Our Story

One unusually cool August day in 2017, our little family loaded a truck with our earthly possessions and left everything else behind. Our home, beloved family, dear friends, our church, our income, health care, our support network and twelve years of preparing for and carrying out pastoral ministry.

We left everything we loved, because we found something we loved even more. Something we loved more than financial security, more than familiarity - even more than we loved our home and our family.

We found the Church. This is the story of our family as we work to start over, as we struggle to be faithful, as we fail and repent and start over and over again.

A little about us...

We homeschool.

We parent children from hard places.

We parent children with disabilities.

We live with chronic illness.

We work to live simply and sustainably.

We strive to live out our faith in everyday life.

And most of all we are just trying to learn to repent, to acquire some humility and to be joyful on the way.

Meet the Family

Iakabos: Graduated seminary and served for four years as a pastor in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Recently chrismated into the Orthodox Church. Loves history, theology and baseball. (Go Cardinals!)

Amelia: Studied Christian Outreach and Confessional Lutheranism in college. Also recently Chrismated. Loves writing, home making and anything crunchy.

Hope: Thirteen years old. Sweet and sassy. Adopted from Ukraine in 2014 after laying in a crib for nine years, and has come a long way! Loves to "drop" her toys and watch unsuspecting people pick them up.

Jacob: Ten years old. Enthusiastic and kind. Also adopted from Ukraine in 2014; since then he has learned to walk and is still learning what it means to be a cherished part of a family. Loves legos and anything fun outside.

Evangelia: Eight years old. Sensitive and compassionate. The firstborn in the family, she arrived shortly before our 1st wedding anniversary. Loves dancing, reading, science and everything artsy.

Stephen: Six years old. Energetic and inquisitive. Born on a little island condo a couple years after Evie and a couple years before Kyrie. Loves trains and any sport he can get his hands on.

Kyriaki: Three years old. Observant and joyful. Born six months after the adoption, she was a ray of light in a difficult transition period for our family. Loves pretty clothes, baby dolls and whatever Stephen is doing.

Christine: Our beautiful baby girl!! We love her to absolute bits, and her personality is already bubbling away! She loves going on walks, putting everything in her mouth and kicking her legs like crazy!

Why We Blog

Life is hard and God did not intend for us to go it on our own. Through this website we are richly blessed by the people He has brought into our life; and maybe, in some small way, we can encourage others who struggle with similar challenges. Plus it's just handy to have all these nifty resources in one place!