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!