travel to Ukraine and the first days....

Abby, Matt, Ginny and I traveled over the weekend of October 8th to Ukraine.  days before we left carmen got sick and was unable to travel (she's well now) and Abby stepped up.  carmen is a fellow speechie, and abby is an occupational therapist.  i was heart broken that carmen could not come, because working together at the orphanage is something we have talked about doing for so long.  but, i know God always knows what He is doing, and His plan is not my plan.  He knew we would need abby that first week.  abby was beyond a blessing to me and to all the children we saw.  we stayed up talking at night like girls at a slumber party.  her heart is beautiful.  so many of the kids have physical concerns that she was wonderful at addressing.  carmen and i would have been fine, but our time there would not have been as effective with just two speechies.  i have no doubt that carmen and i will be in ukraine together in the future, and feel very thankful that the trip went so well, even with the last minute shuffle.

We went from fay to houston to newark to munich to donetsk, ukraine!  God blessed us with travel grace, and for that I am beyond thankful.  it was a whirlwind of travel and i enjoyed my time with my travel partners.   they each have beautiful hearts and love for children with special needs.  proud to know them all.  we each traveled with two suitcases each full of supplies for the next 2 weeks, some stuff they were taking for sweet lena, some walkers, a wheel chair, and adapted stroller.  all of this successfully made it to ukraine, praise the Lord!

and i mean look at them, how could it not be fun!?

 hello germany!  

 breakfast in germany! 

i have love in my heart for lufthansa airlines, mainly because of the warm towels and bailey's on the long flight and that "Pick Up" bar on the right...it was amazing! :)

when we landed in ukraine, i remember thinking, wow, I am here again!  I was so excited.  well, inside i was excited, my exterior might have been a bit sleepy upon arrival.  but that didn't last long.  we were immediately greeted by our ukrainian friends Olga, Alex, Vova, and a handful of others.  it was my first time to drive from donetsk to kramatorsk in the day light and was so excited to look around and see the sights.  the leaves there were beautiful.  

this is the donetsk airport, they are building a new terminal.  come on euro cup 2012! :)
more on this later.  i will say the kiev airport now has a TGIFriday's, and that's the big time.  i didn't see that last year.  

we arrived at hotel kramatorsk and unloaded and walked down to the grocery store to buy some snacks for dinner.  we discovered lots of yummy bread, cheese and chocolate. and really, what more could you need?  

on a funny note, my sweet Abby has food allergies so she packed a lot of snacks, and it was a common thing to watch her eat packaged salmon at all hours of the day.  and i think God put us together because He knew i don't care what time of day food comes.  burritos for breakfast?  yes.  salmon for breakfast?  sure, go ahead, doesn't bother me!! :)  

here we are unpacking and working.  i remember ginny taking this picture and me saying that abby is really the one doing the important stuff, and i'm screwing the batteries into an animal puzzle.  ha!  all small things come together for the big, right?  and it's a very speechie thing to do.  

 view from hotel room!

the first morning at the orphanage we met in the directors office, after some time they asked if we were ready to go to group 4 where Lena was, where matt and ginny would meet their girl.  wow.  God is amazing.  i remember looking at ginny's face and thinking she is exhibiting such good self control!  to be this close and not to just run straight to her.  i had a desire to run up the stairs two at a time...so i am sure i can not imagine how hard it must have been to be as patient as they both were.  even though they would both tell me not to say this, i will say it anyway....they are wonderful! 

walking down the hall to group 4!

here she is, and she is beautiful.  and theirs.  i love it.

after our time in group 4 we ventured down to group 11 and worked with these two sweeties.  

sweet stuff...

 a view from the front....

 doing some speech, picture cards at work. :)

 we have loved this little guy the past several years.....he's a wild little guy and so much fun!

 i love their coffee SO much it's ridiculous.  i want one, right now.  their choice of magazines & television in the coffee shop is another story though....but the coffee makes it worth it.  

this little guy "george" was so cute and snuggly  

 playing

 more time in group 4, and me with the "pom-pom"...it was a running joke after 2 weeks.  the kids loved it, i could say "pom pom" to them because there was not an exact translation in russian....and all of our ukrainian friends would walk up to me randomly and say "pom pom" ha!

 see little vanya likes it....

 oh the boys that we love....

 this little guy melted my heart, praying for him.  made really sweet little sounds and smiled while we talked to him and held him.  due to his diagnosis he doesn't get out of his bed much, and we were allowed to get him out several times and take him to the mat in the floor.  so sweet holding him.  

 just hanging out with this wild man.  

 it takes two sometimes...

 beautiful

 we toured the isolation and quarantine areas and met up with this sweet girl.  we met her last year, and she is heavy on my heart.  praying that she is well and in a room surrounded by other kids.  

this post is definitely a running stream of thoughts...but had to get them on here before i forget.  more to come later.
i am so humbled that i have had the opportunity twice to meet and hold and love so many children.  i can't express how grateful i am.
please join us in praying over these children.  God knows them and loves them.

Home.

Ukraine trip 2011 has come and gone.  It was beautiful, and so many other things.  It was a wonderful two weeks, it felt really long and really short at the same time.  My heart is heavy.  I am thankful.  I am glad to be home and want to go back.

There were tears and laughs, and ups and downs.  I loved it.  I have a Ukrainian "family," and I tried to embrace my time there, definitely more so than I did last year, including eating a tongue and mushroom salad, better known as "meat salad" and my fair share of lard in various forms.  I have been deemed a "Ukrainian Girl," so it's official.  

My new motto: when given the chance, eat the fat sandwich.  

We loved on kids, served families, and strengthened relationships.  I got to see parents meet their child for the first time.  I got to hold and love kids.  I am so thankful to know that He created each of them and I am thankful to know they are His children, every single one of them.  

I was reminded of what is important, and what isn't.  

I got into the states and had a message to report to jury duty first thing Monday morning at 8:45.  I did a weird laughing and crying thing when i listened to the message sunday at the chicago airport.  I drug myself to jury duty monday morning, still carrying my ukrainian adventure fanny pack.  just a fun tidbit.  and come to find out, it was a murder trial.  When they said murder trial, I immediately teared up...I have been reminded so many times these past two weeks of the value of a life.  Every life.   And thankfully, it turns out, I was dismissed for "knowing of" one of the attorney's on the case.  Thank God from whom all blessings flow!!  I ran out of the washington county courthouse, by Mama Carmen's for an almond latte (which tasted very different after 2 weeks of delicious ukraine cappuccino's) and headed to work.  I was thankful to go to work and see MY kids at TEAM.

I have so much to share, so i just loaded some pictures that caught my eye today...from week #1.  I plan on adding some every couple of days while things are fresh in my mind.  

i saw some beautiful views....

i got to spend time with wonderful people...especially my dear Abby.  and she has the best facial expressions ever, and it makes me love her even more. 

one of the sweetest moments i have ever had the privilege to see in my life....so appreciative i got to spend time with them and their sweet girl.

 it was a perfect fall in Ukraine.  It's my favorite season and I got to enjoy it in two different countries. you can't beat that.

 i got to snuggle sweet, sweet babies.  my desire to snuggle often made doing my job of speech therapy a little more difficult.  i am glad.

 i got to teach and be taught.  i learned SO much this trip.  i love that.  

i have so many beautiful pictures.  my ukrainian friend Alex took some great pictures with my camera.
i am forever grateful!

 i saw stuff that made my heart ache.

 i got to watch things come to life and my heart was full.

 i ate wonderful food.

 as mentioned earlier, i ate unusual things, and loved them!
exhibit A.  fruit/crab/mayo salad on the left....

 we got to enjoy the company of the people around us, and slow down enough to get to know them better...mainly over hot tea and food.

an ukrainian accordion player made me very happy....

Can't wait to post more later.

Ukraine, tomorrow.

We leave tomorrow.  After a quick shuffle, bag packing and lots of love from our friends and family to get us all together, we are almost off!  Abby and I will work for a week at the orphanage we went to last year.  Our hope is to establish a therapy routine, engage the children, and LOVE them!

My sweet Carmen is still not feeling great, and is super, super heart broken about not going on the trip, but resting up and feeling better is #1 priority.  I'll miss you Missa Carmen.

We will be traveling with the Mooney's who will meet their daughter for the first time.  What a special trip.

I am always reminded at how God is completely in control, and I should stop trying to figure things out...or worry about them.

Prayers that children are loved, hearts are changed, Jesus is shown through us...and for safe and smooth travels for our groups.


Follow TEAMWorks Ukraine here! (click on the blog link)

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TEAMWorks Ukraine Trip 2011

So excited.  SO, SO, SO excited.

We have been talking Ukraine the past several months, making plans, picking dates, getting together the group.  I was on the fence about this year, couldn't decide if I should go...or sit this one out.  I prayed about it, asked B to pray about it, talked it over...and basically wore myself out thinking!  


And then, I woke up one morning, and my first thought was just "yes, send me, I'll go!"  I had that thought, felt good about it, and then back came all the doubts and reasons why I shouldn't.


Is this the right timing?  Am I the best person to go?  What about other plans?  There are other people, with more experience, they would do better than I would!  It's so much work!  It's such a long trip!  There's so many unknowns.  It's hard.  Blah, blah, blah.   


I let all those questions and doubts come in and leave me restless for a couple of weeks....all while praying for clarity about my decision, and for God's will to be done.  And then one morning, listening to a song on the radio (that's when I do my thinking...and sometimes my crying) I knew, yes, send me.  I'll go!  

God has His hands on all of the children we will meet, on our plans, and His guidance on our work and our group.  This work has brought me to have a love for these children, and a desire to help!  And really, it's not about me.  It's about serving Him, and being his hands and feet.  It's about hope for these children and families.  It's about helping form a network of support systems to allow people to raise their children, who are ALL fearfully, and wonderfully made!   


I would have laughed in your face if you would have told me 10 years ago, I would be about to travel on my second mission trip to Eastern Europe.  Laughed!  (I use the 10 year mark, because while I am traveling, we will have my 10 year high school reunion, how did that happen?!?! Gotta love those Alma Airedales!)  Not that I wouldn't have thought then that it was good work...cause I would have, but I would have thought that other people go and do that stuff.  Not me.  Those other people!  

I feel Him softening my heart all the time.  I know this because I pray that it's softened, and because I can burst into tears at any given moment.  Letting yourself experience need and hurt and pain is hard and uncomfortable.     


And the way the trip works is "we go to help" but really, we are the ones who are helped.  Funny how that works out.     

On another funny note, when I told my partner in crime, Carmen out of the blue one day at work awhile back that I was in for traveling again this year.....she cried, in a happy way.  And then we hugged, and I laughed because she was crying, and then I cried a little too (notice the crying pattern).  Last year while in Ukraine, Carmen and I said so many times how we wanted to work in the orphanage and really show them what we do.  We will be going the week before the group to assess the kids, set up a speech schedule, and do what we do, all day for 5 days!  A special prayer request is that during our time of working in the orphanage that we are able to form good relationships with the staff, show improvement with all of the sweet kids we get to work with, take the right materials, and most importantly share our faith and Jesus' love while we work.  

Join us in praying over our trip.  Praying that lives are changed, people are touched, children are loved, and our work helps raise the status of all the children we meet.  


PS Every day (well, when I can...is more like it) I am practicing Russian Rosetta Stone, so far my favorite word is "Yablakah" which means apple.  I don't know why, I just like it.  :)  www.teamworksukraine.com

Love.

My heart gets bigger with every day I love these three.

HJL's 3 year old pictures.....I love being her "Ahmi"...

 Our 4 year old handsome fella....

 LB being the super cute baby she is....

Nieces and nephews are THE BEST! :)