Since many of our friends in Ukraine were not able to attend our wedding, they sent a video in their place. This video is from people in Ternopil, Ukraine. You get to see some of our dear friends that we are privileged to work with. You also get to see a bit of the building where we work!
Lance and I decided to use just one site for our blog, mine. Lance’s previous blog is still floating about in the cyber world though so those of you who may have never had the opportunity to visit his site there is still a chance!
Visit the Life and Work of Lance by clicking HERE!!
Lance has been in Ukraine for over 7 years and therefore has many more tales and stories to tell than I do. He also has lots of photos for you to peruse at your leisure.
You will get to know Lance in a whole new way!
So I have lots to catch up on, like a major wedding for example! Yeah, nothing big or anything.
Lance and I were married October 12th, 2013 in Auburn, Washington at 4 in the afternoon. It was a glorious wedding!
What else should I say? It was glorious.
What we looked like the day before.
Lance and I are pretty laid back people so wanted our wedding to feel as calm and relaxed as we can be. We wanted people to sit at tables, we wanted there to be opportunities to chat with those at the tables; we wanted people to enjoy their time together with us. It was to be a party, a big fun ole party.
Two friends
The display
Steppin out
We incorporated little bits of our personalities and what was important to us. We love the outdoors, wood and things that are natural. Lance loves to work with wood, so we had lots of wood and nature in our décor. I love lots of bright colors, so we had bright fun colors everywhere we could add them. We both love games and breakfast, so we had games and breakfast food. We didn’t want to get bogged down in tradition but to simply have what was us in the wedding.
Just the girls
Just the guys
Just taking a walk
We also wanted to incorporate a few other things from Ukraine. In Ukraine, the parents give a blessing to their children before they are given away so we did our version of that. A parent’s blessing is a beautiful and powerful thing and we believe our families play an important role in our lives. This was a time to honor them and make room for them to speak into our lives; both Lance and I were blessed by our parents. Another tradition is to throw candy to your guests as you leave the church, so we did just that. Instead of everyone pelting us with rice, bubbles, or confetti, we bombarded everyone with candy. We thought it was fun.
Father & daughter
Blessing
Blessing
God’s Word is a gift
His vows
Her vows
The Kiss
Mr. & Mrs. Roberts
We loved hearing each toast, we loved giving an understanding of missions to people, and we loved being blessed by friends and family.
Roberts side
Murray side
I don’t know what everyone else thinks of their honeymoon but I’m quite sure Lance and I had the best one ever! Seriously.
Our first few days were spent in Gig Harbor, very peaceful and quiet, we hardly saw anyone.
Our next 5 days were spent in Port Townsend at one of my neighbor’s cabins. It was right on the water in a quiet neighborhood. It was here that Lance and I discovered how much fun it is to cook together. We loved it. In Port Townsend, we saw a play called “The 6 Rules of Marriage.” How funny that such a play was there while we were in town! We met a great couple that had been married for 50 years, and they gave us their advice for long marriage. We also visited some sites in the area.
After Port Townsend we made our way around the peninsula. We spent a night in Neah Bay where the motel owner’s son was a missionary in Ukraine! Crazy connection! We continued around for a night at a bed and breakfast in Forks. Little did we know that this place was a hotspot for Twilight fans. They served a scrumptious breakfast of stuffed French toast, did I say it was yummy?
Then we drove down to Seabrook near Ocean Shores. Here we had our own little cabin with a kitchen near the beach. We played shuffleboard (I won), horseshoes (Lance dominated) and soaked in a hot tub near the woods. At one point some raccoons popped out from the porch and looked as though they wanted join us in the tub, but luckily the noticed Lance’s massive muscles and thought better of it.
After Seabrook we made a quick stop in Auburn to try and take care of some business i.e. opening gifts, starting to attack the mountain of thank you cards to write and starting to change my name.
Then it was off to Newport, Oregon where Lance’s family has a cabin right on the beach with a gorgeous view of a lighthouse. There was a wood fireplace and our room looked out over the ocean so could we fall asleep to the sound of the waves crashing. It really was bliss. In Newport, we had fun going around to the different beaches and exploring, visiting Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and filling up on fresh seafood. We loved every minute of it!
When our week in Newport was finished, we headed to Culver, Oregon for our stay with Lance’s family. Now we are planted here for the month of November catching up on people’s lives and sharing our own.
Family, Friends, Supporters;
This blog is marking my three years in Ukraine. This will also be the last State of Megan Address since the next time you read a formal address, it will be of the Roberts family!
Health Care
Physically
I am doing good. I donʼt think I was sick once this past year, praise God!!! I had a few days where my body just needed to sleep and rest, but if Iʼm able to give rest when my body wants it I can usually beat the cold.
Mentally/Emotionally
Great! This past year has been a whirlwind for me and doing new things. Becoming engaged has also been an added excitement. Lance and I are no longer individuals in our own ministries but we are one now in ministry. I think I was on an emotional roller coaster being so busy but also enjoying the engaged life. Lance and I look forward to this next year and discovering what it means to be a couple in ministry in missions.
Spiritually
In my personal devotions I have studied such topics as: more on the glory of God, Romans, Psalms, classic hymns, the Easter story, memorial stones and more. (Sadly, I left my devotional journal in Ukraine and canʼt remember what else I studied!)
Last year we started accountability groups and this has been great to spend time with someone and pray together. It really makes a difference to be able to pray with someone else.
Foreign Policy
I started out last year by going to Germany in September with my colleague Allison. We went to Berlin for a few days while she got her visa to Ukraine and then went down to Herrnhut where we visited with another YWAM base. This was a great experience to see how a larger base functions. We learned lots from our time there! I also went to Moldova for New Yearʼs to see Lance and to attend our friendʼs wedding. Besides the usual border runs to Moldova or Poland, I went to Romania this last summer to minister with a team from Washington that included my sisters and dad. It was such a huge blessing to be working with them in ministry! Now, I am in Oregon with Lanceʼs family. We have already put lots of miles on the car between Washington and Oregon. We hope to be making a few more trips between Idaho and Montana as well.
I have found it to also be important to encourage Ukrainians to love their country. It never ceases to amaze me how so many Ukrainians want to leave or easily see the negative things in their country. It is now my policy to make sure Ukrainians find good things and grow in a love for their country.
Education
This past year was not as full of teaching as the previous year but it did have some new opportunities. I taught English in our 3 month EFM school of course but I also got to teach in the Discipleship Training School. This was a fun new experience for me and I look forward to more teaching times in the DTS. I was also asked to be a part of teaching in a staff retreat for another organization. This was also new and was a blessing to be a part of. I was one of three that taught, we spent many hours praying and discussing what would be best for our audience. God was with us the whole time and everyone was blessed through the retreat! On top of these new opportunities, the English ministries team started a new school in the evenings for the community. This was an exciting new venture that was making a direct impact on churches in the community. I did not directly teach in this school but was a support to my staff who did run it.
Economy
In my 2012 address I said that I would be including my personal responsibilities under the Foreign Policy section but I reconsidered and thought it best to include it in economy.
Last summer, I became part of the leadership team at the base in Ternopil. This has led to an assortment of other responsibilities. I take notes, send reminders, do some research and prepare for meetings in the form of supplies, notes, and food. I have also begun my work as the personnel director. This has unfortunately gotten forgotten when I my schedule gets full. I created new forms and helped set up a staff board. We started doing birthday cards for everyone and preparing birthday candy for the kids of the families who are staff with us. Besides this I am still running the English For Missions team. It has been a lot no doubt but good things are happening and I am thrilled to be a part of it all.
Last year, I started a new budget system. The new system has been helpful to save money and redirect money to other places. I have been faithful to give to other missionaries and to other people in need with in Ternopil or other places. I want to be sure to be a conduit of Godʼs money, not a dead end. It was a bit of a challenge this last year, having three different roommates and not being sure how rent will be divided, but God was faithful and everything worked out. Next year will be a new challenge since Lance and I will have our own apartment which means that costs will increase, the new apartment is a $200 increase. We are praying and believing that God will supply everything we need. It find it slightly ironic that as soon as I figured out a good budget system, I will have to redo it to accommodate married life. Next year will include many adjustments mot of which I will be happy to make with Lance. 🙂
There is my year in a contained post. I always love hearing from my friends and family, so please send me and email.
Many blessings to you all!