Category: David’s Posts

Hey, there, everyone!  A couple of you wrote to me to say that our wedding registry links didn’t work.  If that was the case, here is the info again:

If you would like to get us something from our wedding registry, and you’re not in Ukraine, we’ve made it very easy for you to do that. Because shipping costs so much from America, and because several of the things we need can already be purchased here in Ukraine or Poland, we’ve set up and “example list” on Amazon.com. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE THEM ONLINE AS THEY MAY NOT GET TO US!!! 😀 Instead, you can add money to our PayPal account, and we will purchase them here.  (Of course, you can also partially pay for an item.)

As a side note, in addition to helping us with furniture, appliances, and other things on that list, you can also help us by simply donating to our next trip to America. To do that, click here.

Here’s what TO do for the gift list:

1. Click on this link to go to our registry on Amazon.com and pick something from the list that you would like to buy for us or help us pay for, but please don’t buy it.
2. Take note of the price and click on the “Buying this gift elsewhere?” link next to the item so that we know it’s being paid for.  (Please skip this step if you’re partially paying for the item – just e-mail us in that case.)
3. Click on the button below to add that amount to our PayPal account, so that we can purchase the items here.

Also, the gifts through PayPay are not tax-deductable like your regular donations to our account.  If you would like to know more about how to support us regularly through our church, please click here.

Wow…  I have less than 7 weeks left as a single, young man.

We got our rings in the mail yesterday!  Here’s a shot of them:

We went with titanium rings with a little silver stripe through the lower edge.  They’re REALLY comfortable, light, and extremely strong.  I’m excited that I’m not worried about rock climbing, going camping, swimming, etc. with them, ’cause they’re basically indestructible.

Please be praying for the rest of the preparation, as Katya and I are still working out the details of my wardrobe (it’s kinda hard to find western wear in Western Ukraine… who knew? haha), and we are getting other little details nailed down.  I’m still working on our honeymoon dates, etc.

Hey, everyone! Katya (sometimes I call her “Katie”) and I are about to send out our invitations for our wedding on June 1st! If you’re in L’viv at that time, please, please, please come!!!!  😀

The basic information of the ceremony is as follows:

The ceremony is on June 1st and will be held at the church “Нове Життя” (“Nove Zhyttya” or “New Life”).  The address is вул. Залізняка 21. (Open the link to find the precise location.)

If you’re in Ukraine and would like to get something for us, please contact Ira Zakharova at 093 487 06 88.  She is in charge of our “gift registry” here in Ukraine.

If you would like to get us something from our wedding registry, and you’re not in Ukraine, we’ve made it very easy for you to do that. Because shipping costs so much from America, and because several of the things we need can already be purchased here in Ukraine or Poland, we’ve set up and “example list” on Amazon.com. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE THEM ONLINE AS THEY MAY NOT GET TO US!!! 😀 Instead, you can add money to our PayPal account, and we will purchase them here.  (Of course, you can also partially pay for an item.)

As a side note, in addition to helping us with furniture, appliances, and other things on that list, you can also help us by simply donating to our next trip to America. To do that, click here.

Here’s what TO do for the gift list:

1. Click on this link to go to our registry on Amazon.com and pick something from the list that you would like to buy for us or help us pay for, but please don’t buy it.
2. Take note of the price and click on the “Buying this gift elsewhere?” link next to the item so that we know it’s being paid for.  (Please skip this step if you’re partially paying for the item – just e-mail us in that case.)
3. Click on the button below to add that amount to our PayPal account, so that we can purchase the items here.

Also, the gifts through PayPay are not tax-deductable like your regular donations to our account.  If you would like to know more about how to support us regularly through our church, please click here.

You know, there’s a lack in the church today. There are not enough men that are strong leaders, faithful followers, and disciples discipling others. You see women getting involved in prayer groups, fellowships, Sunday school, etc. so much more often than men, and I don’t think it’s just because these women are stay-at-home moms.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Proverbs 27:17

I know that, in my life, I need a blacksmith. What I mean is, I am SO appreciative of the older men that have come along side me to help me grow and change into the man of God that He wants me to be. Without that, I would not have grown as much. This is something that seems to me to be inherent in the lives of the men around me, too – we need that sharpening. We need other men to come around us, hammer us a bit in love, and invest real time and effort into us.

My question is – are we willing to do that for each other? Shaping metal takes time, patience, and a lot of hard, hot, dangerous work. The same can be said for helping a man grow and change. It’s what we are called to do (Matthew 28:18-20), but are we replacing that with just sharing a sermon on Sunday and having a monthly, manly get-together over some greasy food?

A lone soldier is a dead solder. The Christian life is a battle for the kingdom of God, our families, and our souls. Let’s get in there, get messy, and do the work of the ministry.

You know, sometimes even things that are somewhat ugly in some ways can be quite beautiful.  This is a picture of my apartment building from behind.  I was walking up the other day to it at sunset, and I was really blessed by the visage of the sunlight streaming in those orange and yellow tones.

Now, I like my building, but others would say, “That’s just an old, 80’s, soviet-style, blocky apartment building.  There’s nothing of beauty to appreciate!”  For me, that’s home.  I have the coolest neighbors, a great landlord, an apartment that’s just big enough but not too big for a guy like me, and I get to watch the sunrise AND the sunset from my windows on opposing sides of the building (if I’m home for them).

From the graffiti on the bottom left, you can see that I don’t live in the best neighborhood.  I live in an area known as Levandivka (“Lev-an-DEEV-ka”), and these guys called hopnyks (“hope-nicks”) are famous for living here.  That’s kind of like our English word for “thug”, but, in my opinion, a little less violent.  All that to say, though – they’re not “the best of company”.  Y’all can pray for me for that.  A lot of my friends in my neighborhood could be considered hopnyks.  I really want to reach out to those guys.  It’s funny…  I have an open door with them, but I didn’t really seem to be able to reach out to guys like that in America.

Anyways… just because someone else says you’re ugly, your life is ugly, or what you do isn’t good enough or has no purpose, doesn’t mean that when God looks at you He frowns.  Others may frown at the picture of my neighborhood and my building, but I look at it and smile.  I say, “That’s home!  I love my home!”  He looks at you and says, “That’s my child!  I love my child!”

Thanks, God, for looking at me and smiling!