I'm off to Canada for a short trip this weekend. I was asked to come to Missions Fest in Vancouver, BC and help with the booth for my Canadian mission. Missions Fest is a big conference with thousands of people coming so it is a chance to let some more people know what we are doing.
I would appreciate prayer for travels, health, and mostly that God would bring the right people to the booth and make it a worthwhile time for us there.
I fly up on Thursday afternoon, set up our booth in the evening, then Friday-Sunday the conference runs all day, and I fly out Monday around noon.
I'll be there with our Canadian mission director so that will also be a chance for us to get a little better acquainted.
I could also use some prayer for the remainder of my preparations as there have been some miscommunications and I also still have some things I need to pull together today and tomorrow before I leave.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Welcome Baby Seraya!
I am very happy to welcome my newest niece, Seraya Jane Bible, into the world!
She arrived last Wednesday, January 19, somewhere very close to January 18.
She changes every time I see her. It's amazing! And suddenly her two older sisters look so much bigger! I got to babysit Vienna and Ziva for a few days while their mom and dad were at the hospital with baby Seraya. It was good. And I was very tired when we were done! lol
She arrived last Wednesday, January 19, somewhere very close to January 18.
She changes every time I see her. It's amazing! And suddenly her two older sisters look so much bigger! I got to babysit Vienna and Ziva for a few days while their mom and dad were at the hospital with baby Seraya. It was good. And I was very tired when we were done! lol
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Migraines
Just have a quick prayer request. I've been having migraines for several days in a row. Yesterday's was one of the most severe I have ever had in my life. I'm off to the chiropractor today to see if they can do anything for me, but I would really appreciate prayer for this. Also, I'm having a lot of unexplainable fatigue. It is frustrating--to say the least. Overall, I feel like my health has significantly improved with the treatment from this chiropractor (he's also a naturopath) and the supplements he has recommended. The pain in my hands is almost non-existent now and when I have energy, I actually really do have energy, but it is still hit and miss with that.
I have a missions conference that I am going to in Canada (Vancouver) at the end of the month and need to be preparing for that, as well as writing the Facilitator's Guide for our courses. But I need energy to do both. This last week has been incredibly frustrating as instead of getting the month off to a good start work-wise, I have spent most of my time on the couch just surviving the days.
It is funny. If I was in Ukraine I would just blame my fatigue on the weather as it is typically very gray and cold in Rivne at this time of year. But here, I can't do that. Even right now the sun is shining brightly in my window and it is just around freezing outside. I am really thankful to be here and to be getting the help that I am for my health. It is a blessing. I just need to be patient as there is no magic pill. God just made us a little more complicated than that!
Thanks for praying.
I have a missions conference that I am going to in Canada (Vancouver) at the end of the month and need to be preparing for that, as well as writing the Facilitator's Guide for our courses. But I need energy to do both. This last week has been incredibly frustrating as instead of getting the month off to a good start work-wise, I have spent most of my time on the couch just surviving the days.
It is funny. If I was in Ukraine I would just blame my fatigue on the weather as it is typically very gray and cold in Rivne at this time of year. But here, I can't do that. Even right now the sun is shining brightly in my window and it is just around freezing outside. I am really thankful to be here and to be getting the help that I am for my health. It is a blessing. I just need to be patient as there is no magic pill. God just made us a little more complicated than that!
Thanks for praying.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
The Old is Gone, the New is Come
It is a new year. December seems just a blur for me. It went by in a whirl of flu and family time, cookies and car registration (I'm officially living in Oregon now--even my driver's license says it! Although my bank still seems a touch confused.). It was an odd month. Not like any Christmas months before it. I missed my family and friends from Ukraine soo much this time. Going out for coffee with them, making cookies and candies to give away, remembering Christ's birth quietly on the 25th, then celebrating New Year's with friends and family and then having Christmas on January 7th (and probably a church meal the day before or after as well). Lots of food. Lots of fellowship. Lots of love. Lots of laughter.
This year was definitely different. I don't have my friends nearby. Nor the family that I am usually with and I do miss them. But I am very happy to be with my family here. Trading one good thing for another good thing. I missed having people to bake for and go out for coffee with. It was odd to celebrate Christmas before New Year's. And it was such a quiet little affair with just the three of us (me, Matt and Anya). But it was a really special day, with many of the same traditions upheld on this side of the world in our eentsy teensy group as on the other side with the much larger group. New Year's was barely noticed.
This year was different too because in the middle of this traditionally happy time we had sadness. We lost someone we cared about. It was fitting because at this time when we celebrate the birth of Christ and the gift He is to us and came to give us, she went to be with Him. She got to open her gift.
It is odd to be sad and yet...happy. Thankful. Grateful. Thankful that I got to know Jane, even just a little bit. She was the kind of person that I want to be; someone who opened her heart up to many people and welcomed us all into her family. She and Dave took me in when I needed a place to stay. They helped me out and blessed me. It reminded me of the passage in Matthew 25 where Jesus is talking about the judgment, and says,
'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in...' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in...' The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
I'm sad for myself that Jane isn't here anymore. I'll miss that comfort of having someone older and wiser take you in and be there to answer all of life's difficult questions (like, How do I keep my poinsettia from dying? Is this a good price? How is this done in America?!?). I miss the opportunity to have gotten to know her better. And I miss the comfort of knowing that even when I am not here, near these loved ones she is here loving on them.
I feel so selfish in my missing. I am sad for myself. I'm sad for all of us who are left behind. And I know that of them all, I am the least because I barely knew her. But I am not sad for her. Jane is where I want to be. I can not even imagine the glories of eternity that she is experiencing. I've heard that the music of heaven transcends anything we can every hope to hear here. How wonderful to be able to celebrate Christmas with Jesus.
This Christmas season was a different one from what I am accustomed to. It was sad; it was happy. Despite the sorrow, there was joy. The circle was completed. The hope that we have to "one day" be in eternity with Him--the beginning of this gift of hope is what we have just celebrated. Jane's "one day" came. We remain. Waiting for our own "one days" when we will be united with the King of Christmas.
It was a hard Christmas. It was a good Christmas. For me, the beauty of His gift was realized more fully. And I am grateful for it. The meaning of Christmas will always be a little more sober, a little more solemn for this, but the joy of it will be deeper, stronger, warmer.
"Joy to the world, the Lord is come."
This year was definitely different. I don't have my friends nearby. Nor the family that I am usually with and I do miss them. But I am very happy to be with my family here. Trading one good thing for another good thing. I missed having people to bake for and go out for coffee with. It was odd to celebrate Christmas before New Year's. And it was such a quiet little affair with just the three of us (me, Matt and Anya). But it was a really special day, with many of the same traditions upheld on this side of the world in our eentsy teensy group as on the other side with the much larger group. New Year's was barely noticed.
This year was different too because in the middle of this traditionally happy time we had sadness. We lost someone we cared about. It was fitting because at this time when we celebrate the birth of Christ and the gift He is to us and came to give us, she went to be with Him. She got to open her gift.
It is odd to be sad and yet...happy. Thankful. Grateful. Thankful that I got to know Jane, even just a little bit. She was the kind of person that I want to be; someone who opened her heart up to many people and welcomed us all into her family. She and Dave took me in when I needed a place to stay. They helped me out and blessed me. It reminded me of the passage in Matthew 25 where Jesus is talking about the judgment, and says,
'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in...' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in...' The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
I'm sad for myself that Jane isn't here anymore. I'll miss that comfort of having someone older and wiser take you in and be there to answer all of life's difficult questions (like, How do I keep my poinsettia from dying? Is this a good price? How is this done in America?!?). I miss the opportunity to have gotten to know her better. And I miss the comfort of knowing that even when I am not here, near these loved ones she is here loving on them.
I feel so selfish in my missing. I am sad for myself. I'm sad for all of us who are left behind. And I know that of them all, I am the least because I barely knew her. But I am not sad for her. Jane is where I want to be. I can not even imagine the glories of eternity that she is experiencing. I've heard that the music of heaven transcends anything we can every hope to hear here. How wonderful to be able to celebrate Christmas with Jesus.
This Christmas season was a different one from what I am accustomed to. It was sad; it was happy. Despite the sorrow, there was joy. The circle was completed. The hope that we have to "one day" be in eternity with Him--the beginning of this gift of hope is what we have just celebrated. Jane's "one day" came. We remain. Waiting for our own "one days" when we will be united with the King of Christmas.
It was a hard Christmas. It was a good Christmas. For me, the beauty of His gift was realized more fully. And I am grateful for it. The meaning of Christmas will always be a little more sober, a little more solemn for this, but the joy of it will be deeper, stronger, warmer.
"Joy to the world, the Lord is come."
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