Fab Friends

Blind Date on Sunday

Posted on by kimnjed

Warning, I’m in a bit of a mood.  Not a bad mood, just a quirky mood.  An I’m-not-sure-what-will-come-out-of-my-mouth (or fingers) mood.  You’ve been warned.  Now feel free to read on.  ðŸ™‚
Today was loads of fun.  I laughed a lot today.  Don’t you love days like that?  
Today I got to go to Kiev Vineyard!  I love that place so much.  Jed was super jealous, and you all should be jealous too because it’s a wonderful place to be.  Hehe

Last year when we walked into Kiev Vineyard we felt right at home, and I felt that even more this time.  I feel like I can just “be”.  I don’t have to be “on”.  I don’t have to be a certain anything.  I am loved just as I am.  I may not understand a lick of the worship or teaching, but I understand the heart, the passion, the love.  Our hearts beat the same as the other hearts in that room and that’s enough.  
     

After church my friends Anya and Sasha walked me to the metro because I had a blind date with an American couple.  Anya and Sasha were pretty afraid to leave me to navigate the metro alone.  What? Me, alone in a city of millions of people I can’t communicate with, on the metro, alone?  What’s to worry about?  Ha!  I wasn’t worried at all.  

They wanted to come along, but I promised I would be fine. After I finally promised to call Sasha when I arrived, they let me go.  I felt so loved!  ðŸ™‚
The metro is a people-watcher’s heaven.  Seriously.  Old people, babies, people in a rush, people taking their time, people with flowers, people with guitars, Babushkas with big grocery bags.  I just want to squeeze those cute little grandmas!  They’re so stinkin’ cute!  
Annnnnd I made the trip without a hitch!  Aren’t you all proud of me?  

I met Kevin and Debbie Nelson on my blind date and just had the best time.  I can’t say enough.  I love them!  The crazy thing is, I got their info from my friend Kim who’s been praying for them for a long time now, but she’s never met them.  Jed and I thought we shouldn’t turn down any possible connection so we emailed the Nelsons and arranged the date.  Then I was talking with a co-worker at the hospital a week before I left for this trip and she told me she has a cousin in Kiev and I should meet her.  Well, the cousin just happens to be the one and only, Debbie Nelson!  Ha!  Destiny’s child I tell ya.

Kevin, Debbie, and I went to my fave restaurant, Puzata Hata, so I was instantly happy.  We proceeded to spend the next almost 3 hours chattin it up about life in Ukraine and what brought us all here.  I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of the Nelsons because they are just fabulous.  They are real, funny, wise, and faithful.  God first took them to Russia where they served for several years, and now they’ve been in Ukraine for the past 8 years.  They gave me advice on everything from prayer support, to visas, to apartment choosing, to appliance voltage, to grocery shopping.
(You all know I was thankful for that one in particular!) 

I would totally consider a second date with Kevin and Debbie.  Too bad it can’t be tomorrow!  ðŸ™‚
I managed to make it home to Olya’s apartment without getting even close to lost, and came home to an apartment filled with friends.  Success.

Tomorrow Olya and I head to Zhitomir to check out the future Johnson landing place and to meet with a realtor.  It should be quite the adventure.  House Hunters International anyone?  

Good night all!  A special good night to my Mom.  Love you Mom!  Happy Mother’s Day!  Here’s your present! 

(She wants more pictures of me on the blog, just like I can’t get enough pics of my babies while I’m gone.  Once a mommy, always a mommy)  ðŸ™‚








Sunny Walks, Squishy Thighs, and Glimpses of Kingdom

Posted on by kimnjed

It’s already 8:15pm? Where did this day go?

Time truly does fly when you’re having fun.

Today I got up and took the metro downtown to meet my dear friend Dasha.  You would all be so proud of me!  I managed the metro all by myself without getting lost or getting too many strange looks.  I’d like to think that since I left my big camera, Hawaiian shirt, and tall white socks with sandals at home that I didn’t look too touristy and possibly blended in a bit…probably wishful thinking though.  ðŸ™‚  
Dasha and I had a grand old time.  After spotting each other from across Independence Square and frolicking toward each other with giddy laughter and huge smiles we had made enough of a spectacle of ourselves for me to forget about blending in.  Hehe
We got something tasty to drink and walked all around downtown, catching up and wishing Jed was with us.  It’s so amazing how God knits hearts together.  It seriously felt like we’d only been missing each other for a week, not a year!  I love friendships like that and am blessed to have many of them here.  Thank you Jesus!
After my time with Dasha, Olya and I had a super special treat.  We got to spend the afternoon with Marianna, an American missionary who’s been living in Kiev with her husband for the past 11 years.  I’ve been following Jim and Marianna’s work for some time now and already had a strong suspicion that we would like each other.  Not only is Marianna a lover of kiddos, and a big coffee fan, but she lives across the ocean from her grandbabies and I’ve read about her proud Grammy moments from afar.  Since my in-laws live overseas as missionaries too, we’ve been on the receiving end of faraway “Grammy-Love”.  I had a feeling I would like Marianna and I was very right!

Every Friday, when she’s able, Marianna visits a hospital right on the edge of Kiev.  In that hospital there is a special room for some very special kids.  It’s a room for HIV positive children without parents present to take care of them.  In Ukraine when a child is hospitalized it is the parents’ responsibility to provide all non-medical care.  They bring food and supplies from home and take care of their children 24/7.  Where does that leave children who’s parents aren’t present, or aren’t able to care for them?  It leaves them alone.

Marianna visits the children, loves on them, and encourages the staff.  She and Jim have helped make it possible to hire staff to be in that room all day until 5:00pm so the babies and children aren’t left alone.  They have a dream now to have staff present in the room 24 hours a day.  It really is needed!  No child should have to be in a hospital alone, with no one to soothe them when they cry or are scared.  I love this work.  
Today there was just one baby in the room.  OMG.  What a cutie!!!  I’m not able to post pics so you’ll just have to take my word for it.  I’m not exaggerating on the cuteness.  Picture curly black hair, chocolate skin, longest eyelashes known to man, and sweetest smile I’ve seen since I left my babies on Tuesday.  Add squeezable thighs and big brown eyes and you have a recipe for perfection.  
We passed baby girl around and I got the honor of feeding her a bottle.  It was such a lovely afternoon.  It was beautiful to hear about the hearts of the staff softening as they see the believers being the hands and feet of Jesus.  
Every life has value, every life was created with purpose and destiny.  Marianna’s visits speak volumes to that truth.  “You are such a loved baby!” she said to baby girl.  Amen to that.  Baby girl is precious and valuable, created with purpose and destiny.  As is every child who spends months of their life in that room.  As are the children in this city who lay down in cribs all day, every day.  
Hearts softening, lives being valued, eyes being looked into, all glimpses of His Kingdom coming to earth.  Beautiful, right?

California Dreamin’

Posted on by kimnjed

We’re baaaaaack!

Holy moly we just had the best time ever!  Sunshine + crazy amounts of friend time + yummy food in mass quantities that I didn’t have to cook + Happiest Place on Earth = Heaven on earth.  It was seriously amazing.

We started out on Friday afternoon heading down I-5 for way too many hours.  We ended up stopping over in Sacramento (since we’re too old to be driving through the night these days.  I don’t care how good the book on cd is…it’s not keepin’ this Mama awake anymore!) in a cheap hotel and caught a few winks of sleep.  Then we were back on the road!  Our kids are such road warriors.  They amaze me with their bladder capacity and road-longevity.  My kids rock.

Saturday afternoon found us at the Delmore’s house.  YAY!!!  We spent a couple nights relaxing, chatting, and eating.  It was fabulous.  We love Ryan Delmore’s music.  In fact, Ryan and his daughter Kate wrote a song together that inspired the name “Wide Awake”.  You can listen to it here.  I love that song and can’t go too many days without listening to it.  🙂  They are just great people.  Sarah Delmore and I are basically the same person, so of course we got along tremendously well.  Ha!  Kindred spirits indeed.  Thank you Delmores!  We miss you already!

Sweet Kate.  Our girls fell in love!

Monday evening we got to meet with my high school friend James.  It was AWESOME.  James and I were pals back in the day, and now he pastors a church in Pasadena.  A couple months ago James let us know that he’d been following our story and was interested in learning how he could support us on journey.  Oh my word, we were blown away by his faith and encouragement.  James, you have no idea how much we needed to hear the words you spoke to us.  Our faith is built, our hopes are high, and we are encouraged up the wazoo.  Thank you so much for your friendship and support.  I loved seeing you again!

James!

Tuesday we got to meet Mark Fields, the Director of Vineyard Missions.  We go to a Vineyard church and are being sent out as missionaries from our church, so it was really cool to chat with Mark.  We aren’t sure how we’ll fit into Vineyard Missions as a whole, since it’s primarily been all church-planting in the past.  We’re excited to see what God has in store!!

Next up….Disneyland!!!!!
What can I say?  I love Disneyland.  I love everything about it.  What made it even better, was that some of our dearest friends ever joined us for our time at Disney.  Disney with friends brings a whole new level of fun to things.  The giggling quota was met each day by about 9:00am.  We shared many laughs, many screams, many waits in line, and many smiles.  It was F-U-N.  With the combo of fast passes and rider swaps, the three big kids got to ride each big ride approximately 9 times.  Holy Pukeville Batman.  They have guts of steel.  Now, prepare for picture overload…
 

After weeks of wanting to “hug Mickey” Seth decided “He’s too big!”
BUT, he was definitely willing to hug the Princesses!  🙂  He was so proud of his Sleeping Beauty autograph.

 

 
Waiting for the parade

Passed out after a day of Disney
 
Jed working on perfecting his Splash Mountain pose
  
Aaaah…perfect!

Killing time while the big kids went on Space Mountain

My favorite picture of our time  🙂   So much happiness!

 Our trip ended with a fantastic time spent with our friend Rick.  He took us out to lunch and loved on us.  It was the perfect ending to the perfect trip.  Thank you Rick!!

Thus ends our amazing gift of a vacation.  We are so thankful.  It was a huge blessing to our family.  

Now back to tackling post-Disney laundry…  🙂



Sunshine and She Reads Truth!!

Posted on by kimnjed

Hello from sunny California! Wahoo! Serious Vitamin D overload goin’ on here. My skin is like “What is that bright orb in the sky…and what so I do with this unexpected warmth?  Amazeballs.


We were given this gift of a vacation, 100% paid for by people who love us a whole lot.  They wanted to bless us before we head across the pond, so we’re off to Disneyland! We’ve been visiting old and new friends all along the way and tomorrow we hit Disney. We can’t wait!!   

This morning I had the incredible opportunity to share our journey to Ukraine with the lovely ladies over at She Reads Truth. I have been so blessed by that community over the past year. My dearest friend Sarah (who just happens to be joining us at Disneyland tomorrow with her fam…what???  Yesssss.) got me hooked and I haven’t looked back.  What a humbling, but exciting opportunity to share about Ukraine and what God is doing. Just thinking about he hearts that might be spurred to action on behalf of the kids we love so much makes me giddy.  Praise God for the chance to share His amazing story.

You can read our testimony here.

Alright, back to fun in the sun!  I can’t even believe we are here right now.  God is just too stinkin’ good.

His goodness is laughable.  Seriously.

 

My Look Back

Posted on by kimnjed

2012.  What a year. 

I think I can safely say this has been one of the biggest years of my life.  I think I can also safely say, based on the happenings of 2012, that the biggest years are yet to come.

Our lives changed so dramatically in 2012 that it’s hard to put myself in the shoes of “January 2012 Kim”.

2012 was a year of God meeting us every step.  He spoke to us in 2011 that He has big plans for us and we just need to “keep walking” and He will make the way.  My heart is full of thankfulness for how our God kept His promises.  He met us, and He continues to meet us. 

On March 21, 2012 we welcomed Seth into our family forever.  The son of our hearts became our legal son.  What a day. I can not imagine our lives without our baby.  He is our joy, talking a mile a minute, loving trains, interested in big boy undies (Lord help us!)…our unexpected gift.  Sometimes I forget that Seth is adopted and when I’m reminded for some reason and stop in that moment to think about it I simply can not believe he didn’t grow in my belly.  He was meant for us in every single way.  He fits us like a glove and we fit him.  God met us in the hospital 2 years ago when we first met our baby, and He met us in the courtroom that precious day when He gave us our baby for keeps.  Thank you Jesus for our sweet boy.  Yay 2012!!!

April 2012 brought life changes in extreme measure.  April wins the trophy for my favorite month of 2012.  We spent the month in Ukraine and we will never ever be the same.  God met us there.  He met us in the moment we stepped off the plane and awkwardly made our way to our hostel with the help of random kind strangers.  He met us in the walls of Romaniv orphanage where our eyes met and we realized what we were created for.  He met us in the courtyard of the Lost Boys institution where we locked eyes and hearts with the boys whose lives grabbed our attention those many months before.  He met us in the moments of friendship and laughter with Ukrainian believers He placed in our path.  He gave us friends for life in Kiev, Zhitomir, Odessa, and Kremenchug.  Every step we took along that journey was ordained by Him.  Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness and your voice that guides our every step.  

The summer of 2012 brought the beautiful gift of friendship.  New friends invaded our hearts and for that I weep with gratitude and a HUGE smile on my face.  We are loved by many, and for that I can’t thank Him enough.  God answered so many prayers with friends this year.  He knows just what we need.  🙂

In September we sold off loads of our stuff.  God met us in that moment in a big way.  We had asked God to show us where we would live so we could save up money for Ukraine.  The night before our garage sale He sent our wonderful, generous friend Luke to offer his home to us for free.  We stepped.  He met us.  He is too good.  He is too faithful.  

October 2012 saw us moving in with Luke and securing renters for our house with a 5-year lease (HA!).  Again, He met us.  Again, overflowing faithfulness, overflowing goodness. 

December 2012.  From the inside looking out it’s hard to know what to say about this month.  We’ve experienced great personal loss and sadness this month and some moments the sadness feels almost suffocating.  My heart aches and my soul hurts…but then I look back.  I recount what the Lord has done.  I see how He met us every step along this crazy roller coaster of a year.  Will He not meet us now?  The word He spoke to us at the end of 2011 is still the word for us today: “Keep walking and I will make the way”.  This unexpected turn in our path is not an exception to that word.  Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Look and see what the Lord has done!!  His promises remain and His goodness remains.  

Now we look forward to 2013.  My mind can’t even fathom the plans He has in store for this year.  I’m not even going to try and figure it out. 🙂  I’m just going to say “yes” to Him every day and see what comes of it.  When my heart wants to bury itself in sadness I lift up my eyes and remember this past year.  I look at my 4 babies and my beautiful husband, and my heart soars with gratitude for my God and His overflowing faithfulness and goodness.  

I trust you Jesus.  Whatever you want to do with us this year- you do it.  We are yours and I mean that.  I mean it with every fiber of my being.  I don’t want to live for myself and my good ideas.  I don’t want to live the version of my life that seems right and comfy to me.  I want to be spent for You.  I’ll let You decide how that should look. 

So here’s to 2013!  May we live with our hope in Jesus and may we spend ourselves for Him.