photo op!

There is a large botanical garden just up the street from our apartment building... Tom and I enjoy walking through this park whenever we get a chance.








This particular day we saw a few cars decorated for a wedding... I liked this one the best!!

finding crosses

My friend Sasha was looking out our living room window and noticed what she thought was a cross in the window of an apartment building across the field from our building.

Upon closer inspection it is not an actual cross but a reflection from the frame of the window onto the balcony door.

We love finding crosses like this... they are signs from God located in unexpected places!

weighing in!

This has been one of the most challenging weeks to be watching what I eat! I successfully managed to fight off the urge to "stress eat", which I have been known to do when we have a lot going on. And that lead to the loss of 1 pound this week!

Yesterday, we had an end of the school year barbecue and there was so much good food it was hard to restrain myself!! Don made a Key Lime pie, which is my favorite... I did acquiesce to one small sliver and really took the time to savor that treat!

Many years ago I realised that I am a binge eater... or at least I used to be. I would binge and then fast as a way to lose weight.

I very clearly remember the first diet I ever went on. I was 17 years old and needed to lose 20 pounds because I was a contestant in the Miss Wichita Pageant and the coach we had told me that I would do better in the swimsuit and evening gown events if I lost twenty pounds. I weighed 125lbs. and thought I was VERY overweight! So after talking with a few friends of mine I chose to eat every other day and I lost 20 pounds in two weeks.

Twelve years after that, in 1992 I read an article in the LA Times about bulimia. I always thought that bulimics were bingers and purgers. Wrong. Bulimics are also bingers and fasters... and that was me.

I can say honestly that for the past 16 years I have not fasted as a way to lose weight. I only fast if I feel that it is for a spiritual purpose. I am committed to eating when I am hungry and only normal sized portions. This is not always easy to do but I don't have to feel deprived of eating things like Key Lime Pie if I control the portion size. Healthy eating along with moderate exercise is something I can do as a way of life and not feel as if I am on a diet!

If you or anyone you know has problems with overeating or has a difficult relationship with food there is a 12 step group that can help... http://www.oa.org

Brain overload...

This week our class has moved into preparations for our final lesson. The men have to preach and the women are to give a Bible lesson. Our most recent assignment was to write a lesson on one of the 10 commandments.

Each of us spent time with our bibles, dictionaries working out our thoughts in Russian and putting them to paper. My classmates and I all agreed that this is very draining.

Personally, I felt physically drained when I was done with this assignment. I could not think, my arms ached and I just wanted to veg! Spencer finished typing his and he is off to bed... he said he felt weak and needed to rest.

It is amazes me that when we are called upon to use "maximum brain power" it affects us not just mentally but physically!

Thought for Today

Today's quote was found in a book that I have been reading during my daily commute to the language school. In Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge these words stood out to me this week:

"Security is not found in the absence of danger, but in the presence of Jesus".

Jeanine, missionary in Columbia


As I read these words I immediately thought of my signature at the bottom of my emails:
Safe in His Hands,

Live Language!!

One of the new verbs that we learned this week is one that means to reap, cut or mow. It is also used for shaking hands or for saying that a piece of clothing is very tight and is squeezing you!

Today I heard this verb used on the bus.

There was a woman behind me who was quite upset with the lady who sat down beside her. She accused her of squeezing! Her seatmate was quite indignant in her response to the accusation.... curtly replying she did no such thing.

Even thought I knew that both the ladies behind me were upset with one another... I was thrilled to have understood the conversation!!

how high would you climb?

"Alida come here and look at this!"

Tom called me to come over to our balcony... there were two boys up in the tree literally right outside our window. No big deal you might say. Except that we live on the fourth floor!!!

The tree is a cherry tree. One of the boys was stuffing cherries into his pockets as he climbed from limb to limb. The other one, Vladik, was eating them! We know who Vadik is because he introduced himself to Spencer shortly after we moved here. Vladik is an amazing boy. He has one arm and never lets that stop him from doing anything... even climbing 4 stories up a cherry tree!

Vladik is also the polite one... he yelled "hi" to Tom as he took a break from eating his cherries!

Orange County dreaming!

Ok, so being from Orange County I am estatic about my results!

Orange County

You're rich, pretty, and living a charmed life. (Or you seriously wish you were.) From Disneyland to Laguna Beach, you're all about living the California dream life. Just make sure to marry rich - so you don't have to work for it!

Where Does Your Inner Californian Belong?

weighing in!

I am so excited to be getting closer to my goal!! I read an article a month ago about weight loss being connected to getting enought sleep. In addition to eating less and moving more I am also sleeping more.

Thought for Today

Now that last week's toilet crisis is behind me, I am back to meditating on various quotes... and here is my choice for this week!



A faith is that which is able to survive a mood.
G.K. Chesterton



Meditate with me on that for a bit, and ask yourself "is my faith dependent on my mood?"

not much going on...

If I were running a news desk I would have to say that today is a slow news day!

We were all moving slow today... I was in bed most of the day with fibromyalgia pain. I did get up to meet with Sasha for my language helper session. She explained the grammar I most likely missed in class today.

Tom popped popcorn for me and we watched a few movies... he and Spencer both went out for a bit to do some shopping.

Yep, I was right, it is definitely a slow news day!

Eurovision 2008

I didn't get to see this year's show and I am bummed about that. This year's winner is from Russia!!

You can read more here and watch a video! http://www.eurovision2008.org/


Back in 2006 when I did watch the whole night... Dima came in second to Lordi. From all the coverage they have done of this on the news, it seemed to be a bigger victory than Russia winning at soccer!

weighing in!

This is the second week in a row that we had birthday party food on Thursday. Yesterday, I baked four homemade pizzas and a birthday cake and today I weighed in... thankfully, I am down a pound so I didn't suffer too much!

Spencer, Happy 18th Birthday!

We are very proud of the mature young man that Spencer is. He walks with the Lord, he is a great friend, an incredible hugger, has an infectious laugh and a heart of gold!

all is well!

Yesterday I called Kolya to see if he could come by and work on the toilet... it would either not stop running or it wouldn't flush. Tom was fixing it just about every other day.

At first Kolya said that Friday was the soonest he could get here. He surprised me this morning with a phone call saying that he would be in our area today and could come over after 4 o'clock. He was able to replace the flushing mechanism and now it works like a charm. He even bargained at the market for a fairly large discount on the part!

When we paid him for his labor he told us it was too much... but we felt like the work he did was priceless!! In America we would have paid at least 100 dollars just for the service call. We paid Kolya 40$ and it was worth every penny.

plumbing woes

Our toilet is on the fritz again... this is not a fun cultural experience! Last year it was several weeks before we were able to get everything taken care of. I have calls to make this afternoon to see if we can get someone here soon. My prayer is that someone will be here tomorrow!

mondays...

It is always hard getting back into the swing of school after a weekend of working. Where did our weekend go!?

Tom started another three week Saturday session. His new topic is Optimal Relationships. We were excited to see so many young couples in attendance!

We paid for advertisements to go up on all the bus stops in two different regions here in the city. We don't know how successful that will be in bringing new people to Tom's seminars but since the cost was only 8 dollars for 2 weeks it won't hurt us if it doesn't pan out!

Sunday was the Christian Recovery meeting and that went well... the guys from the rehab center were back in attendance but the AA guys were not there! Hopefully, we can get them all together one of these Sundays!

Today there is a meeting for those interested in working with MOPS here in Krasnodar. Unfortunately, I cannot attend. I have to make finishing school and working with Tom my first priority right now!

weighing in!

This morning I was a little nervous approaching my scale... I was not sure if it was going to continue being so nice to me. I am excited that despite having birthday food yesterday, I still managed to lose 2 pounds!!

Happy Birthday to me!

Tom and Spencer took me out to dinner and to see Prince Caspian! I thought it was very kind of Walt Disney and Walden Media to have the movie open here in Russia on my 45th birthday… it was truly a treat!







I am so grateful to my friends for all the calls, emails, text messages, gifts and well wishes today. I was overwhelmed and had a few moments of happy tears and some belly laughs thrown in throughout the day!

A traditional Russian birthday greeting is to congratulate you, and then tell you all the wonderful things they can think of to wish for you in the coming year. I heard some of the most beautiful wishes today from our Russian friends. Even one of Spencer’s friends called me. He is so sweet. He had worked out what he wanted to say and did it all in English perfectly!

Thought for Today

The soul needs an intense, full bodied spiritual life
as much as and in the same way that the body needs food.
Thomas Moore


Amen!

Natural Disasters

When Sasha arrived today I had the news on TV... they were showing the devastation from the earthquake in China.

We ended up having a discussion on earthquakes in California. I explained to her what it felt like when I experienced my first one and the damage that I have seen close up. We then went on to discuss tornadoes!

I am grateful to be at a point in language acquisition where I can have these types of conversations. She taught me a few new words which I need to write down before I forget. Whenever I don't know a word I just describe it and then Sasha is great at telling me what the word is!

After that we actually had a discussion pertaining to my current lesson... we talked about the Fine Arts; theatre, ballet, music and artwork.

Earthquakes to artwork in two hours time!

Sunday's news...

Yesterday was our second Christian Recovery meeting!

We had a completely different turnout than we did last week. This time the men from the recovery house were working in another city and were not there. However, there were people in attendance from AA along with a few leaders from our church.

Tom did a magnificent job teaching on the topic of powerlessness from his series "Spiritual Kindergarten". We had a time for sharing personal experiences and/or impressions, a short break for tea followed by a time for prayer requests, and then prayer as a group.

A few of people who attended are not church goers, and at least one of them is not a believer… couple of them believe in God but, don’t know much about Jesus. We are grateful that they chose to come and take part in this meeting. One of the new guys asked if he could bring his wife next week!

We are excited about the growth and development of this group!

Victory Day

Yesterday was Victory Day here in Russia. We watched the Moscow parade on tv and saw all the soldiers, tanks and airplanes... maybe being an Air Force brat has me spoiled, but my favorite part is always the fly over!



We celebrated Friday's holiday by going to an art museum with friends and hanging out for the day.

Today Spencer went out shopping with his friend Vlad, and I spent most of the day laying down resting while Tom was getting ready for his upcoming seminar and for speaking tomorrow night at the Recovery meeting.

weighing in!

I am excited about losing 2 pounds this week! I don't have much to share about how I did it... just eating less and moving more. That is what seems to work best for me!

Who will rule?

Yesterday Russia's new president Dmitry Medvedev was inaugurated into office... one of his first acts as president was to nominate Vladimir Putin as prime minister. There is a question in the minds of some people here and abroad as to who will actually hold the power here in this country.







Please continue to pray with us for the future of Russia and her people!

Thought for Today

Cast all your cares on God; that anchor holds!
Lord Alfred Tennyson

Planting Seeds

On Sunday Tom and I were among the privileged few invited to the beginning of a recovery church here in Krasnodar... a planting of seeds.

Alexei had been thinking and planning for a long time. He decided it was time for him to start this meeting… a Christian recovery meeting. He didn’t call it that. He called it a meeting for believers looking for healing. Healing from addiction, bad habits and sin.

Tom was the one who was actually invited by Alexei. I was asked by Tom to come and translate for him. Tom, Alexei, me and 10 men from a local recovery program were in attendance.

The meeting will be held weekly.
Alexei will be the main teacher and he asked Tom to help him out as well.
Beginning next week members of AA will be invited to participate.
Alexei chose the format… he gave a 30 minute lesson that he wrote himself which included Biblical truths from Step 1 of the 12 Steps.
We took a break for tea and dessert.
Following the short break each person shared a prayer need and then the men took turns praying around the circle.

We think this was the first meeting of it’s kind here in Krasnodar… if not all of Russia

lost in transation...

A while back I got an email from a friend in America. She had received an email from a Russian speaking person, the person wrote in English, but something got lost in translation.

The confusing words were in the form of a question:

Can be eat phone?

At first glance I thought “this guy is a nut!” Then I read it again. I laughed. And I wrote back to my friend. The Russian verb ‘to eat’ is the same as one of the verbs that means ‘to have’.

So the question should be:

Is there a phone?

When trying to write in a foreign language do not rely solely on an electronic translator… it just might lead you astray!

comforting others...

A friend called in a panic needing someone to watch her daughter for a bit. I felt that after spending this week basking in the comfort of God, Tom and Spencer, and Arina (a teacher from our school and my massage therapist) I was ready to give some comfort to someone else.

We had recently purchased the movie Horton in Russian. I just knew this little one would enjoy it. She was not interested. She wanted to see the “hippopotamus” movie…meaning the movie Madagascar. I take out Horton and put in Madagascar.

Talking with Tom about it later he reminded me that perhaps she was looking for the comfort of something familiar. I get that.

When our family looks for comfort from the stress of living abroad we seek refuge in movies. We have old favorites that we watch over and over.

When we want to be comforted by God we might read a familiar passage from the word, meditate on the Serenity Prayer, turn on our favorite praise music or read from an old familiar devotional book.

Being reminded of the value of comfort came through a child choosing a video from our collection of old favorites. One of our favorite verses is “comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from Christ”. (2 Cor. 1:4b)

This little girl was feeling the stress of being away from home…and she needed a little comfort in her time of trouble!

weighing in!

I am grateful that I managed to lose 3/4 of a pound this week! Tom did a great job of making me get outside to walk eveyday. Exercise does help with Fibromyalgia so I know it is extremely important for me to do. And having him or Spencer walk with me is a wonderful bonus.

Knowing that I was going to post about the results of this week also helped me to think twice about what I chose to eat this week...maybe I should have done this sooner!

Apteka (pharmacy)

Wednesday is skidky (sale) day at our local pharmacy. We receive a 12 % discount on everything we purchase. Tom usually goes over to the pharmacy each Wednesday to pick up whatever we happen to need. This week he tried to purchase a muscle relaxer prescribed by our doctor for me. They didn’t have the one I needed. Tom came home and told me that they tried to find it but no such luck.

I got out our Russian book of medications and looked for a different one. I wrote down exactly what I needed it for, my symptoms and the names of three possible medications that should be available here. The young pharmacist patiently listened to everything I said and then took my list behind the counter with her to see what she could find. The older pharmacist/manager saw me waiting and said she would be right over. Armed with my list and my description of my symptoms they found an alternative medication for me.

The manager had the younger pharmacist read to me from the paperwork that comes with the medication… what it was for, what the side affects are and who should not take the medication and so on. It was funny because the manager would say “now read her this!” and “this is important for her to know too”. Because of all the reading I had done before going to the pharmacy and the new words I had looked up in my research I understood all of what was being read to me. She did a great job of reading clearly and slowly. Her final piece of advice to me was to receive a round of massages to help ease my pain. She told me "no less than five massages would do!"

Once they were assured that I understood what I was buying I was allowed to purchase it. I came home and looked it up in English on the internet and confirmed that it is indeed a muscle relaxer and is recommended by doctors for treatment of Fibromyalgia.

I know that sometimes, okay maybe often, even Russians complain about the nonexistence of customer service here in Russia. But, we have yet to encounter that at this pharmacy. Because of Spencer’s juvenile glaucoma, my fibromyalgia and Tom’s medical needs we have had many interactions with the pharmacists in this particular pharmacy.

They go out of their way to help us each time we walk in. If they don’t have what we need they will often order it for us… especially if it is one of Spencer’s glaucoma meds. We have been told by our Russian friends that this pharmacy is too expensive and that we should not shop there. The muscle relaxer I bought yesterday was only 9 dollars. I am sure that for some of our friends that is expensive. We will however, continue to be loyal to this store because they are so kind and loyal to us!

And yes, I have already had my first massage therapy session (the cost is only a few dollars per hour) beginning on Wednesday. Arina is one of our teachers at the language school, and she also works as a massage therapist to help supplement her income. She was actually a massage therapist before she began studying to become a teacher. She will come everyday until Monday even though this is a holiday weekend to complete the five sessions. Already I feel so much better!

Thought for Today

After spending this week at home and in pain I decided to to dig out a quote from The Call to Joy and Pain. It seemed most appropriate this week.

"...the happiest people in the world are not those who have no suffering- they are those who are not afraid of suffering."
Ajith Fernando

oh the pressure!

I have heard from many of our Russian friends that they can feel the barometric pressure change. This week I am experiencing it for myself.

In the states that my fibromyalgia was connected to weather changes. We have gone from sunny to rainy back to sunny again in the course of a day...writing that about Krasnodar just reminded me of spring in Kansas!

This past week I began to feel even minor changes in the barometric pressure and that is not fun! I have felt tired and more achy in my muscles than normal. In times like this I remember the counsel from my doctor in the states "to remove as much stress from your life as possible".

I have chosen to stay home from school. This allows me to sleep later and deeper because I am not concerned about missing my alarm and being late for school. Sleeping deeper and longer allows for my muscles to relax and for me to feel restored. I have greatly improved since Sunday but I know I still have a way to go to reach par!

Over the years my doctor and I have tried various "cocktails" of different medcations. But, she has wisely kept me off of pain killers. For one, they don't provide full pain relief for me and two, they can be addictive. I use a muscle relaxer or simply Motrin, restorative sleep, warm baths, mild exercise and healthy food choices. These have proven to be the most impactful for me.

Spencer brings home my assignments from school. Tom made sure that I got out today for a short walk. I am keeping up with my language helper time. I am grateful that Sasha has a great grasp on grammar and is able to explain things that I am missing in school this week.

Tom doesn't have a seminar this week so I get to relax this weekend as well... I am grateful for God's timing. If I had to choose a week to not feel well, this is a good one!

христос воскрес!!!

во истину воскрес!!!

He is risen... He is risen indeed!

We stayed up late on Saturday to watch the services from the Orthodox church in Moscow. The pageantry was awesome. Putin and his wife along with Medvedev and his wife were in attendance. I am amazed that people stood for hours as the service went on.

We started watching at 11pm. We were able to see the procession around the church by all of the priests and selected guests. There was a commentator who told stories about the service, the clothing and the symbolism. One of the things he mentioned that was fascinating to me was that the three top priests represented the Trinity. There were several candle abras with three candles... and the head priest wore three necklaces. The colors, sights and sounds from the service are imprinted in my head. We finally headed off to bed at 1am. They had just finished one part of the service and then all the priests went and changed robes and seemed to start all over again!

We got up and went to church on Sunday and it was truly a blessed day. Some of our non-christian friends that Tom invited to church actually showed up! We spent time with them after the service. He mentioned that at the Orthodox church he would have stood for hours holding a hot candle... while he could see that our God was kind by allowing us to sit down! He was also amazed at the number of young people especially the children. He brought his niece and his granddaughter with him. Please pray for him. He is still seeking, reading the Bible and asking Tom questions every week.

Our church did a huge luncheon out on the lawn. One of the men from Uzbekistan made Lamb pilaf. The lamb was slaughtered earlier in the week and then prepared on Saturday. There was so much food it was overwhelming. Easter eggs and Easter breads... there is so much here that is just beautiful!

Watching my friend's little boy with his Easter egg was a hoot! He dropped it in the dirt, wiped it off, licked it and then poked a hole in it with a stick! He is 18 months old!

I didn't feel well at all yesterday or today... I am in a fibromyalgia flare and barely got out of bed. I am grateful to have made it to church and disappointed that we were not able to attend a dinner that we had been invited to. I spent today in bed and right now tomorrow looks "iffy" as well. Please pray for me. I am scheduled to give my testimony to someone that I am mentoring on Wednesday. I worked on it a bit today with Sasha and we will finish writing it out tomorrow.

I wish I had photos to show from the Easter service. But all of them got deleted when we tried to load them. I cried for a few hours over that... I had such incredible photos!

Easter is by far my favorite holiday!

weighing in!

I have been working at losing weight for quite sometime now... I was 20 pounds down and then gained weight over the holidays. Tom and I are choosing healthier foods and walking whenever we can. I say that all the while knowing that my classmates from school read my blog and they all witness me eating a bag of chips and a snickers bar during our breaktime so I know I am still in need of reform.

Last week I wrote this in my journal:

Something is wrong with my bathroom scale. I think it lies to me. I can't prove it though. I cannot imagine what I may have done to the scale to deserve this treatment. Tom says that people lie when they don't feel it is safe to tell the truth.... maybe it is afraid I will get rid of it.
I wonder if I am getting on and getting off too much. I wonder if I have violated the scales boundaries in any way. Each time I get on it flashes me a number I know has to be wrong... I wonder if it is mocking me. Or maybe it is trying to keep me from being too proud or conceited... when I see that I have lost a bit I do tend to feel a bit self satisfied. I should thank the scale for this lesson in humility.

I realised after writing this that I personally needed more accountability so I decided to go public with my efforts. I asked Joyce and Stephanie to keep tabs on me. It worked. I am down a pound after the scale not budging for two weeks. Maybe this surge of bravery will come back to haunt me but here goes.

I am installing a weight loss ticker to help me keep track of my efforts.

all in a day's work

Earlier today Tom stopped by the school to drop off Easter Baskets for the teachers. I don't have any photos of the item that he made for them. It was a small rectangular shaped mirror with a mosaic of stones attached to it in a way that when you look at the mirror you can see the shape of a cross. Special thanks to all of you who sent us gift bags and tissue paper he was able to package them up with chocolate candies and present each teacher with his or her own mirrored cross!

As Tom was walking home from his trip to the language school he ran into our neighbor Olya on the playground with her youngest daughter. As they were talking she got a call from her sister in law, Lena P! Olya told Lena who she was speaking with and Lena had Olya relay the message that she wanted to come over to our home tonight. A few hours later Lena P. stopped by to purchase a necklace for one of her professors at university... she took the time to look at each one of the necklaces that Tom showed her and finally chose something she felt this woman would appreciate. She told us that this professor has been very honorable and has not asked for bribes or special favors to do extra work with the students. Lena paid Tom the equivalent of 4 dollars for the necklace. She was happy to have a unique gift to give to her professor and Tom's enjoyment comes from making the jewelry!

Just before Lena arrived Sasha came over to work on my language lesson. Our current lesson is on funerals... not a very joyful topic. She and I ended up doing more talking than anything else. She showed me a book she was reading so we ended up discussing the theme of her book. Before she left she apologised for not helping much with my lesson. I reminded her that for me to have a conversation in Russian is also lesson. There were two times tonight when I wanted to say something and I didn't know the Russian word. We looked them up in the dictionary and then talked about synonyms for those words. That type of real life lesson is priceless to me.

As Sasha and I were winding down her brother Pavlik called to ask if we had any new movies that he might be interested in. I asked him if he wanted to talk about the choices with Spencer. Spencer invited him to come over and have a look. Pavlik is learning English at school. But he wouldn't speak English with us. I told him that we make mistakes when we speak Russian but we speak anyway. He said that "speaking Russian is scary but speaking English is even scarier!"

Sasha (23)and Pavlik (13) left with a bag full of dvd's in full negotiations over who was going to use the computer first when they got home!!

Thought for Today

“Christ comes to the world as the example, constantly enjoining: Imitate me. We humans prefer to adore him instead.”

Soren Kierkegaard

food, friends and fun!

My friend and language helper, Sasha, Spencer’s best friend and language helper, Vlad, and Tom’s friend and translator, Dima, were here at the same time and they all agreed to have dinner with us!

Dima is one of the teachers at our langauge school and he is Vlad's uncle. He introduced Spencer and Vlad to each other last year. We have known Sasha for the past three years and she just started helping me with language last fall. Vlad, Sasha and Dima all speak English so it was easy for them to understand what we were saying no matter which language we chose to speak in!

The table conversation was a mixture of Russian and English with a bit of Spanish thrown in here and there. The meal was a Mexican casserole with Russian ice cream for dessert. When Tom offered seconds to Dima he reminded him that we are Americans and we will only ask once if you want more. Typically, Russians will ask three times. After that warning all the guys had seconds when Tom asked them!

I enjoyed having Sasha in the kitchen with me. After our language session she helped me with preparing dinner. We were able to get in some girl time and catch up on what she has been up to these past few weeks. Spencer and Vlad were sent to the store to get drinks and dessert and then set the table after getting their homework done. After dinner Dima worked on getting Tom’s PowerPoint presentation translated for Saturday and then we fed him dessert!

We had such a great evening…. I have to admit that earlier in the day I was experiencing a flare up of my fibromyalgia and I was not feeling up to having people over. I almost cancelled the whole evening. I took some time this afternoon before Sasha arrived to lay down and rest…. My muscles are still sore but having guests can truly energize the spirit!

mondays...

Tom went off to do his last teaching for the series on Male Sexuality at the BLTC. He took his crocks with him to wear while he is teaching since his feet were still sore when he left for the school this morning. He told me that all last week he had been alternating between a pair of shoes that were comfortable for walking and a pair that were comfortable for standing but not for walking in. But even that pair that was good for standing in are not as comfortable to him as the crocks are. It is part of the culture here to remove shoes in a home and some of the guys do put on houseshoes at the BLTC as well. So it shouldn't be too strange for Tom to change his shoes once he gets there!

He and Spencer left early to go and get the Audio/Visual equipment set up before the seminar. I laid in bed as they were moving about this morning... I am still not feeling well. My muscles are very sore and I feel a bit nauseous. I slept on the couch last night since I know that Tom needs to stay healthy to finish out his commitment at the BLTC!

Thanks for keeping us and all our work in our prayers... I am headed back to bed!

Boundaries Week 2

We had several new people today and it is exciting and encouraging having people attend who want to change and grow.



One of this morning’s highlights was when Tom, Spencer and Dima put on a little skit for us demonstrating what it is like to ride on public transportation. (an example of a place in our daily lives where our physical boundaries are not respected. Spencer stood really really really close to Dima playing music on his cell phone extremely LOUD. Tom stood on the other side of Dima talking loudly on his cell phone! Poor Dima was not warned ahead of time what was going to happen so all of his facial expressions as he reacted to Tom and Spencer were genuine! It was a slice of reality for those of us who ride public transport everyday… which included 20 out of the 24 people who were there this morning!

I lead the women’s discussion group for the first time and I am relieved that it went well. I began by saying that I was positive that it was “clear” to everyone in the room that I am a foreigner and that I am not capable of speaking Russian without making a mistake! After making that little announcement they all laughed and I relaxed… and just spoke without being afraid of making grammar mistakes. There was a person in attendance this morning who works full time as a professional translator. She came up to me afterwards to tell me how well I did. She complimented me on the diversity of my vocabulary. She was impressed that I was able to use the complex constructions that I have learned in school mixed in with the colloquial expressions I have learned from conversations with Russians. She helped me to realize that the challenging week we had in school learning how to express our opinions correctly was worth every minute!

Tom, Spencer and I went out to dinner at Heavenly Dragon to celebrate making it though this long hard week. Tom has been teaching all week at the BLTC. He is doing a seminar on Male Sexuality. He spent 5 days this week standing on his feet teaching! Then after doing the seminar today he came home took a nap and then he had a counseling appointment. The person he was working with today didn’t want an outside translator so I sat in to help him with it.

We are grateful to be active in ministry after two years of building relationships. We don’t want to sound as if we are whining about our schedule, we are truly glad to be serving!

say what?

I saw this on a friends blog and decided to give it a try! I am shocked at the results... I don't even have a post graduate degree. Maybe Tom's education rubbed off onto me!

whew!

After school today I felt so relieved that I survived another week of class that I celebrated by purchasing a new blouse... perhaps I was motivated by the theme of our new lesson that we received just before class ended; clothing! Or maybe I just wanted to reward myself and I am trying NOT to use food as a reward!

We spent the bulk of this week learning to express our opinions through agreement, disagreement, doubt, and so on. It was a challenging week but a great one. It felt good to learn how to express myself on a deeper level.

Some days in class I get frustrated with making grammar mistakes. Learning Russian grammar has not come easily for me. I blame my age. I daydream about being ten years younger and tell myself that I would be doing so much better if I had started sooner!

I remember talking with someone a few years ago about my frustrations with the difficulty I face memorizing all the grammar rules and getting used to the 6 cases that Russian has. She told me that she did great with grammar but it took her a long time to build her vocabulary. I truly love words... most nights before going to sleep I read from my Russian dictionary. Learning new words is not a struggle for me.

I work everyday on memorizing the grammar rules, declining words properly, and reviewing which cases go with which verbs. I keep praying that someday my over 40 brain will pull it all together. At least I can look back on this journey with thanksgiving for how far I have come!

Thought for Today

Each week I choose a quote to personally meditate on... today in my devotional reading I came across this:

"To understand others is to break through to them in a way that frees us from the burden of judging them, patronizing them or trying to control them."

James E. Adams from his book Let Me Sow Love

This news has been anticipated for a while now and in time we will come to fully understand what this means for Russia, but here is a bit of breaking news:





Putin accepts leadership of party
Vladimir Putin has accepted the leadership of the dominant United Russia party. The position should secure his grip on power after he leaves the Kremlin and becomes prime minister next month.

The nearly 600 party delegates at Tuesday's congress immediately approved his candidacy in an unanimous vote. Becoming head of United Russia will enhance Putin's power base in the lower house of Russia's parliament, where the party holds a two-thirds majority.

The move could also serve to undercut the authority of Putin's hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev.

such a deal!

Usually I confine my knitting and crocheting escapades to my crocheting blog so those of you who are not yarn fans will have to bear with me for a bit!

I got out of school early today because there were just two of us in class. I thought I could either go and do my grocery shopping early or I could go and see if there was any new yarn at one of the craft stores here in town. Obviously, I chose the craft store!!

I found a 70% bamboo and 30% cotton blend today! It only cost $1.66 per skein, so I bought all that they had...10 skeins. I looked on line at bamboo yarn and there was one site that had it on sale for $2.80 most places charge close to $9 a skein.

I am a happy camper right now, I got a great deal on yarn, got out of school early, got a letter from my mom and a phone call from Erin... life is good!

Boundaries Week 1

Today was the first day of a three week series Tom is doing on Boundaries!

We had a great turnout…there were 23 of us not counting the kids in childcare!





The big highlight for today was a list of our “Assertive Rights”. This list made for a lively discussion during small group time as some of these go against the culture here. It was interesting to hear how many people thought that they were doing very well setting boundaries until Tom gave them this list!!

My Assertive Rights

1. I have the right to be responsible for my own actions.

2. I am not responsible for the actions of any other adult.

3. I have the right to make mistakes.

4. I have the right to be myself.

5. I have the right to be treated with respect.

6. I have the right to have and express my feelings, thoughts, and opinions.

7. I have the right to say “NO” and not feel guilty.

8. I have the right to change my mind.

9. I have the right to say “I don’t know”.

10. I have the right to feel and express anger appropriately.

11. I have the right to have my needs be as important as the needs of others.

12. I have the right to do things that other people may not approve of.

13. I have the right to ask “Why?” or “Why not?”

14. I have the right to ask for assistance.

15. I have the right to say, “I don’t understand”.

pray for us...

Tom starts a new series at the church tomorrow on Boundaries... we are spending today getting ready!

just doing my homework...

Our new lesson is about salary and the monthly cost of living. Our teacher Arina asked us to do some research on the minimum living wage here in Russia. When speaking about pay here in Russia all the numbers are per month and not per year like we are used to in America.

This is what I found online:

According to the Federal law " Regarding the living wage in the Russian Federation " the Government of the Russian Federation decided:

1. To establish a living wage across the Russian Federation for the third quarter of 2007 per capita 3879 rubles($164.81),for able-bodied population - 4197 rubles($178.32), pensioners - 3085 rubles ($131.07), children - 3704 rubles ($157.37).

All the amounts in dollars are based on today's exchange rate which is 23.53 if you want to look I used the website http://www.xe.com/ to do the calculations.

And for those of you who would like to read the original article in Russian you can click here!

Thought for Today

The most important thing that we surrender is our own self-- our desire to control our lives. Of course, we don't surrender and go into a vacuum. We surrender something in order to cling to God only. Surrender is the means to enjoying more fully the most beautiful thing in our lives--our joyous love relationship with God.

Ajith Fernando from his book The Call to Joy & Pain

America in the news..

It is not everyday that America gets mentioned in the news... unless it is about politics or the fluctuating value of the dollar!

Hearing about one event in America was pretty disturbing for me. I was shocked by the story from Texas about the 52 girls ages 6 months to 17 years that were removed from a polygamist compound. I actually had to look up the story online because I thought that maybe I had heard the number wrong in Russian. In case you are not familiar with the story you can click here .

Things like this break my heart... and I am sure that they break the heart of God as well.