Hunsucker's Home

Discussion group/email list

2012-02-11T10:56:00.009+02:00

See the box over to the side here? ---->

I started a group to discuss ministry in Ukraine! (Or should I say visas? That's probably what it will be now. Hopefully it will be much more than that, though.) If you live here, please come join and share your wisdom and ask your questions. You can read online like a forum, or get everything through your email. The only restrictions are that it's for those who are in full-time Christian ministry and Ukraine. Please pass this on to anyone you know of who fits in those categories.

(If you don't already have a Google account, you'll have to set one up. I can try to help with technical details, if necessary.)

The Fear Factor, part 2.

2012-02-08T21:43:00.006+02:00

The Apostle John tells us that:

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” 1Jn. 4:18

However, I find myself almost daily running into reminders of the prevalent mindset that I have called "The Fear Factor", the emphasis that is so thoroughly insinuated into the teaching and practice of the church here: that is, an abundance of veiled or open threats, reminders of potential punishment and urging to live in fear of God; in fear of His wrath, judgement, and punishment. This is presented as the normal motivation for living in fellowship with God and leading a godly life.

In this view of Christianity, the radical New Testament approach to grace-life is basically turned into an updated version of the Old Testament life of condemnation under the Mosaic Law. Everything is conditional, and the demands upon a Christian are even greater than in the Old Testament. Since the New Testament spells out the importance of thoughts and motives, not just actions - there are exponentially more chances to be condemned by God.

That is the essence of the problem with the idea that “Jesus helps me keep all the commandments” that is so prevalent here. Law-keeping of any sort, shade or definition as a way of life must and does bring condemnation. It can do nothing else. After all, that was the intended purpose of the Old Testament Law - to show man that he does not and cannot measure up to the standard of God’s absolute holiness.

“Living under a law mentality is like being a slave to the world's most demanding taskmaster. There's always more to do. And you'll never do enough to please him. As the apostle James teaches us, 'Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.'” (Andrew Farley)

Personally I find it quite depressing that the following is conveyed as the essence of Christianity:

1. I reject my sins and I promise to faithfully serve God all of my life.

2. I try very hard not to ‘break any commandments.’

3. I do everything possible to avoid incurring the wrath of God. (His Judgement/Punishment/Condemnation of me, His child.)

4. I hope that some day, if I manage to hang on ‘til the end of my life, I might be found worthy to be with God in heaven. (“With Jesus’ help,” of course.)

What hope of heaven is there truly when there are so many conditions I must fulfill, albeit ‘with Jesus’ help?’ As a system of manipulation and behavioral conditioning, I guess it’s not bad - but if that’s really all New Testament Christianity is, then how does it actually differ from any other world religion out there?

I try repeatedly to bring this out in conversations, Bible studies and sermons. However, the most commonly repeated and clearest message from the pulpit here is still the following: “God gave us salvation by His grace and now the rest is up to us, if we want to make it to heaven.”

I have brought up the Apostle Paul’s question and reproof in his letter to the church in Galatia: “I would like to learn just one thing from you - Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort?” That only brings the response of “Well, we know we don’t have to be circumcised to be saved!”

Sigh.

The ‘good’ thing about legalism is that it often brings us to absolute misery and disillusionment with “what I can do” ...and this state can lead us to a true dependence upon God.

Of course, the opposite of that is when entrenched in a legalistic system, many or most of us do not conclude that the problem is with the system, but usually presume that we ourselves are the problem. (Especially since that is most often what the system teaches us.)

When or if disillusionment with ‘the system’ finally comes, be it church, denomination, etc. ...it often leads to a rejection of Christianity as a whole.

I can only pray that those who have already turned away from the church here may find true freedom and peace in a true understanding of the astounding and all-sufficient Grace of God provided for us in Christ- both for eternal salvation and for daily sanctification.

I pray especially for the young Christians I am working with here, who strive to become ‘better and better’ Christians by doing more and more. May God reveal His grace to them as they study his Word and reflect on the life of our Savior... and my prayer is that He may in part reveal His abundant and all-sufficient Grace through me and my family.

As for those who are convinced of such things as “we provoke God to pour out His wrath on us by allowing our daughters wearing pants to prayer meetings....” I can only pray that God will prove them wrong and in His amazing and preposterous Grace reveal to them how he longs for their hearts to be filled with Love for Him - not Fear of Him.

“We are worthy of the fires of Gehenna, if for no other reason, than this - that we fear Gehenna more, are occupied more with Gehenna than with Christ.

...If we loved Christ as we ought to love Him then we would understand that to wound the One whom we love is more horrific than Gehenna itself.

But we do not love - and therefore we do not have the slightest conception of the weight of such a punishment.” St. John Chrystosom

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” 1Jn. 4:18

(to be continued...)

Russian Kindle books and...

2012-02-03T15:37:00.000+02:00

...Pilgrim's Progress.

I've had several people ask me questions lately, and I decided to answer them here, so that I can remember my answers.

Last things first, at least if you're going in the order of my title here: Pilgrim's Progress is part of Jaan's school reading this year. AmblesideOnline recommends the original English, which I agree with, so we're working towards that. I'm taking several steps to get there, though. First, over the summer, I gave Jaan a Russian translation of Little Pilgrim's Progress to read on his own. (Note: I haven't read it myself, and I don't know what the translation is like. Jaan loved it, though, and it gave him an understanding of what the story is about.) Now, for this year, he and I are listening a Russian audio version, a translation, not a retelling. Then, next year we'll get the English audio that AO suggests. All this might be overkill for some books--children's version, then actual translation, then the original--but I think Pilgrim's Progress can live up to it. Oh, Russian speakers, please don't miss Pushkin's intro to Pilgrim's Progress!

Then, Russian books for Kindle: when did Russian start working on Kindle? I don't think it did when I was given mine, but now it does. (Since the latest software update?) Anyway, Jaan's been reading on my Kindle quite a bit lately. I've been downloading most from RoyalLib. They have several formats available for each book. I get the HTML version and put it through this converter. The final product is quite readable, and I'm rather picky about how my ebooks are formatted.

Any other comments or questions on these topics? Do you have suggestions for good Russian ebook sites?

Visa update

2012-01-31T19:53:00.003+02:00

Once again, I'm writing for Ukraine-dwellers, not the adoring grandparents. (Although, I know that they're praying!)

Last time I said that we were waiting to find out what the changes in the visa laws mean for us. Will went today to find out, and it looks like they really don't change anything significantly. The wording in our invitation letters might be a little different. As usual, we'll have to leave the country and renew, when those are ready; a slight difference is that we'll come back with 45-day visas, instead of year-long. They'll register us for a year, though, just like before. And we'll even be able to extend that registration for another year, like we've been doing.

Of course, that's probably only how the law is being interpreted right here in this one region. Please keep praying for people who are in different areas, where it isn't so easy. And keep praying for us; documents are never simple.

Here's something else: in Russia there's a great email list for anyone ministering there. As far as I know, there's nothing like it here. If I were to start one, would you join and participate? We could talk about visas there, among other things.... (If you don't want to answer in the comments, please write: xansaker@gmail.com.)

Fun days

2012-01-29T15:30:00.004+02:00

We've really been enjoying the cold, snowy days here! I should post pictures of children sledding, but I haven't gotten any. It's cold enough that I don't like to take my mittens off outside. Plus, when we're out there, I already have too much to juggle. We've been out on the sledding hill by the nearest school almost every morning this past week. Bogdan sleeps, and the older children have a great time!

After some snow time

Sweet helper

Of course, even on snow days, we have school time. Usually Bogdan is taking his afternoon nap then, but one day this week he was up. Jaan was listening to The Burgess Animal Book, and Bogdan was just fascinated by the picture we had open to go with it. When it was time for Jaan to narrate back, I asked him to explain to Bogdan what he had just heard. It was the sweetest narration ever! Full of detail and punctuated by Bogdan's loud and admiring commentary.

Brothers in school

Random cuteness:

Laundry helper

I didn't mean to upload this one, but it's cute, too.

I realized that I had photos of only three children here, so here's the one who was left out:

A picture of Raia

And, last but not least, we had a fun day yesterday. One of the couples at church made it to their 50th wedding anniversary!

The "newlyweds"

We had a lovely tea time, to honor them and their long marriage. When they were married, they were only able to have a civil ceremony, without any celebration, so this took the place of what they missed back then. Some of the youth planned and organized the whole thing, and it really was a special event.

The Fear Factor

2012-01-27T12:20:00.010+02:00

(This is meant to be a continuation of my thoughts and observations on Grace, or the lack thereof, in the local church that we are currently ministering in, with, and to.)

The Christmas season is a bit drawn out for us here, and in general, the holiday season is seen as continuing through Jan. 14^th. Therefore we get to talk about Christmas for longer than you might. I like that.

Christmas is usually a time of warm and reassuring messages from churches across the land reminding us of how Eternal God became mortal man out of love for His creation and the desire to finally restore the fellowship which had been lost in Eden. That is the emphasis here in our little church as well, at least to a large extent. However, I have been wryly amused and quite disenchanted to hear The Fear Factor creeping into messages at church even during the holiday season.

"The Fear Factor" is what I’ve called the emphasis that is so thoroughly insinuated into the teaching and practice of the church here. That is, there are an abundance of veiled or open threats, reminders of potential punishment and urging to live in fear of God. This is presented as THE normal motivation for living in fellowship with God and leading a godly life. This is so prevalent that I often am unsettled, disquieted and just frustrated for hours after church meetings.

For example, an excerpt from an average Sunday morning service: “The Law of Moses didn’t bring anything to perfection, but then Jesus was born and now we can fulfill the Law with His help. ...We will only be blessed by God if we are constantly abiding in His commandments, like Israel when they were first given the Law. We must fulfill His Law worthily so as to be able to enter those heavenly dwellings He has prepared for us.”

Sound a bit confused? It is. This church is. What the Apostle Paul called “the Ministry of Condemnation that brings Death” is held up as the standard to strive for, the fulfilling of which brings blessings and at least some hope that a believer will actually make it to heaven.

“All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.'” (Paul the Apostle)

So what does this 'Fear Factor' look like?

(That is, aside from the foundational ideas of “Be Afraid, be Very Afraid,” and “Fulfill the Law in any way that is defined or be Punished here and eternally...”)

Some tendencies or local manifestations of The Fear Factor:

-There is an overarching motivation, especially among our church leadership of trying to avoid ‘spiritual responsibility’ so as not to be punished by God for some slight misstep.

-This is often related to avoiding ‘getting blood on our hands’ in any way.

For example: Not giving the communion cup to church members who we ‘know have sin in their lives,’ so as not to be 'partakers in their sins' and be punished for that by God. (Communion here has been literally called ‘the Scary-Good Commandment, by which we prove our worthiness not to be judged with this world.’)

-Along the same lines, when greetings from other churches/individuals are verbally passed along to our church on Sundays, we must warn the church not to say “We accept the greetings” if the person who conveyed them happens to be under church discipline or has sin in their life. If we say “I greet you,” or “We accept the greetings” from such a person, we become 'partakers of their sin' and expose ourselves to the judgement and punishment of God. (...Magic words, anyone?)

It's like walking a tightrope...

This is a quote I found in a slightly different context – but it could've been written down verbatim from one of the church leaders here:

“There is no more frightening reality in the life of any Christian than the reality of being held responsible for the souls of others. That we, by our negligence, can be guilty of a kind of spiritual homicide - that our hands can be stained with blood because of indifference... what an awesome truth!”

I could literally go on for pages, but maybe I’ve made my point? The thing is, the overall message of the New Testament seems to be pretty much the opposite of what I hear every Sunday. Sometimes I wonder if we’re reading the same book. (I won’t even bring up being on the same page.)

The New Testament letters to Christians speak eloquently and insistently on the themes of Christ Himself and God’s promises to us in Christ being THE Foundation of our Christian life. To make fear of punishment (temporal, physical, spiritual and eternal) the foundational and overwhelming motivation in and for the Christian life is quite simply to make our ‘Christianity’ an absurd and appalling travesty of what God intended to be a display of the riches of His grace to us in Christ Jesus.

“In love God the Father predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious GRACE, which he has freely given us in the One he loves!” Eph.1:4-6

I simply cannot find this God of love and grace who was revealed through Jesus Christ amongst all the fear. At church leader's meetings, I often end up biting my tongue more than actually contributing to discussions - because we may be speaking the same language in one sense, but theologically, we're on different planets. As I lead youth meetings and preach and teach I find myself repeating the same themes over and over and over:

God's undeserved goodness to us in Christ Jesus is THE total of our hope - both for regeneration AND for sanctification. Fear was never meant to be the main motivation for either, but the Love of God and his Grace.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” 1Jn. 4:18

...to be continued.

(ps. all pictures from random internet image searches - not my own, unfortunately.)

This week in school

2012-01-22T16:03:00.002+02:00

I started writing this at the beginning of last week and never finished. We had gotten a slow-ish start back into school the week before. So, I was listing a few things that we didn't get to, that I wanted to add in now. What started as something like goals for the week ahead is now a wrap up of the week that's already past.

What we added in....

Russian folk song:

Ukrainian song: the fifth one here
Hymns: "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" in English and Russian
Outdoor time with me (more about this later?)

Now I need to look at the week ahead, too. Last week we had trouble with our routine. Much of it centers around meal times. With Bogdan eating now, I can't balance a book and food and him on my lap and his grabby hands. I think we need to get a high chair, but until then, I need to rethink things a little. This week we'll try fitting all our mealtime subjects (Bible, hymns, memory work, poetry, other music) into a session of Morning School, in the children's room. They love when we do that, because they can quietly play with toys while they listen.

(Heather, the one who commented recently, could you please write to me? I'd love to correspond more with you!)

Random glimpses

2012-01-15T12:17:00.007+02:00

A few things...

Bogdan's doctor dropped by a few days ago. She said that he's skinny and doesn't have enough teeth, so she recommended feeding him meat. Hmm. (All our babies have tended to be small and get their teeth late.) She also prescribed vitamin D drops, which probably aren't a bad idea this time of year. If you have a favorite American brand, please let me know. It looks like oil-based and natural would be best, and what we can get here is nothing special and in water.

I've had a lovely morning. Bogdan is still coughing, so I stayed home from church with him. My plans to knit and listen to a sermon got canceled by a certain clingy little guy. So, we sat in the rocking chair, listened to quiet praise music and just looked out the window at the winter wonderland outside. Sunshine! And snow!

This has been the most snowless winter yet, I think. That's hard for me. I love snow. Even in Russia I didn't get tired of it. So, days like this are a special gift for me.

(Bogdan didn't sleep for long, and everyone came home before I was done writing.)

Pictures of Bogdan from the past few days:

Last bit of Christmas

2012-01-11T15:18:00.003+02:00

These pictures are from Sunday. First, the morning service:

Poems

Songs

Then, after church, we had tea and went out caroling, mostly to the babushki who are too old or sick to leave their homes.

The carolers

Raia leading the way

Singing for one of the babushki

Bogdan didn't last long, out during his nap time, so I brought him home while the others continued on. They ended up at the home of a church leader for tea. Caroling is probably my favorite part of Christmas in Ukraine, so I was glad that I got to be there for at least part of it. And so, Christmas is over, even here.

Now poor Bogdan has a cold, and he thinks it's going to be the end of him! Obviously, it's not, but please do pray for us. It's not easy to get back to school and regular life without sleep and with a truly miserable baby.

З Різдвом Христовим!

2012-01-07T20:12:00.006+02:00

(Christmas is the one day out of the year when we speak Ukrainian. )

I forgot to take fresh camera batteries to the Christmas program today, so you'll just have to take this cute little guy's word for it, that it went well:

And one photo from the beginning:

Bogdan was fascinated!

Hopefully I'll get more photos from other people soon.

I also recorded our children saying one of their Christmas poems just now. They learned new poems for tomorrow, but this one is by a classic author. They said it in church on December 25th, This video is after a whole day of candy and partying. I should have recorded it earlier!

We put off caroling with the Sunday school until tomorrow, although we did go to our own neighbors.

"Nyam!"

2012-01-06T16:12:00.002+02:00

Term 1

2012-01-05T10:42:00.005+02:00

Misty asked how school is going, and it took me a little longer to write that out, because I wanted to include details and links.

Right before Christmas, we finished up our first term of the school year. I had planned that we would have an exam week (which is a special treat) then, but our extra week in Kiev back in November put us a little behind, so we just finished Week 12. I was thinking about starting back up after our winter break with an exam/review week, but I changed my mind. That's a good reward for the end of a term, but not what we need to start off. So, we're done with Term 1 of our Ambleside online year, with Jaan doing Year 2 and Raia in Year 0.

What has been going well:

AO books! Of course, what is there to go wrong with such wonderful selections? We like ALL of them. Raia loves when I read Year 0 books aloud, just to her, too. She and I recently finished Winnie the Pooh.
Folk songs and hymns: They actually seemed to connect with them and really learn and enjoy them for the first time.
Math: We like MEP! Toward the end of the term, I started using a timer with Jaan, and that's really good for him. I generally give him 5 minutes for each section, and he races to get them done, instead of dawdling over them for as long as he can.
Copywork for Jaan: he's finally writing! This has been a struggle for him in the past. I think I few things changed this term. First is probably just maturity; maybe his hands are just finally ready to write. Second, I let him type up (computer=fun) his selections in the fonts with arrows that show how to form the letters, before he copys them. And, third, we've moved on from just letters and words to real, interesting poems, quotes and verses.
Reading for Raia! I am just amazed to hear her starting to put sounds together! We're still not done with the primer, and she's still not reading books, but she's definitely figuring out words. I just heard her reading chapter titles from one of Jaan's books

What we can work to improve in the next term:

Artist study: It just didn't happen. I got the pictures printed, Will bought me a frame for them, and that's all. We'll use the Fragonard pictures for next term now.
Nature study: Of course, we were outside, enjoying nature a lot, but we didn't sit at the table to draw, paint, observe or discuss even once. Next term's focus is trees, and I'm going to set aside Tuesday evenings to study them. (Wait. I guess we did do formal nature study, just once. That's better than nothing.)
Bible memory: I'm not really happy with how slowly and painfully they're learning their selections. I had Jaan and Raia each memorizing a different Psalm, and they got most of the way through them, but... well, I'm just not happy with how it went. I'm going to switch over to the Simply CM method and use their Verse Pack 1, for all of us in the next term, to see if that's any better.

Oh, I asked Jaan what his favorite book has been, listing off some of the ones we have been reading. He said that it was Understood Betsy. Then, a few minutes later, he realized that I had forgotten to mention An Island Story, and that is his favorite. So, there you have it. The favorite subject of a little American boy, born in Russia, living in Ukraine is... British history.

I entered this post in the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival for January 10.

If you're coming over from that, welcome! Please be sure to say hello.

Holiday rundown

2012-01-02T14:17:00.004+02:00

I started writing about school, as per Misty's suggestion, but it's easier and faster to tell you about the holiday season here, so Baba Julie's request will come first.

In general Russian culture the big winter holiday is the New Year. (Yes, we're in Ukraine, but this part of Ukraine is pretty much Russian culturally. I think they do things quite differently in the West, where they speak Ukrainian.) The tree and decorations, presents and the Santa Claus-ish figure are all tied in with that, not with Christmas.

Christmas is really just a quiet church holiday that the general public doesn't even celebrate. And when it is celebrated, that's more on January 7th, not December 25th.

For us, Christmas is a huge, big deal! Also, because December 25th fell on a Sunday this year, it was a really special day. I've already written about that. The churches that we've been involved in, kind of start celebrating then, and they also celebrate on January 7th.

The next big holiday is seeing in the New Year. That's the biggest holiday of the year, and this year the youth decided to celebrate at home with their families. Plus, everyone was just too tired, after having organized the Christmas tea and with still working on more plans for "Second Christmas."

Then we have a very local holiday on January 1: Taras' birthday. That was duly celebrated last night at church:

Then the next big day coming up is "Second Christmas." This year we'll be having a children's program for everyone to invite their grandchildren, friends and neighbors to on that day. Again, the youth are preparing all of this. Also, the older people in the church insisted--kind of last minute--that there has to be a Christmas service actually on Christmas day, too. (The plan had been just to have the Christmas service the next day, on the 8th.) So, there will be a church service 10:00-12:00 on the 7th, and then the children's program starting at 12:00. Of course, church the next day, too. Pray for endurance!

On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day we usually go caroling, according to Ukrainian tradition, at least around the city to the babushki who are shut in, and often in the surrounding villages, too.

That pretty much wraps up the holiday season. There's also the Old New Year on January 14, and we're likely to have kids ringing our doorbell at midnight on the eve of that. It's not really a big event, though. Schools, including Jaan's music school and our homeschool, will be back in session right after Second Christmas, on that Tuesday, I think.

(I just looked at my title again. I meant the first dictionary definition of "rundown," i.e. "an analysis or summary of something." However, we can feel pretty rundown by the end of the holidays, so please keep up in your prayers. It sure is a wonderful time of year, though!)

С Новым Годом!

2011-12-31T19:10:00.003+02:00

Thank you for the few replies I've gotten so far from my last post. Please let me know if you have any more.

How did I miss mentioning Jaan choir concert? It was last Friday. He did a great job! I got to hear his group's songs, but then I went out, because Bogdan was absolutely terrified by the applause. It was almost funny; he would be enthralled, fascinated by the music, but then everyone would clap, and he would panic.

You'll won't hear from me again until next year....

Questions?

2011-12-30T14:39:00.004+02:00

I have a little more time than usual to write now, while we're on a break from school. I just don't have many ideas of what to say. Any specific questions out there? Suggestions of what you'd want to hear about?

(You can email, if you don't want to comment: xansaker@gmail.com.)

Another day of Christmas

2011-12-28T15:44:00.007+02:00

We didn't really get to have our usual family Christmas fun on December 25, so we carried the celebrations over onto the 26th. I'm probably sharing way too many photos, but you don't have to look at all of them if you don't want to.

We started off at the sledding hill. The snow was melting already, but there was enough for our purposes. (We do have sleds, but there wasn't enough snow for that yet.)

Snowboarder?

Asya's expression...!

Tobogganing

We came back in time for lunch and naps. After nap time, Will made a "fancy" supper of hotdogs and potatoes, while the rest of us prepared a Christmas play, to perform for him as soon as we had all eaten.

Little lamb

An angel!

Joseph and Mary

"An angel of the Lord stood before them"

"Let us go to Bethlehem"

"Mary pondered them in her heart"

The cast

Taking a bow

Then we had my family's traditional birthday cake for Jesus.

Happy birthday, Jesus!

Can you tell that this is my fourth baby? I don't think any of the others had sugar this early. Bogdan's comments were the most enthusiastic "nyams" that we've heard so far.

Carrot cake

...and frosting

"First Christmas"

2011-12-27T10:49:00.006+02:00

Our children have been referring to December 25 as "First Christmas" and January 7 as "Second Christmas." That sounds better to me than Catholic Christmas (since we're not Catholic) and Russian Christmas (when we're in Ukraine), so I'll go with it. Our First Christmas was a very busy day, because it fell on a Sunday. We spent more than eight hours at church!

So, our First Christmas started off with one of my favorite Christmas moments every year: discovering that the manger is no longer empty! We bring out the navitity figures one by one throughout Advent, but Jesus doesn't appear until Christmas morning.

Asya thinks about Jesus

We didn't have much time at home, but we did eat pistachios and open Christmas cards from my grandmother and church. After a special breakfast of scrambled eggs and cinnamon rolls, we left for church for a special Christmas service.

The children sang and recited poems

We actually got a family picture!

Then we came home for a lunch and a short rest. Soon it was time to go back to church for an evening teatime. Our children and I had baked all day on Christmas Eve to do our part in preparing for that. The youth had worked hard to put the whole program together.

Christmas tea

Since other people were using our camera, I posted all the photos from the tea. It was a long, full evening of celebrating Christ's birth. Again, the children sang, the youth sang, people shared, there were games and skits and carols, and lots of treats to eat. Bogdan especially enjoyed that last part. When they finally poured the tea and started eating, he put his mouth down on the table and used both arms to sweep apples and bananas into his mouth.

I think this was the longest, most intense Christmas day we've ever had. Even the next morning, both Will and I were literally barely able to move. We're used to the Christmas season being a marathon, but not all in one day! It was very fun, though, and I certainly felt like we celebrated Jesus' birth.

We were able to have a much more relaxed family day after that, more like our usual First Christmas. I'll post pictures from that later.

Now we have the New Year's fun to look forward to, and then Second Christmas, with a children's service and caroling....

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T21:46:00.003+02:00

We wish you a wonderful day of rejoicing in Christ's birth! The Christmas season is just starting here, so keep celebrating right along with us.

(Poor Bogdan. An older sibling exuberantly decided to share the joy and dumped a whole armload of snow on him when we stopped to take a picture. I brushed it off, but he was still expressing his displeasure.)

Getting around

2011-12-19T08:34:00.003+02:00

Bogdan has been crawling for quite a while now. He has his own special style, and it just makes me laugh! He's become very fast and very brave.

I think he looks like a seal.

Seeds of hope and love

2011-12-11T08:37:00.000+02:00

...are growing!

Bogdan sings

Visa news?

2011-12-08T16:50:00.003+02:00

(Sorry, Mom. This post isn't for you. )

For other Ukraine families who might be interested: this isn't exactly news, but it is straight from the (Zaporozhya) horse's mouth. Even though our registration doesn't run out until March, Will went to our nice, helpful, professional, regional OVIR to ask about the new law that went into effect on September 10. (If you don't think all those words should be used in one sentence, come to Zaporozhya! I am not being sarcastic.) We thought they had probably had enough time to figure it out by now. And... they said the new law is being amended on December 25. So, come back at the end of January to see how it has worked out. Maybe that's not exactly news, but I hadn't heard about any amendments before that.

So, everyone can be praying that the amendments will be good, but we still don't know anything.

At least, that's how it is in Zaporozhya oblast.

Advent hope

2011-12-04T20:18:00.004+02:00

Advent kulich?

Our Advent wreath this year really doesn't even look like a wreath. Maybe it will as the grass grows up, though. That was something to hope for in the first week of Advent, when the theme was hope. We've been using the idea of planting grass for Jesus, mixed right into our wreath. The candles are from our trip to Pecherskaya Lavra in Kiev, and in the middle of everything there is a "shoot coming up from a stump." I didn't have a pink candle, or even anything pink to decorate the joy candle, but Will and Raia stopped at a flower store on the first night of Advent to get the potting soil. They also got flowers for me... and Raia specifically chose a pink ribbon to go with them, not even knowing that it would be perfect for what we would put together later that evening.

Lighting the first candle

A closer view

Jaan reading to us

Asya planting seeds

Bogdan listening to the songs

I found the tune for the song we were just using as a poem last year! Now we're singing it every night.

Tonight we lit the second candle, and started the week of Advent love.

Kiev, part 3

2011-12-03T13:49:00.003+02:00

Part 1

Part 2

I still haven't posted the last few photos from Kiev! So, here they are:

With new-old friends

One evening we got to visit with a family that I have been in contact with since Jaan was a baby, and we all lived in Moscow. (Their oldest has the same name, too, except that they spell it Yan.) Back in those days, we talked on the phone and emailed, but somehow we never actually met face to face. In Kiev they invited us over for dinner, and we had a WONDERFUL time. Their children were so sweet to ours, too. In the picture above, we were all sitting around their fireplace, listening to their evening reading, just before they took us back to the apartment where we were staying.

Brothers

Bogdan was pretty miserable for a few days, as he cut his first teeth, but his beloved brother was usually enough to distract him from the misery, even when nothing else would do.

Museum!

One more big event was a visit to the Natural History Museum. Again, I'm relying on Raia for a picture. Although, I do think she mixed the whale and mammoth skeletons together somehow. We really enjoyed the museum! Our friend Oksana, who lives in Kiev, was able to join us for part of the time, too. It's huge museum, and we only made it to three out of six (?) floors. (The first snow of the season was also falling thickly outside while we were there!)

On the train

When all our time in Kiev was over, we tried a different return route, and while it probably wasn't easier, it was better for us, I think. There aren't any day trains to or from Zaporozhya, but we found one that goes from Kiev to Dnepropetrovsk. From there we took a bus to Zaporozhya and then a marshrutka (bus-van) the rest of the way home. It was a LONG trip, but at the end we could collapse in our own beds.

And on the bus

Don't be fooled by the smile. Our sweet, usually happy baby was not happy for that leg of the trip... until he finally fell asleep.

And I think that wraps up all I have to say or show from our Kiev trip.

Thanksgiving faces

2011-11-29T11:31:00.003+02:00

I had a few more Thanksgiving photos:

Just lovely, eh?

The big ones are people-eating giants

Yum!

Trying mashed potatoes

He really, really enjoyed that little taste. Right at eight months (when we were in Kiev) his first two teeth came in. Also about that time, he started saying his first word: "nyam" (yum). He uses it often, with all different intonations and volumes. A quiet, happy, little "nyam-nyam-nyam" as he gnaws on an apple, "NYAM" at full volume with an angry red face when he sees someone else eating, conversational "nyam" when he takes a break in nursing. I think he's going to like real food!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-27T13:37:00.005+02:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving last night with the youth from church. I had no idea how many people would come, because most had been out of town for the week. We ended up with 13 guests, though. We did a very simple version of a traditional American Thanksgiving meal: Jaan made cranberry sauce, Raia made pumpkin pie, and I did turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Preparations, with Vera and Alina

Turkey!

We didn't start buying supplies in advance, because we really weren't planning ahead. However, the closest grocery store has had turkey breasts constantly for about a year now. (Before that, turkey was really hard to find.) When Will went out the day before our celebration, there wasn't any turkey. Uh-oh. Saturday morning, he found a whole turkey at the market, though. He didn't think it would fit into our oven. We've always had small ovens, compared to American size. This one is the smallest yet. My American baking pan won't even fit into this one, and it did in all our other apartments. Anyway, I was able to jam the turkey down into a pan, once I had greased it well. You know how the tops of muffins hang over? This was like a turkey muffin in that sense. But it fit! And it tasted wonderful.

Around the table

The children's "table"

We have so much to be thankful for!

Advent already?

2011-11-20T15:45:00.008+02:00

One of my favorite times of year is almost here! (My real favorite is when we celebrate the Resurrection, but that's why He was born, right? ) The first Sunday of Advent is next week. Somehow it surprised me this year, even when my Grandma had already sent us a beautiful Advent calendar that I can't wait to show to everyone.

Lighting Advent candles last year

So, I just went back and read my plans from last year and Ann Voskamp's post that I had linked to from there. Amazingly, Asya still remembers the little poem we read with our Advent wreath last year. Actually, almost every school morning, when Jaan and Raia repeat their memory work, she wants to say "Радуйтесь, люди." That will have to be part of this year, too. I went back to the same page where I had found that one last year, and I got another one for this year, too. And then I adapted it. Asya can say the old one this year, while Jaan and Raia learn a new one. Our new Advent poem:

Иисус наш Искупитель, Христос Царь и Спаситель,
приди, приди,
и надеждой зажги сердце моё,
приди, приди,
и надеждой зажги сердце моё.

Иисус наш Искупитель, Христос Царь и Спаситель,
приди, приди,
и любовью зажги сердце моё,
приди, приди,
и любовью зажги сердце моё.

Иисус наш Искупитель, Христос Царь и Спаситель,
приди, приди,
и радостью зажги сердце моё,
приди, приди,
и радостью зажги сердце моё.

Иисус наш Искупитель, Христос Царь и Спаситель,
приди, приди,
и твоим миром зажги сердце моё,
приди, приди,
и твоим миром зажги сердце моё.

That's the weekly plan.

Daily we'll be using Ann Voskamp's Jesse Tree book. I like the little "assigments" that she's added to each day now. At this point we'll still only read and discuss the Bible story, and not get into her additional devotional thoughts. Last time we did this, each night our children colored and decorated little pictures to hang on posters. I think I'll ask them if they want to do that again, or if they would like me to print out a coloring book for each of them? Or both? The girls are obsessed with coloring these days, so they might be very happy with the latter option. For coloring pages, there are the same little symbols we used before, or these that I like better (but need to see how they match up with the stories we have), or the many coloring pages here to choose from.

Sweet, little Asya's 2009 Jesse Tree poster

This week I need to choose hope, love, joy and peace Bible verses, then print out whatever we'll be coloring each night, and maybe choose a song to learn. And then I'll be ready!

Do you have Advent plans this year?

Kiev, part 2: Pecherskaya Lavra

2011-11-19T14:26:00.006+02:00

Don't know why they were on the ground

A little angel, flying by a church cupola?

Right outside the monastery

With the tour guide, just before going down in the caves
No pictures allowed in the caves, which were the main attraction for our children. I wish I could have gotten a few of their faces, lit by candlelight, while they listened and explored, and when they finally saw Ilya Murometz. Will carried Bogdan all through the whole tour, and even Bogdan seemed interested. He was exhausted, but he took everything in with very wide eyes and never did fall asleep. Note the bright red fringe on the coat in the photo above. Raia managed to catch that on fire with her little candle. Oops.

It was beautiful above ground!

Kiev, part 1

2011-11-18T09:58:00.003+02:00

Honestly, the train trip to Kiev was the worst we've ever had. Even with that rough start, the rest of the trip was good, though. We left Zaporozhya later than we have before, and so everyone was already way past bedtime and just couldn't seem to settle down. Plus, the usual heat, which makes it hard to sleep anyway. Miserable. However, we survived and arrived bright and early for an absolutely beautiful morning in Kiev. We had lots of time to kill before we could go to the apartment we had reserved, so we went to Independence Square.

More of Independence Square
Jaan was full of energy, and he ran around posing for photos. The rest of us just enjoyed the morning a little more quietly. We eventually stopped at a coffee shop (!) for a light lunch. Then we made our way over to the apartment.

Outside the apartment
This series of photos was really funny, because the girls were so out of sorts while we were waiting to get into the apartment. I chose the one that looks the most normal.

Bogdan's sleeping arrangments

His favorite part of Kiev: watching cars!

Sunday we didn't even go to a church. We just rested and went for short walks. Our appointments at the embassy were for Monday morning....

Raia's and Asya's pictures of Monday
No cameras allowed at the embassy, of course. I'll rely on the girls' drawings to show Monday. The time at the embassy was uneventful, but it took pretty much all morning. Note the American flag in Raia's picture. That represents the morning. The American flag in her picture is surrounded by red flags; that's the next event in our day. We decided to walk around in the center. When we came up out of the Metro, we saw more police than I had ever seen before in one place. That's when we remembered what the date was: November 7th! The anniversary of the October Revolution. The communists were having a meeting on the square (and there were more police than communists!). We walked through there, discussed it up one side and down the other, and then had a very nice lunch at a pizza restaurant.

Asya's picture is of a hand covered in blood. After lunch, after more walking around, we started back toward the apartment. At some point Asya calmly told me that there was something red all over her hand. Yes, "something red." Dripping off her fingers, staining her coat, running down on to the ground.... Somehow she had gotten a tiny cut on her thumb, and it was bleeding all over. There was a pharmacy right there, so Will took her in, got wipes and bandaids, and cleaned her up. No big deal, really, but it made a big impression on her, of course.

Jaan actually drew pictures, too. That's a real rarity for him. His drawing was of a Metro train, with great detail. He surprised himself that he could draw something and enjoy it.

The next day we went to Pecherskaya Lavra (Caves Monastery), and that's the one place we did take lots of photos. Coming soon...

Back from Kiev

2011-11-17T20:41:00.003+02:00

Jaan with the founders of Kiev

We had a nice trip, got passports, and saw some of the sites of Kiev. Now we're exhausted! We actually didn't take very many photos. Big city bustle is just too much with four little children. Adding a camera in was pretty much beyond us. I'll try to post the few pictures that we did get, along with some stories over the next few days....

Great excitement

2011-11-04T11:52:00.003+02:00

Everyone is very excited. We're leaving this evening for a week or so in Kiev. Bogdan and Raia need passports (and citizenship for Bogdan), and since the documents should be ready in about a week, we're going to stay the whole time. Jaan, Raia and Asya are planning to "see Ilya Murometz" at Pecherskaya Lavra and looking forward to eating at Puzata Hata.

Please pray for an easy trip, quick document processing, and a restful time away from all of us. Oh, especially pray for us tonight on the train. We ended up with tickets for the one train that leaves later. The older children will be happy to stay up, but Bogdan really likes his 8:00 bedtime, and he is probably not going to be glad to wait longer than that to settle down for the night.

I don't know exactly when we'll be back. Passport processing takes 5-7 business days. We'll apply on Monday, and then get return tickets when we have the passports.

Tent dwellers

2011-10-31T11:46:00.003+02:00

Bogdan just loves his big brother! They spent most of a morning playing together in this tent. Bogdan's main goal with his new crawling skills seems to be to follow Jaan around. He'll even turn away from me, to go after Jaan.

And I mentioned crawling skills....

Cuteness!

2011-10-24T17:15:00.002+03:00

I also posted similar photos of all the children recently. (Click on that.)

Time to write

2011-10-22T14:54:00.003+03:00

I really need to write something here, and I can't think of what it should be! Off to look at photos....

Here's a pretty one:

But it doesn't really help me know what to write about. We are alive and well and happy. We're not even particularly busy. At least, not busier than usual. Just school, church, a little bit of sickness, and daily life all going on.

As of today, I think I can finally say that Bogdan is sitting up well. He'd much rather move than sit, so he's been slow to reach that milestone. At his seven-month weigh in, he was 8.2 kilograms. His first cold made him utterly miserable, but only for about two days.

September birthdays, part 2

2011-10-04T13:59:00.001+03:00

I think today is the day Asya was due, four years ago, so it's an appropriate time to write about her birthday. That, and everyone is napping now, so I have some time to write. Her birthday was September 24. We didn't really do anything super special, but she was thrilled. She had been waiting and waiting for her present, which she knew was a doll and stroller. Getting them was all she needed for a special day.

"I'm 4!"

Playing with balloons

Also, Raia and I had read The Gingerbread Man the day before. I remembered a fun idea to go with that, something I had seen ages ago. However, when we went to make our Gingerbread Kolobok, we discovered that a certain little sister had dumped out all our ginger. So, we had to put that project off until the next day, when it became that sister's birthday cake.

Licking batter off spoons, while Raia retells the story.

"He ran away!"

Found, on the balcony

The Gingerbread Kolobok

Going for a walk

Watching the birds

New doll

Homeless puppies

Swinging

We had planned to let them jump on the inflatable jumping things that are usually set up in the center, but they weren't there on Asya's birthday. She didn't care. She was just as happy with a family walk. That's Asya! Pleased, happy and thankful for every little treat, all day long... on her birthday and every day.

A picture

2011-10-03T21:24:00.002+03:00

What fun!

2011-10-01T15:09:00.003+03:00

Тетя Анна? или Дед Мороз?

Will's parents and sister are here visiting. They arrived on Thursday, and this is still the only photo I have of any of them. They have taken bunches with their cameras. I just don't have access to those. I guess I'd better get busy with our camera. And this picture does show what is going on here: wild and crazy fun! (Sorry, Anna.)

Poor kitty!

2011-09-28T11:17:00.004+03:00

No, he's not doing what it looks like.

Look again. Zhenya was actually cooling his backside in his water dish (and drooling). It would have been hilarious, if he hadn't been so miserable. Our poor cat had kidney stones. We didn't know what was wrong, but it was obvious that he was in agony and was trying anything for relief. I thought he was going to die. On Monday Will took him to the vet. He had to stay and help, and apparently it was terrible! Poor Zhenya wouldn't have lasted much longer without treatment. It looks like he's on the mend now, though.

Will is going to be qualified to work as a veterinary assistant after all this. Zhenya has to have oral medicine every two hours and four shots a day. Will is taking care of all that. We had no idea that a little street kitten could be so much trouble! So far, he's had a terrible time with one surgery, fallen off the balcony, developed a very sensitive stomach, and now he's had kidney stones. I don't believe in babying animals, but just being a good pet owner is a challenge with this one. Sigh.

He is a good little kitty, when he's not driving us crazy.

September birthdays, part 1

2011-09-25T17:01:00.006+03:00

Asya's birthday was yesterday, but I'll write about Jaan's first. His special day came at the end of our dacha week. The days leading up to it had been rainy, but the sun came out for his birthday. First there was a...

...special breakfast.

The beginning of the treasure hunt

After breakfast I started them on a treasure hunt. They had to do eight tasks to get to Jaan's present.

One of the tasks

"Climb as high as you can." (See Jaan?)

A treasure hidden in the dark, scary chicken house

Spectators

"Fishing in the swamp"

He finally found his present hanging from a string in "the swamp." (It's really not swampy; tall, pretty grass just grows there, so they call it the swamp.) Jaan had been saying for ages that he wanted a flashlight for his birthday. Then, he happened to see a real Maglight in a store in Zaporozhye, and he kept talking about it. He thought it was an impossible dream, but Papa made a special, secret trip the day before Jaan's birthday.

A birthday s'more, instead of cake

The next day he also took a cake to Sunday school and celebrated there, but I don't have any photos of that. And now he's EIGHT!

An average school day

2011-09-19T16:39:00.013+03:00

I enjoyed my new internet friend's average day post, so I'm doing one of my own here. The photos mixed in might not be entirely an average day. They're all from school time during our dacha week. They do show how portable our school is. Just imagine most of them transposed to an apartment with slightly cleaner children, and they'll be a little more average.

We start each school day over breakfast, usually at the table, but the dacha variation was around the campfire. I read Bible stories to them, alternating between passages from the New Testament and Old, every other day. We also alternate languages, every other term. Right now we're reading in English, so we use The Child's Story Bible for OT and The Children's Bible (on Kindle!) for NT. When we read in Russian, we go straight from the Bible.

After Bible, we read poetry: Walter de la Mare for Jaan in Year 2, A Child's Garden of Verses for Year 0, and Тютчев for Russian. Then we sing hymns and folk songs. This is the first term that I've seen them really getting into the songs, enjoying them and learning the words well.

Jaan had smoke in his eyes; Asya was SINGING

Jaan and Raia then repeat their memory work. Asya has had a part of that for the past few weeks, too, as we've been getting ready for Zhatva.

Three ragamuffins recite a poem

All that is "morning school." Then they're free (usually to play outside) until after lunch. When lunch is over, Asya has rest time. We're transitioning her out of actually napping, but she still falls asleep most days while listening to an audio book.

Resting with Pushkin on the iPod

While Asya rests, I do school with Raia and Jaan, each separately. The one who's not working, either reads (Jaan), or listens some with Asya, or does some other quiet activity. Raia's school consists of reading books from the Ambleside Online Year 0 book list and working on other accomplishments.

Practicing handwriting

So, I read to her, usually while she draws, then we do some kind of activity. During that dacha week I read The Little House, The Little Engine that Could, Ox-Cart Man, Ferdinand and Make Way for Ducklings to her. She worked on recognizing number groups (attainment #3), a lesson from our reading book (#4), copying her name (#5), learned about directions by making a sun compass and playing with a magnetic compass (#6), and dictated a description of our dacha property (#7). Remember, one of those activities for each day, not all at once!

Using a compass

Then it's Jaan's turn. Or, actually, on the three days of the week that he has music school, he goes first. He has a good bit more work to do. I have a chart that we go through, with places for me to check off or write in what lessons we did in math, reading (phonics), Russian, copywork, and Ukrainian. In between those subjects, I read AO selections to him, and he narrates them back to me. We don't have a set order or schedule. I just try to vary types of activities and work on the harder parts before he gets tired.

Russian

The whole time we're doing afternoon school, Bogdan either...

...sleeps...

...or listens.

He actually really loves to listen in. He seems to follow all the reading aloud very intently.

And that pretty much summarizes an average day in Hunsucker Homeschool. Oh, one more photo, just because I like it:

Жатва 2011

2011-09-18T18:16:00.002+03:00

Summer prayer letter

2011-09-15T12:58:00.003+03:00

The pretty, printable version is here.

Dear family and friends,
This summer has been a little different than what are used to. There was no church camp, and our family didn't spend much time at our dacha. Instead, we just kept busy with a more usual round of things, mixed in with special events. All summer long, Will kept up the twice-weekly “youth” meetings (for people of all ages), plus he preached almost every week and went to choir practices and leaders meetings. Two of the youth have started taking Bible college classes, and they're excited about traveling and visiting other churches. So far, we've gone on one of those trips, and another one is in the works.

Right after the wedding on the other side of Ukraine that I mentioned in our last letter, we were able to help with another wedding here. A young couple from a village nearby wanted to use the church here, for their wedding. We didn't know them well beforehand, but we and the youth here got to know them some during the preparations, wedding day, and in the time after.

Like I said, we didn't have camp here, but Will took Jaan and another little boy to a Christian camp down on the Azov Sea. They had a wonderful time! Also, just when I was thinking that this would be the first summer in years when I didn't have anything to do with camp at all, we were invited to a short day camp that another church was putting on. I went with our children, and we all really enjoyed that. A big highlight of the summer was a visit from a friend who lives in Moscow. We spent two weeks enjoying her company, swimming, talking, and being encouraged by time together.

As far as family news: Jaan went to camp, like I already said. Raia turned six years old, and she also broke her arm. That was the first big injury in our family and a new experience for us, but God carried us through it all with special peace and ease. She's fine now. I don't know that Asya had any big highlights to her summer, but she's a very happy little girl who spends most of her time pretending to be Cinderella or living some other fairy tale and saying things that make us laugh. Just now, she pointed out a dead spider and told me that it is really Sleeping Beauty. Bogdan is almost six months old; he's a big, happy, mostly easy-going baby, who loves to smile at everyone.

Please do lift up our prayer requests and also let us know how we can pray for you!
Love and prayers,
Will and Phyllis Hunsucker
Jaan, Raia, Asya and Bogdan

Prayer requests:
• Will's parents are coming to visit! Pray for safe travels, a good visit, and health.
• Homeschool, Sunday School, music school: please pray for all three.
• Zhatva (harvest holiday) will be Sept. 18.
• The weekly round for Will: Bible studies, sermons and prep.
• Grace and unity in this church.
• Translating: Will is doing this for Gospelink again.

First day of school

2011-09-13T13:01:00.001+03:00

We had our first few days of school, then our first week--which was also a dacha week--and now we're home and into the second week. I wanted to write about our first day, before it's ancient history, and I'd also like to write about the whole first week. Anyway, first day: I already posted my one favorite photo from the day, but I hope you're ready for a bunch more!

On the morning of September 1, Raia was the first one up, but the others soon followed her. Raia ran straight to the calendar to see if the long-awaited day had arrived. And this is how that day went:

Checking the calendar: yes! today is the day!

Pancake breakfast, encouragement from the Bible, and fun

(I also "interviewed" them. I need to get their answers typed up here....)

Official opening of the school table

Pictures in the park

A stop at the music school

First lessons!

Celebratory tea

Happy little student

He wants to study applesauce!

"Do you like my hat?"

2011-09-05T19:38:00.000+03:00

I meant to write today, but they day got away from me. Instead, I'll just share a smile with you.

С Днем Знаний!

2011-09-01T16:25:00.005+03:00

Happy first day of school! Hunsucker Homeschool (and the rest of Eastern Europe) started school today.

I'll try to write details about our day sometime soon.

Bogdan's nature study

2011-08-28T16:17:00.005+03:00

We spent a wonderful, beautiful day at our dacha on Friday. It was especially fun to see Bogdan enjoying it all. He was very busy, taking it all in.

Tasting a grape

Touching an apple

Listening to the birds (and singing with them)

(Thumb break)

Watching his siblings

...and a spider

Smelling the roses

Kushugum

2011-08-23T13:27:00.005+03:00

On Sunday we went with some of the youth to visit a church in a small town called Kushugum. Will preached and led the singing. Sasha also preached, and Lyuda and Yana read poems. After church, we enjoyed lunch together, and then they brought out a trampoline! That's what our children will remember. I laugh at how they refer to the churches in this region: one is "the church with a goat and turkeys," another is just "the big church," and there's "the church where we ate raspberries." Kushugum will go down in the records as "the church with the trampoline."

On the way there

The group

Lunch

Jumping!

I was loving the sky.

Bogdan liked the trampoline, too.

Stopping for a drink

Mittens, Transfiguration and kitten

2011-08-19T16:48:00.004+03:00

A new cultural note: when we stepped outside this morning, our elderly neighbor, who loves Bogdan, took one look at him and said, "Where are his mittens?" I thought I was doing well to have socks, long sleeves and a hat on him, when the weather had just turned mildly breezy. (Mild, in my opinion. To others, it's probably a dangerously cold wind!) So, I just said, "Mittens?" He replied, "Yes, mittens. Today is Spas!" Well, I knew that today we celebrate the Transfiguration, but the only folk traditions I knew about that have to do with apples and grapes. Dedushka didn't explain any further, so we went on to visit our friend.

When we got to her apartment, I asked her how mittens and Spas are tied together. She didn't know. Her mother, however, told us a little saying right off: "Пришёл Спас — держи рукавички про запас!" (Spas is here, get your gloves ready!) And she explained that this is traditionally the time to get the mittens out and actually to get the whole winter wardrobe ready. So, I learned something new. Also, as I've noticed before, people here really do celebrate the holidays. In Russia, our neighbors often asked me to find out what the holiday was. Here they don't; everyone knows! I even saw one babushka coming back from the Orthodox church with her basket full of fruit.

I just threw "kitten" in up there so that I could write about Bogdan. (Or so that I could ask which of these it not like the others?) Bogdan has recently noticed that we have a cat, and he is utterly fascinated. The cat is actually finally starting to reconcile himself to the fact that we have a baby, too. Every time Bogdan sees Budya-Zhenya, his whole body goes stiff, starts quivering, and then he begins flapping and kicking. The night before last, I put Bogdan down where he could watch Zhenya. A minute later, Jaan said, "Mama, you know Zhenya could scratch him." I was going to explain that I had put him far away specifically to avoid that, when I looked up and saw that Bogdan had both hands full of kitty! He had scooted and rolled all the way down to him.

Etc

2011-08-14T14:03:00.003+03:00

Will says this photo is iconic... of something.

I haven't written for over a week.

We've been swimming (and sweating) a lot.

Raia got her cast off.

Our children really enjoyed a little day camp put on by another church.

Bogdan is five months old.

Will moved a (literal) ton of scrap metal at church.

Today is cooler, and it's finally raining.

School planning

2011-08-04T10:31:00.006+03:00

I would like to write more about homeschooling on this blog, including a kind of general intro to our homeschool, but right now, I need to get down to the more practical part. Hopefully more homeschooling posts will come soon. (This post and a few others were stuck in Drafts. I'm letting them out now. )

I've been wanting to start on plans for the next school year, but I just haven't had a chance. Judging from what I see around the internet, lots of homeschool families have already started back to school. We have almost a month to go. Still, I need to get busy! Alina took everyone except for Bogdan out to play, so I have a few hours free....

This year Jaan will be doing Ambleside Online Year 2, and Raia will be in Year 0. (Year 0 really includes all the preschool years, but I'm doing an "official" Year 0 with her, one last year of prep before she heads into Year 1.) I guess they're in grades 3 and 1? Or 2 and K? Who knows or cares about that part? (Ah, I like this post: related to my thoughts about what grade and Raia... and Asya.)

Year 2 will be pretty much exactly as it's written out on the web site. Beyond AO, I add in MEP math, Ukrainian as a foreign language, and Russian history, literature, poetry, hymns and folk songs.

With Raia I'm planning to take time each day to read books from the AO book list to her and work on the "List of Attainments." She'll continue to listen to audio books for Russian literature. At least at first, I'm going to set reading lessons aside; she hasn't seemed ready for them, so far. I'll reevaluate that after the first term.

Both Jaan and Raia--plus Asya and Bogdan--will be a part of Bible, poetry, memory work and songs around the breakfast table every day. This year I want to try adding art and composer study (appreciation) at supper. Note to self: it would be nice to make a song book, memory books for both Jaan and Raia (three binders total for all that), find poetry, print out art, and get music onto my Kindle.

Now I just need to get that planned out on paper and find my resources....

Raia update

2011-08-03T13:43:00.002+03:00

Thank you for all your prayers and emails for Raia. I think she's doing really well! It's been two weeks now, so she should be getting her cast off soon. Having a broken arm really hasn't seemed to bother her much. Even though she's left-handed, she's becoming quite proficient with her right hand.

If you can't tell, her sling is full of pears and flowers in the picture above. I just stopped her from climbing the pear tree, but she still clambered all over the steep hill that it's on and collected what she could.

Please keep praying for good healing!

TV? (Updated)

2011-07-29T09:49:00.010+03:00

Another update: More video!

Okay, this is really weird; I'm writing about TV. In April there was a documentary about "The Boy From Baby House No. 10." I couldn't find it online then, but last night I did. It was very close to home for us, because our dear friends adopted Vanya/John's best friend. I should go find some photos from the last time they visited us.... You can see them in the documentary a few times, if you watch carefully. (Would Andrei be embarrassed if I say that he was really cute back then? ) We even went to that baby house with them once or twice. What brought this back to mind now was that they'll all be on the Today Show today! We're planning to watch that online. Maybe I can come back and add a direct link later. Here's where we watched the earlier show:

(I list them all out like that, because they're kind of hard to find in order over there.)

Pray for the orphans! God gave John and Andrei families, but there are so, so many left behind.

UPDATE:

The New York Yankees had a nice slideshow and article. I don't know how much the Today Show played on TV; there wasn't much online. One clip had a glimpse of Andrei yesterday, and then there was this:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ah, apparently something did change. This article said to watch for an eight-minute segment, and this says that it wasn't shown on TV.

Grace Life

2011-07-28T10:21:00.002+03:00

As I have already mentioned, again and again, I find myself pondering this:

how can I communicate and demonstrate Christ as our only hope, our foundation and guarantee of both salvation and sanctification?

Living by grace is counter-intuitive, it goes against all our natural instincts, I know that - but it is also what we are created for in Christ. “Perhaps the most difficult task for us to perform is to rely on God's grace and God's grace alone for our salvation. It is difficult for our pride to rest on grace. Grace is for other people - for beggars. We don't want to live by a heavenly welfare system. We want to earn our own way and atone for our own sins. We like to think that we will go to heaven because we deserve to be there.” (R.C. Sproul)

What can I do?

I'm expected to preach and teach, so I teach on the grace/works, faith/law contrasts in the New Testament. I try to emphasize the focus of not self, but Christ, the Christ-centeredness of true christianity vs. man-centered religion. I preach the Gospel of Grace vs. the False Gospel of the insufficiency of Christ.

...I do so because I know the true gospel is powerful and more than able to transform minds and hearts saturated with legalism and religion. I am confident that the gospel of Jesus Christ can and will turn hearts from law-keeping to Himself as sufficient for both eternal salvation and daily living, by his grace.

“The Gospel supposes that, good and holy and perfect as the law of God is, it is entirely powerless either to justify OR sanctify. It cannot in any way make the old nature better, neither is it the rule of life for the new nature. The old man is not subject to the law, and the new man does not need it. The new creature has Another object before it, and another power acts upon it, in order to produce what is lovely and acceptable to God - Christ the object, realized by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (William Kelly)

How can I make this real for the people I minister to and with in this church?

This is all I can do:

Lift up again and again Christ as the object of our adoration, the focus of our lives, the essence of our Christianity; emphasize and re-emphasize the Holy Spirit through the grace of God as the only power capable of producing in our hearts: love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness.

I can only live by grace myself, daily dependent upon, hungry for God's grace in my own heart, in my own life, in my own family.

I can only act in grace as I attempt to serve these believers in this church, so that my interactions with them are grace-based and motivated by grace.

I can only speak of the Grace of God so abundantly poured out upon us in and through Christ Jesus, letting my words always be centered in and flowing from grace.

When at times I find it a challenge to see the point of this ministry, when I don't know if anything I do or say is even registering - that is when I can, more than ever, revel in the wonderful assurance that His grace is sufficient.

His grace is sufficient for my heart, and for the hearts of those who may catch a glimpse of that all-sufficient grace through me, through Phyllis, as we live here and minister the best we know how...

by, in and through the grace of God.

“Our righteousness is in Christ, and our hope depends, not upon the exercise of grace in us, but upon the fullness of grace and love in Him...” (John Newton)

Fun with Julie

2011-07-28T09:10:00.002+03:00

Meeting Bogdan

Celebrating Will's birthday (late)

Giving massages

Reading!

Painting fingernails

Swimming

Bogdan's first swim

I love this one!

We found this weirdo down on the beach.

The 7th wonder

2011-07-21T08:26:00.005+03:00

Remember the seven wonders of Dneprorudny? We've been experiencing the seventh. It really has been wonderful, though! They were very fast and kind. Yesterday Raia fell, just off an office chair at home, but it was enough to break her arm. Our friend, Julie, is here visiting, so we left the other children with her, and both Will and I went with Raia to the hospital. That was especially good, because Will had to go off to find and buy cast supplies, but I got to stay with Raia. Without Julie, Raia might have had to be alone a little. She has a small fracture above her elbow. The doctor said that it was a bad place to break, but that she had a "lucky break," with everything staying in the right places. So, it should heal up just fine. Raia and Will are back at the hospital now; we should know more when they get back.

(Oh, last night, the person who came in after us was a very elderly babushka who had fallen out of an apricot tree and broken her arm! And like I said, they were really fast. They told us we would have to wait for an x-ray, but the ambulance went right out and got the x-ray lady for Raia.)

Grace Plus...?

2011-07-20T10:04:00.002+03:00

As I sat in church this past Sunday, I found myself thinking, for the thousandth time, it seems:

how can people so thoroughly entwine and confuse grace and works, especially concerning salvation, when the New Testament seems so clearly to make an either/or distinction? Without that distinction, the gift of eternal life, good works we do as Christians, the forgiveness of sins and a life of discipleship just get hopelessly entangled.

Martin Luther says simply, “Centering ones attention on oneself and determining what condition I am in and what I must do, I lose sight of Christ, who alone is my Righteousness and my Life.”

It seems so clear that all is by Grace, all due to Christ. Yet somehow, we preach a message of salvation received by 'grace through faith,' but then teach believers that “we will only be blessed if we are constantly abiding in God's commandments, like Israel when Moses gave them the Law. We must keep all His commandments worthily so as to one day enter into those heavenly dwellings that god has prepared for us.”

Christ alone is full of Grace and Truth. How is it that we so easily forget that, and focus more on our efforts? Again, the words of Luther come to mind, “if Christ is pushed aside, and I look only to myself, then I am finished... because this thought immediately springs to mind: 'Christ is in heaven, and you are upon the earth. How are you ever going to reach Him?' and the answer is thus: 'I will lead a holy life and do what the Law requires, and so will eventually attain eternal life.'

Luther unequivocally calls this what it is - abandoning Grace, abandoning Christ.

The narrow way, the long and weary road...

I know all to well that this habit of abandoning Grace is common, whether one lives in America, Russia, Africa or Ukraine. Still, even in the Russian Baptist churches that I've attended over the years, I've seldom heard it so clearly and consistently preached and taught as The Way for Christians to live and hope to gain eternal life.

On Sunday after Sunday, I've heard salvation presented as: “Jesus died to give us the hope of salvation, the hope of eternal life someday, which is eventually gained through a life of striving for holiness, because we know that 'there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean!”

Correspondingly, sanctification and the Christian life is seen as being all about our efforts: “victory over sin is our responsibility, our battle, our striving – finding our strength in Christ of course, but we must gain this victory on our own...”

The problem is this. “Grace stands in direct opposition to any supposed worthiness on our part. To say it another way: Grace and works are mutually exclusive. Our relationship with God is based on either works or grace. There is never a works-plus-grace relationship with Him.” (Jerry Bridges)

How can I, in this setting, best convey that “where Christ resides, there is no place for the Law, sin, wrath and death. Instead, now there is nothing but Grace, righteousness, joy, life, and the confidence of a son in his Father, who is now appeased, compassionate, and reconciled.” (Martin Luther)

This is the heart of Grace, where Christ resides. I find myself daily asking Him to display His Grace, first and foremost - but in that Grace, His life, hope, joy, confidence and so much more through this flawed child of His.

This is where I live, what my heart is preoccupied with these days.

Grace.

(...to be continued)

Together again

2011-07-18T15:40:00.004+03:00

I love this photo from when Bogdan woke up and saw that Jaan was home:

(He does look a little crazed, though.)

I was actually trying to get a photo of this.

Maybe I won't be such a bad mother, if he sucks his thumb,

while his pacifier is hanging right there?

And a photo of the girls

An incredible troupe of stilt walkers performed for the city's birthday. You can see one of them in the parade behind Raia and Asya, who were watching from the sidelines. Isn't Raia's face great?

Happy birthday!

2011-07-17T14:15:00.005+03:00

This little city where we live is celebrating its 50th birthday! After living in central Russia, where everything has such a long history, that seems pretty young, but it's a special birthday anyway. In honor of this holiday, I thought I'd point out a fun article: The Seven Wonders of Dneprorudny. They are

iron mine (of course)
"sea"
park
"The Centipede"
mining monument
museum
traumatology-orthopedic center

I agree with all of them, except that I didn't even know about the museum here. (How could I have missed that?) Some of them are very close to us. The sea is my favorite part of Dneprorudny, and the park is just wonderful, too, even if it is completely overgrown and neglected. The huge apartment building up on stilts--"The Centipede"--is directly in front of ours. It's what our windows look out on. The mining monument was right by our old apartment, and we still see it every day. If you come visit, I could show you almost all the seven wonders in one day! Well, I can't get to the mine, and we'd skip the hospital unless you were really interested (I do have lots of connections there!), but I'd take you to the others.

And a completely unrelated photo....

They're back from camp!

(By the way, there was an even more important birthday recently, but we haven't celebrated it yet.)

Edited to add: Here's a link to Will's camp photos.

Big boy!

2011-07-15T15:14:00.003+03:00

Yesterday Bogdan had his four-month check up. He has more than doubled his birth weight now: 7 kilograms! Our doctor is on vacation, so we saw another one, and she was much more pleasant.

When we first got the stroller, he was so tiny

Recently: look how he fills it up!

Questions about Grace

2011-07-14T12:00:00.002+03:00

The grace of God. I know that my life would have no hope or light without it. I know that His grace to me in Jesus Christ is the foundation my life is built on. Grace for daily life, for salvation and sanctification is His gift, freely given.

It's also what often seems is most lacking in my church.

How can I be a conduit of His grace?

What can I do? Sometimes I feel like protesting - I'm only one person, after all. How can I convey the absolute vitality, the centrality of Grace in our lives as Christians, how can I get across this Grace that I am so utterly dependent upon, so constantly aware of and grateful for...

I don't want to cause confusion or argument by teaching too much that is radically different from what they've been taught for years. I don't want to seem to set myself up as “The Spiritual One.” I don't want a “grace revolution” on my hands here, even if it were possible – which I doubt.

I'm here to serve these people, not divide them.

Still, when works/performance/'doing my part' is such a pervasive focus, how can I best re-direct the attention of these people I love to Christ as the only source of life and righteousness? “The apostle Paul argues that Christian righteousness is a righteousness of Christ living in us, and not our own righteousness. However, Christ and my conscience must merge so that in my field of view there is nothing left but the Crucified and Risen Christ.

For if Christ is pushed aside, and I look only to myself, then I am finished - because this thought immediately springs to mind: 'Christ is in heaven, and you are upon the earth. How are you ever going to reach Him?' and the answer is thus: 'I will lead a holy life and do what the Law requires, and so will eventually attain eternal life.'

"Centering ones attention on oneself and determining what condition I am in and what I must do, I lose sight of Christ, who alone is my Righteousness and my Life.

"Without Him there is no help, no counsel, but only despair and destruction.

"This evil is very common, because such is human weakness that in time of temptation or in the face of death, we will immediately abandon Christ and turn again to our own works.” (Martin Luther)

Lord, I desperately need your grace, more than anything else, as I attempt to bring more grace, more understanding and compassion into our interactions with one another as your children here in this place.

A new prayer letter

2011-07-11T11:38:00.004+03:00

Click to read or to print.

By the way, I wrote this letter a few days ago. Will and Jaan are at camp now.

Brotherly love

2011-07-09T20:26:00.002+03:00

Jaan wanted to try rocking Bogdan to sleep tonight.

Another photo of the cutie

Thinking about Grace, cont'd.

2011-07-08T11:25:00.009+03:00

Grace has been on my mind a lot lately...

Grace in general, and in particular, the Grace of God as the essence of, the foundation and means of the Christian life.

More specifically, how can I convey the absolute vitality, the centrality of Grace in our lives as Christians. How can I most clearly communicate Grace as the only grounds for our relating to God, the only basis for building relationships with other Christians and the only foundation for relating to those within our own families?

As Jerry Bridges has observed: “We are brought into God's kingdom by grace; we are sanctified by grace; we receive both temporal and spiritual blessings by grace; we are motivated to obedience by grace; we are called to serve by grace and, finally, we are glorified by grace. The entire Christian life is lived under the reign of God's grace.”

This is what keeps running through my mind, percolating in my heart, keeping me awake at night — As I attempt to serve this church, how can I teach and demonstrate, speak and act so that Grace becomes more of an essential paradigm for living for people who have largely only known the opposite: conditional acceptance, assurance and approval; love, forgiveness and mercy that is limited or earned; relationships that are manipulated to produce 'Godly behavior'; in other words, performance-based Christianity, Legalism, and Churchianity.

I am aware that I may be over-sensitive on this topic. Still, it sometimes seems that this church is simply saturated in all that I just listed, that it is thoroughly entrenched in believers minds and hearts. So much so that whatever I say or do in an effort to re-orient the church toward Grace and Faith seems only the tiniest firefly of grace-light in a murky swamp of Legalism and Performance-based Christianity.

...I say “God's unconditional love”, they reply “God is an All-Consuming Fire!” I teach on Assurance in the Promises of God, they reply by preaching on “God's faithfulness to His Threats — Fear God, or else!!” I seek to encourage relationships based on Grace and Freedom in Christ, and they reply with Conditional forgiveness and fellowship ... it's like we're speaking different languages.

Not that this is anything horribly unusual, unheard of, or even peculiar to this small Ukrainian Independent Baptist Church we're in here. It's not, sadly enough to say.

Almost 50 years ago, C.I. Scofield said that "Most of us have been reared and now live under the influence of Galatianism. Protestant theology is for the most part thoroughly Galatianized, in that neither the Law nor Grace is given its distinct and separate place in the counsels of God, but they are mingled together in one incoherent system . The Law is no longer, as in the divine intent, a ministration of death (2 Cor.3:7), of cursing (Gal.3:10), or of conviction (Rom.3:19), because we are taught that we must try to keep it, and that by divine help we may.
Nor does Grace, on the other hand, bring us blessed deliverance from the dominion of sin, for we are kept under the law as a rule of life, despite the plain declaration of Romans 6:14 - «sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace!"

This is a malady that has afflicted the church and detracted from the glory of God's grace in Jesus Christ from its very first days, so I'm not complaining about this church being a special case.

I'm not even complaining. This is where God has us for now, and these are the questions I struggle with.

How can I most glorify Christ? How can I live out Grace in a way that is simple and comprehensible?

How can I convey this, that “Our righteousness is in Him, and our hope depends, not upon the exercise of grace in us, but upon the fullness of Grace and Love in Him, and upon His obedience unto death. (John Newton)

Picnic

2011-07-03T13:14:00.003+03:00

Last night the young couple who recently got married hosted picnic to thank everyone for helping with their wedding. We didn't get many photos, but here are a few.

Bogdan's first shashlik

With Lyuda's kitten

Thinking about Grace

2011-07-02T10:44:00.006+03:00

(Phyllis asked that I write a bit and contribute to the overall picture of our life that this blog gives. A couple of days later, I sat down and began to write. I have a hard time being brief, but I wanted to share thoughts, challenges for me in this particular place in life, so I wrote out a few pages over a few days. =) We decided to parcel out what I wrote, so please accept this as intended, in a spirit of 'to be continued...')

Thinking about Grace...

How important — how intrinsic of a part does Grace have in my life?

Grace as a foundational concept, a paradigm for living, a daily reality like fresh-brewed coffee in the morning...

I sometimes wonder how well I convey, visibly, in words and actions just how vital Grace is to this heart and mind. Does my wife see and hear grace in my words to her, in how I choose to spend time with her(or not)? Do my children sense any grace in my attitude toward them, my interaction with them?

I ask myself these questions because of this:

how is it that when Grace is the very ground I stand on, the air that I breathe, when I am so utterly dependent upon, so constantly aware of and grateful for Grace...

that I often somehow forget to actually put this into words, to consciously seek to convey the sense of the one thing I truly could not live without?!

Hmmm...

I guess Grace is always worth thinking about.

Another dacha day

2011-06-28T13:51:00.005+03:00

We had a great day at our dacha on Friday! Our neighbors had said that we have tons of apricots almost ready. Well, yes, they're almost ready. Not quite yet. The cherry tree was covered in ripe fruit, though, so we picked cherries instead of apricots.

Later in the day it rained hard, so Will opened "the garage" as a play place. There's a small building at the top of the hill that the previous owners used as a motorcycle garage and turkey house. Our children didn't know that it had a secret entrance for turkeys. () They discovered that, and carefully cleared out all the bottles that were stacked in it. Then they spent the rest of their time working on it and crawling back and forth through it.

My helper

Another helper

They're so weird! (and so dirty!)

He's weird, too

"Белые belly boys"

Crawling out

Crawling in

We sometimes say that the man who built all this was a real miner. There's a basement under the house that could be used as a bomb shelter, along with a tiny tunnel that he made to get his chickens from their home to the greenhouse, this secret turkey entrance, and a place where he was working on digging deep down into the hill for a root cellar.

Tired boy

It would probably do permanent damage to a Russian baby's spine to sleep like this, but Bogdan seems to like it.

After the rainstorm, we almost had to wade home. I should have taken pictures of everyone's feet when we got here!

Weddings and thanks

2011-06-20T15:08:00.011+03:00

With Vera and Andrei

There was another wedding this weekend. Here, this time, so we didn't have to travel. We don't know the couple too well, since they are from a village nearby, but they used the church for their wedding, so we were involved.

A game and object lesson

(Squirting mayonaise out onto a plate, and then trying to get it back into the bag. It's much easier to say something than to take it back!)

I've also posted the rest of our photos from Lena's wedding. I still haven't gotten anyone else's photos to fill in the gaps, but we have quite a few ourselves.

And thanks.... It's been way too long since I've listed special gifts from God to me. I probably could (and should!) come up with 100 right now, but I don't have time to sit and write them. I'll leave this open though and come back to add to it all day:

the smell of rain coming through the windows right now
sleeping baby
purply-black fingers, faces, and even toes from eating mulberries
audio books
Oh! a cool breeze coming through the window now, following the rain
when Bogdan smiles in his sleep
Bogdan himself! I don't think I've thanked publicly since he was born, and I sure am thankful for him!
Ёжик в Тумане (Aw, shucks! as certain friends of ours would say. The cuteness makes me smile.)
days at home
the cool of evening

Bogdan wants...

2011-06-17T15:21:00.006+03:00

...to show you something:

He has a birth certificate!

Will got it yesterday. I realized that Bogdan is just about the same age Raia was when we finally got hers, too. Although, Will said this whole thing was nothing compared to that. (It looks like she was trying to eat her hands in the picture, too. Bogdan's main goal today is to stuff both fists into his mouth.) There is just one more step to go through: we have to see a city official on Wednesday who will decide if we need to pay a fine or not. Thank you so much for all your prayers!

Recently I was listening to John Piper, and he said something like, "If someone wants to know that you're alive, you don't go digging for your birth certificate. You just breathe." I laughed. Too bad it's not really that simple. Now Bogdan can officially prove that he's alive.

Bogdan also went in for his 3-month check up yesterday. I think it's pretty ridiculous that we have to take a healthy baby to the doctor every month, but it is kind of fun to know how much he weighs. I never knew with our other children. Only, this time, I don't remember what they said. Either 5.1 or 6.1 kgs. He's 63 cm tall. I looked up he American charts, trying to figure out which weight was more likely, but I still don't know. That's either 31st or 4th percentile for weight and 62nd percentile for height. The doctor fussed because Bogdan wouldn't stop smiling and babbling at her so that she could listen to his heart: he's too happy!

(Edited to add: Bogdan weighed 6.1 kgs at 3 months.)

She's SIX!

2011-06-14T13:37:00.001+03:00

Three months old!

2011-06-13T07:13:00.002+03:00

The wedding trip

2011-06-11T07:29:00.002+03:00

It's been a week since the wedding. Let's see if I can get at least some of the pictures up today....

Last Thursday we left on a marshrutka (van-bus) for Zaporozhya, with our family and three other people headed to Lena's wedding. In Zaporozhya every else got on their train, and then we boarded another. For some reason, tickets are scarce this summer, so we couldn't all go on the same train or by the same route, even though Will worked hard to try and buy all the tickets together.

Bogdan's first time on a train

He was so happy!

And they were CRAZY

Just before we had to wake everyone

for an early-morning arrival in Kiev. All mornings were early, and all nights were late on this trip. By the way, that's Raia's foot by Asya, and the edge of Bogdan's bed on the table. Six people in one coupe gets crowded, even when they're little. Oh, and the car we were in was actually air conditioned and cool, which was a direct answer to prayer! AC on trains is almost unbelievable; I guess it's a special Ukrainian summer phenomenon? However, so far we've only seen that AC means that it's even stuffier, because the windows won't open at all. This time it worked!

We had several hours to wait in Kiev, so we ate at "The Restaurant" (i.e. McDonald's), ran laps around the children's waiting room in the train station, and then finally got on our next train. We had to trade around to get places together, since our tickets were all over, and it was pretty funny when the conductor brought on older man to us and told us that he would probably trade with us... if we could make him understand. She was a little frustrated, and said that he didn't speak Russian at all. Will said that it was no problem, and then spent hours speaking English with him.

That evening we got off the moving oven, er--that is, off the train--and made our way to the church, to join in on...

Decorating

Late meal

They were almost done decorating by the time we got there, but then we all ate together. Afterwards, we went to our host's home and collapsed into beds.

More later....

"The Queen of all Green"

2011-06-10T10:32:00.004+03:00

The little boys she was playing with told me, "We greened her!"

(Wedding pictures are still coming. We've had a hard week recovering from the trip, and I still want to get some photos from Alina and Yana.)

What a trip!

2011-06-06T13:31:00.007+03:00

We're home. Lena's wedding was wonderful! The trip was very long and tiring. Really, it was almost four days of travel, for one day of celebrating. Everything went pretty smoothly, though. Bogdan especially did well on his first big trip. He only broke down once and screamed for a little while. That was Saturday evening, after going non-stop for ten hours: the government wedding, the (long) church wedding, the (even longer) wedding feast, and an excursion to the local castle for wedding photos and a tour.

I'll tell you more later. It's nap time for all of us right now.

Travel and ZAGS

2011-06-01T17:48:00.002+03:00

Tomorrow we're leaving to travel all the way to Dubno for Lena's wedding. (The picture below is from her farewell tea at church.) Please pray for safe and easy travels. Maybe pray specifically that somehow--miraculously!--it won't be too hot on the trains and that we'll be able to sleep?

ZAGS is the place that does birth certificates, among other things. The last news I posted about Bogdan's birth certificate was that they were sending everything from Vasilevka to Zaporozhya. In Zaporozhya they decided that it could be handled locally, without court. (Hurrah!) So, Will has been going back and forth to the local ZAGS since then. They're very nice and helpful here, although, first they wanted originals of everything, not copies. Then, today, they noticed that the form signed by all the doctors has mistakes. (We're not the only ones around here who don't know Ukrainian!) So, Will will have to get another one of those forms from Vasilevka and have it redone at the hospital here. We're making progress, though....

"Searching for Jesus"

2011-05-28T15:34:00.002+03:00

I keep meaning to post this, and just not having time. It's almost been 40 days! 40 days of Easter, that is. Throughout the Easter season, I have hidden a little foam figure that signifies Jesus, and everyone has looked for him. When they find him, we read about one of Jesus' appearances after his resurrection from the list I had posted. This year Jaan and Raia have really gotten into the the searching. A few times I've had to stop them, calm them down, and specifically tell them to think about how Jesus' friends felt in those days right after the resurrection. It's worked! We've had some good talks about how exciting and surprising and even frustrating it all is, and they really have been thinking. We've had a lot of fun with it, too.

Bogdan's first dacha day

2011-05-27T09:54:00.003+03:00

We had a good visit with Will's sister, Anna, even though she got really sick while she was here and each of our older children threw up a few times in sympathy with her. Once she recovered, we had a dacha day together.

Birth certificate update

2011-05-17T20:53:00.003+03:00

Will got an official, notarized translation of my new passport last week in Zaporozhya, and he took that to Vasilevka today. He came back from there with a form to fill out, and ran all around the hospital getting signatures and stamps for it. As he said, "We almost made great progress today!" That form just needs one more signature now. The head doctor was doing an operation when Will was looking for him. So, hopefully Will will be able to see him tomorrow, and then take the form back to Vasilevka. From there it goes on to Zaporozhya on Friday....

A random photo of the cutie:

He loves to kick and flap!

Springtime school

2011-05-12T19:34:00.000+03:00

Jaan and I did school outside under the lilacs, while the girls played and Bogdan did...

Nature study

Jaan's desk

School room for the day

(with a neighbor child, too)

Asya's favorite place

I say that she has her own personal love language: "swing me!" She would swing all day, every day, if she could. We have the best talks while I'm pushing her on the swing, too.

С Днём Победы!

2011-05-09T12:28:00.003+03:00

Can you see Jaan?

Bath time!

2011-05-06T20:15:00.003+03:00

Home video

2011-05-05T20:55:00.004+03:00

I'm sorry about the quality, and Jaan wasn't happy about his mistakes, but this is about the best that you'll get from us for now. And I do think it's cute. These are the pieces Jaan played at the recital.

It's still Easter!

2011-05-01T07:37:00.002+03:00

Cinderella and her prince

2011-04-29T17:02:00.000+03:00

Easter Day

2011-04-28T15:23:00.001+03:00

Easter is my favorite holiday! Here's some of what it looked like for us this year:

The empty tomb

"He is Risen!"

Easter breakfast

Happy baby

I kept trying to get him to repeat his first grin, but this was as close as I could catch on film.

Poems and songs at church

Family photo after church

We went home for naps, then came back for a picnic:

Bogdan and Katya

Roasting hot dogs

Raia and Alisa

Around the table

Yum!

I told her to show me what she had (kulich/paska). She thought I meant candy.

Jaan and Slavik

Raia and Asya break Sasha and Alisa's backs

Christ is Risen!

Jaan's music

2011-04-25T10:42:00.007+03:00

On Friday Jaan had his piano recital. It was incredible! I may be biased, but I was just amazed by how well he played and how grown up he seemed. He started off playing and then got stuck after just a few notes. While I prayed wildly in the back of the room, and his teacher whispered from off the stage, he just sat there, frozen. I was afraid that he'd panic or start crying. Then he came to life, heard her saying to start over, and did so. After that, he made it through all three of his pieces without another hitch. He finished, gave his little bow, and calmly went back to his seat.

Getting started
This picture really shows how his teacher works with him. She's so gentle and kind and encouraging! He was the littlest one, so she switched out the chairs before he played, and gave him one with a pillow to sit on.

Playing

With Lyudmila Nikolaevna

Outside the music school

Ice cream afterwards

The girls got some, too, of course

I was so sad that we didn't have any way to record the piano recital! However, we did borrow a video camera for his choir concert two weeks ago. There's a little bit from that below. Jaan and the girl standing next to him were just hilarious. She takes vocals, where they teach them to be very dramatic in their singing, and she's just an animated little person anyway. Jaan stood like a statue. The contrast between the two of them was so funny. (Anyone who was here for camp and has a very good memory, might see Andrei, Yasha, Matvei and maybe even a few other familiar faces up there.)

Did anyone notice that in the photo I posted earlier it looks like the big hair bows are on the teacher's head?

Easter photos coming soon....

ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕС!

2011-04-24T08:21:00.003+03:00

I greeted Bogdan with that when he woke up, and he answered with the biggest smile I've seen from him so far. I wish you all as much joy in celebrating the Resurrection as I saw in that moment!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Good Friday

2011-04-23T11:15:00.003+03:00

Last night we blew out the last candle, placed a figure of Jesus in a tomb, and got ready for bed in the dark. Now we wait....

(Our Easter garden looks a little sparse this year. Maybe it will grow more beautiful throughout the Easter season.)

Favorite photo from last night

2011-04-20T13:08:00.002+03:00

Look at this!

2011-04-19T19:20:00.003+03:00

You know what that is? My registration! Thank you, Lord! And thank you to everyone who has been praying for this. I'm legal again for the next year.

Preparing for Easter

2011-04-16T20:20:00.003+03:00

This year we're doing the one-week version of Lenten Lights, so we started tonight. We lit the candles, read, sang and even painted palm branches for tomorrow. I've missed having a longer season of reflection this year, but we were busy with something (someone!) else at the beginning of Lent. Hopefully we'll really be able to savor this week and then the whole Easter season after it.

A new, new law and other progress

2011-04-13T13:35:00.003+03:00

A friend called last night and said that there's another new law about birth certificates! I've mentioned the one new law that said babies born at home can only get birth certificates through a court process. The new, new law goes back to the old one, and actually even makes it more simple than it was. Maybe this will help us? The old new law went into effect in January, and the newer law just became effective March 28, so Bogdan was born under the older one; I don't know if that will make a difference. Also, birth certificates are supposed to be taken care of within the first month, and his one month birthday was yesterday. So, we'll see. Please keep praying. He will get a birth certificate one way or another!

We were also waiting on a court decision about my visa registration. Our registration ran out in March, and my passport also needed to be renewed. The lady who is in charge of registration regionally worked everything out with Will, and she was going to extend my registration with a letter from the American embassy that said my new passport was on its way. However, when Will brought that letter back from Kiev, the nice lady took everything to her own boss, for him to approve it. He refused. So, that went to regional court, too. We were waiting for them to set a fine and let us know, so that I could pay it and then reregister. Will called today to check on that: they said it had been decided back on March 16 (no fine) and the decision sent back to Dneprorudnoe. After hearing that, Will called the local registration office, and they said they'd look for it. Hmm....

That was probably too much detail for everyone except Mom. And too confusing anyway! The long and short of it is to keep praying for both Bogdan's birth certificate and my visa registration.

One month old

2011-04-12T11:58:00.004+03:00

And he's big! Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure, but I think the nurse who weighed Bogdan today said that he weighs 4.5 kilograms. (I'm not used to them keeping the records there; I thought I'd be able to read everything when we got home, but they don't do that with babies. I should have listened better.) That would mean that he's gained more than a whole kilogram since he was born! I would believe it, because he's really filled out a lot. Asya was born weighing about 4 kilograms, and I had noticed that his round cheeks have caught up with what she had.

Last night's bath
Look at his round tummy. You can't see them, but he already has rolls on his thighs, too, instead of the little chicken legs that he was born with.

"Is this right, Mama?"

2011-04-09T11:59:00.002+03:00

Music school concert

2011-04-08T20:53:00.003+03:00

Lilya and Alina went with us.

And the sun came out for a few minutes!

Jaan is fourth from the right in the front row.

Diapers!

2011-04-07T14:13:00.004+03:00

After using the same cloth diapers for three babies, there was hardly anything left of them. I knew we'd have to get something new for Bogdan. He is now the richest of all four children! A wonderful company called Cotton Babies actually has a program to give diapers to missionaries. I applied, and they approved us. Before we used simple, prefolds and the cheapest covers that I could find. Cotton Babies gave us a set of really nice BumGenius diapers. They're great! This is a huge step up from what we've had before and a very generous gift. If you use cloth diapers or are looking to buy other baby care supplies, please consider supporting Cotton Babies (and, no, they did not ask me to write this. )

The picture is from two weeks ago, when we first got our diapers. Baba Julie forwarded them on to us from Cotton Babies, and we're very thankful to her, too!

Look what we got

2011-04-06T19:59:00.004+03:00

A pacifier!

I have really mixed feelings about pacifiers. When Jaan was a baby, I was totally against them. Fortunately, he helped me. When people tried to give them to him, he screamed. Raia didn't like them either. Later she started sucking her finger, though. Here there's only one thing worse than not giving your baby a pacifier, and that is letting her suck her finger. So, after about two years of hearing what a terrible mother I am, Asya got a pacifier. Anything to avoid the dreaded finger! (Or, actually, to avoid the scoldings that go with finger sucking.) And it worked beautifully. She had her pacifier until a little after her first birthday. We got rid of it with hardly any fussing... and then two weeks later she started sucking her finger. (And don't tell anyone, but she still does at age 3.) Oops. I lost all my good mama points right there.

Bogdan is only three weeks old, but I'm already getting tired of being greeted with "Congrats on your new baby! Where's his pacifier?" I bought him one today, and we'll see what he thinks of it. I still don't like having a foreign object sticking out of my baby's mouth, and I don't like chasing down pacifiers. If it makes him happier, I don't mind, though. Maybe it will make the general public happier, too. Although, of course, I'm much more concerned about what my baby needs than what "they" think.

I did ask on Facebook what people think of pacifiers, and it was fun to hear all the different experiences and opinions. In this part of the world there's only one opinion: You Must Give Your Baby a Pacifier or You Are a Very Bad Mother. What do you think?

Awake and asleep

2011-04-05T20:09:00.001+03:00

Spring!

2011-04-04T17:53:00.002+03:00

New life

...and...

New life

Last year I never did figure out exactly what these flowers are. They're some of the first blooms of spring here.

(And the top photo also shows off the blanket I just finished.)

Getting ready for church

2011-04-03T16:11:00.002+03:00

Not startled, just amazed by the big helpers all around him:

3 weeks old

2011-04-02T20:33:00.002+03:00

Nothing makes me want to stop time like having a newborn around! So, I'm savoring every moment. (Well, maybe every moment except for those that come around 3:00 am.) Bogdan is really a pretty easy, sweet, calm baby. We are still amazed by how much he loves to stare at faces. His usual expression is WIDE-eyes and a very serious look straight at the closest face. He's also just starting to smile and maybe coo once in a while.

I don't know when I'll get back to posting weekly, but this week I'm going to try to get a new photo up every day....

Look and listen archive

2011-03-28T07:18:00.002+03:00

I'm archiving here what we looked at and listened to during Term 2. The current selections will be up on the Look and listen with us page. -->

Term 2
Artist: Caravaggio
Composer: Vivaldi
Folk songs: Tall Men Riding, Калинка (Russian), and Ой, на горі жито (Ukrainian)

The folk songs are the same throughout the term:

English video and info, Russian words, Ukrainian words (and sheet music!)
Ukrainian music (I can't get it onto the playlist above for some reason.)

Hymns change monthly. Here are December's:

Russian video with words

January's:
O God, Our Help In Ages Past
О имя Иисуса

February's:
I'll Fly Away
Красота Иисуса Светись во Мне (words)

And we'll spend two weeks on each piece of art and classical music.

Weeks 13-14

Weeks 15-16

Weeks 17-18

Weeks 19-20
	Vivaldi CDs

Weeks 21-22
	Vivaldi CDs

Weeks 23-24
	Vivaldi CDs

*I've obviously chosen the Russian and Ukrainian songs on my own. A note on how I choose the hymns: if the Russian version of the English hymn is something that we actually sing, I use it. Otherwise, I try to pick something classically Russian or just something that we like. Folk songs are just from two disks of folk songs for children--specifically for children!--that we have.