the gift of people...

Are you more grateful for the people who are in your life than the things you have acquired?  

Each day this past week was filled with people.  As an introvert that can get overwhelming for me...but this week it was energizing.  I am excited about relationships that are deepening and acquaintances that are turning into friends.  As we prepare to leave for a month long trip to the states on Wednesday God took time to remind us that there are people here that we will miss greatly.

We lost many material possessions in our move from Russia...but what we are gaining in relationships with people here in Belize is truly priceless.

And we accept each encounter with people that God has placed along our path as priceless treasure from His hands.

810.  praying with a woman in a village not far from here.
811.  holding her precious baby as we chatted.
812.  Maritza, who is patiently helping me to learn Spanish.
813.  rejoicing with a young mother over the work opportunities she has for the month of June.
814.  lunch with my friend Liz who had just returned from time in the states.
815.  feeling the love and support of the missionary community here.
816.  Eric bringing back a battery for Tom's computer.
817.  meeting the ladies on the Morality Matters team here working with CDF last week.
818.  counseling with a young mom who is growing in awareness about herself and her choices.
819.  meeting with Merv who will be staying in our house while we are away for the month.
820.  laughing with Charles, Ranika, Spencer and Meesha as we enjoyed dinner and games.
821.  long chats with Spencer and Meesha.
822.  dinner with the CDF board members and their families.

823.  meeting Shannon, Emrece, and Nerise on our Divaz Next Door adventure.

824.  Mike, Maria, Twila and Teddy from Cayo Adventure Tours who provided us with a day of canoeing, rock climbing and zip lining!
825.  time with Anna and Andrea the hosts of the talk show Divaz Next Door.

and precious gifts found in the Word:


826.  seeing God as the ultimate boundary setter  Psalm 74:17
827.  His desire to feed and satisfy His people Psalm 81:16
828.  His example of unlimited patience  I Timothy 1:16
829.  His eternal encouragement and good hope  II Thessalonians 2:16
830.  He faithfulness as He strengthens and protects us from the evil one  II Thessalonians 3:3

 joining in with the gratitude community:

Tasty Tuesday

After the youth rally was over Tom and I decided to explore the city.  We walked around the downtown area near the town square.  We found several little shops and as we went from shop to shop there were those who engaged Tom in conversation.  One young man, John, struck up a conversation with Tom and soon found common ground.  He was from California!  He was a student at Cal Tech taking a little time off to earn some money in his family store.

He recommended several different places to eat in the area.  When he mentioned pizza we were intrigued.  Other than tacos or Chinese food there were not too many choices in this little town.  Although John mentioned a bakery that also made pizza we discovered at the hotel that there was actually a pizzeria in town. The young gal at the desk gave us a map and directions and we set off to see what we could find.

What we found was great conversation and fascinating stories along with pizza that had the same taste of slices I remember from my time in Rome, Italy.  Carlos, a classically trained chef, and his wife Anna, the owner, are very kind, and attentive to their guests.  I could hear an accent that was not Belizean when we talked with them.  Carlos, or Charles, is from Algiers and Anna is from Columbia.  He could tell right away that Tom was an American but he thought I was Belizean.  We are getting used to that assumption since it happens frequently!

When I asked Carlos how many languages he spoke... he laughed and said "only seven and four dialects".  What a fascinating person with an incredible life.  After spending time as a lawyer he chose to go back to food.  His father is French and his mother is Italian but the taste of the freshly made sauce and garlic infused pizza dough reflected his Italian roots.  He began with telling us about his time as a private chef in mansions in LA and Miami.  Then we heard war stories and stories of life in Canada and how he met Anna through her brother when he was stationed in Alaska during his military service.  Can you imagine such a wide and varied life?

If you make it to Orange Walk Town, Belize make sure you stop in and see Carlos and Anna...you won't regret it!

Carlos and Anna, with the Orange Walk special...a chicken pizza with garlic and cilantro.  Yum!

front of Carlos Pizzeria

heads or tails?

Saturday, January 26, 2007

Recently, I got a call from our Russian ministry partner asking me to go over and meet with a couple of women who are working at a Rehab center here in town. I called Joy to go over with me and boy am I glad that I did!

We had a great conversation with these gals, while they were preparing a meal for the residents of the center. They showed us around the center. There is one bedroom for Lena and Olya, one bedroom for all the men, and a living room where some of the men sleep on the floor. There is one bathroom for all the occupants of the house. Olya and Lena make 3 meals a day for about 10 men. They do all the laundry in the bathtub and they keep the house clean. They are worn out!

The kitchen that they have is in the entry way of the house. And when you stand at the stove or the sink which are side by side you have to move out of the way whenever someone wants to go in or out of the bathroom. There is very little counter space... Olya was slicing the hard boiled eggs, and chopping onions in the bedroom just off the kitchen. On the front of the stove there was only one knob for adjusting the temperature all the others had come off. Lena had to move that knob from one burner to the next to adjust the temperature.

Lena was making a huge pot of fish soup (she is from Siberia) and she wanted us to taste this dish the way she makes it in her home town. As we drank our tea and chatted we watched her add the ingredients for the soup.

Potatoes
Carrots
Chopped hard boiled eggs (fried in Butter)
Chopped onions (sauteed fried in vegetable oil)
Three cans of fish (heads, tails and skin included)
Fresh Parsley

We tried to get up and leave without eating (we did have a meeting to attend at the BLTC) but Lena was insistent that we have at least two spoonfuls of her soup... she meant two ladles full! Joy told her that we would share a bowl. Our bowl contained a fish tail and thankfully no heads! As we were eating Joy leaned in to me and whispered in English "I draw the line at eating the tail!" I tried not to laugh out loud.

The kicker is I hate fish and Joy knew it... I am very grateful to her for eating the bigger pieces of fish in the bowl and allowing me to eat the smaller ones!

So where do you draw the line... heads or tails!?

Nothing much going on here

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Spencer and I went over to help a new family clean the house they are moving into. It was a fun time of shopping for cleaning supplies, cleaning, taking a short break for pizza and then getting back to work!

We truly enjoyed spending time with Carrie, Tim and the kids... they can already speak Russian so they are going to do great here.

We came here not even knowing the alphabet!

My favorite question

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Are you Tom’s wife?

When we lived in California I was asked this question frequently…at the end of an Al-Anon meeting or in the supermarket. At first this used to make me angry. After all I am my own person.

I went to an Al-Anon meeting tonight. This group was started a year ago and it meets in a church on the other side of town. I called on Saturday to find out all the vitals, you know what I mean; where, when and what time. I asked my language helper to come with me, she speaks English so I thought if I had any problems understanding what was being said I could ask her. She called to get directions and find out what type of transport would get us over there.

We went into the meeting and immediately we were asked if we were the ones who had called. Then she asked us how we knew about Al-Anon. I told her I knew about the group from America. I have been involved for 7 years now. She was very excited. She asked me where I lived and I answered in the Slavinsky region.

Here is what happened next:

“Do you know Tom Sharp?”
“Yes, that’s my husband!”
“Oh my God, I have been looking for him!”
“You met him two years ago right?”
“Yes! Right after I attended a conference. I was looking for someone who would know how to start an Al-Anon group and I found an AA meeting. I was given his number but I didn’t call right away and then I was told he went back to America”

Can you imagine the joy on her face? She said this several times tonight:
“Look at how God works! In walks Tom’s wife!”

After Sasha and I left she asked me “how do you feel when people ask you about Tom?”

I think it is funny that we are in Russia, a long way from California, and I am still being asked this type of question!

a very long day

Thursday August 2, 2007

I will have to write about it all tomorrow... our day began with school and ended with dinner at Brennan and Stephanie's. While there, Spencer got a chance to meet someone near his age who was helping his dad make a delivery. Spencer helped them unload the wood, cement and sand for the new playground equipment for the international school that is starting up next month.

Right now they have grades K4-10th. This will be a great blessing to many families here with children who wish to study in English.

Tom called tonight and that was exciting! We had not heard his voice in a week.

I have class for four hours tomorrow. I was put in a new class and will move ahead 7 lessons. Tomorrow Arina will work with me on the grammar for the lessons that I am skipping!

a really great day!

After waking up early Wednesday morning we drove down to Dallas for our orientation... we were not sure what to expect of a four hour meeting but, it turned out great!

First we shopped at Sam Moon on the drive down.

Tom purchased beads and I got a new purse! The old has a broken zipper. I will get it fixed in Russia but for now I needed something that would actually shut!

Once at the East-West office we got to meet Brennan & Stephanie, and Gary & Kim. All three of us couples are new to East-West. We enjoyed getting to meet these great people.

We actually had the opportunity to spend some extended time with Brennan and Stephanie who will be joining us in Krasnodar. We decided to go out to dinner together... we felt so honored that they spent part of their time alone in Texas (without their four kids) eating dinner and talking with us!

Following our fantastic dinner at an Italian restaurant we stopped at IKEA. Special thanks to Marilyn M in Andover who told us there was a store in Dallas.

We are now the proud owners of bedroom curtains! I have been changing my clothes in the bathroom for the year and a half we have had the apartment because we didn't have curtains. Now we will have some privacy, shelter from the glare of the morning sun and a more finished look to our room.

Tom is excited about his new clocks... Nathan and I don't like clocks without numbers on them. Tom loves them. So we now have 4! We also picked up some ice trays, we don't have those in Russia. Now we can make ice for you when you come to visit us! Most drinks in Russia are served without ice.

We also picked up a shower curtain... because our bathroom tile is so decorative we went with clear so it could be seen at all times. Clear shower curtains seemed impossible to find at a reasonable price here in the states. IKEA had them for 1.49!

When we wake up and get on the road today we hope to drive all the way through to New Mexico... we should be able to cover more ground since Tom is feeling so well.

He has a doctor appointment on July 2nd and we are hoping to get referred to a surgeon and then scheduled for surgery soon after!

quick trip

We are off to Dallas for orientation with EastWest.

It will be us and another couple who will also be attending language school in Krasnodar in the fall. We have not met them in person but, "know" the husband through email. Apparently he found my blog and has been reading up on Russian life in our city!

With two hours of driving and four hours of orientation we have a full day ahead of us... Tom is also planning to stop in at Sam Moon's and get some beads on the ride down to Dallas!

meeting new people

We ate a great meal with Shirley and Gerry at Brick Oven happily topping it off with Sheridan's Frozen Custard!

It was good to see Tom standing behind the wooden pulpit in their 118 year old sanctuary. The congregation is currently remodeling the property with the men of the church doing the majority of the work themselves.

We loved how they kept the original sanctuary in tact...incredible stained glass windows on each side of the room give the room a peaceful feel. I had not felt that serene since my time in Assisi, Italy. We are eager to return and see how it looks a year from now!

Before leaving Topeka we had lunch at On the Border with Kathy and Ray. We met Kathy's son when we were in Oregon. We are so grateful to Brian for connecting us with the loving, caring congregation we spent time with in Topeka. It reminded me of the church I grew up in... small and close knit like a family.

Today we leave for Edmond, Oklahoma after that we are moving on again. I don't know if I will have internet access for the rest of the week. So, if you don't hear from me just know that we are taking a long overdue mini vacation for just the two of us at a Bed and Breakfast somewhere in the midwest!

meetings, meetings!

Yesterday we drove down to Edmond, Oklahoma to meet with a missions pastor. We braved all the rain we had to drive through and it was well worth it!

We got a chance to meet with a man who is doing Recovery Ministry there and were able to sit and plan for a short term mission trip by some members of the Recovery Ministry. Thanks Pastor Mike for asking us to come to Edmond!

We will be going back to Edmund on Sunday. We'll have dinner with a group from the church and then we will be sharing our testimonies at the Celebrate Recovery Service on Monday night!

New to us!

On Sunday after one of the services at Hope, Tom was speaking with Mel who was asking if we had gotten a laptop yet. Tom was telling Mel that we had not gotten the funds yet. Jeff overheard and stepped up to say that he had a laptop that was not being used and that if we could use it he would clean his information off of it and bring it over.

True to his word, on Monday night Jeff brought over a Hewlett Packard laptop and we are so excited. This donation provides us with a computer that we can travel with. Tom often uses power point when he speaks. As I type this, using Paul and Cathy's PC, Tom is sitting with our new laptop typing up a summary of book he read.

What a blessing... the kindness of people within the body of believers never ceases to amaze me!

the week in review

Tom's parents are back with us... they traveled last week and left us alone in the house. Fortunately, we were all good and nothing got broken while they were away.

We did have an issue trying to make microwave popcorn. I teased Tom for burning a bag and then I did the same thing. At least the burned popcorn smell was gone before they got back home!

We had a quiet week. Most of the time we were not even in the same room with one another. Tom watched Basketball in one room, Spencer was on the computer, I watched TV in another room and Nathan was either at work or in his room on the computer.

Yesterday, we went to New Beginnings Church of God as a family. Nathan didn't have to go to work until 3:30 so we were able to enjoy the service and then lunch afterward. Spencer and I had gone the week before and I had dropped one of our prayer cards in the offering plate and asked them to pray for us. This week when we greeted the pastor after the service he recognised us and said that he had been praying for us!

After lunch we came back to the house and Tom's folks were here. They had just gotten off the road. Tom watched a basketball game and then took a nap. Nathan had to go to work and Spencer and I took off to check out a new Borders.

As Spencer was buying a Russian history book the cashier, Esther, told him about an author who is very popular in Russia right now. Boris Akunin is a mystery writer. She didn't know if it had been translated into English or not. She had read the book in German. After chatting with her a bit we thanked her, left Border's and went over to Barnes and Noble and found several books by Akunin. We came home with only two. The Turkish Gambit and Sister Pelagia & the White Bulldog.

As Spencer and I talked about The Turkish Gambit we realised that we have already seen the movie. We have also seen another movie based on a novel of his called The State Councilor. Both of these movies broke box office records in Russia.

road weary

Tom, Spencer and I are all feeling wiped out. We are tired of being in the car. We want our own beds and our own pillows...How is that for whining!


We had a great time meeting the people at the church in Eugene. We enjoyed lunch in Brownsville with Randy and Roger. We laughed our heads off with Ashley, Nicole, Diane and Ivey in Modesto. We were excited to have dinner in Castaic with Joann and her kids.

Each time we meet with someone new the experience is priceless. The cost of all this is mostly physical. Tom is having a lot of back pain. And my muscles are feeling tight and achy. Last night Tom was in so much pain he wanted me to take him to the doctor. I had taken two Tylenol PM's and was not fit to drive so he had to ask the couple we are staying with to take him. He got a shot and some pain meds. We will start trading off more frequently when we leave for New Mexico on Tuesday.

Please pray for our health and our travel. Pray that we raise the funds needed to make the transition to career. We are grateful that God called us to work in Russia and we are eager to get back to work on language, relationships with Russian nationals and service in the community.

Arizona

I just got back from a meeting with an on line friend. This was the first time I have met someone from a message board. We went to Starbucks and chatted for over an hour!

The drive here from Albuquerque was wonderful. It was so beautiful to see the terrain along the way. We leave for California in the morning. And I can hardly wait!

at night at the movies

We took the kids to the movies last night and they all enjoyed seeing Night At the Museum. It was fun to hear them laugh. I am not a Ben Stiller fan so I didn't enjoy it as much as everyone else did. I did like Robin Williams... he is one of my favorites.

Spencer gave me not one but two e-cards for Women's Day so he scored major points!

The Ultimate Blog Party is winding down but I truly do appreciate everyone who was able to stop by. I noticed that there are over 900 blogs listed on the party site and I know I have not made it to most of them yet!

I am writing this early because we have a big day and night planned for tomorrow. Two of the kids are skipping school to spend the day with us and we have Celebrate Recovery to attend! <== Click on the highlighted words and go to the ministry link when you get there!

Tom Bean

Wow! It has been great to see our friends again.

They have another dog. Last time we were here they had Skip and Angel. Now they have added Sparky... he was homeless and they took him in. Tom, Paul, Hailey and I were hanging out in the family room watching the Food Network after church and we had all the dogs at our feet or angling for a seat on the couch!

The service today was great. It was overwhelming to sing worship songs in English. I think I cried more than I sang! We are still having difficulty making decisions in stores. We went with Paul after church to pick up some food for lunch... just deciding on side dishes for the fried chicken was draining.

We are going back to church for a prayer meeting. Kim, a nurse, has to work this week so we only saw her at church this morning for a short while. Tyler and Spencer went to the youth meeting after the first service while Luke and Hailey attended the second service while we shopped for lunch.

We met with most of the elders at church this morning and got the chance to speak with a couple who adopted two boys from Russia. They are now a family of seven!

We are driving into Dallas for some meetings tomorrow and Spencer is planning to hang out here in Tom Bean while we are gone.

Ultimate Blog Party

How could I forget the big party???


I am setting a place at the table just for you... so don't be late!















Have questions like "why Russia?" ask away! I blog about our daily life in Russia, our trials with learning this language, and the work we do here. I write for our family, friends and supporters. I am glad that you have chosen to stop by. Please take your shoes off and enjoy some Russian hospitality... each time we have been to a Russian home for a visit out comes the photo album.

Our two years in Russia have taught us the importance of gift giving... if you are going to a Russian home for dinner the most popular gifts are flowers and candy! Make sure you take an odd number of flowers... even numbers are for funerals.

Take care and come again!

Alida

New contact

Tom had a meeting with the head psychologist over at the Physical Fitness, Tourism and Culture Institute today. Her name is Svetlana and she happens to be a friend of Natasha's (the head prison psychologist) they attended graduate school together.

Tom was introduced to Svetlana by V. V is the other AA member in town who has the most sobriety other than Tom and he recently started a new AA meeting in Svetlana's building. V gave Tom a call and told him it was important for him to meet this woman because of the work that she does.

Tom found out that she has received a federal grant that is funding a rehabilitation center for children who are alcoholics and addicts. She showed Tom a photo of the center it is in an old two story house here in Krasnodar. Svetlana speaks four languages, Russian, English, Armenian and Georgian. Tom said it was a pleasure to speak with her. She told him she felt relieved that other colleagues were "coming to the rescue". She says that there are not many psychologists here and not all of them know and/or understand the 12 steps.

Svetlana has invited our family to have dinner with her. Her children know Spencer. Her daughter, Raizana was one of the girls who helped us load our boxes onto the truck when we moved out of the house on Gagarina to the BLTC before our remodel. Raizana just became a Russian citizen yesterday. The family is Georgian and they worked for three years to get her documents taken care of.

We are excited about where this contact may lead. Only God knows what ground work is being laid here. It may be possible for Spencer and I to do our social project at this rehab center for kids!

Holiday Fun

Last night we were with the Watson family. Nathan, Spencer and I went over for dessert and to watch A Christmas Story. Seeing how Joy decorated for Christmas made us feel very festive. And it was like Christmas is "actually real" for someone other than us. Everywhere else we go we realise that the decorations are for New Year's (including the trees) and not for Christmas.

However, seeing an American home decorated for the holiday actually reminded us that we are not the only ones celebrating on the 25th.

Tom joined us after his AA meeting and then we all came home together. Tom and I stayed up way too late and missed out on the church serivce this morning.

I think I was in a funk and really didn't want to go and that is why I didn't set my alarm. This is our last Christmas with Nathan at home. Tom says that I have already started to grieve and that is healthy. We do want to send him off in a healthy way. And it is also important that I acknowledge how I feel about losing him. The only consolation is knowing that he is going to be with Mom and Dad.

Alexei and Lena stopped by to wish us a Merry Christmas. After that Olya came over with her friend Luda (as in Ludmilla)and her two teenage girls. Anya is 13 and Nastia is 14. They are studying English and wanted to practice. We asked and answered questions in a mixture of Russian and English for a few hours. We had to remember to speak slow so that they could understand us when we spoke English. We drank tea and ate a cake that they brought over as a hostess gift. Thirteen year old Anya likes to write and has written some fairy tales. While 14 year old Nastia likes cars and wants to be a designer. Luda is currently studying to be a psychologist so she had questions for Tom as well.

Both the girls and Olya were suprised that I knew who Dima Bilan is (a singer who came in second in Eurovision). I was watching the night he won and have heard his song on the radio and on TV since then.

After everyone was gone we were pretty tired. We decided to order pizza and watch some movies. We checked out the delivery menu for our favorite pizza place and decided to try some new things. We ordered:
barbecue beef pizza
salmon pizza
assorted meat pizza
chicken pizza

The barbecue pizza was more like a chopped steak pizza. The salmon pizza was salmon, green beans and cheese. The chicken pizza was chicken, cheese and olives. Tom was not real thrilled with the salmon pizza even though he is a big salmon fan... just not on pizza!

It is just after midnight and Spencer is already in bed while Tom and Nathan are watching the 3rd Lord Of The Rings movie. This is Tom's first time seeing it!

Neighbors

As Spencer and I were on our way to school yesterday we were greeted by our neighbor that we met on the night on the Kuban Cossack Choir Concert. She said that she hoped we would be able to spend time together soon.

Spencer and I had all the good intentions of going down to her apartment, she lives in the same entrance as Olya, but... we didn't make it. Then as time passed I felt like it was weird to just show up. Now since we saw her again and she renewed the invite I will have to do a better job of getting over there this weekend!

Part of my fear about going over there was the possibility of not being able to understand and fully participate in a conversation. With our friends we are able to use a dictionary or they will explain things in a different way to help out. I know that she is aware of us still being in the learning phase... I just don't want to fumble and stutter! But, I will humble myself and get down there. Really, I will!