear and tights, and still can’t stay warm when walking the 15min. to the bus stop.
9) Full-length furs, very tall mink hats, and H-I-G-H-heeled boots are all the rage on the street.
8 ) We’ve lost weight. Our fridge is bare except for Marissa’s bizarre variety of “meals”. (We aren’t staying with people who cook us lovely meals anymore.)
7) There is up to 3 inches of ice on many of the streets we have to walk on each day. Lawsuits and car accidents are waiting to happen around every corner, not to mention broken bones (see #9).
6) Our van hasn’t started since Peter “charged it” to pick us up from the airport. Gotta love diesel engines.
5) Ben saw a man blow his nose into his hand.
4) Marissa is running around the apartment like a crazy girl, babbling in funny sounds as she tries to mimic Ukrainian (and is thrilled to see Yulia (see pic) and Ira, her main sitters).
3) In the first 3 days of being home, we were without water for hours at a time.
2) We have been accused of tampering with our gas meter and stealing gas for up to the past 15 years(!).
1) I saw a man accidentally light his pants on fire around 6:30 in the morning at a bus stop.

And the final way I know we are back in Ukraine is because of the super warm welcome we received from our pastor and the church on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, Ben and the kids have all been sick, so they all stayed at home, and I represented the OO-EEL-YOM-SEEV (our last name in the accusative case in Ukrainian). Pastor Misha read from the Bible, where Paul is writing to one of his beloved churches in Thessalonica. “And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. 1 Thessalonians 1:7-8  It was such a warm greeting to hear how we were missed and the example that we’ve been to them. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been attending there longer than we attended FAC in NJ! We love these people, and it is great to partner with them to share God’s love for the world.

On Thursday morning, I re-entered youth ministry activities by attending the first 7am youth prayer breakfast of 2012. A few impressions struck me – first, it is hard to get your rear in gear and out the door by 6:30am. I am used to hosting these breakfasts, and it is easier in your own home because you avoid transportation and the streets in the cold of the morning. My good friend Nadya is doing a great job of leading the ministry; it is so nice to be able to step out and then back in and see God working and raising up strong leaders.

We read John 15 aloud, and I was blown away by the way that God’s Word never grows old. I’ve read these verses many times, but they took on new meaning that morning. I sat there, soaking in the Ukrainian language and fellowship that I’d been missing for 4 months, and it struck me that in all the chaos of packing and planning and NJ and IL, I had taken no time to reflect on the close of ’11 and the start of ’12, which is something I love doing.

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5

Every New Years, I always have these visions of grandeur on improving myself and “being better” because I want to please God. In these verses, Jesus gives us the clear “formula” for “being better”, which is really just bearing fruit from a changed life in Christ. He tells us to remain/abide in Christ. Jesus yearns to be my top priority. God the Father wants me to put nothing before Him. The Holy Spirit wants me to be connected to Him so that I can have the power to overcome sin and bad habits. REMAIN IN ME! SPEND TIME WITH ME! PRAY TO ME! KNOW MY WORD!

How often do we instead abide in stupid things like the internet, or television, or office work, and put time with God aside? And then we wonder why we still struggle with the same bad attitudes/behaviors and brokenness? Why do we still repeat the same mistakes? Why isn’t my life changing? Because unless I am connected to Jesus, I cannot produce any fruit in line with Him. I can do nothing in my own strength, nor do I want to this year. (And I definitely need help, because life with two little “babies” can be really interesting! I just bought “Loving the Little Years“…we’ll see how that helps. I also have been playing with an awesome app for Bible memorization, which is great for waiting in long lines and taking long bus rides.)

You know that cheesy song by Daughtry? “I’m coming home, to the place where I belong…no I don’t regret this life I chose for me”… the lyrics keep running through my head. Maybe it’s because it is 1:30am, we’ve been back in Ukraine for about 36 hours, and I don’t feel an ounce of tiredness. Instead, I’m thrilled and energized to be back in L’viv. But Daughtry got it wrong when writing “these places and these faces are getting old, so I’m coming home.” When saying we’re glad to be back, it does not discredit the 4 great months in the States, mostly w/ family and friends, both in IL and NJ.
We’ve come back on good terms. My dad is recovering well; life went back to normal for our families. Our 2-wk. stay in NJ was spiritually and relationally refreshing. The kids are healthy and adaptable (as you can see from our picture, 2 minutes after our arrival).

But there is something to be said about flying into L’viv’s not-yet-finished-for-Euro2012 mini-airport terminal, being found by an airport employee, who said that Victoria (New Life’s admin) called to get us expedited out of the waiting area, to be greeted by Yulia (our sitter), Syava (Ben’s best friend), Andriy (who took over Boys Prison ministry) and Andriy (another great young preacher) – complete with Oreos and yellow flowers, to make a spectacle in the arrivals area with 4 checked bags, 5 carry-ons, 2 carseats, 2 little ones, Peter with our “trusty” white van (that was struggling to start that day…), and eager arms to help us carry everything through the snow and up the stairs.

Ben even overheard some US military talking about us, perplexed by who we were and the treatment we got! For the first time in a while, we were not paranoid about our visa status. Since we were out for over 90 days, our 90-day period starts over. So pray because we have 90 days to get a proper invite, which has been next-to-impossible to obtain. And that’s just the first step, before needing registration status and getting the visa.

The best part is that we are on the other side now. We left with the anticipation of Dylan’s arrival; we’ve returned with his 11-week-old, 14 lbs. of love in our arms, appropriately positioned under the painting of his namesake. I feel a completeness back in L’viv. Ben already attended a youth leaders’ meeting tonight, and there are great things on the horizon. February and March are starting to fill up; summer camps and interns are already in the works. 2012 holds many new things; to God be the glory for the past four months and new beginnings.

In the past two weeks, we certainly did a lot of eating, visiting, and catching up with old friends. Regarding family, only my (Kristy’s) Aunt Debbie lives in New Jersey, so we made sure to see her. Other than that, it was mostly visits with Fellowship Alliance Chapel attendees (including dinner at Pastor Marty and Laurie’s house! Thank you!). We didn’t take as many pictures as we should have, so no offenses should be taken if we don’t have pics up of your family! Know that we appreciated every conversation, every visit with our big “family” on the East Coast. Enjoy the photos. (See an earlier post for pics of our first week there.)

Ed and Nixie Laremore’s old mini-church, having one of many reunions that we try and set up when someone is in from out of town. Since 2006, our mini-church has scattered, but God faithfully brings us together, and we get to go deep and catch up in a short amount of time. We’re reminded how the Body of Christ needs our prayers and support. We love this group.

Again, the Body of Christ joined together. This is most of my old, all-girls Alpha group. We, too, try to do a reunion and hear about God at Work in each others’ lives. I pray Colossians 1/deep-rooted walks with Christ for these friends.

Here are the men of our mini-church. Pray for these guys as they lead their families, raise their kids, and make it their aim to please the Lord in all things. Even after 5 years in Ukraine, I would say that we lack this kind of group fellowship, characterized by love and a desire to grow in the Lord. Our one-on-ones are deep like this, but nothing in a group setting.

Here are Erik and Lauren, one of the families gracious enough to host us during this time. They got good practice. Lauren is due at the end of April. Together we’ve spent weeks in Czech, in Ukraine 3x, and have stayed in their home on multiple occasions. We love walking with these friends through life.

This is Kate, one of my bff’s from high school. We met on Student Council at 14. We love getting together, esp. since she moved to the East Coast (CT) just about the same time that we had one foot out of NJ. Despite the blistery snow storm that threatened the East, we were determined to see our plan through to meet in Manhattan. I LOVE NYC! Ben graciously offered to watch the kiddos (is this pic actually watching Dylan?) while we shopped (searching H&M for a b-day present for our UA youth pastor, Syava), and was treated to the Boathouse in Central Park (note the park in the reflection of the glass). Since I don’t have the means to live in Manhattan, it was time to get back to L’viv. Within 24 hrs., we were on a plane back to Europe. What a visit!

When you are a student, classes march on, regardless of what is going on in your home life. Last quarter we ended a study of the Pentateuch on 12/10, just in time for vacation and a few weeks to celebrate Christmas. But time flies, so January 3rd was the start of our next Fuller Theological Seminary class. We are in week three of “Systematic Theology 2 – Christology (the study of Christ), Pneumatology (the study of the Holy Spirit), and Soteriology (the doctrine of salvation).

Our last class wiped us out – too many late nights, between the discomforts from the pregnancy, the whole birth week, and then being up with Dylan and teething Marissa, in addition to at least 8 hours of homework each week. In our prayers for our studies, we always found ourselves begging God to give us both energy and a positive attitude about school, because we know that it is a huge privilege to be in seminary, and we truly do extrapolate so much from it. I was a bit nervous starting a new quarter because we were still reeling from the previous one, but I am so glad that we have pressed on.

Studying the theology of Christ – his names, his deity and humanity, the incarnation, his pre-existance and role in the Trinity, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the different beliefs about how someone obtains eternal life and is saved from hell – could the topics get any more interesting?!

Things change so quickly. First of all, we are praising God for my dad’s release from the ICU on Wed. and his entry into a regular room. (See my previous blog post for details.) It is a slow road, but we are so thankful for every single improvement. Continue to pray for the neurology side of this whole pneumonia issue. The docs are interested in getting him in to see other specialists in Chicago, so that is another praise.

Dad ~ this picture of the kids is for you in particular. Notice Dylan’s shirt. We are your biggest fans far away. Much love and praising God for your recovery.

But here we are in South Jersey. We flew in last Sat., and within 4 hours, we were up on the Fellowship Alliance Chapel stage, speaking to the congregation about our journey into full-time missionary work, and how God is calling each of us to have a heart for the world.

(Here’s Ed & Debbie Jurimas, friends of ours since we started at FAC. Their kids were in the youth group and 2 even served w/us in CZ. A cool side note- a pic in their slide show (they serve in the Philippines) has Jay, Dave Patty and some other GYI guys in it b/c Global Youth Initiative did a conference in Manila and stayed where the Jurimas’ work. Small world!)

We’ve gotten together with many friends. (Schiffmans serving God in Cambodia, we miss you!) Although we expected this trip to be more complicated since we have Dylan and Marissa now, it has actually been better than we could have ever expected. People are gracious and the kids have been really good (except for Marissa in this photo.) Our schedules are busy – I just spent 4.5 hours in Starbucks, meeting with different girls. Each night is a different dinner; each day is a different lunch or breakfast. Last night (1.12) we did our big missionary presentation where we can talk more in depth about our role change and the lives that we are impacting by the Lord’s grace. It’s hard to believe that our students from youth group are in their 20s. (Below we are celebrating Matt’s 22nd and Scott’s 24th!)

Things change so fast, but this is a place where we always feel connected and comfortable coming back. Much thanks to the Hibbards, too, for hosting our family, esp. during those nights when Marissa was teething…

I had visions of various different blog posts that I wanted to write over the past week. Ben and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary downtown Chicago. We said good-bye to my (Kristy’s) family on 1/2 and then to Ben’s family on 1/6. Dylan and Marissa turned 2 mo. and 17 mo. On 1/7, we flew to NJ for our 2-week supporter/church visit there, which we were really excited about. But all those events are in the past and I’m distracted.

We’ve been in South Jersey for a little over 2 days, and as always it is wonderful to be back there. But the trip has been marred by the fact that, on the night before we flew to Philly, my dad was hospitalized in the ICU with a case of pneumonia that he has still not shaken. He’s only 54, but he has had some serious migraine issues over the past few years that the doctors have not gotten to the bottom of. The pneumonia is an additional scary stress.

• Pray for Dad’s body, that it would grow strong so that he can fight off this pneumonia.
• Pray that after the pneumonia cloud lifts, the neurologists will be able to gain new insight into his headaches, their cause, and how to prevent them without being overly medicated.
• Pray that my family will grow closer to the Lord because of this really hard time.

Dad, here’s a pic we took of you and Dylan on the day we said good-bye. Look how he is looking up to you! We all love you so much. It is hard to know the pain you are in and the trials you are having, especially as we are far away. We are praying like crazy, and we have called on many others to pray, too. We believe in the power of prayer, and that you are God’s beloved son and under His care.
Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
James 5:16 The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

A new year is here! We’ve already started the new year busy as we wrap up our time in the Chicago area. We leave for NJ on the 7th. Pray for us as we say our good-byes. I hate this part.

Highlights of New Years were: a date with Ben; praying through different spheres of our life and ministry for the upcoming year; Dylan occasionally sleeping through the night; a Skype call with our youth group in L’viv. It was awesome to see them gathered. The connection was terrible but we could make out faces and voices. Can’t wait to see them…less than a month.

We’ve packed and shipped ministry supplies and Christmas presents (people have been so generous with our kids…I always feel like a thank you card cannot express enough our gratitude…) We’ve spent all our gift cards that don’t work in Ukraine. (Too bad Portillo’s isn’t international. But hey, Starbucks made it, and we have their competitor, Gloria Jeans, not far from us in L’viv.)

I used to be a big resolutions person, but since my slogan for December has been Simplify, Don’t Complicate, I am trying to eliminate tasks from my life, not add them. So resolutions are out, but one thing I feel convicted about is Bible memorization. So I do resolve to spend as many hours in Bible memory as I do watching television this month. Thank goodness for i-Phone apps. I have started with 1 Peter 2:2-3 for 2012. It seems practical, as I feed Dylan each day. As he goes crazy for his milk, I realize that I want to be that zealous for God’s word. How cool that Paul even uses that imagery.

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it, you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

We attended Blanchard Alliance Church on New Year’s Day and received a beautiful send-off from our church family there. A church leader stood and blessed us with words of Psalm 20:
³ May he remember all your sacrifices
   and accept your burnt offerings.
⁴ May he give you the desire of your heart
   and make all your plans succeed.
⁵ May we shout for joy over your victory
   and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the LORD grant all your requests.

 ⁶ Now this I know:
   The LORD gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
   with the victorious power of his right hand.
⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
   but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses
‘Cause here they come…

Dylan is laying quietly in my lap. We are listening to Florence and the Machine, doing a year-end finance recap. Ben’s somewhere in Michigan; Marissa is down for the night.

I breathe a sigh of relief. I think Christmas is over. Our Christmas started on December 23 and ended today, December 27. This is the norm for us, but we haven’t been back to the US for Christmas since 2008, so we’d forgotten!

December 25 and 27th celebrations were both memorable and cut short because of my babies’ vomit. On Christmas, around 6 & 7pm, Marissa threw up. 48 hours later, Dylan projectiled all over. (Trust us, this was no spit up.) This was our first bout with a stomach virus and I am certain it won’t be the last. (Much thanks to Ben’s sis, Sara and his mom for their help, since their festivities were also cut short, both of their houses were barfed in by our little ones, and our nephew Logan was hit with the bug 24 hrs. after Marissa.)

Don’t get me wrong, this little drama did not ruin our week. We saw so much extended family, relished being together, and particularly enjoyed watching Marissa and the kids open presents. Our “big” gift for her was mini accessories for her baby dolls, such as a baby pack’n'play, stroller, and bouncy seat. People have been so generous; our sitter, Yulia, is going to freak out at all the stuff we will “Meest” (name of our courier service) back home to Ukraine. I’m just thankful to have clothes for Dylan (when we left on 9/28, we had literally NOTHING) and to be able to fit back into mine!

A highlight for me this week was taking big family pics. We got both kids big picture frame collages so that they can look at their family whenever they wish. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Kristy’s Mom’s side of the family – December 22nd

Ben’s mom’s side of the family, with Grandpa Malten – December 25th

The Entire Williams’ side (Ben’s dad) of the family – December 26

This was the year of Marissa being afraid of being in every picture away from Mommy and Daddy. (JV Kids photo, all pics with Santa, now this) but every other great-grandchild could handle it. Many memories were made, to say the least.

This was the Christmas of feet-jams (what we called sleeper pajamas when growing up). Here are Marissa (16 mo.) and Dylan (6 weeks) with cousins Braedan (6), Logan (4), and Mason (6mo.). Next Marissa is with cousin Nicholas (12 mo.) It’s Marissa with all boys…even all the grand-dogs are boys.