A Day In Uman, Ukraine

Yesterday was quite possibly one of my most favorite days on the race.  It felt like a field trip back in elementary school, except it was for adults and I had a blast.  We woke up pretty early and headed downtown to meet up with some of our Ukrainian friends and American missionaries.  We have been helping out for the past few weeks with an English club through SPRC (not sure what it stands for) Church and have built some relationships with the people involved.  They were headed to this famous park, Sofiyivka (pronounced Sofia) about 3 hours from Kiev and invited us to tag along.  We gladly accepted!

The day didn’t consist of anything extraordinary, but there were a little things here and there that made it memorable.  First, was the beauty of God’s creation.  The leaves were changing and it was gorgeous.  Everywhere we looked there was red, gold, orange and green.  It was awesome.  There is something about being in God’s creation makes me feel relaxed.  I felt overwhelmed with peace all day.  There were people everywhere and several weddings, it was clearly the place to be in Uman.  Second, was Zachary.  He is our contacts son, that was adopted here in the Ukraine.  He took a liking to me for some reason and had me laughing all day long.  Zach brought me joy yesterday.  He made me long for the day God gives me a son.  I am thankful God has placed Zach with a family that loves Christ.  I will continue to pray for him.  Third, was the students…Dara, Katia, Dima, Dima, Vlad, Jama, Dennis…the list could go on and on.  I have really loved getting to know these students over the last few weeks.  I have heard some of their stories and can see the transformation that has taken place in their lives.  Their love for Christ is evident.  Even though English is not their first language, many of them speak English better than most places we have been this year.  It has allowed us to move past the surface.  Fourth, is how much fun you can have with a camera. We have discovered that my camera does this burst thing and will rapidly take pictures for however long you hold it down.  We had so much fun taking pictures in the leaves and rolling down hills and jumping up and down.  I haven’t laughed that hard in awhile.  I felt like a little kid and I loved it.  Sometimes we need to be silly and act like a child.  I have learned that this year.  Fifth, was dressing Victorian style.  This was just funny.  Blair, Shannon and Ashley did it first and then Kara, Kris and I decided to do it next, Team BLING didn’t think I’d pay to put a dress on, but for $2.50 and good laughs, it was a no brainer.  I think we looked pretty good and would’ve been able to hang in that error, what do you think? Please let us know your thoughts.  Lastly, is our contacts – Jon, Kristen and Garrett.  They are on staff with Mission to The World.  Jon has been here for 10 years with his family and Kristen & Garrett have been here about a year.  They have been great and a blessing to our team.  I have loved being a part of the English club, Mafia nights and just watching them interact and build relationships.  They have been obedient to follow God to the Ukraine and their hearts for this nation is obvious.  I fully support everything they are doing here.

 

So as you can see nothing life changing happened yesterday.  It was a day of simple fun, in the beauty of God’s creation.  Sometimes I think it requires so much to have a good day.  I am so wrong.  Really all it takes is God’s creation, good company, a camera and a spirit that is willing to laugh and have fun!  I’m thankful God gave us yesterday, it was a good day and one that I won’t forget.  Maybe one day the Lord will let me return to the Ukraine.

 

 

 

    

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(BLING enjoying the Fall…I love these girls & can hardly believe it is coming to an end!)