Yesterday I finished reading the book of Ezekiel and I just kept coming back to this one section. Several times throughout the book God tells Ezekiel to tell the people that He is going to do something for His Name’s sake, and in chapter 36 He expands on that and it says:
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.”
Oh how I can relate to Israel. How many times have I not been Christ to the people around me? How many times have I been led by selfishness and not by love? And how inaccurate has my perception of salvation been?
“It is not for your sake, O Israel that I am going to do these things…”
“it is not for your sake, O Lori…”
“for the sake of my holy name…I will show the holiness of my great name…”
God will do what he purposes to do—show the glory of His Name.
The amazing thing is, he has chosen to do it through his people—even when we’ve profaned his name time and time again.
“Then the nations will know that I am the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.”
I am overwhelmed by this statement; especially in the context of the book of Ezekiel. God’s people had turned away from him as we all so often do. And still redemption is his heart SO THAT his glory may be seen and known.
Thank you, Daddy, for saving me; help me, everyday, to better understand what that means; to love as you love—for your name’s sake.
среда, сентября 30, 2009
пятница, сентября 11, 2009
четверг, сентября 10, 2009
What four years will do...
I am sitting at my desk eating borshch.
Remember when I though beets had to be disgusting?
I made it myself.
Remember when I didn’t cook?
I’m drinking carbonated water, wishing it was the strong carbonation and not just the slightly carbonated.
Remember when I thought fizzy water was gross?
Kvas now makes appearances in my diet, not frequently, but there have been moments of craving.
Remember when I didn’t even know what Kvas was?
I walk whenever possible and when not possible I take public transportation.
Remember when I never wanted to grow up, just be old enough to drive?
It’s more likely that you’ll find sour cream in my fridge than ketchup.
Remember when I was the ketchup queen and specifically ordered things without sour
cream?
I dreamed in Russian last night.
Remember when I was studying French in high school?
After 4 years, I finally made my way to a public pool.
Remember when I swam everyday?
Washing machines, dishwashers and microwaves are somewhere in my past (or at friends’ apartments :o)
I know some words in Russian that I have to think hard about to find in English—“икра,”
“тазик,” “зарядка.”
My blessing and my curse is that I am not who I was and not yet who I will be; I am caught somewhere in the middle of a paradox-al life.
I am American. And yet I am not.
I am not Ukrainian. And yet I am.
Home is where I am. And it is where I was. And it is where I am going.
I yearn for the past. I yearn for the future. I live in the moment.
I trust Christ more now than I ever have before. I have more questions now than I ever have before.
I love taking life one day at a time. I hate not knowing what’s next.
Wonder what the next four years hold…
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
Jeremiah 29:11-14
Remember when I though beets had to be disgusting?
I made it myself.
Remember when I didn’t cook?
I’m drinking carbonated water, wishing it was the strong carbonation and not just the slightly carbonated.
Remember when I thought fizzy water was gross?
Kvas now makes appearances in my diet, not frequently, but there have been moments of craving.
Remember when I didn’t even know what Kvas was?
I walk whenever possible and when not possible I take public transportation.
Remember when I never wanted to grow up, just be old enough to drive?
It’s more likely that you’ll find sour cream in my fridge than ketchup.
Remember when I was the ketchup queen and specifically ordered things without sour
cream?
I dreamed in Russian last night.
Remember when I was studying French in high school?
After 4 years, I finally made my way to a public pool.
Remember when I swam everyday?
Washing machines, dishwashers and microwaves are somewhere in my past (or at friends’ apartments :o)
I know some words in Russian that I have to think hard about to find in English—“икра,”
“тазик,” “зарядка.”
My blessing and my curse is that I am not who I was and not yet who I will be; I am caught somewhere in the middle of a paradox-al life.
I am American. And yet I am not.
I am not Ukrainian. And yet I am.
Home is where I am. And it is where I was. And it is where I am going.
I yearn for the past. I yearn for the future. I live in the moment.
I trust Christ more now than I ever have before. I have more questions now than I ever have before.
I love taking life one day at a time. I hate not knowing what’s next.
Wonder what the next four years hold…
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
Jeremiah 29:11-14
понедельник, сентября 07, 2009
Summer in the life of Lori: Part 2 (an overview)
I have decided to give you the basics now and add some more specific stories later in the week.
When we left off I had spent one camp at Camp Friendship in Lugansk and then come back to Poltava for an orphan camp with Radooga. I said sad goodbyes to my Radooga friends and was really unsure of my decision/commitment to return to Camp Friendship; Radooga, though full of its own problems turned out to still be my comfort zone—I know what is needed and how to make it happen there. I spent one night at home and then got on a train back to Lugansk…
…I can’t really break the summer up, there’s just too much to tell. But to give you an overview, there were two more kids (ages 7-15) camps (each 15 days with a 5 day break between the two). Then the day after the last kids camp began youth (ages 15-25) camp (5 days).
All camps, I worked in the camp store. For kid’s camp 3 I was able to teach the older girls’ Bible Study as well. We talked a lot about the journey that is life. How long is a lifetime? What makes life count? When does life start? When does life end? What will Heaven be like? What is hell like? It was really awesome to use the Bible to help find the answers to some of these questions. Since camp ended I’ve been able to keep in contact with several of the girls from our class and hope to see them again in the future :o)
After camp 3 it was time for Allison to return home; we took a train to Kiev and spent the night with the Magdych’s. I was able to meet up with several friends and Allison did some souvenir shopping. The next day, I took her to the airport and then met up with some other American’s who had been with us at camps in Lugansk and had just arrived in Kiev that morning. We did the Kiev Tour and then I headed to the airport to fly back to Lugansk. It was my first “in county” flight. I told Magdych that I felt weird not taking the train, but I didn’t want to be away from camp any longer than necessary :o)
When I arrived back for youth camp, it was weird because the campers were already there and it was late at night and they were all out in the court yard hanging out and playing games. I went straight to bed and decided adjustment would happen best at the beginning of a new day and with a little sleep. It was a good decision.
I again worked the store and served as a ‘floating interpreter’ for youth camp. My Russian skills are not that good, but we had a lot of Americans and not so many interpreters and people were getting sick all camp, so everyone was helping everyone else out. As it should be :o) Youth camp was awesome and a lot of the boys who had been around for kids camp really started paying attention during youth camp and there were a lot of kids who asked for prayer, several who gave their lives to Christ and others who committed their lives to ministry in the future. God did things that only He can do and I love watching Him change lives. I am so blessed to be here; so blessed to get to see what He is doing.
After Youth Camp, I spent another week in Lugansk region hanging out, going with Shane and Terry to churches and visiting in villages and helping clean up from our camps and helping with logistical issues of other people renting the camp grounds.
Then I traveled with Shane and Terry and Alec and Yura to Kiev where I spent a week with the Magdychs—yay! I got to be with Magdych on his birthday; Emily flew in from 3 months in the states, so I got to pick her up from the airport and spend some time with her, took Yan to his first day of school, had coffee with Michelle, hung out with Yura before he started Bible College, met some Lviv-ians, and bought a new Russian text book, among other miscellaneous things :o)
Thursday I arrived back in Poltava and life here is already in full swing: I’ve been to the orphanage twice (and go back on Monday), I’ve had two English lessons with a sweet girl who wants to go to the states in December, am working on unpacking and doing laundry and getting my apartment back in order. Life is good. God is awesome. And I am looking forward to continuing with Him on this journey He has set before me :o)
When we left off I had spent one camp at Camp Friendship in Lugansk and then come back to Poltava for an orphan camp with Radooga. I said sad goodbyes to my Radooga friends and was really unsure of my decision/commitment to return to Camp Friendship; Radooga, though full of its own problems turned out to still be my comfort zone—I know what is needed and how to make it happen there. I spent one night at home and then got on a train back to Lugansk…
…I can’t really break the summer up, there’s just too much to tell. But to give you an overview, there were two more kids (ages 7-15) camps (each 15 days with a 5 day break between the two). Then the day after the last kids camp began youth (ages 15-25) camp (5 days).
All camps, I worked in the camp store. For kid’s camp 3 I was able to teach the older girls’ Bible Study as well. We talked a lot about the journey that is life. How long is a lifetime? What makes life count? When does life start? When does life end? What will Heaven be like? What is hell like? It was really awesome to use the Bible to help find the answers to some of these questions. Since camp ended I’ve been able to keep in contact with several of the girls from our class and hope to see them again in the future :o)
After camp 3 it was time for Allison to return home; we took a train to Kiev and spent the night with the Magdych’s. I was able to meet up with several friends and Allison did some souvenir shopping. The next day, I took her to the airport and then met up with some other American’s who had been with us at camps in Lugansk and had just arrived in Kiev that morning. We did the Kiev Tour and then I headed to the airport to fly back to Lugansk. It was my first “in county” flight. I told Magdych that I felt weird not taking the train, but I didn’t want to be away from camp any longer than necessary :o)
When I arrived back for youth camp, it was weird because the campers were already there and it was late at night and they were all out in the court yard hanging out and playing games. I went straight to bed and decided adjustment would happen best at the beginning of a new day and with a little sleep. It was a good decision.
I again worked the store and served as a ‘floating interpreter’ for youth camp. My Russian skills are not that good, but we had a lot of Americans and not so many interpreters and people were getting sick all camp, so everyone was helping everyone else out. As it should be :o) Youth camp was awesome and a lot of the boys who had been around for kids camp really started paying attention during youth camp and there were a lot of kids who asked for prayer, several who gave their lives to Christ and others who committed their lives to ministry in the future. God did things that only He can do and I love watching Him change lives. I am so blessed to be here; so blessed to get to see what He is doing.
After Youth Camp, I spent another week in Lugansk region hanging out, going with Shane and Terry to churches and visiting in villages and helping clean up from our camps and helping with logistical issues of other people renting the camp grounds.
Then I traveled with Shane and Terry and Alec and Yura to Kiev where I spent a week with the Magdychs—yay! I got to be with Magdych on his birthday; Emily flew in from 3 months in the states, so I got to pick her up from the airport and spend some time with her, took Yan to his first day of school, had coffee with Michelle, hung out with Yura before he started Bible College, met some Lviv-ians, and bought a new Russian text book, among other miscellaneous things :o)
Thursday I arrived back in Poltava and life here is already in full swing: I’ve been to the orphanage twice (and go back on Monday), I’ve had two English lessons with a sweet girl who wants to go to the states in December, am working on unpacking and doing laundry and getting my apartment back in order. Life is good. God is awesome. And I am looking forward to continuing with Him on this journey He has set before me :o)
среда, сентября 02, 2009
More to come :o)
I know I owe you all summer stories...and they will come. I am not home yet. When I get there I will update.
The Day I Almost Cost A Teller Her Job
I needed to pay my rent, and wanted to do it in dollars, so instead of going to an ATM (more fondly known as "bank-o-mat") I decided to take an attempt at going inside and getting money off my debit card through a teller. I walked up to the counter and asked if this was possible (some banks here will let you and others won't). She took my card and began the transaction. When it got time to inspect my passport, the confusion started. I could tell she was having trouble reading it so I offered to show her the information she needed.
"Your last name is Amber?" she asked.
"No, my last name is Jackson."
"First name?"
"Lori."
"Ochestva?" (a form of your father's fist name, used for identification in Ukraine and other former soviet countries)
"We don't have Ochestvi. My middle name is Amber."
very confused look.
"You can type it there, where the ochestva should go, or you can just leave that blank. They know Americans don't have ochestvi."
"Birthday."
"3 April 1983"
"what is this?" (pointing on my passport to the city Charleston)
"that's where my passport was printed. It's not important."
(and so on and so forth)
I sign a bunch of receipts and write my cell phone number on the back of one of her copies at the last minute. She returns my card and passport (since that time the embassy lost my passport, I'm paranoid about handing anyone anything of such value and and watch it like a hawk.)
An hour later I've made it to Emily's apartment. We're going out later to meet our friend Michelle. Sitting on her piano bench my phone rings. I answer it and on the other end is the lady from the bank in a panic.
"I need you to come back as soon as possible."
"I'm busy right now. Can I come by in the morning"
"I need you to come right now?"
"what's the problem?"
"there was a mistake."
"What time do you close?"
"In 30 mins."
"there is no way I can make it back in 30 mins. What time do you open in the morning? Can I come by then?"
"What if I call a cab for you? We need to close out for the day and I really need you to come back."
"A taxi won't help me get there within 30 mins. There is a traffic jam. Can I come tomorrow?"
"I'll stay here until you can get here. Anytime tonight. If you don't come tonight, I won't have a job in the morning."
"ok, I'm on my way."
Emily and I call Michelle to say we'll be late. Get on a marshrootka and head back to the bank to see what the problem is.
She had charged my card wrong. We redid the transaction. Signed a bunch more receipts, and as I began to walk away she thanks me profusely and insists I take a box of chocolates.
Only in Ukraine :o)
"Your last name is Amber?" she asked.
"No, my last name is Jackson."
"First name?"
"Lori."
"Ochestva?" (a form of your father's fist name, used for identification in Ukraine and other former soviet countries)
"We don't have Ochestvi. My middle name is Amber."
very confused look.
"You can type it there, where the ochestva should go, or you can just leave that blank. They know Americans don't have ochestvi."
"Birthday."
"3 April 1983"
"what is this?" (pointing on my passport to the city Charleston)
"that's where my passport was printed. It's not important."
(and so on and so forth)
I sign a bunch of receipts and write my cell phone number on the back of one of her copies at the last minute. She returns my card and passport (since that time the embassy lost my passport, I'm paranoid about handing anyone anything of such value and and watch it like a hawk.)
An hour later I've made it to Emily's apartment. We're going out later to meet our friend Michelle. Sitting on her piano bench my phone rings. I answer it and on the other end is the lady from the bank in a panic.
"I need you to come back as soon as possible."
"I'm busy right now. Can I come by in the morning"
"I need you to come right now?"
"what's the problem?"
"there was a mistake."
"What time do you close?"
"In 30 mins."
"there is no way I can make it back in 30 mins. What time do you open in the morning? Can I come by then?"
"What if I call a cab for you? We need to close out for the day and I really need you to come back."
"A taxi won't help me get there within 30 mins. There is a traffic jam. Can I come tomorrow?"
"I'll stay here until you can get here. Anytime tonight. If you don't come tonight, I won't have a job in the morning."
"ok, I'm on my way."
Emily and I call Michelle to say we'll be late. Get on a marshrootka and head back to the bank to see what the problem is.
She had charged my card wrong. We redid the transaction. Signed a bunch more receipts, and as I began to walk away she thanks me profusely and insists I take a box of chocolates.
Only in Ukraine :o)
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