Still Cold, but no wandering today!

My meeting today went well with the GCM team. I love to hear how God empowers and equips people to do ministry all over the world. So often it is personal relationships that motivate and challenge us to carry out God's plan. The apartment that we met in was in an area where the buildings are only about 3 - 5 stories high. It felt like we were in Europe or way outside of Kyiv, not just a few minutes walk from the metro station. I'm so glad to be part of the body of Christ!

And, I am happy to report that I had no issues tonight with walking in the right direction and getting on the right bus (mashrutka) to come home. It is still pretty cold out, although much warmer than last night, and continuing to warm up for tomorrow as well! Yipee!

I started reading through the Bible this year. While reading through Genesis 16 about Hagar it struck me that when God told her to go back to Abraham and Sarah's house she obeyed and went. It had to be very difficult. But she encounters God. God saw her situation, just as He sees each of our situations too. God had perfect clarity about what was going on in her life. It also reminds me that I am the object of God's gracious attention. I have written in my Bible: turn to God, Submit to God, Trust God to work out His plan.

As I read this passage, it was a great reminder for me as I'm in Ukraine to continue to turn to Him, submit and then trust Him.

Old Friends and New Sights

This is the view from the kitchen window where I am staying. It's a great example of the many apartments - both new and old with a view of the old city across the river.

Today I had a few hours to spend with my dear translator (when I taught here in Kyiv). It was a wonderful time of catching up. We laughed and cried and laughed some more. We walked down Kreshatic street arm in arm. You can see vivid effects of the financial crisis here. Stores actually have merchandise on sale - a very rare thing to find here - and many fewer cars on the roads. They are warning that the worst is yet to come. Apparently they have been given a March date of some very hard times.

The time came for us to part ways and I began my journey home. I got this great idea that instead of taking the bus from the subway station I should walk. That didn't last long because it is VERY cold here today. So then I began looking for my bus, and looking, and looking... To make a long story short, I took a very scenic way back tonight. Always an adventure I suppose. Thankfully, I recognized some landmarks and metro stops and was able to circle back without much trouble. The other good news is that I hit a new record on my pedometer today. LOL! It is just a little different to be in cold weather when you are running from a store or building into a car and then into another building... somehow hitting a milestone on a pedometer in 0 degree weather changes your perspective on what being cold means!

Tomorrow I get to spend some time with the folks from Great Commission Ministries. I will hear more about their ministries here and how God has brought them here and continues to lead them. I am looking forward to this immensely!

I am also extremely grateful for my sister-in-law's positive report from the doctor today! God is good, all the time... All the time, God is good.

"be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10

One of the things I am learning is that even though I feel so strongly that God has called me to Ukraine, He doesn't need me to accomplish what He is doing here. He will be exalted here. He will be exalted on the earth! I need to be still and know that He is God and that He will put me here when He wants and when he has prepared me.

Please pray for safety, direction and peace while I am in Ukraine. (Oh, also, it would be GREAT if there was no snow or ice either!)

Tonight as I sit in my friend's apartment in Kyiv I have the wonderful feeling of being home, even though I am several thousand miles away from so many. Thank you to all who played a part in letting me be here today.

There is no snow on the ground! And 32ish weather seems balmy compared to Grand Rapids.

Even with the flight delays due to snow in Grand Rapids and Detroit, I (and my luggage!) safely arrived earlier today. Now I am anxious to relax, get a good nights sleep and start meeting up with everyone on Saturday!

complete and utter dependence

I am finding myself in a place that is hard to be, but a good and necessary place. As I look at 2009 I realize my complete and utter dependence on God. So often it is easy to feel self-reliant and 'in control' in our culture. But, today as I look back I see God' provision and His direction. I am grateful in His protection and His discipline - both for things I understand and things I do not.

For many who are praying for my upcoming trip to Ukraine, I have postponed my departure by a couple of weeks to allow friends traveling to return, additional funds to be raised and finalizing travel plans. I am hoping to leave the last week of January. Please pray with me for God's continued provision as well as His perfect timing.

Wishing you many blessings in 2009!

Sticks and stones my break my bones, but words... they REALLY hurt!

James, Chapter 3 from The Message says,

When You Open Your Mouth
1-2Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.
3-5A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
5-6It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
7-10This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
10-12My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?
Live Well, Live Wisely 13-16Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom—it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats.
17-18Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

Today I am wondering if my words encourage and build people up. When I'm thinking about it, focusing on my words and their impact, it's a little easier. But what about when I am discouraged, tired or rushed? How do I speak to people?

I just spent the weekend with my niece and nephew who happen to be 2 of the coolest little humans on earth. I thought a lot about words because they are like sponges. They repeat everything I say. I need to remember this when there is seemingly no one around to repeat my every word too.

Prayer for our Country

Today I expressed my dismay with the proposed abortion bailout with a friend. And she started crying... I became ashamed that it hadn't brought tears to my eyes today. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives and circumstances that we forget that there's a lot going on... that does effect our everyday lives.

So, friends, I ask you to pray for our country; for our current president and the president elect. And, I would also request that you take a look at www.sba-list.org or www.catholicnewsagency.com to learn more about the 50 page proposal put together by abortion groups asking for tax payer dollars of over $1.5 billion to fund the abortion industry.

There are Legislative Action Alerts on the bottom third of the Susan B. Anthony List website which allow you to learn more and also help to keep tax dollars out of the abortion industry.

I have been silent since the election. I simply cannot be silent today. The unborn babies need a voice. They need your voice too.