Who am I?

Now married for 30 years to my pediatrician husband, our family of five moved to Kyiv, Ukraine in the summer of 2001.

I was raised primarily in Cincinnati, Ohio, but moved to Maryland after marrying Jim. All 3 of our children were born in Salisbury, Maryland: twin daughters and two years later, our son.

After nearly 20 years of private practice, Jim sold his practice, we sold our home, and gave away our van…and made the move to Kyiv. Our mission here is called Ukraine Medical Outreach and we have the goal to reach the medical professionals (an unreached people group, per Jim!) for Christ. He also teaches them how to share their faith with their patients. The Ukrainian physicians will reach many more people in a day than one missionary ever could!

My delight is visiting AIDS orphans who are hospitalized for secondary illnesses. In Ukraine, children are admitted to hospitals along with a parent. The parent attends to all the needs of the child except for the actual medical treatment. This includes feeding them, changing diapers, playing with them, providing clothing and fresh sheets. The children that I visit have no parent — and so no extra attention. The staffs in the hospitals are too sparse and too busy to attend to the extra needs of the orphans. It is a privilege to be able to hold these children as they eat, to tickle them, to kiss them, to toss them in the air, to simply love them.

Our children have busy lives of their own: (from youngest to oldest)

Son Jamie married Dasha in 2005 and they are experiencing the joys of their first child, our second grandson, born in May 2011. They are living in Salisbury, Maryland after two years in Boston. She continues her freelance writing and he works for Verizon while looking for a job as a church music director/worship leader…ANYWHERE in the U.S.A.

Daughter Jeanne married Kolya in 2008. They have one son born in September 2010, and are expecting another son in March 2012. Jeanne is the administrator of UMO, Inc. and Kolya works for a maintenance firm. He also works side jobs using his degree in construction. Need tile in your kitchen or bathroom? Painting? Remodeling? A staircase? He’s your man! He built us some beautiful storage cabinets before moving to the States. They recently purchased a home just north of Salisbury.

Daughter Anna is studying for a bookkeeping/accounting degree. She has a 2-year study leave from Operation Mobilisation, the organization under which she has served as a missionary for the past 6 years. I love that her studies fell at the same time as the birth of her nephews! Can you believe it: She is also living in Salisbury. She plans to return to the field in late 2012.

I try to warn readers when the subject of my daily post has to do with our grandsons. If you just don’t want to hear about them, stop reading when you see GRAMMY ALERT. (Can’t imagine why ANYONE would not want to hear about the cutest grandchildren on the planet?!)