It had been a year and a half since we'd spent any time in the United States (except for Joel's mother's funeral) and we were really looking forward to going back stateside, seeing our family and meeting our newest grandchild, Ellen Elizabeth. We planned to take one week of vacation and one week to mobilize... contact local churches and their leadership.

But you know how things often don't go the way we plan... our time seemed to fly and we didn't  get to do near as much as we'd hoped and way too soon we found ourselves on a plane back to Ukraine. And then the reality of missionary life began to sink in. It is a tough life... where far too often you have to choose between spending time with family and friends and doing what you are called to do. When we first arrived on the field, other missionaries would keep telling us, "you're going to hit the wall... just wait."  But we never did. I think 35 years in the local church ministry taught us to take the rough times more gracefully, but this time we found ourselves back in our apartment (which was dirty, extremely hot, and humid with NO air conditioning) and definitely not happy to be here. To complicate matters, Joel had to turn around in just a few hours and catch a train for far east Ukraine, an even less desirable region of Ukraine.

So Joel left for eastern Ukraine alone and I stayed in our apartment for the next 5 nights alone too. Did the Lord speak to me there... yes.  Did He tell me something profound?  ... no. He just assured me that I need to follow Him and not my emotions. And so I did, cleaning a very dirty apartment (we have to have the windows open for air circulation and then layers of dust and sand seem to fly in the windows at amazing speed), working on the computer and then I even got to can some green beans for next winter, thanks to our daughter-in-law's gift to me of a new pressure canner. Am I still missing my family?  ... yes. Do I want to go back and spend time with our children and grandchildren? ...yes, but I am here where the Lord has put us for now and nothing else can give you peace like being where He sends you.

My heart has always been into gardening ever since I was a young girl.  There is something that just draws me to the earth every spring... I know that it is something that God just put in me.  Now I am not perfect at it, but I love to get my fingers in the dirt... sure doesn't do anything for my nails though!!!

So last year I started a little garden outside our apartment building.  One of our best friends in our building has a great big garden on the other side of the entrance and has a fence around it and it is always boasting color and flowers. This year I expanded mine, much to Joel's distress... particularly all the trouble he has been having with his back, because I wanted some big pink rocks that look like granite.  You buy them on the side of the highway and they are real cheap... but you have to get them home... hence Joel's back problems!

But in spite of all that, my bigger garden has been a WONDERFUL way to get to meet more people... they are always stopping to tell me how much they love it. The worst problem with this kind of set-up is that there is no water for my garden unless I carry it down from our 3rd floor apartment in buckets or meet the lady who takes out the garbage and have her let me use her hose to water. Now that water is a very protected entity because EVERYONE in the building is paying for that water and they don't want people using it at all. So I have to tell you my SHOCK and EXCITEMENT yesterday when Galya came up to me and said that for 5 grevna she would get me a key to the GARBAGE ROOM !!!!! (that is the room where the garbage goes when you drop it down the garbage shoot and is also where her hose is.)Now I know that does not sound exciting at all... in fact it sounds repulsive, but it means a great deal to me... it means that I (a foreigner) am TRUSTED by these people who know me.  Praise the Lord for such a special gift.

Monday afternoons are devoted to my girls in American Club.  We have been working several weeks on their spoken English and on a painting they did on canvas for their mothers. Valya gave the girls some painting  lessons for a couple of weeks and then they practiced a week and then did a great job.  We had little easels for the girls to put their paintings on and then last Monday we wrapped them with their choice of paper and ribbon. They told me yesterday that they waited until last Thursday (women's day) before giving the gifts to their mothers and their mothers were thrilled.

Every week I assign written homework for the following week and the girls earn points with their homework that can be used two or three times a year to "buy" things at my "store." We will have a "store" in a few weeks around Easter. I have sometimes things from America and then lately I have had to get neat little girl things here in Kiev.  However the last three weeks we have been spending more time doing oral English games and exercises and I can actually see an improvement in their pronunciation.

Life in Ukraine for me revolves around my kitchen most of the time. Almost daily I send some homemade goodies to the seminary with Joel for the students to have with coffee and tea. This is certainly not contributing to my losing weight, but it does have its rewards every time we have students over...and that is quite often. Every modular session we have all the students here together for a meal and fellowship and Joel always uses this time to further indoctrinate them with church planting. I always cook even if we order pizza and I just fix dessert.

Joel always enjoys these informal times of being able to have the guys in our home and get to know them better.

Valentines Day evening was a real needed time of laughter and more laughter and even more laughter.  I have shared before how some American holidays that we tend to take for granted seem to gain so much more importance when you live overseas.  Valentines Day is definitely in that category. Every year several missionary couples... not all of us IMB... get together for the occasion.  This year each couple brought their own meal in a decorated valentines box. Shown here Dalese is putting out their food on a foot stole in our living room.  She even had flowers, party paper plates, and rose petals tucked away in her box.

I am including this photo for my mother since I usually take the photos and am never in them... Joel caught me while I was getting after him... he knew how to stop my chatter!

Finally a little bit of winter... this morning, January 24, we finally had a little bit of snow and the temperature  got down to 31.9...actually below freezing for a couple of hours. However, at one o'clock in the morning it is already back up in the 40's.  So we moved to this cold climate and have nothing but mild temperatures and rain.

The picture shows my friend Valya that I talk about all the time... she was so excited to finally have snow. 

Having Melody with us for the holidays was such a wonderful treat.  I realize she missed the rest of our family back in the U.S. and they of course missed all of us, but it was a blessing to have someone with us as well.

Our trip to St. Petersburg and Moscow had been planned for such a long time and was  a really enjoyable trip...even the 26 hours on the train going from Kiev to St. Petersburg. We had many blessings along the way and even a few scares, like at midnight on December 29th when they told us that Viktor and Melody could not get on the train to Moscow.  Other hi-lights included New Year's Eve on Red Square in Moscow and of course Viktor throwing up all night between St. Petersburg and Moscow. 

Joel and I celebrated our 39th anniversary with Mel and Viktor in St. Petersburg, Russia.  How is that for awesome! 

After all the Thanksgiving Festivities I decided to clean windows and the apartment and put up Christmas decorations now, because we would be very busy the next 4 weeks with modular students here all that time and Christmas celebrations and Melody coming. Since Valya did not work on Thursday because it was a holiday, she agreed to come on Friday and bring her next door neighbor to clean windows while she and I cleaned the apartment and decorated for Christmas. Her mother came along for moral support and of course the fellowship. Pictured above is Valya and her mom taking a break from decorating the Christmas tree.