Archive for January 2014

Craciun Fericit!!!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Hello Friends!  I haven't spent any time on my blog in a VERY VERY long time.  I would hang my head in shame....but right this minute I have no shame about it....because I have been living life.  The life that God has given me and there is no shame in that.  It has been TWO YEARS since my last blog entry.  I must do better.  Do you mind if I show the highlight reel of the last two years?  Two weeks ago they celebrated Christmas in Moldova with all of our sweet friends...In honor of their Christmas celebration, I think I might just use part of our Christmas Card because I didn't send those out the last two years either:)

Here is what our Christmas letter said (for the most part-a few details both minor and major will be shared with you later).  Mind you, the letter was on super cute Christmas themed paper with peppermint stripes and green polka dots...I feel that is important for you to know:

In the past two years we have not sent out our Christmas cards, so we decided to do the infamous "Christmas Letter" this year (cue awesome Holiday music).  I hope this letter finds you and yours doing well!  So what in the world has been going on in our lives that might require a Christmas letter to communicate it?  I'm glad you asked.:)  Here is a small snippet of our story.

In the spring of 2008, I heard a man speaking on my local Christian radio station on my way to work.  He was talking about a place called Moldova and educating the audience about what happens to children in this tiny country when they "age-out" of the orphanage.  He talked about the reality of sex-trafficking and the lack of value placed on the lives of children.  I won't tell you every detail, because quite frankly it breaks my heart every single time I hear their stories.  But, what I will tell you is what God is doing in this tiny country and in the hearts of Brian and Kathryn Jones.

After much prayer and discussion, we talked with our missions pastor at church and convinced him that I needed to go to Moldova.  God was just breaking my heart for these kids over and over and over.  Everywhere I turned, he was pointing us to Moldova.  This seemed an unlikely thing, because before I hear that man on the radio I never even knew Moldova existed.  So after three years of prayer, Brian and I finally made the trip to Moldova in June 2011.  Believe me the process leading up to the trip was a miracle in and or itself.  You will hear about that someday too.  :)  Anyway, we made our first trip to Moldova in June 2011, and our lives have NEVER EVER EVER BEEN THE SAME.

A lot has happened in between that first trip and now.  But we just want to give you the highlights.  This is very difficult for me because I really want to tell you every single story and miracle and amazing whisper from God that we have experienced.  Here is the short story.  We went to Moldova.  We fell in love with the country and her people.  Our hearts were BROKEN by the lack of hope and love.  God began to move mountains in our hearts and in our path.  

So, I bet you are thinking-Kathryn and Brian are about to adopt from Moldova.  Well, that is not entirely out of the picture.  However, right now God is calling us to really follow James 1:27.  "Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  He has placed an extremely loud and clear call on our lives that we have been sifting through since we first set foot on Moldovan soil in 2011. 

(The rest of the letter goes on to share some details from our trips with our families....We will share all of that with you soon.    We have so many loved ones in Moldova now and we want to share about them with you too.)

The letter ends by saying.

I could literally fill pages and pages and pages with awesome stories from the last two years...but I know you are busy preparing for the holiday season.  We would love your prayers as we continue on this journey.  This Christmas season, we pray you remember the true reason, but we pray that you also truly feel His presence and His direction in your life.

Merry Christmas or Craciun Fericit!!!!

(This is us at Orheiul Vecchi)
A monastery built into the cliffs in the countryside in Moldova.







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