What Little Boys Are Made Of

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails,

That's what boys are made of.

With dirt on his nose, and scrapes on his knees,

The throwing of rocks, and the climbing of trees,

With pockets of frogs, and jars full of bugs

Makes a sweet little boy full of kisses and hugs!

If you look up the word "boy" in the Webster's dictionary, you will certainly find a picture of my Nate next to the definition! Nate, who will be 6 years old this summer, is certainly all boy. He has an imagination bigger than the sky, energy faster than an engine, and collections of cars and dinosaurs that would make a grown man jealous! Nate is a charmer and usually the one that all of his babysitters fall in love with. He lives for the moment and would be the first in line to skydive if there were an opportunity within a thousand miles.

Nate is surprisingly artistic (I say surprisingly because I can hardly believe he can sit still long enough to finish a picture!) He is a daydreamer, so when it is time for dinner I have to bring him home from the hot battle-front of the Alamo or a bloody dinosaur battle before the food gets cold. Then, he is usually the last one to leave the table after a meal because he thoroughly enjoys every imaginative way he can think of eating. Oh, yes, and did you know that a bathtub can become an ocean full of sharks, ships, and sea creatures? Just ask Nate, and he can fill you in...

It is encouraging to see what a great student Nate is. He reads very quickly for his age and just today he reminded me that "readers are leaders." He is also a very loving child and smothers me with at least 30 kisses a day!

One really positive thing about having a boy who is just ALL BOY is knowing that he will grow up to be a MANLY MAN one day! I adore my little boy!

Below is a cute little recipe he had to come up with on his own for his K-5 class. It is just adorable, so I knew you would enjoy it too:

Strawberry pie

5 strawberries

2 spoons of sugar

1 crust

1 square of chocolate

4 spoons of milk

5 spoons of vanilla

Mix it all up. Pour it in a pan. Make it hot. Put it on a plate. Let it cool. Eat it.

And, below, a few more pictures of my action-packed boy:And we're off... to another great adventure with Nate!

Ruthie's Blog

STEVE AND RUTH MILLER AND THEIR DARLING CHILDREN

Blogging is becoming a family effort! Recently, my own husband joined me in blogging, and now his sister Ruthie has started her own blog! I'm just tapping my fingers, wondering which Sloan will be next... I can hardly wait to find out, because I love having a hobby that we can all enjoy together (even though we live continents apart)!

Ruthie and her husband Steve are missionaries in Mexico. Like my husband, she was born in Mexico to American missionaries, went to the States for Bible college, married an American, and then went to the mission field. The only difference between them and us is that they returned to Ruthie's "home base." A great advantage Ruthie has is being bilingual, which I am sure was a great help to her husband Steve when he began studying Spanish and is a big help now as she works in the ministry.

If you do not know Steve and Ruthie, I would sum them up in this way: Ruthie is a home-maker and Steve is a go-getter. Together, they make an excellent team for reaching the Spanish population. So, if you are searching for another like-minded missionary blog to follow, look no further! Go visit Ruthie now and encourage her as she dives into this new aspect of her life... blogging. I'm sure you will not be disappointed!

Jeep races!

In the picture below, you can see the beautiful sight we get to pass by every day on our way home to our village. This huge, peaceful valley is less than a mile from our house: However, this past Sunday, here it what it looked like:

Now I wish I could tell you this was a church activity (smile), but we used these jeep races that have been advertised in our city for weeks now as an opportunity to reach out to the older boys in the "51st Army" orphanage. Just a few days before the jeep races, we offered to pick up 10 of the boys and bring them to the races (which were held on a Sunday afternoon). Then, afterwards, we took them to our church services.

Some of the teens whom I took an individual picture of, below:

PASHA, AGE 14 ANDREI, AGE 17 OLEG, AGE 13 ROMAN, AN ORPHANAGE WORKER

10-YEAR OLD TWINS - VALERA & SERYOZHA DAVID AND IGOR, A YOUNG MAN IN OUR CHURCH WHO CAME TO HELP US

Before we drove to church, we fed our group grilled hot dogs, chips, cookies, and cokes: The largest percentage of the 45 kids, ages 4-17, in the "51st Army" orphanage are still unsaved. More than anything, we want to reach these children with the Gospel. Those who have been saved are mostly from the group of "middle-aged" kids... roughly ages 8-12. The ones who are the hardest to reach are the teens, and the hardest teens to reach are the guys.

I have explained before that orphans here are generally not those whose parents have died, but those who have been abandoned. These kids have been through terrible circumstances that most of us could never understand. Not only have they been abandoned by father and mother; they feel they have been abandoned by God. We have talked to these teens about their need for Christ, but many of them still have a long way to go before they will open their hearts to Him. They are a rough bunch, but we are not giving up on them!

We serve in every ministry of the church as a family. Below, you can see that our children were blessed to get their picture taken with a clown at the races. This was a highlight for them!

Please pray for "our" orphans and their salvation!

Look what we now have in Ukraine!

It came out only a month ago and can still only be found in a few stores...

If you've never lived on the mission field, let me tell you... little things like this can be a big deal! Until now, we've only had one other choice for those like me who prefer diet: Diet Coke. So after 7 1/2 years of a little weekly splurge on date night, I now have a choice!

Doesn't it look so refreshingly cold and satisfying?! Mmmm... life is good!

David's Blog

DAVID AND I TOURING JERUSALEM, AND STANDING IN FRONT OF OLD CITY JERUSALEM

I am very excited to announce on here that my husband has joined me in this blogging journey! And, if you only have time to read one of our blogs, I would highly recommend that you read his. My blog is “newsy” about the ministry and our family, but his blog is dedicated to a much higher calling, which I highly admire.

We are promised in the Bible that God will bless us if we bless Israel. In today’s times, how can we do that? I mean, how can a stay-at-home mother of three little ones like me really “get in” on this special blessing that God has promised? And, how is it that a missionary to Ukraine who grew up on the mission field of Mexico really be able to help us in this area?

My husband is a third-generation missionary who has been saturated with the Bible his whole life, thanks to great parents who had a vision for their children. David can quote hundreds of verses and even entire chapters from memory. But, more than that, God has placed a special calling on his life to being an evangelist. However, he has always felt that God wanted to use him as an evangelist abroad – specifically, as a missionary evangelist. That is why we are here in Ukraine working under the ministry of the Van Sants, assisting in various church ministries.

In the last few years, however, the Lord has opened doors for David to begin assisting our pastor from Oklahoma in an outreach to Israel as well. He has been doing this by taking a few trips a year (which is fairly inexpensive from here) to help our sending pastor in various projects. I myself have been to Israel twice, and my heart is very burdened for these people.

Something that my David has come away from Israel with is the realization that we Christians simply are not knowledgeable enough on current events and what it all means in light of God’s Word. He has a burden to share with us stories of the people, the land, the soldiers, and what we can do to as Christians to support this tiny nation that has an enormous part in our Biblical heritage.

David has already written some posts, so I encourage you to start from the beginning and not miss a word. David is a brilliant man (let’s face it… how many of us speak three languages fluently?! And, since I’m his wife, I reserve the liberty to brag on him here!), so please take the time to think over what he is communicating to us. Then, let’s pray for the peace of Jerusalem and then join with David In Support of Israel! [And, for our Spanish friends, go here!]

Take the Time

Take the time to hold his hand

and build castles in the sand

Take the time to share his dreams

and travel through rocky streams

Take the time to hold him near

and tell him he has nothing to fear

Take the time every chance you can

before your little boy's a man

Author: Unknown

I get very sentimental when I think about my Davey. There are several reasons for this, I'm sure. First of all, he is my firstborn, so when I look at him and realize that I probably only have 10 more years left with him at home, I get sentimental. Davey is also very much like his Daddy, and, after all, it was his Daddy that I was attracted to and wanted to spend the rest of my life with. My Davey is also a very sentimental little guy himself. He has an extremely tender heart, and the two of us have shared some very tender moments together. Another reason might be that he was only three months old when we landed on Ukrainian soil as an "official missionary family." David and I were young and barely knew how to take care of the precious treasure we held in our arms. And, we felt much less capable as parents in a strange, new land. However, God has helped us through many times where we felt uncapable, and our Davey is turning into an outstanding young man, despite ourselves and much to our Lord's credit.

I am very proud of my Davey, who will soon be 8 years old and finishing 2nd grade. He is a self-motivator and very sharp (gets that from his Daddy!). He is very responsible, makes wonderful grades, speaks two languages, and is even learning to play the piano (and I can already see that he possesses his father's natural abilities at playing, and, yes, I'm jealous!)

I always joked as a teenager that my children would be perfect angels. And, while they are certainly not perfect (after all, I am their mother!), they are as precious to me as life itself.

I love you, my big man, Davey, and I really want to take time for you (which is why I am typing this while you are sweetly sleeping!).

Easter Sunday!

Easter morning started out with this special delivery from our village neighbor, Claudia, whom we are trying to get to church... What a sweet surprise this was!In deaf church, this young couple was saved.... Wouldn't Easter Sunday be a very special day to mark in your Bible as the day of your salvation?!David teaching his Sunday School class, the "Joint Heirs," - a class for married couples103 people in our hearing services today! Nelya did an amazing job teaching the junior-high aged orphans, by candlelight, about the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection: Sweet Alina was able to be in our services today, and what a joy it was to see this very special young lady in church once again! You can read a little about Alina here, though I would really like to do a separate post all about her...

And now for the exciting news..... (drumroll, please)..... Introducing our new BAPTISTRY! This is most likely the first ever baptistry in all of Ukraine (or one of the first!). Most baptisms here are performed in local rivers or lakes. After many prayers and a lot of imagination, our men finally came up with this solution:

Bro. Tony Hess baptizing his own son, Marc!

The six who were baptized in our church!:Alina, heading home with a sweet smile and happy heart:

I hope your Easter was just as fulfilling a day as ours here in Ukraine was! It is all because CHRIST AROSE that we are missionaries, spreading the Good News!