He’s Four
Justus is now four years old — and what a four years it has been! His birthday is a day we celebrate, but it's also a time when Katie and I reflect on what it means to wait on the Lord. From the first moment we held our baby boy in our arms, all that waiting finally made sense. God's timing is not our timing, but it is the best timing. If only we could learn that lesson once.
Justus is a four-year old firecracker. He rarely meets a stranger, loves helping, loves being outdoors, has an overwhelming imagination, and an often-disconcerting love of all things adventure and violence. He pushes us to be better in every way, and he still loves us when we fail him in seemingly every way.
For his birthday I made a video to celebrate the adventure that has been his life—the adventure that has been our life. Let this be an Ebeneezer: the Lord has brought us this far!
Christmas Break
Over the holidays, we enjoyed a trip to the States to spend time with family (as well as with just a few supporters). Because of COVID, we limited our travel and only spent time in our hometowns. This made our trip much more relaxed than our travels usually are. Justus had so much fun having so much time with his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, and we enjoyed the time with them as well.
Our trip back to Ukraine was more eventful than usual. It involved an unplanned overnight in Los Angeles, a chaotic rebooking of tickets in Paris with only minutes to spare before the flight, and a false-positive COVID test upon arriving to Ukraine. On top of that, jet lag nearly killed us this go around, and we really had doubts we were going to make it.
But, we survived. And it has been wonderful to be back home.
Back In School
UBI is back in session, and I am currently teaching a class on how to lead small group Bible studies. In a few weeks, I'll have Christian Coaching, and after that will be Youth Ministry.
We have four new students with us this semester. I think they are still a bit shell-shocked from the intensity of the program, but I know they will adjust and do well. In a couple weeks, I'll share more news (and a video!) about the school when we send out the UBI newsletter.
We pray you are doing well despite the ongoing challenges and new struggles that so many are dealing with right now. We thank you for the constant encouragement you are to us, and I hope we are an encouragement to you. We love you, and we'll talk to you again soon.
Sincerely,
Brandon, Katie, and the Firecracker