A Second Christmas

One thing that I am pretty sure is universal about missionaries is that all of us LOVE to receive packages from home! Our family is definitely no exception. We are so grateful for a wonderful friend of ours at our home church in Tacoma, WA whom we can always count on to receive and send us any mail or school curriculum we have sent to her home address. When it is time to send out a box, she offers to send any goodies or necessary items she can fit in as well. We always look forward to any extras she has tucked into the packages and she has been such a blessing to help us in this area.

Several months ago a friend from college wrote me through Facebook and shared with me that she had been thinking of our family lately and felt the Lord wanted her to send us a Christmas package. She asked me to send her a list of ideas around a certain amount for each child. My friend also asked for my hubby and I to think of something we would like. Hmm, I began to think. So, what would a missionary Momma like to receive in a package? There are a few things that we missionaries (wives) dream about when the holidays come around. Sometimes  I have a few things on my "wish list" of things that IF I could send over I would. This year I was thinking about a new dress for our daughter, Rebekah to wear to the Christmas services which would match the new shirts and ties I had ordered for our boys. We also needed a used winter coat for our oldest son to use as a play/work coat for here in the village. With us living out in the village the kids begin to look a little "back woods" if we go to town in their play/work coats that they get dirty and smelly from playing with the dog or feeding the animals. I also so enjoy buying stocking "stuffers" for the kids when we are in the States which are much less expensive than here so I was thinking she could send a few things for each of them to be put  in their stockings. I gave her a list of things that our boys are interested in and a list of what Beka enjoys. She told me how she would love to shop for them all and if they needed anything to let her know. Wow, I was so excited! Beka has so desperately needed longer shirts and skirts and I shared that we would be grateful for anything she could find in second hand stores or anywhere for that matter! She insisted that I tell her something that was really for myself to add to the list so I asked for a new blouse to wear for Christmas, smell good candles and lotions. David had been searching for a battery tester for years here so I asked for that for him.  

So, list made! I felt a little awkward to be honest! I don't like asking for things or telling people what I would like to receive - it's hard for me! All through the process she reported back to me about how much fun she, her sister, and her mother were now having shopping to make our Christmas extra special. How humbling! I was so taken back by what had become a whole project by a dear friend and her family that I didn't know what to say. God is so good! If there is one thing I can say still amazes me every time it happens, it is when my Heavenly Father gives me what I need or want at times when I have quietly uttered it only to Him. It is such a reminder that He is there for me, loves me and watches over me as only He can!

Once the packages were carefully packed and ready to ship, my friend sent them out with what usually would have been sufficient time for them to get here just before Christmas. Unfortunately, the packages didn't arrive as planned but did make it to us by Russian Christmas (January 7th). The funny thing was that the ladies at our local post office knew I was anxiously awaiting a package "from Santa" (as they put it). However, through the holidays and even the first two weeks of the new year, businesses here are rarely open and close early on days they are open. This includes post offices and banks. One day (January 4th), as I was walking through the house and happened to glance out the window to see why our dog was barking. the postmaster was standing in front of our gate. I ran out to see her and she said, "You have two packages at the post office. If your husband is not home with the car get the sled and come on over. We close in one hour." That cracked me up that she walked all the way over to my house to tell me my awaited packages had arrived! So, David was in town with the boys which meant that Beka and I took off pulling our sled behind us to go pick up our Christmas packages! I had kept the whole thing a secret until that moment when I had to explain to Beka why we were rushing off to the post office in such a hurry AND taking the sled with nothing on it! I didn't give her much information but enough so she didn't think her mother had lost her mind.  On the way home David called us and asked where we were in the village so he could drive to us to pick us up and drive us home.

David and I took the packages into our room and looked over all the goodies. I knew more of what my friend was sending but I didn't tell David about all of it. He was in shock when he opened the boxes! He couldn't believe she had sent all these wonderful gifts to our family. One other thing I had shared with her that I was checking in to buying for David was a pair of boots for David as well. I just asked her to look around there in her area since she lives in "cowboy country" to see if she could find a going price for the boots. She sent David the exact boots he has been wanting to get a new pair of for years! We were so touched by this family's generosity. So, we wrapped up all the presents and had a WONDERFUL second Christmas! Here is a look at what we received:

Stockings full of goodies!

Beka happy to receive some lotion.

Christmas pencils!

Cars that go on metal!

Daddy thinks they are cool too!

Large Transformers for the boys!

COOL!

Family games!

The boys received Legos and Hero Factory toys which all have lots of little parts. So before David and I wrapped them we purchased a few small containers to put them in to help the boys keep track of their pieces.

Legos for the boys

A new Easter dress for Beka!

I love the expressions on the kid's faces when they opened a "Bop-It"! They had never seen one before that any of them remembered and they had no idea what it was!

Daddy demonstrating how to play.

Okay, this is FUN!

Hero Factory for the boys. Artsy stuff for Beka.

More clothes!

And even more clothes! 

A Lego bumblebee for Timothy!

A surprise wool sweater for me! So warm!

Not pictured was a surprise Columbia jacket for me as well, along with the play jacket for the boys.

And here are the matching Christmas clothes just as I had pictured them. David isn't wearing a new shirt or tie but he does have on his new boots with brand new warm socks to break them in!

Last November I read a post from a missionary wife home on furlough about receiving packages from home. She held a giveaway on her blog for missionary wives and whoever won would receive a package of goodies from her, a furloughing missionary. You should read it and see how many ladies posted a comment on her blog in order to enter the giveaway. Read what they asked  for - simple things.

During our next furlough, I plan to take some time to contact a missionary on the field and ask what they would like to receive in a package from home.  I want to be a blessing to a missionary wife who maybe has prayed and asked the Lord to provide something special for her family, like those of you who have sent packages to our family have been to this missionary wife. God bless you my dear friends!

New Series of Blog Posts to Come

Several months ago I was thinking of a fun series of posts I could write for my blog to describe what it is really like to live in Siberia. I know that for me, and maybe many of my friends who are also missionaries would agree, the unusual ways of life in a foreign country often become "normal" to us as we go about our daily living. What once seemed totally strange to us soon becomes "all in a day's work" and we forget how different of a world we live in compared to our family and friends back home. Sometimes it is not until we furlough and begin to share these stories with others that we realize how unusual, dangerous, interesting, and even humorous (after the fact!) they really were.

For us here in Siberia as in most foreign fields, life is challenging at all times. By far, the most challenging part of life for us is living through the long winters. During the winter months, every day events become even more challenging and definitely funny! That being said, I would like to introduce a new series of posts on my blog called: Frozen Tales. In this series I will share stories of life during the winter in the middle of Siberia and the moments that make it so memorable. Hope you enjoy it! Stay tuned! 

I already created a button with the above image which you can grab at the bottom right side of the Home blog page.

Christmas At Our House - Traditions (Part 3)

I pray you all enjoyed a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year's celebration with family and friends. First of all I would like to ask your forgiveness for taking so long to post on here! My reasons are legitimate since we spent the entire two weeks before Christmas working long days in order to move our family into our new home before the very cold weather arrived. I have much more to say about all that so stay tuned! 

On to another family tradition we have started here on the mission field - preparing goodies to give out to our neighbors and church families.  Every year during the Christmas/New Year holiday time we have baked cookies for our neighbors, post office workers, pharmacist, and families of Sunday school children.

Beka shelling nuts to use in baking. (2006)

Ryan helping roll the cookies in  powdered sugar. (2006)

We have also enjoyed preparing family baskets with tea, candy, cookies, fruit, and surprises for the children.

Me preparing baskets (2007). Please forgive the head cut off by my very young photographer.

Most of this year's cookie plates.

This year I thoroughly enjoyed baking in my new house with much more kitchen space!

We really enjoy delivering these goodies to everyone. It is very rare that we can get away from the door without a gift as most Russians believe they must give something in return. We do our best to get in and out without anything extra! We've come home with everything from eggs to frozen fish as New Year's presents! They are all so surprised to hear that we just want to be nice and hospitable, not expecting anything in return. Sometimes we are invited in for tea and a chat which provides a nice opportunity for us to share Christ with them and for them to ask questions. During a stop on this year's cookie delivery, I visited one of my neighbors who had been diagnosed with lung cancer this past summer. She began to share her heart with me about how she doesn't go out anymore or invite anyone into her home so that they do not see her in the condition she is in now that she has gone through five rounds of chemotherapy. She invited me to come back to talk with her. Now that opportunity is worth way more than a plate of cookies!