Retro Butter

Look what I bought! Retro USSR butter. Made in Zhitomir, Republic of Ukraine.

A World In Constant Change

It's still very very cold in Ukraine! I don't think it's been much warmer than -13C for the last couple of weeks, with occasional dips down to -30C!

I have to say that I have enjoyed the sunshine that seems to start when it's this cold. I actually felt WARMTH from the sun yesterday on my way home and that was exciting. Spring IS coming eventually!

Growing up in So Cal I was not as aware of seasonal changes. There are seasons there but you have to be sensitive to notice them. Sometimes it's as subtle as the smell of cut grass, Girl Scouts peddling cookies and the sound of Vin Scully's voice on the radio. Those things would mean it's springtime.

This morning I was reading a friend's blog and I realize that seasons in our life change for us as do weather seasons. I think God created weather seasons to be a backdrop of the seasons we go through in our lives. When you think about it, we are going through changes of all kinds constantly in our lives. What is hard for people is when they get stuck and refuse to change. Change is uncomfortable for some people. Change usually means growth if we choose to embrace that. As an adult, I can look back and see that as children we all desire and look forward to change and growth. We can't wait to become Seniors in high school. We can't wait to turn sixteen so we can drive. We can't wait to start college. We can't wait to graduate and get a job.

I've noticed that as an adult, we don't have to keep taking tests and we get involved in work or life to the extent that we stop looking forward to new seasons. We slow down and it becomes harder to push ourselves to grow.

I think God puts changes and seasons in our lives to keep us growing. It's important at whatever age we are to keep learning about him and life and the people he puts in our lives. It's important to learn about the world around us and adapt to the changes. God allows change in our lives so we can learn more about him. As we grow we see the world differently and can engage in it with it more realistically and with greater depth.

Don't be afraid of change, embrace it.

Left To Tell - Book Review

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza is an amazing book! I bought this book a couple of years ago and it's been sitting on my shelf where I occasionally "eyed" it and thought about reading it. I knew it was about a young woman who lived through the Rwandan genocide and I knew the genocide was horrifically gory and I just wasn't ready to read about the details.

This last week, I finally thought, "Okay, I bought it, I need to read this." Once I started I couldn't put it down. Part of the reason was I just wanted Immaculee to get through her story of living in hell. The other reason was that she was telling a story filled with faith and forgiveness. She began to express forgiveness towards those who were killing her family and friends, while she was still hiding in a bathroom with seven other women for three months.

It is a difficult story to read, but it is important that we don't ignore human tragedies like the Rwandan genocide. Immaculee's faith and forgiveness will challenge you and comfort you, especially if these are areas you struggle with as well. I won't tell you more, just go read the book!

-19C And Getting Lower!

The ice on the inside of my window.

The temperature dropped abruptly this week and as it lowered so quickly, my body did not have time to adjust to the change. It was something like -15 C but "feels like -25C." Your body does adapt to weather this cold but the first couple of days are a bit difficult. I didn't realize how cold it was outside so I left home without long underwear. I have not worn long underwear here during the last couple of winters as the cold had not bothered me but by the time I was walking through an outside market on the way to our Day Center, I realized that I was not dressed warm enough and realizing that my long underwear at home was wearing out, I decided to invest in something that I could put on as soon as possible.

I went up to the kiosk and asked a big woman wrapped up in a thick coat and huge fur hat, "Do you have these in my size?"

Clothing sizes at kiosks are a mystery to me. I have given up figuring out and translating my size and just ask the ladies to give me what they think is my size. They are great at this and I have never bought anything that didn't fit.

"Yes! These are the warmest. I will get you your size. Where are you from anyway?"

"Los Angeles, California! I NEED LONG UNDERWEAR, there's no -15C weather in Southern California!"

She laughed and I shoved the tights into my purse and hurried to our Center. When I arrived I was asked, "Are you frozen?" I could only wave the long underwear in the air as an answer. "Go put those on right away!"

It takes a lot to shut down Ukraine and even today in -19C weather, there are babushki outside our market selling away, wrapped up in thick coats.

But the rumors for this week is that it could get as low as -33C and that schools may shut down. The coldest I've been in is -28C so it could be an interesting week.

Honestly, I don't care how cold it gets as long as I can see the sun!

Change

Change can be hard for all of us whether we are young or old.

Change is something that everyone will experience in their lives.

Change seems to be a concept in the world that happens to us more and more frequently than it did in generations from the past.

Constant change can wear you down and make your life feel chaotic.

Change can be a good thing.

In my ministry over the last five years, I have been blessed to be able to work with young people and help them actually make positive changes in all areas of their lives. This was a new concept for me in ministry as before it seemed like I was working with people who did not expect the people we were caring for to grow or change very much, if at all.

I have learning SO MUCH during all my time in Ukraine and am SO THANKFUL for the good and hard times.

This week we talked with young mom's and addressed how they should approach rehabilitation and how they can make the most of staying in a rehabilitation center even if it wasn't run in a way that offered the optimal amount of help or did not address some of their individual needs. It was a super positive conversation that helped them understand that changes in our lives starts within us and God is ready to bless everyone of us but we have to be willing to open our minds and hearts to what he is doing in our lives. Our perspective has to be on him and we need to be open to change.

That opens the door to super good change!

Hold On

It's been another one of "those weeks." Long, dark days and not a lot of sunshine. (I captured a little of it on this photo.)

I have spent the majority of my time this week nursing my cat. When animals get sick here and you take them to the vet, you come back home armed with enough shots, herbs, and medicines to supply a small clinic. You are given a long complicated list of what to administer to him and how to do it. Medicine must be bought at the drugstore and is for humans, so pills must be chopped into tiny pieces before you try to poke them down the unwilling throat. Various shots had to be given twice a day and I had a couple of nights of every 3 hours kasha feedings as well. I am very thankful to my neighbors for helping me every step of the way. I just cannot give shots to my own animal. It's times like these that I really feel for parents here who have to take care of their children in the hospital. If a cat is difficult, I imagine how much more emotionally draining it is to take care of a sick child!

My kitty is doing much better and we'll be able to see how he does on his own without medicine the next couple of weeks.

I am exhausted and hoping to get some extra naps in the next couple of days.

We're finally getting the first real snow of the year! I am happy to see it but I also know that the sidewalks are going to be icy to navigate!

Ready to head into the last part of our winter! Onward!

Rocket Christmas Tree

It's officially Orthodox Christmas Eve and I FINALLY got down to Kreshatik to take some photos of the 2012 New Year's Tree. Okay, I have a confession to make. I think that it looks like a rocket ship ready to blast off to who knows where! It's kinda modern. It's kinda hip. It's kinda funky. What do you think?

It's a 50 ton astro turf covered "eco tree." It boasts it's own blog, facebook page and twitter account. None of which I will link as many of the jokes are political. It also has tiny diamond visions that change from Kyiv's patron saint angel "Michael" to the Ukrainian flag. It's also not very photogenic. One frustrated woman came up to me and said, "Are you able to get a photo of it?" She was struggling to get a decent shot on her camera. These are the few photos that came out for me. Most of them came out odd looking. Maybe it's a concept.

The moon and the tree.

Close up was harder to shoot, so I just gave up and decided to take a shot out of focus. It looks prettier in a way.

In fact everything was starting to look better out of focus to me. It's just not right having Orthodox Christmas without snow in Ukraine.

I got frustrated and then just shot a bunch of black and white. This was my favorite photo of the evening.

Merry Christmas again from Ukraine!