The Move

Warm Buses and Warm Hearts…hehehe

Posted on by kimnjed

It’s a well-known fact among my real-life friends and fam that I’m an extra warm-blooded person.  I rarely wear a coat, and Jed constantly bemoans the fact that I’m passing that trait on to our kids.  Who needs a jacket?  They’re so bulky!  I’d much rather run from the house to the car to the store and back, than to be suffocated by a bulky jacket.  Don’t even get me started on the suffocation factor of scarves.  I get it that they’re cute, a little pop of color for an otherwise bland outfit, but am I the only one that can’t handle the strangulation?  Just the thought of a turtleneck makes me feel like my airway is about to close.

All that to say, warm weather and lack of airflow is a major downfall to my suitability as a missionary.  If you’ve ever traveled overseas you know what I mean.  Think warm bus, no windows down, stalled in traffic.  I have to talk myself down from the ledge.  “You actually won’t suffocate.  There is air available, just breathe deeply.”  
The vent right above my head…doesn’t work. 

Where am I going with this?  I have no idea.  I just had to talk it out because as I write this we’re on a fairly warm bus headed back to Zhitomir.  I’ve been sweating for the past 12 days, and so it continues today.  (I’m a Bittner.  We sweat.) Anywayssssss….I just needed you to feel my pain for a sec.  I feel better now.  ðŸ™‚

Now, on to more pleasant topics that don’t involve sweat and strangulation.  
This past weekend was loads of fun!  We drove back to Kiev on Friday afternoon with our friend Oleg who happened to be heading that way.  He dropped us at the metro and we headed to the church where they were having a concert to reach the unreached.  We took the metro to the stop we knew was closest to the church and then hopped off.  It’s like a 20 minute walk from the metro to the church, and Jed, with his bat-like sense of direction, led us straight there without a hitch.  What a guy.
Jed promptly filled in on the bass and we got to see lots of people we love.  It was a good time.  
After the concert we went home with our friend Sergei.  We had the BEST time staying with Sergei and Alyona.  Seriously.  Being around their kids made us miss our babies something fierce, but we managed.  ðŸ™‚  
Alyona cooked for us and fed us nonstop.  Yum.  Who am I to complain?  Her love language is feeding people, and we’re eaters; a match made in heaven.  

On Saturday morning we met Jim and Marianna Peipon (remember Olya and I went with Marianna to visit the baby at the hospital?) at their flat to tag along with them to a picnic.  Fun, fun, fun!  The picnic was for a coalition for children at risk.  Basically, a group of people consisting of Ukrainians, Americans, Russians, and Mexicans, who work with children at risk in various ways around Kiev got together to fellowship and eat together.  They welcomed us with open arms and we had a great time.  It was so fascinating to hear about what others are doing to help kids and how God led them to Ukraine.  We made some new friendships and some good connections.  Who knows what God plans to do with those relationships in the future?  We are open, and excited to find out.  Thank you new friends for making us feel so welcome!  We’ll see you again soon with kiddos in tow!
Saturday afternoon and evening we hung out with various friends and laughed a lot.  
Sunday, oh I loved Sunday.  It started out with Alyona feeding us some more delicious food, and ended the same.  Hehe
We headed out to church by taxi after the frantic rusharound of your typical Sunday morning.  It was hilarious to talk (sign/google translate) with Sergei about how Sunday mornings are the same for families all around the world.  “Hurry up!  Eat your breakfast!  Stop hitting your brother please.  Grrrrr.”  Then you get to church “Hallelujah….”  Yep.  Sunday morning in Ukraine is just like Sunday morning in Salem.  Why is that?  Hilarious and true.  If your Sunday morning isn’t stressful, let me in on your secret. 😉 
After a great time at church we joined our friends in their typical Sunday afternoon hangout.  Everyone takes the marshrutka to our fave: Puzata Hata!  Puzata Hata is a cafeteria-style Ukrainian restaurant.  Delish and cheap with plenty of space for hours of chattin’ it up.  As our friend Andrei says “Sunday afternoon is for relationship.”
Sunburned…my bad.
After the deliciousness of Puzata Hata we walked for a bit, talking more, till we got to the metro and parted ways.  Sergei and Alyona went to go buy their kids a pet mouse (yep, that’s totally not happening at my house) and we went with our friend Elvin to chat more since we won’t see him again before we leave Ukraine.  
After that it was home again home again jiggety jig.  Alyona fed us some more, and Jed and Sergei drooled over guitars online- just your typical Sunday night when you live with a musician.  

Anya and I did this:
I give this past weekend two thumbs way up.  We are so blessed to have good friends in Kiev who love us.  The feeling is so mutual.

 

Pass the Tissues…

Posted on by kimnjed

So last night I laid in bed awake till almost 1:00am with a brain that wouldn’t shut off.  What was I thinking about, you ask?
-What will we do tomorrow?
-I have to take advantage of every moment.  What if none of my contact hopes works out for tomorrow?  Will it be a “wasted” day?
-Is Mission to Ukraine (MTU) expecting me to come in tomorrow?  Hmmm…I better check in with them first thing.
-There sure are a lot dogs barking.  Kinda makes me feel like I’m in Kosovo.  ðŸ™‚
-I hope Jed gets to Zhitomir okay on Thursday.  He won’t have a phone…how will I know when to meet him at the city center?
-How will I fit all my kids on the tiny marshrutkas they have here in Zhitomir?
-I kind of wish I had ice cream right now. 
-How will my kids make friends here? 
-Will we be lonely? 
-What will we do tomorrow?????  Surely God has a plan, right?
Yeah, my mind was spinning and I was kind of worrying…about everything.  People tell me all the time that they could never do what we are doing, or getting ready to do.  How do we do it?  How are we so brave?  Hahahahaha!  Now you see.  ðŸ™‚  We are nothing special.  Sometimes we look like deer in headlights.  We cry (well, not so much “we”, more “me”). We fret.  We keep ourselves awake worrying about things we can’t do anything about.  But, in the end we just put one foot in front of the other and praise God He’s not afraid to use cracked, imperfect vessels like you and me to be His hands and feet.    
It kind of reminds me of our time fostering.  People would always say they could never foster; that it would be too hard to let the babies go after you start to get attached.  Let me tell ya, it was too hard.  It was impossibly hard.  But, God called us to it and He gave us grace for what He called us to.  It doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt like crazy.  It doesn’t mean we didn’t ever cry ourselves to sleep at night because of the heartache.  It just means that when He calls you HE gives you every single thing you need to accomplish His purposes.  And because of that I would do it all over again in a second.  
This is scary.  This is wonderful.  This is exciting.  But trust me; we are not anything special.  Talk to our close friends and family.  Pass the tissues, ’cause we all got issues.  We worry about all the same things you would worry about if you were in our shoes, but we know He will give us every single thing we need to accomplish His purposes.  We just need reminders of that every 5 minutes or so.
That truth is not only for us!  I don’t know who all is reading this, but I know that God wants to remind someone about this truth today.  
He is enough.  He will make the way.  He will smooth the path.  His word does what it sets out to accomplish.  He doesn’t expect you to be super strong or super brave or even a little bit perfect.  He asks you to be willing, and the rest is up to Him.
Step out!  Act on the dreams God has planted in your heart.  Tell Him you are willing and watch what He does.  Don’t let fear hold you back.  Love fully.  Live fully.  Trust.  (I’m preaching to myself today too!)  
Isaiah 55:10-13 rocks my world: 
“For your thoughts are not my thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares The Lord.
As the heavens are higher than then the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” 

Oh, but it gets better.  Listen to what happens when we trust!  This is the best:

“You will go out in joy and be led out in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands.  
Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree (Ha!!!  Yesssss!) and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.  
This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed,” 

It is my joy; it is your joy to partner with The Lord in His work.
Trees clapping, hills singing…bring it. 
It was sunny, but consider yourself winked at.  ðŸ™‚

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™‚








The Scoop

Posted on by kimnjed

 

It’s 5:30 in the morning and the house is silent. I love moments like these…kinda like the calm before the storm. 🙂 Soon my little ones will stumble out of their room, one at a time, with bedhead in full force, and the day will begin. So before that happens I thought I’d talk a bit about what the next couple of weeks will look like for our fam.

Tomorrow I leave for Ukraine! I wrote that on FB and had lots of people asking if this was the BIG MOVE, and wondering how they missed the news. Ha! Let’s just say right now that when it’s time for the BIG MOVE there’s no way you’ll miss the announcement. This is a mini trip to take care of some business. Hopefully this is the last time Jed and I will head to Ukraine without our kiddos.

So, I’m leaving for Ukraine tomorrow, Jed will join me in about a week, we’ll be there together for a week or so, then I’ll come back home and Jed will stay for a few more days.

One goal of this trip is to meet with the staff of Mission to Ukraine to talk more about how they see us fitting into their vision on a daily basis. We’ll talk with the different department heads about their needs and make a sort of game plan for our time volunteering there. We’ll discuss how we can best be of help to them as an organization.

Another goal is to get an idea of housing opportunities. My friend Olya and I have an appointment with a realtor on Monday the 13th. House Hunters International! 🙂 Our hope is to see what types of places we can afford (we’ll be renting) and what part of the city we’d like to live in. Then we are hoping the realtor will agree to be on the lookout for an available place for us as the BIG MOVE draws closer.

The third goal of this trip is God-connections. I’ll be meeting with a few missionaries in Kiev and Zhitomir, and several Ukrainians who are also serving orphans with special needs. It’s our hope to make as many connections as possible. You just never know who God wants to connect for His kingdom work! We figure the more like-minded people we meet the better. We are super excited to see what God has in mind for those meetings. When Jed comes we get to meet with a few of the Ukrainian Vineyard pastors who just had a conference this past weekend. We are reeeeeeally excited to hear about what God is doing in the Vineyard there and how we can join in and support. 

That’s the scoop! We’ll be updating from Ukraine as much as we can on here and on our Wide Awake Facebook page. I’m so excited to see old friends and make new ones! Yay for tomorrow!! 

The kids and I had the best day at the coast on Friday, so I’d thought I’d share.  It was such a beautiful day!!  Shorts at the coast in May?  Unheard of!

Dancing, In-Betweening, Potty-Training, Eating, and Such

Posted on by kimnjed

* My kids are in love with the song “Dynamite”.  They request it every single morning and every single afternoon.  I’ve gotta admit their dance moves are pretty sweet.  

A sampling of the sweetness

* Yesterday was a hard day.  Being “in-between” stinks.  

  • We are not in Ukraine, but sometimes I feel like we’re not really here either.  
  • We are focused on preparing for our life there, but still trying to truly live our life here.  
  • We’re not saying goodbye yet, but know we will soon…how do you navigate that?
  • We want to be fully engaged with our church body here, yet we have to start handing off some of our responsibilities, and we’re spending more weekends away speaking at other places.  How do we navigate that?  How can you be fully present…when you aren’t present?  Ha!
  • It’s all very tricky and I have no idea how to transition well.  One step at a time, right?  One obedience at a time.  We say YES Lord to being fully present to what you call us to today.  

* I’m potty-training Seth.  He gets an M&M every time he goes potty on the toilet.  Good news?  We’re quickly running out of our M&M stash.  He gets a popsicle every time he poops on the toilet.  Bad news?  We haven’t really made a dent in our popsicle stash.  You do the math.  Then come over and help me do laundry.  Thanks. 

I guess he felt left out of the glasses club

* The Marr family, who is adopting Alexei, one of our Lost Boys, is traveling in 2 days!  Knowing that they’re heading to the place we love so very much brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart.  Please pray for the Marrs!  They are bringing light where it is needed so badly.  Woohoo!

* I’ll be in Ukraine in 20 days.  I can’t wait!!!!  I wonder what it will feel like to be there this time, knowing it’s our future home?  Hmmmm….

* I’m excited to eat Ukrainian food in 20 days. Bring.It.On.

Yum.

*After such a rough day yesterday, today has been awesome.  God is so faithful to give us just what we need, just when we need it.  Today I woke up remembering a word that was spoken over us at the very beginning of this journey:

 “It is your joy to partner with God in this.”  

When did I forget that?  It is my complete and utter joy to partner with Him!  It is my JOY!!!!!   Next time I start focusing on the struggle and stop focusing on the joy, feel free to dump cold water on my head, or whatever it takes to stop the whining.  Seriously.  The enemy is lame, and defeated.  Jesus wins the day. 

The end.