They make me laugh

Some of these are quite old.  I've been writing them down, but I haven't had a chance to share them.  Funny things they say. . . .

Raia, reading to herself: "And so, we read as it is written in the Bible, on Thanksgiving Day the camels ascended to heaven."

Jaan on the first snow day, after having a snow fight with Raia, stopped to write their initials in the snow: "That means that we had a happy war, a Cold War."  (I don't think he has ever heard that term in any other context.)

Almost every morning at breakfast, Raia talks about "movies" that she's watched.  After several months of hearing about bizarre films that we "watched in America (or Russia)" I finally figured out that she's talking about her dreams!  She still says, "Mama, do you remember when we watched that movie about. . . ?" almost every morning.

We have taught Asya to sign "please" to avoid fussing and crying for what she wants.  What makes me laugh is that when she does get upset and throws a fit, she always accompanies it with very emphatic and angry "please" signs.  Somehow it's funny to see her having a polite fit.

Jaan commanding: "Raia, don't walk close to the building, because an icicle could fall on your head and make a hole.  Then the cold air would get in, and your brain wouldn't work anymore!"

This was another laugh. Did you notice Raia's swollen face in the reindeer photo? When we were outside one morning last week, she slipped on ice and hurt both of her lips. I promised ice cream for when we came in. Well, after everyone had ice cream to help Raia feel better, Asya kept walking around with her plate, licking it and hoping for more.

You know, none of this is hilariously funny, but it's true that these children sure do make me laugh!  I wish you could actually see and hear them!

More hawk adventures

Just after I first wrote about our Sparrowhawk, it came by again.  That time it interrupted our lunch by flying right past the window, carrying a little bird.  It then perched across from us to eat.  Fortunately not too close!  None of that was good for our tender bird-watching hearts!

Then, just a few days ago, as we ate breakfast, the hawk swopped by again.  All the little birds scattered.  All except one.  One little sparrow crouched down on the side of the feeder closest to us and hid there, perfectly still.  After a while, I even started to think that maybe it had suffered a heart attack and died there.  Then we heard a little "peep."  It cautiously and slowly lifted its head, but it stayed right there on back side of the birdfeeder.  We had a great time watching it.  Sparrows don't usually sit still for long.  Finally, it darted away to safety in a bush.

Happy Baptism!

Instead of going back and writing about holidays already past, I'll tell you about what happened today.  Today is Baptism, when we celebrate Christ's baptism in the Jordan.  I didn't want to take our children to church today.  (They had a long day of church yesterday.  We had a great village visit!)  So, we stayed home, colored pictures of the story of Jesus' baptism and listened to it retold.  Then Will went off to church, and we went outside.

It is such a beautiful day!  People were going down to the water in droves, so we followed.  Everyone was giving holiday greetings, but they didn't quite look like the crowd I would have expected.  I was thinking that maybe we would finally get to see a water blessing service.  Instead it looked like most Russian holidays: an excuse to drink.  Everyone was undressing, jumping into a hole in the ice, then drinking vodka to warm up.  Not exactly a family-friendly atmosphere.  Still, Jaan said, "It's just like John and Jesus!"  We stopped to have our snack, and the group next to us was warming up.  I listened as they toasted, "Happy Baptism!"  Swallow down the vodka.  "Lord, forgive us!"  Repeat.

By then it was almost lunch and nap time, so we came home.  Will came in just as we did, and mentioned that he had overheard people saying that the water blessing would be at noon.  He suggested that I run back down with the camera, while he fed the children.  He didn't have to say that twice!

So, here you have a few lovely photographs of the event.  It was completely different down there the second time.

Christmas caroling

I hardly know what to post from the holidays.  Should I even go back and try?  Here's one quickie, from just one event: caroling!  I did post that video.  Our evening was quite similar to that.  First we went around to the church babushki in the city at their apartments and randomly through part of the hospital.  Then we got in cars and went on a whirlwind tour of several villages.

A few of the youth before starting out
Jaan holds the star
Singing inside one of the village homes
Warming up at the end(It was so cold that night!)

Christmas--and especially Christmas caroling--is very Ukrainian, not Russian. I always heard in Russia about how people go caroling in Ukraine. Now we've experienced that! As you know, we're in the Russian-speaking part of Ukraine. But that night we sang mostly in Ukrainian. A funny language story: One of the young guys from church was greeting everyone and giving a little speech in Ukrainian. I thought it was kind of funny, since I had never heard him speak Ukrainian before. At one home he started off, and the babushka stopped him, saying that she didn't understand Ukrainian. He answered, "Well, neither do I!"

Winter birds

We've had some good bird sightings and adventures lately!

There's been a Nutcracker (Кедровка) hanging around. At least, we assume there's just one. They're not native; I've read that they travel a good bit in the winter time.  I wonder where this one came from?  It's absolutely unafraid of people.  We've seen it several times, hopping around in the center of town. The main street is planted with various conifers, and that must be what draws it to here. (Addition: it's taken me several days to write this. There is definitely more than one! This morning one was screaming right outside our bedroom window.  While the children and I sat on the bed, watching and trying to figure out what it was so upset or excited about, two more arrived!  And then another two!  We imagined that the first was our friend that we've been seeing around, and that it was giving some new arrivals a tour.  It really did look like that.)

One day when Asya was particularly fussy and didn't even want to walk around on her own outside, she and I really enjoyed watching a Treecreeper (Пищуха). It was also not afraid of us, so we were able to follow it from tree to tree and get really close. Because we were so close, she could really see it and observe. Every time it would appear around the tree truck, she would point and say, "coo-coo" like peek-a-boo.

I was going to say this was our best adventure, until what happened yesterday: a few weeks ago on the way to church we stopped to watch a tiny brown bird hunting for food, going up and down tree trunks. (Jaan made the interesting observation that it must be a woodpecker, because of the way it moved. He was wrong, but I was surprised that he would make that connection.) As we stood there silently, the tiny bird flew straight at us, and it landed right on my arm! It was just for a moment, but still. . . ! When we came home and looked it up, we discovered that it was a Winter Wren (Крапивник).

Not too long ago, I noticed new little birds hanging out in the ash tree across from our windows and all around the entrance to our staircase: Chaffinches (Зяблики). They're very pretty! At first glance, I thought one of my beloved снегирь--a female--had come from Russia.  Did you go read the article on chaffinches?  We found this fascinating: "In Belgium, the ancient traditional sport of vinkenzetting pits male chaffinches against one another in a contest for the most bird calls in an hour."

Our book says that chaffinches often come in mixed flocks with Bramblings (Вьюрки). Sure enough, about a week after I first noticed the chaffinches, I saw some other bright colors mixed in.  Now they're both out there every day.  We haven't had any on our feeder, but they're almost always visible nearby.

The day before yesterday, on our way to go sledding, Jaan, Raia and I heard a woodpecker tapping.  We found it right down near the ground, and it was yellow!  Not black and white and red like what we usually see.  We watched for a while and could even see its long tongue.  When we got home, we looked it up and learned that it was a Grey-headed Woodpecker (Седоголовый дятел).

Now, the most exciting adventure! Yesterday, we were sitting in the kitchen having after-nap tea time, and a Sparrowhawk (Ястреб-перепелятник) swooped down on our feeder!  I almost choked and started yelling.  The children didn't see it, because it was moving so fast, but they got almost as excited as I was, once we brought out the books and looked it up.  I'm pretty sure that it didn't catch anything, and Jaan and Raia are quite happy with that.  Jaan wants to find a big stick and stay outside all the time to defend the little birds.  I've seen Sparrowhawks two other times recently and not been entirely sure of what they were.  Now I'm sure.  The first time we saw one, we were out walking. We did got a good look, but do you know how many reddish hawk-like birds there are in the books?  Another time we were out at the playground, and I saw one flash by.  It was kind of unreal, there in the very center of town, people around everywhere, and no one else saw it.  Having one hunting off of our bird feeder was very exciting, but we're really hoping it doesn't happen again.

And people say that there aren't any interesting birds here?!?!?

(All the photos here are from Wikipedia.  Click on them to go to the source articles.)

Jesus' birthday present

Remember we were saving to get a present for Jesus' birthday?  One cold morning last week, Jaan, Raia and I went to the market to choose something.  There were hardly any toys left after the New Years rush, so we ended up getting something close to Raia's original idea: a basketball!  It was about all that was left, but they were very pleased with their choice.

Even though Jaan understands that we actually sent it to a needy child, he wanted to know if Jesus knows how to play basketball. Then he answered his own question, "Of course! Jesus can do anything!"

Advent reference

Now that the Christmas season is over, I'm moving this from the sidebar to here.

Jesus is Our Greatest Treasure!

(This is my adaptation of Noel Piper's Advent story. For more details of our Advent plans, read here.)

Start from the top and read it all every day. . . .


DEC. 1 - Jesus is the greatest Treasure of all. This is the story of how he came to us.

Long ago, God made a promise about a little town named Bethlehem. He said, “O Bethlehem . . . from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.” Jesus is the King God promised to send.

One time, a long time ago, in Bethlehem there was a place called a STABLE...

DEC. 2 - In the stable there was a MANGER, filled with hay . . .
(and so on. Desiring God is so generous with their resources! Last year when they sent me the file with the story, they said that I could pass it on. Let me know, if you want me to email it you.)

Learning about Jesus

(These are our nightly lessons for the Advent season. We did the same thing two years ago. This is adapted from a similar list found in various places around the internet.)


1
25 kopecks! There are also 25 days until Christmas, when God gave us His best present. Jesus told about one woman's gift and the way she gave it. Read: Mark 12:41-44.

2
Grape candy! Grapes make jelly and juice, raisins and wine. But Jesus didn't need grapes to perform His first miracle. Read: John 2:1-10.

3
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.

4
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.

5
These would not go very far if you were really hungry! But Jesus could make much out of little. Read: Matthew 14:13-21.

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.

7
Here's a smile! A smile usually expresses happiness. Jesus gave us many instructions to keep us happy. Read: Matthew 5:1-12.

8
Fish! Well, if you were surprised to find these fish, wait till you read the story today! Others were surprised to find fish, too. Read: Luke 5:4-7.

9
A house! Jesus told us about a home that he is making for us. Read: John 14:1-6

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.

11
Hearts. Wordlessly, they speak of love, don't they? Jesus gave us some commands about love. Read: Matthew 22:37-40.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 you know how He handled it? Read: Matthew 4:1-4.

20
Popcorn kernels to make popcorn! Jesus talked about corn and serving Him in this passage: John 12:24-26.

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.
(Couldn't find the mustard seeds.)
Try to smooth out this piece of aluminum foil and use it as a mirror. It's hard to see your reflection plainly, isn't it? Many circumstances are hard to understand, but someday everything will be clear. Read: 1 Corinthians 13:12.

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

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.

24
Воздушный шарик! Знаешь что ещё называеться шар? Земной шар. Наш мир. Бог создал мир, и Он любит всех в мире. Читать: Иоанна 3:16.

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 holidays are over

. . . and this is what we feel like:

Asya, asleep after the Christmas service yesterday

Our evening

(Well, it was almost like that. )

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

The title doesn't have much to do with anything, except that it's what I did this morning. Actually, I guess it does apply, because we've been doing a lot of that the past few days. It's BEAUTIFUL here! This is what January should be like. Winter, finally!

I just wanted to say sorry for the break from posting. We've been very busy. Today is actually a rest day, but I need to spend my free time at the computer dealing with some nasty computer problems, instead of writing. (Pray that I can get everything backed up!)

Here are the rest of the photos that I took on a walk this morning. I still haven't posted the last few Advent photos, but I don't know when that will be possible. I do have them, but I can't get to them now. Sigh.

Poems!

Jaan and Raia have been working on two different poems to recite at church on Christmas.  Last night I tried to catch one of our practices on video.  After about 20 clips of pouting, Asya making noise, someone taking the microphone apart, and more, I finally got this one.  At least you can see most of Raia's part.  (I missed the first line.)  Jaan couldn't say his half, because the microphone wasn't properly plugged into his helmet.

Я еще не умею читать,
И немного умею считать,
Но я знаю, что праздник настал -
День рождения Иисуса Христа.

И я слышал о том, что Христос
Людям счастье и радость принес.
Хорошо, что ко всем Он пришел,
И что есть Рождество - хорошо!

From here.


I still can't read
And I can only count a little,
But I know that a holiday has come -
The birthday of Jesus Christ.

And I've heard that Christ
Brought happiness and joy to people.
It's good that He came to everyone,
and that there is Christmas - it's good!

'Tis the season to be busy

Feels like... New Year's is in the air!  Everyone is scurrying around buying up groceries, gifts, vodka and fireworks, getting ready for the Big Night of the year. And we're slowly recovering from our own personal "Christmas holidays."

We greatly enjoyed being able to slowly build up to celebrating Christmas with our family this year, as we daily reflected on the Advent of our Saviour. One of the nicer things about having two separate dates on which we remember Christ's birth  is that one can be our own, very personal celebration, and one can be the 'Big Church Holiday.'  

I thought this might be a good time to fill you all in a bit on the daily ins and outs of our involvement with our new church family here.  I'll just hit the high points of the past couple of weeks, starting with:

Sunday - 

Choir practice in the morning before church, singing in the choir, singing solos, and preaching from 1 Peter, 1 Timothy, and Titus on how the (older) women in the church can be an even greater blessing to us all.  Home for a quick lunch and nap, then we all were out again to visit with the youth at one of their apartments. We shared a simple supper and had a good time just enjoying one another's company. Phyllis and the children stayed for quite a while, but I left early to be at church for the evening service. 

Tuesday -

Tuesday evenings are 'Brother's Meetings' which can be an evening of discussing solutions to different challenges in ministry, settling questions as to nuances of church practice or even teaching that have come up. It can also turn out be purely a 'work day', doing anything from working on building a bathroom, to moving benches and tables for a special service. This past Tuesday, I spent most of my time there helping with preparations and decorations for the Christmas evening service the next day. (A whooole lot of untangling Christmas lights, trying to re-wire them to function in ways their designers never intended.) After most of the work was done, we had tea and cake in honor of a 1-year anniversary of one of our couples. 

Wednesday-

Wednesday evenings are Youth prayer meeting/Bible study nights. I've been leading those more and more recently. Sometimes I'll ask one of the youth to prepare a short devotional as well. We are currently working our way through 1st John. We went through 1 John 4:17-19, reflecting on the wonder of all that we can have and hold fast to if we allow God's love to grow and be perfected in us and be displayed through us. 

We wrapped up with prayer about what we had read;  then had a separate time of sharing personal testimonies of answered prayer and personal needs that we prayed about together. Then one of the youth and I went to visit his brother who is in the hospital following an operation. We sat and talked, trying to encourage him a bit. I sang a few Christmas carols for him, and we left.

Thursday - 

Well, that was Christmas Day, yes? That evening, our whole family was at church.  Even though the 25th is not the 'Big Holiday,' we had an informal Christmas service for our church family. People invited family members who don't usually come to church, we had cookies and tea, a time for personal sharing, sang traditional Ukrainian Christmas carols together, and generally enjoyed the fellowship with one another. I shared very briefly, sang a couple of Christmas carols, sang with our children, accompanied another soloist, sang with choir... lots of singing, lots of fun, a good time. 

Friday-

We had a choir practice for a couple of hours - it's usually Thursday evenings, and then several of the youth went to a birthday party for the child of one of the young families ion the church. I hurried home and helped get Phyllis and the children over there. We were able to visit for a while with this young mother who we have not seen as much of as we would like, and hopefully were able to encourage her a bit. 

Saturday - 

The youth  has a fellowship time every Saturday evening, and even with the holidays, we met as usual. I've been leading these as well, discussing random topics that the youth themselves  have asked to study. We've covered quite a range of topics, so far: Great White Throne as distinct from Judgement Seat of Christ; Pagan Roots of Christmas (are Christmas trees ok in church? or: christian freedom and discernment in areas of disagreement); Why are we Baptists? (how our teaching differs from that of other protestant denominations and 'Christian' cults found here in Ukraine), etc. 

This Saturday, we wrapped up our more formal fellowship time and then visited with a church member who had just returned from 3 months in a rehab center and was very glad just to see us all again. As we drank tea, we also were offering help and comments to those who were re-decorating the hall for the Christmas season.

Sunday -

choir practice again, taking Raia with me to help Phyllis a bit. Sang a song with the youth that we had practiced the night before. Helped lead the congregation in 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing,' a new song for most. Sang with the choir, of course, but had a 'light Sunday' in other respects, not being asked to share the message I'd prepared. 

That evening, one of the girls from church came over, a true servant leader in our group. She worked with Phyllis for quite a while on a slideshow for New Years. 

There you have it, a 'small glimpse' into our daily contact with and support of the church here. Please be praying for strength during the next few days! Tomorrow we meet at 10pm, and from 11pm to ...6am probably, the next morning, we'll be 'seeing in the New Year' together!  I was asked to share a call to prayer as we meet the New Year in prayer at midnight, as well as being partly responsible for planning an hour of time  -  from 3am to 4am!!  Then there's a trip to a church in a city a couple of hours away planned on Saturday. We're all going, and I'll be preaching and singing. Then Sunday as usual... and I don't know exactly what the plans are for Christmas Day, on the 7th - but I know we'll be involved! 

Pray for stamina for all of us, and that Phyllis would be able to be as involved as is possible. This is a great time to get a lot of visiting in, and she has not been able to get to know people as well as I have, having her very own personal 'youth group' to keep up with! 

Thank you for your prayers during this Holiday season, may the Lord bless you for the support of your love, friendship, and many prayers for our family.  

The Christmas report

We had a wonderful day yesterday, celebrating Jesus' birth.  December 25 isn't much of a holiday here in general, but we call it "Family Christmas," and it's a big deal for us.  We'll celebrate "Church Christmas" in two weeks.  (Russian and Ukrainian churches celebrate Christmas on January 7.  Interesting note: in Russia people usually refer to the 25th as "Western Christmas"; here it's "Catholic Christmas.")

I'll show you our day, mostly with photos.  First thing in the morning:

Special morning snack, while watching the snow come downWe are so happy to finally have snow on the ground!  It fell for two days, and it's just beautiful now!
Raia sees Baby Jesus in the manger!She noticed first, and ran--like the shepherds--to tell everyone the good news.  After that we had our last installment of Advent, which included reading the Christmas story.
Brunch!We had a wonderful meal of cinnamon rolls and quiche, with special straws for the juice.  The cinnamon rolls have funny stories to tell: first, on Christmas Eve I started the dough, and then went to put the children to bed while it rose.  When I came back, it was running down off the table, onto a stool, and then on down to the floor!  And the next morning when I was actually making the rolls, while the children literally climbed all over me, I kept thinking something was missing, but I couldn't figure out what.  Only after I had the whole first batch in the pan, did I realize that I had left off the main ingredient: cinnamon!
After brunch, we dressed in tons of layers and headed out to enjoy the snow.  The school near us has a great hill, and the kids have poured plenty of water on it.  Raia was pretty scared of the whole idea, but she went down a few times with Papa.  The one time that Will sent her down by herself, she screamed and cried the whole time.  Jaan was right in there with the big kids, and Asya couldn't get enough of sliding with Papa.  Everything was just so beautiful, too!  Jaan says that he wants to live outside in the snow and never come in.
This is how we went out
On our way to the ice slide(That's our building in the background, by the way, for those curious people who study every detail.)
This is how we came back in

While everyone else napped, I fixed a simple Christmas dinner.  They sure slept soundly after all that fun out in the cold!  Asya did not like the idea of having her meals switched around.  I think she felt cheated by the fact that we combined them.  She was glad to see a good dinner when she woke up, though.

Yum!
Happy Birthday Jesus!This year we sang happy birthday to Jesus and blew out the candles on the cake at home, and then we took it to church to eat there.
Tea at church
Jaan and Papa sing a duet
Will singing with the youthThe time at church was a perfect close to the day.  It really felt like we celebrated all day long!

Gifts of Christmas

The greatest Gift of all is Jesus. This year for His birthday God gave me so many other extra gifts, too!

688. Secret, late night walk to the grocery store on Christmas Eve
689. Children's joy in celebrating Jesus
690. SNOW!
691. Snow glittering
692. Snow falling in big flakes
693. Snow crunching underfoot
694. Snow on pines
695. Snow angels
696. Snow babies
697. SNOW!
698. Water (There was a note up, saying that the water service had run out of money again, so the water would be going off on the morning of December 25. It's still on!)
699. The fragrance and colors of the spices for Caribbean chicken
700, Laughter
701. Family fun outside
702. Coming in for tea
703. Tired children, sleeping long and peacefully
704. Quiet home, soft music, dim lights
705. The happy din when they wake up!
706. Neighbor dropping by with present of fruit. He just meant to say he was sorry and wish us an early happy New Year, but he accidentally landed on Christmas.

707. Tea at church!

708. Walking home after church in the snow, with friends


I haven't been posting my list lately. There's a whole lot to catch up with! I just wanted to capture some of the delights of one beautiful day right now, though.

Merry CHRISTmas!

I didn't get Christmas photos sent off like I wanted to. There's never enough time to do everything! I hope you enjoy this just as much. Have a wonderful day, celebrating the birth of our Savior!

(Or if you want to watch a longer card, with a different photo, here's the other one I made.)

Twenty-second night: The Holy Spirit, like a Dove

Raia, showing her dove
(They didn't want to cooperate for photos last night.)
Reading from a book by Aleksandr Men', about the Life of Christ

Advent and more

Twenty-first night: Someday we will see clearly

Trying to make a clear mirror
Asya works with her foil

Twentieth night: "Unless a corn of wheat. . ."

Popcorn!

And more:

Angel, shepherd and. . . ?Raia made this lovely monochromatic masterpiece yesterday.  See the shepherd, standing with his arms outstretched?  And the angel flying by?  And the flock of. . . koloboks!

And it's snowing!  Finally, something more than just the lightest powder.  There were even some snowflakes this morning.  Up until now, even when there has been a bit of white stuff, it's so fine that you can hardly see it, and it definitely hasn't been flakes.  If Christmas were today, I'm still not sure that we could say that it was a white Christmas, but at least a whiter one.  And we still have a few days for it to accumulate.  I hope!

This morning Will and Jaan went out to our dacha to see about getting the electricity hooked up.  (Raia and Asya and I stayed home and made gingerbread men.)  They found the electrician, but he didn't want to work today.  He'll come on Wednesday, though.  Here are some photos from their trek:

See the green, peeping through the white?
On the way back from the dacha
The church in the snow