Angel Wings

The Lord has blessed me with a very tender heart.  The result is that I cry-muchly. :)  I cry when someone leaves town, even if it is for a short time and I know they will return. I know I will miss them so those are tears of missing and sadness.   I cry when someone comes back into town! So those are tears of welcoming and joy!  I cry at hallmark commercials, I cry at other commercials too, I cry when I watch The Waltons, Little House on the Praire, I Love Lucy…

My friends in Russia used to say “Vanessa, you are so cryable!  And it’s true. I am not sure sometimes if my tears are a blessing or a curse.

So why do I write about tears? Well, we at Calvary Poltava are in a time of transition.  Don and Marta Patten are leaving for Isreal one week from today (by this time next week they will be in Isreal!), the Brinkerhoff family (missionaries I work alongside with in Poltava) leave tomorrow for furlough in Indiana.  I’ve been crying since last week!  Tonight at prayer meeting the waterfalls started.  SIGH  I will see the Brinkerhoff’s again soon, and will see Don and Marta in May prayerfully at the National Conference.  But all the same, I will miss these people dearly (uh oh, I am crying again).  Thus the tears.

Please please please pray for us here at Calvary Poltava during this time of transition.  That our eyes will not be on ourselves, but on the Lord.  It isn’t about who is Pastor, but about how the Lord is using that person and speaking through that person into our lives. Are we receiving His words? Or rejecting? Are we comparing Pastor’s? Or are we accepting of who the Lord has put in this position.

Thank you for your prayers. I will keep you updated as I can see through my tears.  

I wonder if Angels cry?  

I haven’t blogged as much as I would have liked, and I am definitly not going to win any prize for “bloggers month”.  But here is today’s blog.  Sometimes I leave my house at 9:30am (sometimes earlier)  and do not return until 10:00pm (sometimes later).  It has been this way especially for the last two weeks.  I’m not expecting things to change in that dept, too soon.  Thus it is hard to keep up on the “everyday blogging!”   

This week is the last week with our Pastor and wife, Don and Marta Patten before they move to Isreal. As you read this, please pray for Calvary Chapel Poltava, Ukraine as we will be in the midst of what I call “transition week”….transitioning from Don and Marta Patten to Erik and Tanya Bougie.  May we keep our eyes on Jesus and not on man during this transition. And may the Lord bless abundantly Don/Marta as they step out into new ministry in Jerusalem, and may He bless abundatly Erik and Tanya as they step into the role of Pastor, Pastor’s wife/worship leader.  

Lot’s going on, not much time to blog, but thankful that I have a place to put my prayers and thoughts.

“Blessings taken for granted are often forgotten. Yet our Heavenly Father ‘daily loadeth us with benefits’ (Psalm 68:19). Think of some of the common things which are nevertheless wonderful:

“–the intricate, delicate mechanism of the lungs steadily and silently taking in fresh air eighteen to twenty times a minute;

“–the untiring heart, pumping great quantities of clean blood through the labyrinth of blood vessels;

“–the constant body temperature, normally varying less than one degree;

“–the atmospheric temperature, varying widely it is true, but never so much as to destroy human and animal life;

“–the orderly succession of day and night, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, so that, with few exceptions, man can make his plans accordingly;

“–the great variety of foods, from the farm, the field, the forest, and the sea, to suit our differing desires and physical needs;

“–the beauties of each day–the morning star and growing light of sunrise, the white clouds of afternoon, the soft tints of a peaceful sunset, and the glory of the starry heavens;

“–the symphony of early morning bird songs, ranging from the unmusical trill of the chipping sparrow to the lilting ecstasy of the goldfinch and the calm, rich, bell-like tones of the wood and hermit thrushes;

“–the refreshment that sleep brings;

“–the simple joys of home–the children’s laughter and whimsical remarks, happy times around the table, the love and understanding of husband and wife, and the harmony of voices raised together in praise to God.

“All these and many others come from the bountiful hand of Him ‘who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s’ (Psalm 103:4,5).

“‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness’ (Lamentations 3:22,23).

“‘It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High’ (Psalm 92:1).”

“Blessings taken for granted are often forgotten. Yet our Heavenly Father ‘daily loadeth us with benefits’ (Psalm 68:19). Think of some of the common things which are nevertheless wonderful:

“–the intricate, delicate mechanism of the lungs steadily and silently taking in fresh air eighteen to twenty times a minute;

“–the untiring heart, pumping great quantities of clean blood through the labyrinth of blood vessels;

“–the constant body temperature, normally varying less than one degree;

“–the atmospheric temperature, varying widely it is true, but never so much as to destroy human and animal life;

“–the orderly succession of day and night, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, so that, with few exceptions, man can make his plans accordingly;

“–the great variety of foods, from the farm, the field, the forest, and the sea, to suit our differing desires and physical needs;

“–the beauties of each day–the morning star and growing light of sunrise, the white clouds of afternoon, the soft tints of a peaceful sunset, and the glory of the starry heavens;

“–the symphony of early morning bird songs, ranging from the unmusical trill of the chipping sparrow to the lilting ecstasy of the goldfinch and the calm, rich, bell-like tones of the wood and hermit thrushes;

“–the refreshment that sleep brings;

“–the simple joys of home–the children’s laughter and whimsical remarks, happy times around the table, the love and understanding of husband and wife, and the harmony of voices raised together in praise to God.

“All these and many others come from the bountiful hand of Him ‘who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s’ (Psalm 103:4,5).

“‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness’ (Lamentations 3:22,23).

“‘It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High’ (Psalm 92:1).”

“Blessings taken for granted are often forgotten. Yet our Heavenly Father ‘daily loadeth us with benefits’ (Psalm 68:19). Think of some of the common things which are nevertheless wonderful:

“–the intricate, delicate mechanism of the lungs steadily and silently taking in fresh air eighteen to twenty times a minute;

“–the untiring heart, pumping great quantities of clean blood through the labyrinth of blood vessels;

“–the constant body temperature, normally varying less than one degree;

“–the atmospheric temperature, varying widely it is true, but never so much as to destroy human and animal life;

“–the orderly succession of day and night, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, so that, with few exceptions, man can make his plans accordingly;

“–the great variety of foods, from the farm, the field, the forest, and the sea, to suit our differing desires and physical needs;

“–the beauties of each day–the morning star and growing light of sunrise, the white clouds of afternoon, the soft tints of a peaceful sunset, and the glory of the starry heavens;

“–the symphony of early morning bird songs, ranging from the unmusical trill of the chipping sparrow to the lilting ecstasy of the goldfinch and the calm, rich, bell-like tones of the wood and hermit thrushes;

“–the refreshment that sleep brings;

“–the simple joys of home–the children’s laughter and whimsical remarks, happy times around the table, the love and understanding of husband and wife, and the harmony of voices raised together in praise to God.

“All these and many others come from the bountiful hand of Him ‘who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s’ (Psalm 103:4,5).

“‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness’ (Lamentations 3:22,23).

“‘It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High’ (Psalm 92:1).”

“The most deeply taught Christians are generally those who have been brought into the searching fires of deep soul-anguish. If you have been praying to know more of Christ, do not be surprised if He takes you aside into a desert place, or leads you into a furnace of pain.”

Do not punish me, Lord, by taking my cross from me, but comfort me by submitting me to Thy will, and by making me to love the cross. Give me that by which Thou shalt be best served . . . and let me hold it for the greatest of all Thy mercies, that Thou shouldst glorify Thy name in me, according to Thy will. –A Captive’s Prayer

“Prayer is the vehicle that enables us to enjoy God in the deepest expression of intimacy available to us. Words cannot describe such times.” Paul Cedar, A Life of Prayer

laundry drying on a snowy windy day-winter trees behind my apartment

“Thanksgiving means thanking God for all the good gifts which He has given to us.  One of the great dangers of life is that we should take things for granted just because they come to us regularly and every day.” 

William Barclay

Friday I looked at the weather forecast and it said snow for Saturday-Monday.  So I woke up Saturday and there was NOTHING..I was thoroughly disappointed.  So Sunday morning as I was waking up and praying for snow I thought that since Poltava was farther south than Kiev, that snow would not come as early this year.  But nevertheless, I was praying. So, when I got up and opened my curtains, what to my eyes should I see?  SNOW!!!! Now you may think that there is tons of snow on the ground, but there isn’t, just a covering and barely that, but it is snow, and it is still falling from the sky, albeit, small flakes, but falling lazily nonetheless from the sky.  I love it when it snows (my mother abhors snow-I think that is because she grew up in Kansas and Missouri where there is snow EVERY winter-I however grew up in the Pacific Northwest, Bellingham and Seattle, snow is a BIG deal to us)!…Sooo…mark your calendars, November 5, 2006 snow came to Poltava!!!!!!

“Thanksgiving means thanking God for all the good gifts which He has given to us. One of the great dangers of life is that we should take things for granted just because they come to us regularly and every day.”  William Barclay

I recently hosted a group of five teenage girls from Indiana who are interested in missions and the lives of a missionaries. How do missionaries live? What are their days like? What are some of the struggles they have. Plus, this group wanted to do some outreaches as well. I at first was not sure how life would be like with five teenage girls in my house at once. But I know the gal who was leading the group and I trusted her judgement on all things. Plus I knew that if anything or anyone got out of hand, well…it just wouldn’t happen is all. So I volunteered to have five girls stay at my house for three days. They all slept in my front room! It was fun! Like a BIG HUGE slumber party-minus the popcorn and movies. But the girls laughed themselves silly, but were also serious about their relationship with the Lord. Sure they were teenagers, but the best well behaved, Godly teenagers I have seen ever!

I thouroughly enjoyed my time with the group of girls I hosted recently. Five teenage grils! Most would cringe at the thought, BUT, the girls were EXCELLENT…well behaved, kind, considerate, no one complained (not even one of the girls when she was running a temperature and a bad sore throat). AMAZING!!! They were servants to us here and to each other, without even thinking about it or being asked to do so, everyone got up when they needed to and no one complained about the hour or lack of sleep, they were considerate, loving, the BEST group that I have hosted in my house since coming to Ukraine. For a group of teenage girls, and two of them being sisters, I was amazed! They were fun to be around, goofy, serious, Godly examples, you could see God and feel Him through them, but yet they were teenage girls, they were not putting on a show-they were simply themselves and I think we had a good time together! This shows me that whatever their parents have done to raise them, has worked. I am thankful and blessed to have shared my life and their life these past three days. I pray that we might see each other again sometime.

Anyway, just thought I’d share since it is national blogging month (as Michelle has duly notified us bloggers about).

During this month I am going to be posting little quotes and thoughts about “thankfulness” seeing as how thanskgiving is fast approaching. Keep looking, I might even quote YOU!!!