Have you subscribed yet?
We will be writing monthly updates with different info than the blogs for our friends and family, so sign up to receive those if you haven't. Also, blog posts and/or prayer requests can be delivered to your inbox as well! Just sign up here.
We will be writing monthly updates with different info than the blogs for our friends and family, so sign up to receive those if you haven't. Also, blog posts and/or prayer requests can be delivered to your inbox as well! Just sign up here.
We arrived in Lviv on Thursday evening (and have been pretty busy since), but before sharing about our layover in Istanbul or our time in Ukraine, we wanted to take a step back in time to last week.
Our last week in Virginia was a crazy one filled with packing up our apartment, packing for a year overseas, moving, cleaning, and wrapping up details on a to-do list a mile long. Trey’s parents visited to help with the moving process, and my (Maggie’s) family hosted us for several nights during and after moving. Thanks to the help of MANY, we were ready when it came time for our flight. We said several goodbyes during the week and many friends came by to give us hugs and pray with us. It was such a blessing to feel so loved and supported as we prepared for this big step.
Our last week in Virginia was a crazy one filled with packing up our apartment, packing for a year overseas, moving, cleaning, and wrapping up details on a to-do list a mile long. Trey’s parents visited to help with the moving process, and my (Maggie’s) family hosted us for several nights during and after moving. Thanks to the help of MANY, we were ready when it came time for our flight. We said several goodbyes during the week and many friends came by to give us hugs and pray with us. It was such a blessing to feel so loved and supported as we prepared for this big step.
Our "Ukraine piles" and the start of the first draft of packing
For some reason, I haven’t been nervous about this trip at all, but leading up to our trip, I had one huge anxiety: packing. Moving was a huge task, but I was far more anxious about packing for a year abroad, because somehow each of us had to fit things for a cold winter, hot summer, and in-between weather into two 50-pound suitcases and a carry-on. Thankfully, when we took our first pass at packing, we were pleasantly surprised by how many bulky sweaters and clothes we could fit into 50 pounds. But we still had to make a second packing attempt to try to fit a few more boxes of things. On Monday morning, before our second try, I went outside and opened my Bible to have some time alone with God (TAWG, as our Cornerstone youth group kids call it). I read the next few chapters in the Gospel of Mark, and I had to laugh when I got to the second chapter of the morning. There in my reading for that day was the passage where Jesus sends his disciples out.
And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. - Mark 6:7-9
God’s perfect timing just cracks me up sometimes. Here I was, freaking out, when I had the privilege of bringing two whole suitcases with me, plus a carry-on and a backpack! He wanted to remind me that compared to the disciples, I had it pretty good! In the end, we left behind some things we would have liked to bring, but we were able to fit everything we needed into the baggage allotment.
Our second packing attempt and the finished suitcases and carry-ons.
In addition to this little reminder from the Lord when I needed it, Trey and I have seen God's kindnesses to us in many ways (big and small) over the past several weeks leading up to this trip. He used so many people to bless us, and we wanted to share about a few of these. If one of these stories refers to you, THANK YOU for the blessing that you were and are to us! We really appreciate you!! These things were mostly just from last week:
- Good Weather - During the week of our move, God blessed us with 5 days of perfect weather, and temperatures on our moving day were extremely mild. With our small apartment, we ended up needing to leave a few things outside overnight, so this ended up being a huge blessing!
- A Suitcase (or two!) - After our first pass at packing, one of Trey's suitcases was at the weight limit, but was completely full, so we decided to buy a bigger one. That morning at church, the missions pastor happened to ask how packing was going. We said it was going well, but mentioned we needed to buy a bigger suitcase. He responded, "I've got one in my office. Do you want it? I knew I had it for a reason." It had been donated to the church, and was the exact size we needed. Praise God! We ended up needing to get one more big suitcase, and my parents gave us a similar one that had been donated to Fellowship Bible Church.
- Movers and Cleaners - God provided a few key people to help us move and get our house ready for its inspection. One person let us know ahead of time they would be there, but two friends came to help unexpectedly, which was a tremendous help!
- Free storage - We had planned to rent out a storage unit for the year, which would have cost about $1,000. When I requested recommendations for a storage unit company in Winchester, a friend messaged me and told me that they had a whole basement for us to use, if we could find a place for our couch and bed. A family friend needed a couch, and agreed to use ours for the year, and my family agreed to keep our bed for the year.
- Free lunch - I told Trey I really wanted Chipotle before leaving the country. We made plans to meet my parents for lunch in between all our errands that day. I ran into several old high school friends at lunch, one of whom manages the Winchester Chipotle. We caught up for a little bit while the four of us were in line, and I told her what we were about to do. When we got to the front of the line, the cashier said, "We appreciate the trip you guys are going on, and the meal is on us. Thanks for what you're going to do." Wow. Totally unexpected!
Lastly, here are a few pictures from packing, moving, and saying goodbyes.