We're here!!!

We've arrived in Ukraine!!! We are very excited to be back!!! Thank you for all your prayers!!!

Merry Christmas 2009!!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!

Where in the world are the Kravtsovs?

I do think that our family could be on Amazing Race. I've only seen it once, but with all the traveling we've done, we'd be set. :)

In the past 4 months, we have been to 17 States with the children in tow. Nikita has gotten quite the American history lesson as we've driven through the plains, the mountains, visited the ocean and quite a few monuments in Washington DC.
We have been training for the ministry, finding more Home Team members, and spending time with family and friends. We are so grateful to all who have hosted us and who have spent time with us throughout our travels.
It's November now, and we're in the process of finding the perfect tickets to go back to Ukraine in January as well as finalizing Lindsay's side of Nikita's adoption (November 24th), spending the holidays with family and finding more Home Team members. We are super excited about all that God has done in the past 4 months and what we believe He will do in the next 2 before we leave for our other home.
Praise God for His provision in all ways!

To Miss

According to Dictionary.com

miss- to regret the absence or loss of

I miss my brother. It doesn't hit me hard everyday, but it does still hit me. It's been over a year since he passed away, and I wish he were here. I miss his quick wit and one liners. I miss his calm way with his daughter. I miss him making fun of me (however much it used to annoy me, I miss it now). I miss his presence.

regret- to think of with a sense of loss

I definitely regret the absence of my brother. I do feel a sense of loss. I am sad. I know that many may think that goes without saying. But sometimes, just to say these things makes it easier in some way.

He will.

August 15th, 2009 was the date of the Eric Sickels Memorial Golf Tournament. This was an event to commemorate the life of my big brother and to enjoy the other people that also loved him very very much. Our family from Florida even flew to Iowa to be there. It was a wonderful surprise. We truly have the best family in the world.
During that time in August, I began to think about something seemingly unrelated. Are we going to have family pictures? You see, before Nikita came to live with Andre and me, my side of the family got some family pictures taken. Nikita was not there. My mom told me that we were not going to get another family picture taken until we were "all together." So, now what? Nikita is here. But we are not "all together."
After the unexpected death of a person so close, you begin to have to make a new "normal" for your life. You have to adapt. I must say, some days I don't want to adapt. But as we move forward, I realize that we will get our family picture taken at some point. God is still God and He's with us always, and Eric is too in some way.
On October 16th, 2008, my big brother passed out of this world and into the next. In August, we celebrated a life that encompassed so many wonderful adjectives like devoted, caring, loving, hard-working, smart, passionate, and many more.
As we turn the calender to October 2009, I can safely say that I'm not sure how I feel. There have been days when I don't really think about him much. And there are days that I ache with the pain that I will never see him on earth again. There is much that he will miss and many times that I will feel there's just something missing.
However, in the midst of all of this, I think about the movie Rudy. I think about how no matter what, that little guy kept going. When he almost quit, others came along beside him and pushed him forward. In the end, he was the only Notre Dame football player to ever be carried off the field. He persevered. And by golly, so will we! We will continue to love, we will continue to live, we will continue to believe that God is good and that He loves us more than we can imagine. What has happened is so awful, but it will not overtake us. Oh, may God make some thing really good out of all of this. He will. He will.