2025(26) Faith Leap - Chapter 15: A heart-warming, cold Valentine's Day
2025(26) Faith Leap - Chapter 16: A heart-warming, water-freezing Valentine's Day
"Your Heavenly Father loves you - each of you. That love never changes...It is not changed by your talents or abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God's love is there for you whether not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there."
Highlights:
- The kids cashed in on their overnighter
- Our second visit to Kutaisi gifted us with roadtrip treasures, gratitude for our circumstances, wonderful time with wonderful people, actual gifts and one of our favorite Georgian activities: Fortress Exploration
- An unexpected welcome home by Cupid, the lizard, and Nellie, the Land-lady
- For the first time in our lives, we own alcohol, and purchased coffee
- A memorable Valentine's day with no gas (why do we always seem to be without power or gas on holidays?), youth activity delivering valentines to missionaries, and babysitting
- A miraculous gift to minister came through the blossoming faith of our new-member friends
- A horse, a never-used fancy sky-scraper, Bros on the Balcony, and the opposite of childhood bliss
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for all of the people right now who are yearning for and seeking God's love for them, and are struggling to feel it.
- Please fast and pray with us for the Russia-Ukraine conflict to end, and for it to end well. More commentary on that in the post
- Please pray for our friends Nona, Yulia and John, and our new friend, Greg
Details:
Making Good on a Promise
You may remember that we lost power on (our) New Year's Eve and the kids were pretty disappointed that their all-nighter had been spoiled. We promised them that they could take a raincheck for Valentine's Day. (But then we didn't want them ornery at church, or on our Kutaisi trip, so we let them cash in earlier that week). No, Richard and I did not stay up with them. We remember with fondness the days when that was fun, but now we value our sleep and not feeling sick the next day. But the kids had a great time, honored their commitment to be pleasant even when tired, and, other than a couple of hours of early-morning nap, made it to the next bedtime.
Trip #2 to Kutaisi
Our Branch includes several members meeting as a group in Kutaisi - which is a little over 2 hour drive from our home. Our family took a trip out to spend time with our new friends there, and to hopefully meet the other members that we have not yet had the chance to meet. We always find photo-worthy treasures on our Georgian road trips. This time, we enjoyed these trees that look like something out of a Dr. Suess book, a Rig-of-Bamboo 😂, we noticed that a car with its hazard lights on was closely following a speeding ambulance (a lawful way for loved ones to travel to the hospital to be with their loved ones, perhaps? Clever!), and it turns out there are heavy-duty trucks in Georgia (we hadn't seen a single one until Kutaisi - and then we saw two!)
Which reminds me: Moving. Most homes in Georgia stay in the family generation after generation, while the norm is for apartments/rentals to come fully-furnished. (Even our church building is a rented furnished apartment - all of the furniture is piled in one bedroom.) In the time we have lived here, 8 families/individuals have moved, but most have not needed help with the move because they are not in the habit of accumulating much. In fact, we understand from our new friend, Boris, that Georgia has just shortened the amount of time they allow refugees to live here. It is tragic to hear the stories of so many who cannot build a permanent life because they are unwanted strangers. I can't even imagine how many Russians and Ukrainians are bouncing around from one country to another - displaced several times a year because their country is not safe for them, but the surrounding countries cannot sustain the influx of people. We are faced with the reality of the effect of war with each person we meet - be they refugees or natives trying to sustain them. I know I have mentioned this before, but war is just so ugly for everyone. Please consider joining us to fast and pray for the Russia/Ukraine conflict to end.
I was grossed out by our AirBnb. Granted, it was $57 for 2 nights - so I guess you get what you pay for? But still. It smelled like the sewage must have been backed up somewhere, and none of the furniture was dusted. Not that I mind dust. But, if they didn't bother to dust, what other corners did they cut? Especially as laundry is extra time consuming here (with small washing machines and no dryers), I worried would not have been surprised to learn that the bedding had not been washed. That was a little more than I could stomach. We all slept in full layers and put clean t-shirts over our pillows. The kids loved their room - 3 single beds, and soft blankets. The room Richard and I were in had sheer curtains (again, what are curtains for if not for privacy? Does everyone here change in the bathroom?) and the bed was only inches off of the ground, with leopard print sheets (adding to them feeling dirty to me, I think). Plus, it was tragically understocked. Case in point: sleeps 5, but only 4 forks...
However, when we were visiting our friend, Nona, she asked how we like where we are staying. I opened my mouth to start my list of complaints, and then stopped. I looked around her home, with no gas/heating, no electricity for hours a day, and a futon mattress on the floor for a couch, and my perspective shifted. She is so grateful for what she has and she fed me a healthy dose of humble pie without realizing it. With the war's effect on the economy, many families are squishing in closer in order to rent out space in their home to help cover expenses. They are doing the best with what they have. I could work harder to appreciate having a warm place to stay. One thing we found was that the decor is full of unusual numbers and letters. Having become well-versed in "Finder's Seekers", the kids imagined that the numbers, letters, and symbols around the room were codes for an escape room. It is nice to be so close to the city center and church building. Parking was right outside the gate, we had a nice view, and neighborhood animals were quiet at night. Maybe we'd consider staying there again (and just bring our own pillows and forks) 😏
Visiting Fortresses was one of our favorite things during our visit to Georgia 5 years ago. 2.5 months in to our stay here, we finally made it to our first fortress - and it did not disappoint! We enjoyed exploring the ancient architecture and surrounding forest, and taking in the breath-taking view of the city. We did not go inside of the church - for 2 reasons: 1) There was a wedding, so we do not know if tourists would have even been allowed inside, and 2) We've learned we don't actually like going inside of Orthodox churches. It is tricky to know what is and isn't considered respectful (and we were swindled in the past by an old lady telling us we had to pay for a tour - then disappearing after taking payment). In addition, the worship of saints and dim lighting lends to a very different feel than we are accustomed to in our church - so we were content to limit our visit to the beautiful exterior. And we had to document one of the few places where there are marked parking stalls (and fancy red cobble-stoned to boot).
We loved spending several hours at the home of our friend, Nona. She has been a member since early adulthood, so her children are some of the first to be born in The Church in Georgia. Her son and Bob are like two peas in a pod - it is almost scary how much alike they are. It is such a blessing to see them become such fast friends. Miss and Nona's daughter also get along really well. Nona taught us how to make mchadi (cornmeal bread) and potatoes over an open fire (which you eat straight from the ash) and the kids loved the freedom of chopping wood and romping through their natural yard. I have often heard missionaries recount experiences where they were the recipients of generosity from people without much to give. We have certainly been humbled by these kind of experiences here. So many have joyfully open their hearts and homes to share the earthly little they have with us and, by so doing, have fed us richly with their love.
Elder and Sister Christensen (from Logan Utah) kindly invited us to brunch at their apartment that is above the Kutaisi church building. Fun fact: I know that there are a bajillion Christensens but, given that is my maiden name, the first time we met them, I couldn't resist whipping out Family Search to see if we are related. We are - but more closely through Sister Christensen. 😂 Our visit was delightful, brunch was delicious, and they kindly sent our kids home with activities they won't be packing home with them when they return home from their mission in April. 😭We will miss them so much! They are the glue that holds the Kutaisi group together. As of now, the mission does not have a replacement couple coming. Are you, or someone you know, considering a senior mission in the near future?...
Here is my plug for Georgia!: (In addition to the advertisement I have already done for Georgia in all of my other posts, right? I probably don't need to sell it much - all of my readers already want to come 😉). In all seriousness though, I am so grateful for the blessing it has been for my family to experience Georgia. I feel like it is a perfect mix of enough progress to have access to necessities, medical care, technology, etc while also experiencing humble economic circumstances.
Our Welcome Party
We had two unlikely visitors upon our return to Chakvi. The first visitor was Cupid: the lizard who apparently moved into our bathroom while we were away. He had a cozy hiding place behind the toilet that he would escape to each time we attempted to catch him. (I think this is the first time I have ever seen a lizard successfully evade lizard-whisperer, Bob) Eventually, after not seeing him for several days, we stopped barricading the bathroom and resumed normal life. So, either he moved out upon meeting his noisy housemates, he's gotten really good at detecting our approach, or he has moved into another room and we just haven't discovered him yet. 😬
Our other unexpected visitor was our landlady, Nellie. She lives in Tbilisi, so we hadn't anticipated ever meeting her. But we learned that she and her husband actually own several of the homes in our little neighborhood and they'd come to stay in one of them for Valentine's weekend. She dropped by to see how we are doing, and to work out our last month's bill (our gas charge was triple what we paid in December! Apparently, when her handyman voluntarily turned our radiator temperatures up when we were having a hard time staying warm, he warned us to turn them back down because the gas doesn't shut off automatically at that high a temp, like it does at the lower temp. Richard's Georgian is such that he supposes he could have been told that, and just didn't understand. So we ate the cost, and are grateful that we are through the coldest part of the year now, so we can keep the gas lower while still staying warm). In typical Georgian custom, Nellie gifted us a bottle of wine. Richard tried to return it, explaining that we do not drink alcohol, and she insisted that we regift it if we are too ridiculous to drink it. 🙃 I never thought I would be the owner of alcohol...She also gifted Maylee a clock for her room, and had security cameras installed outside on the porch. (The better to help us feel secure, or the better to monitor our crazy children? or both? 🤔) I am just grateful we'd cleaned the house before we left for Kutaisi. She arrived in the chaos of our return - with partially unpacked suitcases all over the living room, but at least the porch was freshly swept. 😅
Shortly after she left, Nellie informed us that there was a problem with the gas line somewhere in the neighborhood, so it was turned off. After of a full night without functioning radiators, it was still off when we awoke the next morning. Traditionally, we we make heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast on Valentine's Day. Our stove and oven are mostly gas, so our only option for cooking was our little electric broiler. So we got creative: to help the pancakes stay in a shape while they broiled, we mixed a little cookie dough mix into the pancake batter. They turned out...okay. We ate them, it felt special, but I don't think we'd choose to try it again. 😜 And, of course, I forgot to take a picture! 😭But the kids were super excited about their gift: books in English! (And debriefing this poem from "Charlie in the Chocolate Factory" was thoroughly rewarding. I never thought I'd hear "thank you for limiting my screen time") 😘
Our other member family made it to our second Youth Activity! After playing "Yes, and..." (my Shakespeare peeps will know this one), with a great debrief about how to support one another in our goals and ideas for activities, we then introduced them to American Valentines. They made them for all of the missionaries, and a few other members of the Branch (including Nikolai - from last post). The timing worked out perfectly because the missionaries came to the church to tune in to a video call of a family being baptized in Tbilisi.👏🏻 So we "doorbell ditched" the Valentines to the Office. We gave everyone bubbles, with notes like "You are one in a Bub-billion!" or "You're Un-bubble-ievable!" 🫧💌 Our member family lives about an hour away, so we have volunteered to host them overnight on the days they make it to activities - to save them the drive again on Sunday. It turned out that neither parent could stay, so we just had the kids over that night. Let's be honest, we rarely celebrated Valentine's Day as a couple at home anyway. 💝
We spent a day getting to know Branch friends, Yulia and John. They introduced us to some of the activities they love to do, and then we went walking along a part of the Batumi shoreline we haven't visited before, where we discovered some awesome architecture. We walked to the mall to see about finding a power adapter and found a store selling Legos for 50% off! - so we couldn't resist getting the kids a small set. The kids also enjoyed burgers from Wendy's (I am sad to report that the American Pizza we found 5 years ago (but didn't try! 🤢) was apparently not popular enough to keep on the menu: Hotdog slices, french fries, and jalapenos...hmm, any guesses why? 😉). Anyway, Yulia and John are awesome. They have a gift for freely giving sincere compliments and love - you can't possibly walk away from spending time with them without feeling a little better about yourself.
Later in the week, they gifted us a really amazing experience: Richard randomly received a message from an unknown number, without any name. The person said he got Richard's number from an American man with a Russian wife. We figured it must have been John, so Richard reached out to ask if he knew anything about it, and learned that this man is homeless and they bought him a little food, but his feet are in really bad shape and they were hoping Richard could heal him. I am not proud to admit it, my first reaction was to laugh out-loud (partly because, otherwise, I would likely cry over the thought of my husband's phone number being handed out willy-nilly. I thought, "Who meets a homeless person, feels bad for them, and thinks, 'I know! I'll give him my church leader's phone number! He can fix this!) But, as the events unfolded, I was sufficiently humbled and came to see God's hand in the situation.
John and Yulia are new converts to The Church. They have some big obstacles they are working to overcome, and they also are really trying to better understand the Gift of the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit. John explained that their actions were something they'd never done before, but that something compelled him to stop and talk to him, and then feed him, and then introduce him to someone who has the Priesthood. He acted, hoping that this was the Spirit. Richard didn't want to deny a prompting, so he initiated a conversation with the man (Greg), and learned more of his story. The next day, he took a couple of brothers from the Branch with him to meet Greg and administer a Priesthood Blessing to him. This poor man, spent nearly all of his money on physicians in his home country - none of them could provide him with answers to his chronic health problems. With the little he had left, he chose to come to Georgia because the cost of living has historically been better. But, like so many others who have recently fled here, he found the cost of living has sky-rocketed, and the job-market is over-saturated. While searching for a job, he was eating the foods that were least expensive - to try to stretch his dollar, and then his medical condition flared to the point where he cannot walk - let alone work. He has a strong faith in God, and doesn't carry the burden of any addictions. He is usually very careful about what he puts into his body, because he's learned that diet is the best way to manage his symptoms. And suddenly, Richard understood why God had orchestrated things as He did: In addition to his Priesthood authority, because of our diet, Richard is also perfectly versed in how to shop for groceries that will help Greg find relief. He pointed him to stores where he can get fresh, whole foods. He and the other brothers bought him enough groceries, and paid his rent at the hostel where he is staying so that he can have a week without worry to just focus on recovering. (In another first, Richard bought coffee for the first time, ever. He also bought some herbal infusions, taught Greg a little about the Word of Wisdom, and invited him to consider working toward eliminating coffee and tea from his diet as well). Greg was extremely grateful, gracious, and receptive. It was a beautiful experience for all of the men involved. A profound reminder that, while we cannot minister to every person in need, if each of us minister to the one the Spirit directs us to, everyone's burdens can be lifted by someone. I am so grateful for John and Yulia's experiment in Faith.
I'm pretty sure we will never tire animals along the highway, or the miracle the they survive among the swerving drivers.
In the picture below, do you see building with the white spire? If you look closely, you can see that it has a golden ferris wheel-type ride near the top - very Vegas-esque. Kroc was asking what the building is, and if we could try the ferris wheel, so we looked it up: Batumi Tower was built in 2012 and is the second tallest building in Georgia. Apparently, there was controversy over its intended purpose as an educational facility. It has never been used. 😲. It sat vacant for 2 years, then was sold, and has been under renovation ever since - with the assumption it is going to end up being a hotel. So we will not be riding the ferris wheel - because no one ever has...
This is Bob chillin with the missionaries on the balcony of our church on Sunday. Being the only young man in the Branch can be pretty lonely. I love that the missionaries and young single adult men have taken him under their wing (not that they have a choice - Bob has a gift for integrating into any group 💕). I can think of worse role-models for him to hang with, just sayin. 🥰
And, finally: took a chance on this Georgian granola at the Health Food store. Have you ever wondered what "The bittersweet memories of childhood bliss" tastes like? Potpourri. It tastes like potpourri. It is disgusting. This is not a representation of my blissful childhood at all.
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