Our Family in Poland

Here's the whole family in front of the cathedral in the Krakow town square. We had a bad angle, so we couldn't get the whole church.

Still in love! Check out Nikita's camera skills.

The boys in front of a big head. Not sure what it was about, but Nikita just had to take a picture in front of it.

Gotta love Krakow.

Our sweet boys! They take it all in stride. God has blessed us!

Here's a longish video of Noah feeding the Krakow birds. They were very well fed that day. :)

Here's Nikita at the Hash's just being silly.

The boys at the Hash's. This is Noah's new favorite hobby (picking his nose).

So sweet... sometimes. :)

So, we can't decide if Noah is actually German. Whenever we ask him how he's doing he says, "Gund." Listen and see for yourselves. :)
Oh, and by the way. I was waiting at a red light when I took this video, so the craziness at the end is me realizing that the light had already turned green. :)

What do I live for?

Our lives are but a "mist." We are here today and gone tomorrow. So, what is it that I live for? Do I live for the mission that God has given me, the calling I feel so strongly to accomplish? Or do I live for God? That may seem like the same thing, but for me, lately, it's not. God has given me a calling, but He knows how He wants it to play out. If I live for the calling, then what happens when God adjusts or changes that calling? Then my whole life and stability are challenged. BUT, when I live for God, no matter my location or calling, my life purpose will be the same. I can live for God as a missionary in Ukraine, as a doctor in the States, as a store worker in Spain, etc. My occupation and what fills my everyday life isn't as important as my life with Christ. As long as I'm with Him, I'm fulfilling my purpose each day, and thanks to the cross, I can be with Him everyday!!! Praise God!!!

Drama Drama Drama

The most recent drama of our life began last Thursday. Due to some everyday mis-communication, Andre left the house in the car without the documents. (I had taken the documents out of the bag they're usually in and put them in my purse. Whoops.) Since our car has Spanish plates, we often get stopped by the police and asked for our documents. Well, this fateful day was no different. Andre got stopped while taking Nikita to school, and it was then that he realized that he was driving documentless. Well, to make a long and confusing story short, they impounded our car. (What!!! I know, it was crazy.) Anyway, we went to pay a fine and they said that they had to check with the border control to make sure that everything was all right with our foreign car, so we had to come back on Friday.
At this point, we were a bit nervous. I mean, not everything in Ukraine is always clear, in fact most of these kinds of situations are anything but clear. Would they search for some random law that says that they get to keep the car? Would we have to go to court or something like that? This is going to totally change our everyday life.
So, we freaked out, prayed, freaked out some more, calmed down and went to the police station on Friday. After a talk with Andre and some discussion amongst their people, they gave us our car back!!! Just like that! We praised God immensely and then began to prepare for our trip to Poland the next day.
That night, before our trip to Poland and after we had gotten our car back, we received our tax return to our bank account!!! Wow!!! I love the US government! Amidst all the excitement, I thought to myself, "Hmm, I hope God isn't giving us this money because we have to use it for something specific, like some sort of problem." (This is the part in the movie when everyone looks at each other and thinks, "Uh-oh.")
Well, the next day we left for Poland. And, sure enough, at the border, the passport control people informed us that Andre and Nikita have 6 days left in the country for the next 3 months. What!?! It's a long, confusing story that even the head of the immigration department here in Rivne doesn't understand, so I won't bore you with the details. Let's just say that we entered Poland a bit shell-shocked. We went shopping, ate at McDonald's and did all the fun things one gets to do in Poland, and then returned to the border.
On re-entry, Andre asked, "So, since I only have 6 days..."
Border Guard, "Who told you that? You have 90 days."
What???
So, right now we are packing to go to Poland to save days, which we might not have to save at all, in hopes of figuring out this situation, maybe getting a visa, maybe something else. Who knows!!! This is our life. Welcome. It's definitely not boring. :)