Last bit of advent

With Natalya
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

On Christmas Eve I invited one of our neighbors to come up for our advent time. She's an English teacher, so she's interested in our holidays and the Christmas carols (although, we usually sing them in Russian ). Plus, she loves our children. Back when I planned, I had written a new note, which only works in Russian, but our verse was the same as the one on the list: John 3:16. Jaan and Raia were so excited about the balloons, that they couldn't listen very well, though.

By the way, this neighbor informed us that she was talking to Jaan recently and mentioned something about all the snow that Дед Мороз (Grandfather Frost) had brought us. He was very quick to point out that Jesus, not Дед Мороз, had sent the snow.

There was one last treasure for Christmas Day:

Comparison
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Look how she's grown!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

I particularly liked the message:
"December 25 - Isn't this baby cute? When he was born, he made a whole family happy. Jesus was born a baby, too. He came to make the whole world happy. Read: Luke 2:1-20. Enjoy your celebration today. Continue to learn about Jesus and love Him forever!"
(The pictures on the ornaments are from their first Christmases.) Our sweet children bring us so much joy, and Jesus does even more so; He is our Joy!

Merry Christmas!

For those of you who are missing snow
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

We had a wonderful family Christmas yesterday, and now the holiday season is just getting started here. Yesterday we had a quiet morning together, then went out for a walk in the woods. The weather was perfect: clear and cold with fresh snow. Will kept trying to get pictures of the snow sparkling in the air, but it didn't show up in any of them. All of us had a great time enjoying the beauty, sledding, and having fun together.

Jaan and Raia were so tired when we got home that they took extra long naps. While they slept, Will and I enjoyed the quiet and prepared our Christmas dinner. The children woke up to that, then the Christmas story, a present, and a birthday cake. We spent the evening visiting our neighbors with treats and Christmas greetings. (December 25 isn't a holiday at all for them.) Then it was bedtime. We had such a perfect day, I didn't want it to end! I'm glad we get to celebrate for another two weeks here.

There are a ton of pictures from yesterday. Hopefully, I will get to sharing some of those and the last little bit of advent soon.

My wish for you is that you will continue to celebrate Christ always, even if you live somewhere where Christmas is already over.

His little sheep (and regional news)

Wool socks!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

(Jaan was in desperate need of wool socks, so that was what they found in their bags last night, instead of any other reminder of sheep.)

For those of you who know and love everyone out here, and for all the prayer warriors who pray without knowing them personally, here's a random list of the news that Will brought back from the regional missionary-pastor meeting Friday:
The Miskevichs have a new baby! (I don't know the gender or name, but at least I know about the baby!) The Egorovs--that's Nadya and Volodya in Sudogda, who were in the car accident this summer--have a baby due at the end of January, and the baby is still breech; please pray! (And please pray for my friend Shannon, who's in the same situation.) The Kolchugino church wants to join back in to our regional church organization. The government is tightening control on non-profit organizations. (Moms, don't worry. This is not personal persecution. It's new paperwork and inspections for the churches.) They watched a presentation compiling survey data from independent surveys; the official figures are that Russia is about 70% Christian (Orthodox). These surveys went deeper: about 7% actually attend church, take communion, and are serious about what they believe. Pray for Russia!

What a day!

Doves
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Yesterday was one of Those Days. I won’t say it was bad, because I needed the reminder to cling to the Lord, and I am not unhappy with the way I responded to the children all day. . . but it was very hard. Somehow I forgot to figure how much Will would be gone on these last few days before our family Christmas into my plans. When I realized, I thought it wouldn’t be too big of a problem. Making Christmas cookies sounds like a good thing to do with the children on the long days without Papa, right? Somehow it also slipped my mind that last year we only had one little helper (Raia wasn’t mobile yet) to three adults (both my parents helped). This year it’s more like one adult, one hurricane, and one tornado. Add in that our day started off with a minor flood in our kitchen, which became a major flood running down our neighbor’s wall, and that the children were WILD, and you can guess how things went.

Oh, I was gratified to see that when I let them run free outside yesterday, they actually did run around screaming. It seems like no matter how much they do that inside, I take them out and they turn into demure little angels. Not that I would complain about that--they’re like me, God’s creation has a calming influence on them--but sometimes it is nice for the wildness to take place outside, not in our little apartment!

We did have some especially sweet moments. After nap time, Raia was fussy, so Jaan wanted to hold her and “pet” her to calm her down. She didn’t like that, but all three of us snuggled up on Jaan’s bed, and he got to pet her while she nursed. That did the trick, and we all got up happy.

And we all enjoyed our advent time, even without Papa. Jaan seemed to understand the story and did very well repeating that the Holy Spirit came down like a dove. However, when Will came home and went in to say good night, Jaan announced, “Papa, we learned that the Holy Spirit came down like a PARROT!”

Tonight, again without Will, we’ll read
”December 23 - This is soft and fuzzy like a sheep. Jesus called Himself the good shepherd. Do you know who His sheep are? Read: John 10:7-18.”

EVENING UPDATE: Today has gone much more smoothly. We made two kinds of fudge and decorated our gingerbread men from yesterday. We had two mishaps, not related to cooking. Jaan and Raia were really looking forward to going and buying chocolate to decorate with. When they woke up from their naps, we got dressed and went out for our promised walk to the store. I put Raia down outside, and she didn't say anything. Well, I wouldn't expect her to say anything, since she's not talking yet, but she didn't make any noise. . . just toddled off. It was really dark. When we got out under the lights in front of the store, I looked down and saw that my baby had just walked through the snow to the store IN HER SOCKS!!! I had forgotten to put her boots on her! I grabbed her and ran back, came up here to put her boots on while Jaan waited outside, and hoped that no one had noticed. Well, no one had seen, but I came out to find Jaan reporting the whole story to the neighbors.

The second mishap came during the moment when I closed them out of the living room to hide their advent bags. I opened the door and Jaan came running by. When I grabbed his arm to slow him down, he kind of gulped and then started gasping. There had been a coin in his mouth, and he had swallowed it! He did the same thing when he was really little, but this time it didn't go down as easily. He recovered after a phone call to Will, some water, and a second helping of supper.

Life is never dull!

Faith like a mustard seed

Raia's mustard seeds
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

(I didn't get any good photos of Jaan last night.)

Next:
"December 22 - We've learned that the cross represents Christ, but do you know what the dove stands for? Read: Matthew 3:13-17."

Popcorn!

Nyum-nyum!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

(Yes, that's a smile. At least, she thinks it is.)

Next is
"December 21 - The mustard seed is the smallest there is. When it sprouts, it grows into one of the largest plants. See what Jesus said. Read: Matthew 17:20."

Oh, and our marigold seeds from a few nights ago are already sprouting!

All about yesterday

I hope no one is getting tired of advent posts. Who could get tired of sweet children learning about Jesus? But then, they are my sweet children, so I'm probably biased. The photos from yesterday show more of a whole day around here.

But before we get to the photos. . . last night we thanked God for the snow. Jaan seemed to be quite fascinated by the idea that God gives us snow. This morning the first words out of his mouth when he looked out the windows were, "Бог кидал нам еще снег!" ("God threw us some more snow!")


Shoveling snow
Originally uploaded by fylliska.


Recovering
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

His feet got wet, so he had to rest them on the heating pipes for a while when we came in.

Rocks!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Last night's advent treasure.

At the orphanage
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

The kids were so wound up! They combined both fourth grade classes, and it caused chaos. Oh, well! Both our children and the children there enjoyed the movie. Although, like Will said, "After a good night with them, you feel tired. After a bad night, you feel like you've been run over by a truck." It was a run-over-by-a-truck night for the adults.

Tonight, in our family, we'll be enjoying popcorn and reading this:
"December 20 - Popcorn kernels to make popcorn! Jesus talked about corn and serving Him in this passage: John 12:24-26."

White Christmas?!?

We have had really strange weather this year. The snow was wonderful all through November; everyone was commenting on how unusual it was to have all of November without a thaw. Then December came and it all melted. This weekend we saw a hard rainstorm, followed by a rainbow! Now it's starting to get colder again. Yesterday was beautiful, and today promises to be about the same: fresh snow on the ground, clear blue skies and SUNSHINE. Now that's what winter should be here!

Here are photos from the past few days of advent:

Feeding raisins to the bag monster
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

. . . on December 16.

Planting our seeds
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

. . . on December 17. They made me laugh so hard on Sunday. I had to bring Raia home from church early. When Jaan returned later with Will, Raia attacked her big brother with enough squeals and hugs to make it seem like she hadn't seen him in a year. And in the midst of that Jaan announced, "We saw fireworks! I wasn't scared, but Papa was."

Christmas carols!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

. . . on December 18. (Maybe this photo is better?)

We'll continue learning about Jesus tonight with
"December 19 - A hard stone! Can you change this stone into a piece of bread? Do you think Jesus could? Jesus was asked to do just that. Do
know how He handled it? Read: Matthew 4:1-4."

Then we're headed off to the orphanage to enjoy some time with the children and see the Christmas movie Will's going to be showing them.

God takes care of the flowers

And He takes care of us!


God takes care of the flowers
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

They were just plain dried flowers, but I sprinkled them with lavender oil, to make them special.

We have a few busy days ahead. Here's for today
"December 16 - Raisins! They are made from grapes, which are a healthy and delicious fruit. Jesus told us how we can produce good fruit. Read: John 15:1-5."
Ilyusha is coming over to play before the youth meeting, so we'll probably include him in this.

And tomorrow
"December 17 - Jesus told a story about seeds that a man planted. Then He explained it, revealing its deep meaning. Read: Matthew 13:3-8 and Matthew 13:18-23."

And Monday
"December 18 -Christmas is just about a week away. And here is an appropriate song. Sing it loudly! The angels also praised God when Jesus was born. Read: Luke 2:8-14."

Had I mentioned that Raia's favorite Christmas carol is "The Wise Man Built His House upon the Rock"?


Letting Mama smell
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Building on the Rock

. . . or on the sand?
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Now we'll do
"December 15 - Flowers are pretty, aren't they? Jesus used flowers to teach us a reassuring lesson. Read: Matthew 6:28-34."

I forgot to tell about Raia's new word: какао (hot chocolate). The day before yesterday, Jaan was trying to convince me that he needed hot chocolate, he finished his argument with, "Видишь, даже Ляля хочет какао. Да, Ляля?" ("See, even Baby wants hot chocolate. Right, Baby?") She nodded her head vigorously, which I would have expected, but then she shocked both of us by saying "КАКАО!" loud and clear. Now whenever she wants a drink she says какао (but she'll happily accept water).

Salt!

Raia wants some, too.
Originally uploaded by fylliska.
And right now Jaan is asking if he can climb the Christmas tree! I haven't been quoting him as much lately, but he still keeps me laughing.

Last night (and all of yesterday) went wonderfully, even though we missed Will. He's back now, sleeping. Tonight we'll be reading
"December 14 - Don't try to eat this! It's sand. It reminds us that Jesus knows something about architecture, about buildings--and building lives. See His instructions: Matthew 7:24-29."

Yesterday we actually made it outside and stayed out for a long time. We've been sitting inside a lot more than I like to, but the mud was almost impossible to navigate with two little ones who fall into puddles. Yesterday was drier. One babushka just kept shaking her head over the fact that Jaan and Raia were riding a tricycle in December. It is rather strange! Most of the time we were outside we followed a huge flock of waxwings around. They're usually in pretty big groups, but this much have been a convention. I've never seen so many in once place, at one time. Raia was so excited! She would just stand, looking up, saying "тица! тица!" and then start trying to jump. I think she wanted to fly up to them.

Now Raia's putting her bears to bed in my lap: "Shh, Mama!" Life is wonderful!

More advent pictures

Crosses!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Putting it on the Christmas tree
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Last night we put one on the tree and one on our display shelf. Which reminds me: we haven't shown you our shelf!

The review shelf
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

This is just from the first week. Now we've moved down, and we're filling up the next one. Every day we look at our display and talk about what each little thing reminds us of.

Pray for us tonight without Papa! (He's in Moscow for the day.)
"December 13 - Ordinary salt. Yes, Jesus related salt to us and our behavior. He also gave us some advice. Read: Matthew 5:13 and Colossians 4:6.

Advent day 11

Hearts!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

While Will was hiding the bags, lighting the candles and getting the living room ready, we made hot chocolate and tea. Jaan and Raia were thrilled to find heart cookies and share a special snack.

Reading
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

"Слава Богу"
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Jaan always wants to sing "слава Богу" ("praise God") and nothing else, so last night we switched to learning a different Christmas carol: "Слава, слава Богу в вышних." Papa even let him help play it on the guitar! (Note the book lying open there. Jaan usually uses the animal book that has been his favorite since he was a baby as his hymnbook. It makes perfect sense to me, looking at God's creatures and praising Him!)

Cleaning up
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

This made me laugh. When we were done, Jaan helped me clean up. We were too early, though. Raia wasn't done eating. She came back with her crumbly cookies, so Jaan sat right by her with the vacuum and cleaned up crumbs as she dropped them.

Next reading:
"December 12 - We use the cross as a symbol, representing Jesus. Do you know why? Read: Phillipians 2:1-11."

Busy day

Soap!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Last night, we came home from a long day at church with no naps, had a quick supper, and then visited with our friends from Viazniki. After all that, Jaan and Raia were too tired for much at all, but they found the bars of soap, listened to the story, and then fell into bed.

Today we'll be able to sing and draw the special time out a little more.
"December 11 - Hearts. Wordlessly, they speak of love, don't they? Jesus gave us some commands about love. Read: Matthew 22:37-40."
(I fixed the reference.)

Houses, soap and a painting

A house!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

For tonight:
"December 10 - It's soap. Do you like to wash? Washing turned out to be a happy time for a man who met Jesus. Read: John 9:1-7."

Also, I finished another bird painting yesterday. I was looking out our windows and at this picture while I painted. You can compare and let me know what you think. I'm not completely satisfied, so I'm very open to tips, suggestions, and constructive criticism.

Boats!

Sailing?
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Last night's story is one of my favorites, and it reminded me of a beloved poem that I haven't thought of for a while:
Thou art the Lord who slept upon the pillow;
Thou art the Lord who soothed the furious sea.
What matter beating wind and tossing billow
If only we are in the boat with Thee?

Hold us in quiet through the age-long minute
While Thou art silent, and the wind is shrill:
Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, art in it?
Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?--Amy Carmichael



Right after nap time, we'll be learning about
"December 9 - A house! Jesus told us about a home that he is making for us. Read: John 14:1-6."

This evening is Ilyusha's birthday party, combined with a youth fellowship time!

Fish again

Sharing
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



Last night we had fish crackers and another story about Jesus and fish. The picture above is of Raia sharing her crackers with a bear, while she listened to the story and songs. She kept pressing the fish into his stomach, instead of his mouth!

She's turned into a little mother recently. One of her favorite things to do is drag all the stuffed animals and her matryoshki to the couch, cover them with blankets, and then go around telling all of us to be quiet. A few days ago Jaan had to go to bed early, because he was fussing. She kept tucking him in and saying "shh!"

Tonight will be:
"December 8 - What a nice little boat! But would you want to be in it during a storm? With Jesus you would be safe. Jesus can control the weather. Read: Matthew 8:23-27."

Our fall update

Ring those bells!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

From Day 6 of advent.

Here's the fall newsletter that I wrote a few days ago:

November 30, 2006

Dear friends and family,
Now it’s my turn to write! I’ll say first of all that we really love to hear from you. Please let us know how you’re doing, and if you’re sending out a Christmas letter, you can add us to your mailing list.

This is officially our fall update, but it seems like autumn turned into winter here a long time ago already. I’ll just summarize:
We are doing very well. Jaan and Raia are growing like weeds. Jaan’s full of questions and busyness, and he’s a really good helper these days. Raia is suffering from four molars coming through at once, but that hasn’t slowed her down much. She’s just starting to say a few words, like “tee,” for смотри which is ‘look’ in Russian.* Right now, as I write, both Jaan and Raia are running full speed around our apartment and yelling for joy, one of their favorite things to do.

September marked the beginning of the school year and the regular round of activities here. We’ve been enjoying Bible lessons at the orphanage. Two girls from church teach them; Will helps and leads music. Jaan, Raia and I go off and on, just to be with the children there. This year two of the classes are completely new, and neither is easy to work with. The energy and emotion levels are always at the point of boiling over, and eruptions are a frequent occurrence, i.e. songs with hand motions are almost sure to turn into a pile of kids fighting, among other difficulties.

Gospelink work keeps Will quite busy at times. That ministry is growing little by little in Russia. Keeping up with the organization and coordinating is always a challenge. Will is responsible to collect quarterly reports, translate many of them, and distribute the support money to the men here. We enjoy the opportunity to get to know Russian pastors and missionaries and help them in some way, but we sometimes feel like we’re in over our heads.

Will is also still the youth leader for our local church. Right now the “youth group” is mostly young families, and we find it hard to get together, because some little one is always sick or there are schedule conflicts or. . . . Still, when we are able to pull something off, it is wonderful. Just this last Saturday, we had most of the group over for an evening of fellowship, and we’re hoping to see that become a more regular event.

The place where our church has rented for over a year is no longer available, so we had our last service there in October and moved on. The oldest member of the church went to be with the Lord and left her apartment to the church. Will and Pavel worked full-time for several weeks getting it cleared out and fixed up. It’s a very tight squeeze to fit 20-30 people into a one-room apartment, but it’s working for now. Some of the girls from the summer day camp had been coming to Sunday school, and their parents are continuing to allow them to come to the apartment for that, which is pretty remarkable here.

Prayer Requests:
We really appreciate your prayers and support. Here are a few specific prayer requests, related to what I’ve written about:
1. For the Bible lessons at the orphanage: Praise the Lord that we’re able to be back in there! Please pray especially for wisdom and love in working with the challenging new fourth grade classes.
2. That we would be able to keep up with Gospelink work and that we would be able to continue to help more Russian pastors through this ministry.
3. Pray with us that we would be able to have regular youth meetings for the young people in our church.
4. We are all praying for a better, long-term place for the church to meet.

Like I said, this was just a summary of what our fall was like. Please write if you have questions.

Thank you again for your prayers, your gifts, notes and letters! We thank and praise God that we have friends and family who love us, and through whom we can clearly see the love and provision of our Heavenly Father. Again, let us know how we can be praying for you!
Because of Christ,
Phyllis for the whole family



*Today Raia started saying "bird" in Russian. So far, her first words are almost all the same as Jaan's were.

"Вы свет мира"

"You are the light of the world"
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

For tomorrow, fish crackers! (If we do this again next year, I'll have to try to get some from America. The fish crackers here are plain and flavorless.)
"December 7 - These would not go very far if you were really hungry! But Jesus could make much out of little. Read: Matthew 14:13-21."

Aunt Leetra (and fish!)

There was some recent discussion of whether or not Raia looks like my sister Leetra. What do you think? (Thanks, Mom and Dad! Leetra, I still want to see the one where you say you're making the same face as Raia makes. )

Baby Leetra
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Phyllis and Leetra
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Phyllis and Leetra again
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

This is where I think they start to look alike. It's the blond hair and blue eyes.

Leetra
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Here she is now. I also posted old pictures of us. They're not nearly as good as Mom and Dad's here, but you can look, if you want.

Now, from last night:

Fish!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

(No, it was not cold in here. Our neighbors had just brought over a new coat for Jaan, and he wanted to wear it all evening.)

It was so nice to have Will here for three evenings in a row! That's rare. I thought we could do our reading without him last night. It went okay, but today we'll do it in the afternoon before he leaves. It was just too chaotic. I can't both wrangle the children and read to them very well. They heard the story, and we sang "Peter, James and John in a sailboat" over and over, but it wasn't the same without Papa!

Sleeping with his fish
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

Jaan fell asleep with his fish clutched in one hand and his bag in the other.

Today we have:
"December 5 - A birthday candle? As you know, we are getting ready to celebrate Jesus' birthday. However, Jesus talked about something else that is related to this candle. Read: Matthew 5:14-16."

And tomorrow:
"December 6 - You could make some noise with this. But it would not have bothered a certain man--until he met Jesus. Read: Mark 7:31-37."