Empty nest

 

We have an empty nest here. At least it's just temporary. I had planned that Bogdan, Asya, and I would all travel to help with a winter Christmas program, but I also agreed to be here to watch two little girls from Kherson when their baby brother is born. I thought he would have made his appearance well before it was time for us to go, but he had other plans. So, on Monday Asya went off by herself to serve. Her little dog, Leo, actually cried when we saw her off. Of course, he misses her when she is gone, but he hasn't seemed to understand the actual leaving before. Then, on Tuesday Bogdan went with his local friends to help in a program for kids in a nearby village. He's staying out there until Saturday. We hear very little from him, so I guess all is going well.

And we're not exactly sitting around crying here. Last night our small group came, getting restarted and catching up after a short break for the holidays. I have already been working through a good bit of reading, writing, and watching videos to catch up on a Young Life course I need to finish taking, and I'm working with the other Sunday school teachers to plan what's next there.

I'm waiting for this baby to be born....

Jaan's visit

Jaan and his girlfriend Yana came to visit us for part of his holiday break. They started out from Lithuania on Christmas Day, but didn't get here until the 27th. We really enjoyed our time together. Bogdan was especially glued to Jaan the whole time. He misses his big brother a lot! We ate good food, went on lots of walks, played, painted, celebrated the New Year together, and then said goodbye again.

Here are tons of photos:

(That's a baby nutria.)

Meanwhile, in Lithuania Raia was going for lots of walks with the cat and dog she's caring for and enjoying the holidays there:

We missed her! But we were glad she could rest there and that we could see Jaan and Yana here.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family!

 

I don't have a fresh family photo, but this one from the Capernaum Christmas program on Saturday seems festive. "Mary and Joseph" handed out presents at the end and posed for photos with the kids and their parents.

We have enjoyed the run up to Christmas this year, although by yesterday I was so tired that I pretty much just sat around all day. Now I'm ready to go again.

Last week we had:

• Wednesday: big music school Christmas concert (Bogdan at 46 minutes) and Bible study at our house
• Thursday: Bogdan and friends (the older Sunday school class) shopped and packed presents for kids in Kherson region; birthday party for Young Life leader; prep for Capernaum Christmas program
• Friday: small concert at music school
• Saturday: Capernaum! (This should have its own blog post from me later on.)
• Sunday: visiting puppet team for the Sunday school (I put a lot into planning and organizing this); Christmas lunch for Young Life leaders; baby shower

Now the snow is falling hard, and it looks like we'll have a white Christmas. Most of the big events are done. We just need to cook and prepare a little more and then we'll celebrate. 

(Unfortunately Capernaum has lost access to their Instagram account, but hopefully that will be fixed or there will be a new one soon.)

Thanksgivings

We had two Thanksgiving Days this year. Back in September our church had one together. There was a special church service, with a focus on thanking God even in the midst of darkness. Also, we wanted to remember and thank the people who are defending us. So, after church we had lunch together, and then we sold deserts to raise money for something Den’s brigade needed.

I made a lot of pumpkin pie for that sale, but our kids said that we still needed turkey, so this year we actually celebrated American Thanksgiving in our family on the same day as people in America did. We woke up that morning to another big attack (hello air defense explosions!) and went from “just two hours without electricity, that’s not bad” to emergency outages and then three hours off and three hours on for the rest of the day and night. Still we pulled together all the special foods. We actually started off with pie for lunch, since Asya had an orthodontist appointment and Bogdan had art class, then we had turkey and everything else late in the evening when they came back. It was a lovely holiday, and we thoroughly enjoyed the good food and time together.

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving (or two).

Concert

Last week Bogdan played in his first concert since... 2019? For our older kids music school concerts were a constant part of life. They probably could have taken part in them in their sleep. Bogdan hasn't had that experience much at all. His music school career was just starting when covid hit, then war. He has kept up with individual lessons, of course, and our Kherson music school does video concerts and contests, but that's a very different experience.

When we first arrived here in Ivano-Frankivsk, the music school that was across the road from our apartment loaned us an old bandura for him. It was all unofficial, and they were so kind to us. This year they have traded out with him to let him use a nicer instrument, and they have also taken him into an ensemble group. He's still officially at Kherson Music School #4, and his regular lessons and theory classes come from there, but he gets to play live every week with a group here now, too. Last week they performed in their first concert as a group.

They played third, about nine minutes into this:

It was very wonderful to be at a concert again, not just because of all the cute little kids and beautiful music, but because it almost feels like normal life. The concert was in honor of the Day of Dignity and Freedom.

I'm editing to add quotes and link here:

Lately, I’ve seen more comments on social media from foreigners doubting the horrors of Russia’s war against Ukraine, looking at photos and videos from Kyiv, Lviv, or Odesa, where dressed-up crowds attend concerts or sit at cafe terraces, appearing so normal.

Sleep or no sleep, makeup or blood and bruises, our reality is never normal. Not in the last 1,000 days. The truth is, the only way for the world to preserve its normalcy is to help us recover ours.

and

The only thing I can count on is how I will try to bring kindness and goodness into the world.

--1,000 days of full-scale war: Reflections from the Kyiv Independent team

 

And for anyone who didn’t recognise Bogdan, his proud mother will help:

11.11

Here we are at the second anniversary of the happiest day I've ever experienced. Remembering that day still brings me great joy. We've turned it into a holiday for our family, and we're remembering with everyone from Kherson.

There is a lot more pain mixed in, as time goes on, though. Kherson is still being terribly bombed. In fact, that just gets worse and worse with more and more weapons added to the mix. And the left bank of the Kherson region is still occupied and suffering greatly. Also, at first I might not have thought as much about the sacrifices made to get the city back, but now we remember the heroes who died, too.

I've been reading Testament of Youth for AmblesideOnline's Year 11, too, and I just actually realized that November 11 is also Armistice Day. Maybe I knew that before? The complicated mix of feelings is that book and at that time is very similar to what we feel here and now, I think: joy, pain, grief, hope.

Today I noticed this sign on the closest store and wrote in our family group, asking if they thought the store was also remembering the occupation of Kherson:

"No eggs"

Anyway, we're celebrating here with good foods we associate with Kherson and our experience of occupation, and with gifts of books to remember how much we read in November 2022 when there was no electricity and (almost) no connection with the outside world. 

 Happy Liberation of Kherson Day! And may all of Ukraine be free very soon!

Still here

I've been meaning to come back and say that it looks like we can stay in this house, thank you for praying. There are still many details to be worked out, though.

We've already moved on to the next problem, too: there is a young couple living above us in this house. They moved in at the same time as we did. Now he's been taken by the army. Please be praying for him, for them, for us. They don't know if she can stay here now; we are trying to help, if we can. 

Now what?

One month ago today I wrote that we were in the process of moving. Since then, we've really been enjoying this new house. It's so nice here that sometimes I feel like we're on vacation. But now our landlord has died, and we don't know what will be next. Will wrote more....

Praying for Kherson

It has been almost two years since that wonderful day when Kherson was liberated from occupation. Life there has not gotten easier, though. In fact, it has gotten worse. Artillery from across the river pounds the city all the time. Glide bombs and Shahed drones started after liberation, and in recent times little drones have really started terrorizing the people, going on "human safaris" to hunt them down. Still, our part of the city has been relatively safe. Strikes there happen, but not daily. Until recently. Now the city war administration is seriously endangering the people with plain stupidity (or worse). The leadership of our church has asked everyone to fast and pray today for safety, for the church, for the whole city. Please join us in prayer.

The verse the pastor gave today is:

Settling in, birthdays, Kyiv

We've been in this house for two weeks now, and we're loving it. The quiet and the yard and good places to walk (without crowds!) are amazing.

Also, Asya's birthday was a week ago. She actually wasn't here with us on the exact day, but before she left, we celebrated with her, and now she has returned to us. Her Kherson friend who has lived in Poland, then Zhytomyr, and now Kyiv, came to spend her own birthday with Asya. Their birthdays are only a few days apart, and they sometimes celebrated together when they were little. This year they were together again, and we actually did what Asya wanted last year: Papa cooked meat on the grill, and we had dinner outside.

Actual birthday in Kyiv

The plan was that Ira would spend a few days with us, then the girls would go to Lviv together for a day, then Ira would head back to Kyiv. Asya already had a ticket to go to Kyiv on Friday, because she needs a new passport, so they would be seeing each other again soon. However they begged and begged for Asya to go earlier with Ira, and we gave in. That means Asya got to be in Kyiv for the whole week, helping our friends move to another apartment and spending time with Ira and other friends.

Will and Bogdan went to join Asya on Friday-Saturday. We had thought we would take a whole family trip to Kyiv for the passport and to see all our TCI friends, but when we found out that Asya only needed one parent with her at the embassy (little kids are required to have both with them, but big kids don't have to), I stayed back with Leo. Will, Asya, and Bogdan had a busy weekend in Kyiv, and Leo and I had a quiet time here. Mostly we just enjoyed the quiet and saw lots of rain. I also had several Zoom calls and time to think, read, and write.

 

Now we're back together. The travelers are tired, I'm well-rested, and the dog is overjoyed.

Moving!

We are now in the process of moving to the other side of Ivano-Frankivsk. We'll be just outside the city limits in a house.

Here are some still photos from the advertisement video we saw:

The landlord lives in the garage/half-basement level, we’ll be renting the first floor, and a young couple will be above us. This apartment we're in has been what we needed, and it was good to have a place for our small group to meet, but it's been hard for some of us to be right here in the loud, bustling, crowded center of the city, without a yard. We're looking forward to a quieter place, even though it's farther away from everything. Our little dog will get to run around outside! It will be cheaper, too.

This will be the tenth (?) place Will and I have lived in. We hate the moving process, but at least this time we don't have too much stuff to move. Although, we have accumulated some here. It's confusing, too, because we came with almost nothing, and then people gave and loaned us things from several directions. I don't know who brought what and what is actually ours. We'll get it sorted out and move, and then we can let out a big sigh of relief.