David & Katya

Yup!  We’re engaged!  This is SO cool, and God has been SO faithful through all of it!  I’m so excited for what He is doing through our relationship!

Ok, so you’re probably all wondering how we actually got engaged, right?  Well, I poured huge water bottle on the two of us!  Why in the world would I do that you ask?  It’s simple.  One word – baptism.  Baptism symbolizes the changing from one life to another, one identity to another, one world to another.  It’s part of what we do to symbolize our commitment to Chirst.

You could say that Katya’s and my relationship started with a baptism – a threatened baptism.  Once, Katya and I were hanging out with friends and joking around when I, teasingly, threatened to throw her in the big fountain in the middle of town.  She told me that I wouldn’t and couldn’t do that…  To which I replied that I would.  We went back and forth, and the conversation ended.  Later on, while we were walking by the fountain at night, I picked her up with the intention of throwing her in.  Keep in mind that, at this time, we had no “declared” relationship.  This was very uncharacteristic of me.  Half way through walking from the middle of the courtyard to the fountain, in the midst of screams from her saying “You crazy boy!  David, what are you doing?” I came to my senses and said to myself, “David, this isn’t your girlfriend…  What are you doing?”  It was like the Holy Spirit was saying, “Dude… definitely not time for this yet.”  I put her down and let her go, to which she said something like, “I told you.”

That only provoked me to want to throw her in again…  So, from that night on, I planned that, when we started dating, I would dunk her in the fountain.

That night led to one of our “define the relationship” talks that was very important to us.  We often blame the fountain for bringing us together.  Later, when I actually did ask her to pursue a relationship with me, I asked for her hand and just put it in one of the jets saying that it symbolized the commitment we have.  Often since then, just to put a smile on her face, I have taken her hand, put it in the fountain, and told her “I still like you.  I’m still committed to our relationship.”  I still didn’t actually baptize her, though…

This whole idea of baptism really is a huge part of the symbolism behind this for us.  9 months later, when I was preparing to propose to her, I planned on actually baptising her in the fountain, asking her to go 100% with me into our life together.  Unfortunately, on the day that I proposed, the fountain wasn’t working!!!  The city was having the fountain cleaned.  That didn’t matter though!  I had a backup plan!  I bought a huge waterbottle for us to drink while we were walking around town.  However, she didn’t know its double-purpose of a portable bapestry.  She and I walked up to the top of the fountain and I took her hands in mine, prayed with her, wrapped my arms around her and asked her in both English and Ukrainian, “Katya, will you follow me? Will you be with me?  Will you marry me?”

Rather than tell you her answer, I would rather show you the look on her face:

I know you can’t see the full expression on her face, but you can just see that she’s smiling about as big as she ever has in her life…  I don’t know that she’s ever looked more beautiful to me than she did in this picture.

She told me at first, “How could I say no?”  She then said, “Yes.”  She gave me the warmest, sweetest hug and the most innocent, sincere and pure peck on the cheek that I’ve ever received in my life!  I’ve never been kissed by “a girl that liked me” before (family members and kindergarten doesn’t count in my book), so that was SO unexpected!  She and I still have never been “kissed” (on the mouth, I mean), and we are saving that for our wedding day.  That’s one of ways God has shown Himself faithful to the two of us.  He’s really kept us pure for each other.

Now, if you noticed and were following the theme from earlier, we’re still not wet in that picture.  Well, while we were still in that hug, I reached behind her, grabbed the big water bottle, and poured it all over the both of us, effectively “baptising” us into this new commitment toward marriage for the two of us!  That was so much fun.  I then gave the water bottle to her, and she got me even MORE wet with it!

We’re getting married in October this year!  If any of you can come, please contact me ASAP!  If not, we’re planning on having some kind of reception in America towards Christmas.  I will keep you all updated here, through Facebook, and through the newsletters.

Доброго дня всім! Я зробив цей блог тому що я хочу ще бути в контакті з моїми друзями в Америці та також мати веб-сайт де мої спонсори можуть бачити, як у мене справи в Україні. З дитинства я жив в Америці в п’яти різних штатах: Техас, Північна Кароліна, Каліфорнія, Індіана, та Міссурі. Індіана – це останній штат, де я жив, вчився і потім працював у біблійному коледжі. Загалом, я був у цьому коледжі п’ять років. Також я працював на християнсьому таборі “Camp Indy” в місті Індіанаполіс.

Тепер я живу в Україні. Це така дивовижна країна. Крім Росії, Україна найбільша країна в Європі. Я живу у Львові, – це місто в Західній Україні. Львів – це місто імені сина короля Данила Галицького. Його звали Лев, тому це місто левів, або “Львів”.

Я працюю тут в церкві “Нові Обрії” з моїм пастором, Майклом Праттом. Він також з Америки. Дуже мені подобається працювати з ним і тут в Україні. Мені здається, що Бог створив мене щоб я міг бути й працювати тут. Це було моє бажання чотири роки до часу, коли я приїхав сюди.

У своїй церкві я лідер прославлення (лідер гурту прославлення – ми граємо і співаємо в кожну неділю). У нас є репетіції щопонеділка. Я також лідер нашої групи молоді в п’ятницю. Ми збираємося в моїй квартирі на Левандівці, тому що приміщення нашої церкви зараз перетворюють на хостел для Euro 2012. Також я зробив і підтримую наш веб-сайт для церкви. Крім цього, я люблю проводити час з друзями, гуляти і по місті, і в лісі, і в горах, та грати на гітарі.

Я почуваюся тут добре. Іноді, я почуваюся так, ніби це моя рідна країна, але є деякі моменти, коли я сумую за Америкою, друзями там, та сім’єю. Я люблю жити тут – не просто тому, що у мене тут є друзі , і я можу подорожувати, і вивчаю нову мову. Це тому що я бачу, що я живу тут за Божою волею. Без цього у житті немає сенсу. Бог мій добрий Отець, і я хочу іти через життя за Ним.

This is Vesta, Katya’s labrador, in the middle of performing a trick for us. She can also count to three, respond to questions, and knows the capitol of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, for those of you that don’t know… that’s “Bark, Bark!” in dog language). She primarily speaks Ukrainian, but I’m hoping to get her to understand some more English soon.

When she does the trick that’s in the picture, Katya places a treat on her nose and tells her “Ne mozhna,” or “No, you can’t,” and waits. You should see it – this dog is the perfect picture of ultimate concentration; she stays completely still. A few seconds later, Katya says, “Mozhna!” and the dog flips the treat up in the air and catches it faster than you can say “hot dog!”

Do you ever feel like this dog? Are you waiting for something? Are you expecting something from God, but He hasn’t given it to you yet?

I’ve been doing my normal read-through-the-Bible-in-about-a-year-or-so devotional plan, like I usually do every year (last time it took me two years to get through the Bible, though… haha…), and I just started 1 Samuel. The book opens with the story of Hannah, a woman in a pretty sad situation. You see, for some reason, her husband, Elkanah, wasn’t satisfied with having just one wife. The Bible doesn’t tell us which of his wives was his first one… It does say, though, that Penninah was the one that had kids and that Hannah was the one that he loved (in other words… if he married Penninah first, he probably married Hannah ’cause he wanted a prettier wife. If he married Hannah first, he probably married Penninah because he wanted to have kids… either way, he was dissatisfied with what God had given him and decided to sin instead of trusting Him to take care of his needs…).

I feel really bad for Hannah at this point in the story. She probably felt like less than half of a woman. In those days, it was expected that a woman should bear children… It wasn’t just her logical progression in life – it was part of her occupation. It was also very disgraceful for a woman to be barran. Hannah couldn’t do what she felt like she needed to, and here’s why:

“…the LORD had closed her womb.”
(1 Samuel 1:5 NASB)

God was the one keeping her from having kids! She may have even felt like it was God’s will for her to have children (and it obviously was, as we see later in the chapter), but God was keeping her from that opportunity. He was closing the door to give greater joy, greater glory, and a greater calling.

If God hadn’t have done this, I don’t believe that Samuel would’ve been the man of God that he needed to be to save Israel. You guessed it, Samuel was the son that God miraculously allowed her to have after she prayed and asked Him for a child.

Do you know what she did now that she finally had a child, now that she finally had what she wanted from the Lord? Did she hold onto him tightly and never let him out of her sight? Did she raise him up to be a brave and strong young man, cherishing the ability to watch him grow up? No. She dedicated him to the LORD. God gave her a son, and she gave him right back to God.

Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the LORD.” Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, ” I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD and stay there forever.”
(1 Samuel 1:19-22 NASB)

Now, through the suffering that she had experienced, she was ready to give him up for the calling that God had on his life. I’m sure that was a very hard thing to do, but look at the fruit of it! Samuel became one of the mightiest men of God that have walked this earth! God was able to speak directly to him and he would obey, and he was given the opportunity to annoint David, the forerunner and ancestor of the Messiah, to be king of Israel!

I love another principle that I see in these verses. You can always trust God, and you cannot outgive Him.

The LORD visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the LORD.
(1 Samuel 2:21 NASB)

In other words – God gave Hannah a son, she gave him right back to God, and God gave her even more children. You can trust God with your “investment.” If He wants you to do something, He will take care of you while you do it. She didn’t ask for more children, but He gave them to her anyway.

So, if you’re in a situation with troubles and doors closing around you, expect that God is doing something! Ask Him what He wants you to do so that you can be a part of it! God doesn’t want to leave you behind in His plan for your life. Trust Him with the hard things, and trust Him to have His own timing with things!

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:28-39 NASB)

Amen.

 

It’s always interesting to me when a product changes its packaging without changing the contents… What’s even more interesting to me is when the advertising on the package heralds the new design promising the exact same product… Exibit A – the mac ‘n’ cheese I received in my most recent care package. (Thanks, granny!!!) I noticed that they changed the design of the box.

The face of Kraft macaroni has changed over the years – sometimes catering more to adults, sometimes more to children. There were even boxes in the past that featured a little dinosaur made of cheese that beckoned you to savor the gooey goodness of the pasta elbows and cheese sauce inside. It seems that its appearance has always been changing, but I don’t remember the flavor ever changing.

Even with the new packaging, they said something really important to me on the back of the box.

That’s right – “same gooey, cheesy taste.” The men and women that make my mac ‘n’ cheese stayed true to the original vision, the original recipe, the original taste. That’s important. I really don’t care what the box looks like (as long as there’s nothing amoral about it…) – I want to know what’s on the inside. Did they stay true to the original flavor?

I think all of this could be said of the Gospel as well. Being a missionary really gives you a chance to experience different styles in worship and puts you outside of your comfort-church-zone. Sometimes, you don’t have the option to do things “like we’ve always done them”, and, at other times, you need to work with people that say, “Really? We’ve never done it like you do it!” You know what’s so cool about that? It’s ok! I believe that the Gospel, as long as it stays true to the Bible, the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, salvation by grace through faith alone, etc., etc., we can have almost any kind of style that we like (as long as we aren’t sinning)!

Now, why do manufacturers change their packaging? I believe that it’s often due to a change in focus or the pursuit of catering to a new demographic. I know I’m treading on some stormy waters here, but I believe that we can do this with our churches, too, as long as we don’t leave the core truths of the Gospel!

This can be taken to an extreme. The seeker friendly movement, the emergent movement, etc., etc., were all attempts to change the “same gooey, cheesy taste” into some other thing. When I open the box of Kraft mac ‘n’ cheese, whether it has a dinosaur on it or just a boring “kraft” logo, I’m not looking for pasta salad – I’m looking for mac ‘n’ cheese! We need to stay true to God’s word, we need to stay true to the Truth, to Jesus, and to the Holy Spirit… but we can’t let our style get in the way of what God is doing or reaching others.

Before I moved to Ukraine in 2010, there were a lot of jokes about me finding some girlfriend “over there” before I came back from my planned year-long excursion here. Being a single, Christian guy, I’m used to the older-than-I-am folks making jokes about me “finding someone” (and, sometimes, they’ve offered to find one for me… haha…). Everyone seemed sure, though, that, when I went to Ukraine, I would come back with a prospect. I remember one of my friends putting it this way:

“You’re going to go over there and, in one year, you’ll come back with some [word for attractive], Russian model chick…”

Needless to say, that didn’t happen. (Thank God!… I live in Ukraine, not Russia, for one thing…) Something else, though, did happen.

I became friends with a young woman named Katya (the Ukrainian version of the name “Katie”). She’s a very nice girl from a Baptist church here in L’viv. We met at her youth group, where the Pratt boys were going with friends, and we started working together on some projects when she became a translator for my church. She still goes to her church, but she works for ours. A year came and went, and Katya and I had a blossoming friendship. After a couple of serious conversations between the two of us, it seemed like there was the possibility to do something more with it. After much prayer and my furlough to the U.S., I asked her parents if we could start dating.

The first thing that I remember drawing me towards Katya was her Bible. You should see it – it’s torn to pieces. It’s got highlighting, underlining, stuff written in the margins… She has one in English, too, and she has stuff written in it as well. Also, she doesn’t just read her Bible – she tries to live it. After that, she has a caring heart, a strong spirit, and she loves to serve. She’s hard-working, she loves her parents, and she deeply respects me. I feel like we’re on the same playing field spiritually! Which, I believe, is really important. (She’s been through multiple Biblical counseling courses and served in her church for a long time. I’ve been to Bible college and served as well.)

She’s already been a huge benefit to the church in general and me specifically in all that we do here. The best thing in our relationship – honesty and openness. We’re very true to each other, we don’t hide much, and we talk through our feelings, situations, and expectations.

This is an unexpected blessing for me… It’s funny, though, because in 2011 I prayed to have a girlfriend. A few weeks later, I told God that I was willing to wait a little longer. I didn’t expect Him to give me one the very next year.

Ladies and gentlemen, please meet Katya.