Stave Family Mission "Leave Klaipeda with Tonsils & No Baby; Come Back with No Tonsils & Healthy Baby!"

Back in September of 2005, I wrote in my journal that it felt strange to be driving out of Klaipeda for the last time as a married, childless couple knowing that when we drove back into our city our lives would be forever changed as we would have a baby in tow.

And here we are again, 3 & 1/2 years later, about to take that same trip tomorrow, with that same strange knowledge. This time it's a bit easier to imagine as we've already done it once, although I've heard that going from 1 kid to 2 can be the toughest transition of raising a family. Bringing home a boy will be new for us, and for as much as Ieva talks about how excited she is to meet her baby brother, we know that the reality of sharing mom & dad's attention is going to be a pretty tough reality check in her little life.

Ieva & her baby brother at -5 weeks old! (I was at 35 weeks then.)

Waiting for Ieva was somewhat easy. Our doctors suspected she could come early (I had gone into early labor at 34 weeks), so we went to Vilnius 2 full weeks prior to the due date and waited. And waited. And waited. And when her due date came & went and she still hadn't come, we had labor induced & she was born via c-section (due to my body refusing to continue the labor process all the way to completion).

This time around it's a bit different. We hoped to play the waiting game again, but this time wait long enough for the baby to come naturally, without inducing labor, & see if my body reacts differently & allows me to labor until the end. But upon consultation with our doctor (the same who delivered Ieva -- she's fabulous!) she informed us that due to the risks involved for a 2nd pregnancy when you wait too long (the bigger you get, the thinner your uterus becomes & the greater the chance of your c-section scar bursting while trying to push the baby out of the birth canal), she said that she won't let us wait longer than the due date of June 10. If he hasn't come naturally by then, it'll be another c-section. And as much as I thought I'd be disappointed to hear this, I'm really (truly!) okay with it! When she used the terminology "internal bleeding" in reference to what could happen if my scar burst during labor, both Andrew & I immediately decided it wasn't a risk worth taking. I've always thought the idea of natural baby delivery was the best (and only!) way to go, but quite frankly, our primary goal has become a healthy baby (and healthy mom!) at the end of the day...regardless of which way the baby comes out.

The other big change this time around is obviously having our precious 3 & 1/2 year old daughter Ieva with us. Thankfully, her 1st nanny Aurelija (who lives in Vilnius with her husband now) has agreed to keep her when we go to the hospital. It's a perfect fit, since Ieva adores Aurelija & Balys and the feeling is very much mutual!

Ieva was the flower girl in Aurelija & Balys' wedding in September 2008!

We also had Ieva see an Ear/Nose/Throat specialist the last time we were in Vilnius who strongly recommended that she get her tonsils & adenoids removed, as her tonsils are in bad shape & her adenoids are blocking her sinuses & causing fluid build-up in her ears, which is preventing her from hearing properly (and helped her get sick much more frequently this spring).

So...our tentative (and hopeful!) plan is this:

Saturday, May 30 -- drive to Vilnius & stay with missionaries Wendell & Patti McClung who are graciously opening their home to us!

Sunday, May 31 -- attend the 10 year anniversary service & celebration of the International church in Vilnius. The pastor there now is the same one who was there when we were waiting with Ieva. He & his wife left soon after, but have returned recently & we're thrilled to reconnect with them!

Monday, June 1 @ 2pm -- Ieva will go to the Baltic American Clinic for a tonsillectomy & adenoid removal. They'll most likely keep her overnight.

Wednesday, June 3 @ 10am -- I will have an appointment with my doctor at the Baltic American & she'll assess my progress at that point. Depending on what she finds, we'll make a plan for the next week (either wait it out or schedule a c-section).

Sometime between June 3-10, and hopefully after Ieva has recovered from her surgery, we expect our baby boy to enter the world!

We know that our plans are often not the same as Gods', so we're trusting that whatever happens will still work out okay. I'm significantly more uncomfortable at the end of this pregnancy than I was with Ieva, so the idea of getting baby boy out of my belly & into my arms as soon as possible sounds wonderful! But it would still be nice if he waited to come until after Ieva recovers from her surgery. We'd like her to be able to enjoy the process of welcoming her baby brother as much as possible!

Please join us in praying for all these transitions happening within our family in the upcoming weeks. Thanks!

We're excited to see what God will do in the life of our family!

Continual Transitions at LCC...

As we wrote in our last blog, there are lots of goodbyes to say around here...especially this time of the year! Another difficult goodbye just happened earlier this week when the person who hired both us of to come to LCC in 2002 & who has supervised us for the past 7 years has left our community.

Mel Humphreys was offered a position in the Student Life department at Wheaton College and it was clear that this was the obvious next step for her career. As the Vice President of Student Life, she's done much to develop our division at LCC over the past 10 years, and we're thankful to have been able to work with her during our tenure this far. I (Kim) have worked especially closely with Mel since 2002 and have learned a lot from her! Thanks, Mel, for all you've given me over the years!

Kim & Mel, May 2009

Below is the online article posted on LCC's website regarding Mel's departure. As you read it, you'll discover (if you haven't heard already) that this change of events has also changed our family plans for the coming year. I had planned on quitting my job & seeing what it was like to be a stay at home mom next year. But Mel's job offer came so quickly that there wasn't time to do a job search & as the Student Life staff member who has worked the most closely with her for the longest time, I was offered her job. I agreed to take it, but only on a part-time basis, as we both feel that it's still important to try to cut my working time down in order to spend more time with our kids. And amazingly, both Andrew & I have a peace about this new direction, despite it being so different from our original plan! We decided to hire a full-time Student Life Office Manager, largely for the purpose of allowing me to actually work half time by taking on many of the time-consuming administrative tasks that would take up my time as VP. I'm also excited to work with LCC's new President, Kyle Usrey, who will begin at LCC this July. We appreciate any prayers for how we'll resolve childcare questions and that I'll be able to do my job well, along with spending more quality time at home with our kids!

After 10 Years of Service at LCC Dr. Melanie Humphreys’ Career Takes a New Turn

Our boss for the past 7 years, Mel Humphreys

LCC International University is sad to announce that Dr. Melanie Humphreys who has served our university in the position of Student Life Vice President for the 10 past years is pursuing a new career opportunity and will leave Klaipėda in the beginning of the summer.

She will be temporarily replaced by the current Community Life Director Kim Stave, M.Ed.

Dr. Humphreys’ contributions to LCC International University are plentiful: she built the Student Life Division from the ground up – establishing departments and programs, learning outcomes and assessment, worked with campus and Board to establish the 196-bed Neumann Hall (2007), and the multipurpose facility Michealsen center (2002), and worked with transition to a dry campus (alcohol-free). Dr. Humphreys will start her new position as Dean of Student Care and Services at Wheaton College in the United States on July 1st.

Interim President Dr. David Skeen comments on her leaving, “Mel's contributions to the evolution of LCC International University have been enormous over her 10 years of service. She is responsible for the structure of the division and virtually all of the policies and practices. But beyond her professional contribution it has been her support, care and dedication to the students, faculty and staff of LCC which are her legacy that will be remembered most by the campus community. We wish for Mel every success as she moves forward to her new position at Wheaton College in Illinois."

Dr. Humphreys herself says, "It is hard to capture in words what the LCC community has meant to me over the years. Thank you all for your love and support. I look forward in anticipation to all that God has in store both for LCC and in this next chapter of my own journey."

We'll miss you, Mel!

Saying Goodbye to good friends

Part of the joy & heartache of being at LCC long-term are the many relationships we get to develop, but then the frequent goodbyes we also have to say. We've had lots of great friends over the past 7 years here, but have also said lots of sad goodbyes. Earlier this week we took our dear friends, the Bosch Family, to the airport to see them off. They came to LCC last August from the Toronto area where they took a year-long leave of absence from their jobs & schools so Chris could teach at LCC and the family could experience something different from the norms of North American life. For some reason we didn't start spending much time with them until November of last year, but once we did, we really connected. And it wasn't just us adults that enjoyed spending time together, but Ieva adored their boys Levi (7) and Josiah (very recently 9). And they adopted her like a little sister.

Saying Goodbye in the Vilnius Airport

We've had lots of great memories with the Bosch family over the past 7 months and will miss them tremendously. One of the last sweet memories that will stay in my mind was after we had all said our tearful goodbyes in the airport lobby and they had gone to get in the security line. Andrew, Ieva & I were sitting a little ways away talking about where we were going next. All of a sudden, and completely out of the blue, Ieva jumps up out of her seat & bolts across the huge lobby space between the chairs & the security line & practically leaps into Josiah's arms for a big long hug. Then as quick as she went, she let go & turned around & ran back to us. It was really, really precious. Those two really adored each other so much!

Josiah & Ieva on Josiah's 9th birthday (we just celebrated on May 11th - the night before they flew out!)

Josiah, Ieva & Levi in the airport

Josiah is the same age as Ieva's only cousin Eli, and interestingly, they look quite similar to each other! When Eli & Ieva get to spend time together, Eli also loves to give her hugs & coddle her. In so many ways, Josiah was Ieva's surrogate cousin (or big brother) and we all loved watching them together! Chris, Lydia, Josiah & Levi Bosch

Thanks for being such an integral part part of our lives this year, Chris, Lydia, Josiah & Levi! We miss you already!!

LCC's 14th Graduation Ceremonies!

The tossing of the caps of the LCC International University graduating class of 2009!

On the way to LCC with flowers for the graduates!

It's a tradition to give graduates flowers upon their graduation. Ieva enjoyed helping me pick them out & carrying them the whole way to LCC. And since they were tulips, we had to stop for a photo shoot near a flower bed of tulips on our way to the bus stop!

Ledina reading scripture in Albanian.
During the Baccalaureate service, a selected scripture passage is chosen to be read in the native language of each graduate. I believe this class had 10 nationalities graduating.

Altynay from Kyrgyzstan was selected to be the graduate who spoke at Baccalaureate.
She gave an extremely moving testimony of finding Christ at LCC through her relationships with staff & faculty members and other Christian students.

A very happy Tanya crosses the stage & receives her diploma during the graduation ceremony.

Tanya is from Ukraine & told me just days before the event that she couldn't wait for her parents to arrive, as it would be their first visit to LCC during her 4 years there! Many of our students families are in the same situation and can't afford to travel to experience the place where their children study. Many of our international students didn't have parents there at the ceremonies with them at all.

After graduation with Algis & Egle, both from Lithuania. Egle has been one of Ieva's babysitters for the past 2 years & she still has another two years before she'll graduate (we're thrilled to keep her around). We know Algis well, as we've spent a lot of time talking about life with him during his years as a student. He is a talented worship leader and has led numerous chapel bands during his student tenure.

After graduation with Yuliya. She is from Ukraine and has been very involved in student leadership at LCC. In fact, she was selected to win an award for servant leadership out of her entire class. We've known her well over the years and are sad to see her go, but excited to see what great things she'll do next!

The Stave family at our 7th LCC graduation ceremony. This is the 4th class we've been privileged to journey with from their freshmen year until they graduate. What a gift to see students grow & develop throughout these crucial years! This is why we love our jobs!