I know that for many of you the war in Ukraine is old news. And so it is. Sorta. But our activities continue.

What all did we do?

Well, this week, in short, my husband went to Ukraine with a load on Tuesday - so there was that - prep and filling the trailer on Monday.

Then I spent a lot of time working on bundles. The weather has turned cooler - at least the second part of the week - blissfully so - so here goes with the details.

Monday

Early in the morning Lydia and I went shopping again to two stores where we bought more stuff. We had done some shopping the week before on Thursday and Friday so we already had a lot in the garage.

We loaded the trailer. The wholesale place delivered our food to the church building shortly after one and the men who delivered also helped load up the trailer. We were grateful for that. I probably over bought a little at that place as the trailer was very heavy.

Tuesday

My husband, Lydia, Tim and Claire went to Ukraine. I stayed back at home and did many different things including taking inventory of several boxes sent from FL. I also weeded in the garden for a couple of hours.

In the afternoon it started to rain…hard.

It took them 3-4 hours to cross the border this time, so they didn’t actually arrive home til 4:30 am on Wed. morning! I didn’t stay up. :(

Wednesday

We didn’t do a lot today because everyone got in so late in the morning and then slept in late. My husband had brought back a fellow missionary with whom he has taught for years, Bruce, and so we had company. The weather turned a bit cooler so it was bearable, but not yet cooled off completely. Lydia was scheduled to leave the next day, so we spent some time trying to make sure she had what she needed to take back to SC with her and helping her in any way we could.

Thursday

Both Lydia and Bruce flew out today. There is always a little bit of sadness in the day people leave. Because they left early in the morning, it didn’t really eat into the day. When people leave in the late afternoon, usually that day is spent in preparation for their leaving.

Tim, Claire and I worked on bundles and then took them to church. At this point we have made the room (second stacking area) full again along the one wall. We had removed a row or so for the trip to Ukraine. I learned that from 40-46 bundles can fit in the minivan if we leave room for a third person.

Later in the day - when Tim and Claire were gone shopping, I decided to work again on bundles with the idea of having enough to fill the van when they got home (or at least half). Well, Jadwiga called while they were still out and said she was going to southern Poland the next day to meet some people from Lvov, Ukraine - did I happen to have anything I could give her to give them? I did. Instead of loading up the van - I gave this group of quilts and baby sets to her to go to Ukraine the next day.

There were 23 quilt bundles and 30+ baby sets in that load.

After she came and went, Tim and Claire got back from shopping. :)

Friday

I made contact with a lady who organizes and helps several groups in Ukraine. I found out about this lady through Jadwiga who I met locally through our group here in Otwock. We discussed several options for giving away quilts to them.

Friday evening we filled up the minivan with newly compiled bundles and I had hopes to take them in on Saturday morning. I took some photos of some very nice quilts at the time of packing on Friday. I did not get any of the full minivan - though I could substitute others of the van filled with quilts and you’d probably not know the difference. :) (They look pretty much the same.)

Saturday

Tim and Claire took the full minivan to church this morning and unloaded it. Some went in that room (the second one) and some went in the garage for a load that is going out to Kharkiv on Tuesday. The load on Tuesday is going to a children’s home in an area that has been attacked. They asked for food for children - and I offered baby sets and quilts AND food. So, we’ve chosen some we think will be good and will see if they will be able to take about children ages 1 day - 10 years.

Because most of us don’t really understand where anything is over here - I’m showing a map from Otwock, where the church is to Kharkiv - and how long it would take to drive there.

Lena came back to help again! She’s back from Ukraine after being gone for about 3 weeks. We worked hard for a couple of hours on Saturday morning and filled up the truck which we will unload at church. She also took some in her car and took them to the church later in the day (by herself).

After dinner I went to a couple of stores and bought some diapers and baby food appropriate for this children’s home leaving on Tuesday morning.

I’m truly getting tired now.

Sunday

We had things loaded in our truck and van so we had to unload them at the church while we were there.

As I work down the number of boxes, I am going to get really itchy and will want to get this project done. Watch me when we get to under 20 boxes left. I will probably become a possessed woman. :) (Right now I’m at 42 unopened boxes.) We will see. Once we are down to the last two or three boxes, I will hopefully have worked the blankets and pillows down to (almost) nothing left. I’m dreaming of getting my living room back!

We had some Ukrainians come to the church on Sunday and I gave them each a quilt bundle.

The really cool thing about their coming this morning was that the mother of the two children really wants to help me. She told me she’d been praying that she would be able to help! So…guess what? I’ll use her help this week!

Thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey.

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!

Feel free to browse the site.

Week in Review - Ukraine