Christmas is a {giving} season

I love Christmas time. It is my absolute favorite! It is a time for friends and family, but most importantly for Jesus. It is a season of giving (and not just in material ways, but giving of your time, your energy, etc.)

I really enjoyed spending time with my little sister, Zorina, last weekend. We spent the day shopping for gifts. She is just so funny. She told me I just HAD to buy gifts for this person and this person. She wanted to make sure everyone had a gift :) Cutie. 

After I dropped her off, I went home to wrap everything. 

 Although I bought lots of pretty silver wrapping paper this year, I decided to go with kraft paper because I could incorporate more fun items like washi and confetti and stamps :)  Photo to the left shows some of my fun items.  

Custom wrapping paper for my lovely Zorina, using Martha Stewart washi tape for the "Z" and to create a banner. Also used a MS stamp to create the background.

Just some of my pretty packages adoring the tree :) Can't wait to gift these bad boys! 

Merry Christmas! Hope you enjoy this season of gifting :) 

Burdened...

With the recent shootings in Clackamas and Newtown, you can't help but wonder what is going on with this world. 

We are in dire need for Jesus. 



This is a really beautiful prayer, written by Max Lucado. Enjoy.

Dear Jesus,

It’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.

These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.

The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod’s jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,

Your Children

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We're back!

It's been about a year since our last post... time really flies!

A lot has happened in that time!
First off, we celebrated our 1 year anniversary in Cancun. That was an experience to remember; I'll have to tell you about it later :)
We took a family trip to San Diego in August and also went on a missions trip to Mexico in August. God has been so gracious to us!

Currently, we are preparing for a new ministry for the both of us- teen ministry.  There is so much brokenness, hurt, and unanswered questions in the lives of young adults...may God help us shine a light and impact these teens in an awesome way!

We hope to keep you updated on our life and happenings through the blog more often!


Grow in love, friends.

one week....

Just one week until Yaroslav and I can start Bible College again and we are thrilled!

Last year, I stumbled across the event page on Facebook by accident and started thinking about the possibility of us going... so we talked and prayed and went ahead with it. We never regretted it.  :)

Every Wednesday, we make the trip up to Portland through prime traffic and cross our fingers we aren't late ;)
We have met some cool people- including Pastor Vasiliy and Olya Yarosh, and pastor Brad Makowski of New Beginnings Church. More importantly, we have learned Biblical truths that have stood the test of time. Classes last year included motivational gifts (my personal fave taught by Olya!), book of Revelation (so neat to study!), book of Psalms, Omnipotence of God.  Topics for this year include finances, psychology/counseling, praise+worship, marriage and family...Can't wait!

It really is such a blessing for us... and it can be for you as well if you are reading this and are interested :) We'd love for you to join us on this journey....

I speak for the both of us because I know Yar shares my heart in this when I say... we can't wait!
http://go2all.org/rus/
http://www.facebook.com/slavicnb

This weekend...

“I've been doing a lot of abstract painting lately, extremely abstract. No brush, no paint, no canvas, I just think about it.”



Hubby and I decided to make this  weekend a productive one and spruce up our little home. 
We got all the supplies necessary and finally painted our bathroom a lovely French Roast color. MMmmmm.

I've never painted walls on my own before so this was quite the experiment... especially working in a small space and lots of objects to work around but I think it turned out lovely :) 


The best part of it all- spending the day together and doing it all together. I am so very blessed to have such a fabulous husband :) 

Eeek!

Really looking forward to a little getaway this weekend with my lovely hubby. We both really enjoy camping but haven't had a chance to go this summer yet. I am so excited...Eeeek! 

Now back to packing... lol...