sculpture

Wednesday July 18, 2007
















Tom snapped this photo of a sculpture on a median in Albuquerque... neither one of us is certain what it is... any guesses?

buying Sudafed

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

I was asked by a friend to bring some Sudafed back with me to Russia for her family.

It turns out that one can only buy 20 pills within a 30 day period!

It may not be the same in all 50 states, this is the case in New Mexico.

We will try to get more for our friends at another store... we have no plans for usage other than for illness, but the people at the pharmacy don't know that... they just have to comply with the law.

Honor your husband challenge finale

Monday, July 16,2007

"We do get more out of our marriage as we accept the downs and enjoy the ups, and most of all that we keep coming back for more and never give up" Christine at Fruit in Season


How true that we must accept the ups and the downs to maintain a long term relationship! This 30 day journey has had some ups and downs. Mostly ups!

I have learned a great deal about myself and my thought life. I have learned that I don't have to say everything that I think and that peace can come into all of my relationships as I change my thought life for the better.

I will continue on in this new way of thinking and will be in prayer for marriages not just here in the US but around the world.

I know that there are people hurting in Russia too.

And as I head back there on Friday I am more aware of our calling to help alcoholics/addicts and their families. One of the families that we did an intervention with seems to be on the road to recovery. I pray for that marriage and for the children.

Thank you Christine for the Honor Your husband Challenge... I know that it helped me and the other 125 women who signed up!

Natasha

Saturday July 14, 2007

Last September Tom was given the opportunity to teach at the Addictive Behavioural Counseling school in Kiev, Ukraine. This school is open to students who have finished the Introduction to Biblical Counseling School. The director of the program is Natasha (pictured above).

She recently started a blog and her first post is about the opening of an IBC school in Kamchatka, Russia. We are so excited about the potential for the school to reach those who will be able to help many others in return!

Natasha's first language is Russian of course but you can click on any of the highlighted words and the links all lead to websites in English... including Natasha's blog post!

Visas are here!

Friday July 13, 2007

We can breathe again... our Russian visas were granted for another year! I have to admit that I was concerned after Tom purchased tickets for Spencer and I to leave on the 20th of July.

To understand why I had doubts about our visas coming through without a hitch... the history of past visa renewals are found here .

We have renewed our visas in a gorgeous city on the Black Sea, Odessa, Ukraine in 2005. The following year we were blessed with a trip to Kiev, Ukraine and chose to renew our visas there.

Odessa was great and the consult there was so easy to work with. There was a woman there who walked us through the entire application and was incredibly helpful. Kiev is a beautiful city but the consult there was very frustrating to deal with. The process in America was very simple... there was one phone call made to us after we sent the application in to clarify what type of visa we wanted and they showed up earlier than promised!



Tom surgery update: his appointment with the surgeon is set for August 7th. He has been calling in to see if there is a cancellation that he can squeeze into and so far there is nothing available. We have been told that he should be scheduled for surgery within two or three weeks after seeing the surgeon.

shopping...

Thursday July 12, 2007

As I was trying on a dress in Walmart on Wednesday, I felt a case of the giggles come on when I reflected back on one of my early experiences in Russia shopping at an outdoor market with my friend Melanie.

In Krasnodar we do have malls where you can try on clothes in a dressing room. But, the most common place for Russians to shop is in an outdoor market. Trying on clothes there is well... you can read about it here:


http://blackpurlsknitpickings.blogspot.com/2005/05/rain-drops-keep-falling-on-my-head.html

In case you are wondering, I did buy the dress in Walmart today, it was on clearance for two dollars, I bought one in black and one in tan! As a woman over 40 it is not appropriate for me to wear jeans in Russia as I have enjoyed doing here in the US.

I wear dresses or skirts almost everyday, even in the winter. I can get by with wearing my black slacks and truth be told I have gone out to the market in my blue jeans wearing a nice top, full makeup and my designer jewelry (made by Tom) to dress them up... but it is rare!

Whose life is it anyway?

Wednesday July 11, 2007

Like a mother who so desperately wants the world to see her child shine as brightly as she sees him, I was concerned today about:
His hair
His clothes

I wondered... did he shower? brush his teeth? Would he make a good impression?

We rushed out the door to get him to his job interview, not stopping for me to run back in and get my sunglasses, knowing that it would have only taken a minute but believing that every second counted, we jumped in the car.

He asked me to drive.
Now was not the time for a driving lesson, neither one of us knew the way, we were trusting MapQuest not to fail us, praying that the time we allotted for the drive was enough.

He didn't ask me to worry.
He didn't expect me to take this interview more seriously than he did.

Watching him walk into the hotel where the interviews were being held, I saw his air of confidence. I sat waiting in the car with a Bible and a notebook. Reading, praying and watching the door.

Before this day I thought my mother was silly to worry about her adult children. How did I get from being a confident teen myself to being a silly fretting mom?

Today I saw that my fretting over Nathan is in vain.

He has the type of Godly self-confidence that I have admired in his father since the day we met. Over the years I used to think I had to worry for the both of us since Tom never seemed to.

Now, I can relax... and trust that God has it all under control. Tom and Nathan believe it. And so do I.

Tour de France

Tuesday July 10, 2007














The last two summers I have been in Italy helping out my girlfriend with her daughter during the month of July.


I am not complaining mind you, how can you complain about spending the summer in Rome?


I am just making an observation!... I had to watch the Tour in Italian not understanding what was being said, but, following the action anyway... looking things up on the internet during my daily trip to the internet cafe to make sure I understood "who had done what" that day.

This year I am actually watching in English! What a treat!!!

http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/LIVE/us/200/index.html

30 Day challenge

Monday July 9, 2007



"And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you". Eph 4:32

As I have worked through this challenge I have learned how beneficial it is to my husband and our family for me to practice kindness, have a tender heart, display and grant forgiveness to others.

Reaching Day 22 of the 30 day challenge is a milestone for me... I have not even followed a diet as diligently as I have participated in the challenge!

My goals are being met each week and we are becoming a partner-focused couple instead of a child-focused one.

I found this quote as I was reading the Arp's book The Second Half of Marriage...

"The real mystery of marriage is not that husband and wife love each other so much that they can find God in each other's lives but that God loves them so much that they can discover each other more and more as living reminders of God's presence. They are brought together, indeed, as two prayerful hands extended toward God and forming in this way a home for God in this world" Henri Nouwen in Seeds of Hope

It is my prayer that our marriage will be like those two prayerful hands coming together!

This week's goals:

Help Tom get things ready for Spencer and I to leave for Russia on the 20th.

Continue to encourage and support Tom

Truly listen when he speaks and not assume I know what he is going to say.



***Be sure to check in with Christine over at Fruit in Season and let her know if you are participating in the challenge... you can also read through the blogs of other wives who are in the challenge as well.

What I "dig" abut Jesus

Sunday July 8, 2007

I was tagged for this by TammieFay over at His Word is Life for Me

Here are the rules:

1. those tagged will share 5 things they dig about Jesus…
2. those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers…
3. those tagged will post a comment here with their name and a link to their “dig” Jesus list…


When I was a young teen my grandmother (everybody calls her Big Mama) told me that there would be times in my life when I "would have no other friend but God" and that I "better cling to Jesus as hard as possible". When I have had lonely days... especially over the past two years in Russia... I could hear her words so clearly. Jesus is truly the one and only friend who has been there since the day of my salvation when I was 10 years old.

Here is my list:

His Generosity...
His generosity provides food, shelter, and we see that evidenced in loving support from friends and family.

He is Just...
His being Just helps us to know that all the scales will be balanced one day... evil will not win.

He is the Saviour...
Because He offers salvation we know that we will spend eternity with Him and can share that incredible news with others.

He is Merciful...
His mercy models for us that we can also be merciful to others. The church I grew up in had a sign on the back wall that said "Let Your Heart Be Broken By The Things That Break The Heart of God". I can still see those words emblazoned in my mind.

He offers Comfort...
His Comfort is there for us when we suffer the hurts of life... be it the stillbirths of our first two children, the hardships of life abroad or the general aches and pains of family life, His Comfort is always available to His children.


Here are my 5 that I am tagging:

Joann at Joann's Blog Adventure
Allie at MomMusings
Julie at The Accidental Pastor's Wife
Michele at Laundromat
Jen at Daughter of Eve

Sochi 2014

Saturday July 7, 2007

If we are still living in Russia in the year 2014, the winter olympics would be in our neck of the woods... Sochi is a beach city located about 2 hours drive from our city, Krasnodar.



















It's Sochi 2014: Russia lands its first Winter Olympics

Associated Press

GUATEMALA CITY - Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi was awarded the 2014 Olympics yesterday, rewarding President Vladimir Putin and taking the Winter Games to his country for the first time.

Sochi defeated the South Korean city of Pyeongchang, 51-47, in the final round of voting by the International Olympic Committee.

The Austrian resort of Salzburg was eliminated in the first round of the secret ballot, setting up the decisive head-to-head contest between Sochi and Pyeongchang.

Pyeongchang led the first round with 36 votes, followed by Sochi with 34 and Salzburg with 25. Sochi picked up 17 votes in the second round to secure the victory.

The result was a triumph for Putin, who put his international prestige on the line by coming to Guatemala to lobby IOC members and lead Sochi's final formal presentation to the assembly. Putin had left by the time the result was announced.

IOC president Jacques Rogge opened a sealed envelope and read the words the Russians longed to hear:
"The International Olympic Committee has the honor of announcing the 22nd Olympic Winter Games in 2014 are awarded to the city of Sochi."

Russian delegates in the hall erupted in cheers, jumped to their feet and hugged each other. They unfurled a Russian flag and chanted, "Sochi! Sochi!" Korean delegates bowed their heads, some in tears.

"It was a historic decision for all countries," Sochi bid chief Dmitry Chernychenko said. "Russia will become even more open, more democratic."

In Sochi, cheers erupted from the crowd of more than 15,000 that had gathered for a pop concert and the announcement in a main square. "We did it all together. We won," the concert's announcer said from the stage as fireworks flashed and boomed.

People hugged and waved their hands in the air. Some appeared to have tears in their eyes.

"It is great. I've never been so happy in my life," said Marina Matveyeva, 23, who works in a bank. "It means that Russia has reached the level of Europe, and we can be proud of our country."

Russia, an Olympic power that has won 293 Winter Games medals, has never hosted the Winter Games. That was a strong point in Sochi's favor with the IOC, which likes to spread the Olympics to new host countries. Moscow hosted the 1980 Summer Games, which were hit by the U.S.-led boycott following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The Sochi bid won out over the appeals of its rivals - Salzburg, presenting itself as a safe, no-risk winter sports mecca at the heart of Europe with world-class venues already in place; and Pyeongchang, offering the potential for peace and reconciliation on the divided Korean peninsula and promoting winter sports in Asia.

Transformers!

Friday July 6, 2007




We went out to see this movie last night. Nathan and Spencer really enjoyed it. They both remember the toys and the cartoon from their childhoods. It was surreal to see them so nostalgic for something that seems like "only yesterday" to their dad and me!

Tom's sister Liz went with us and she sat near Spencer and pointed out to him that former president Gerald Ford's son Steven was in the movie... neither Tom nor I picked up on that.

As I watched all the action of the robots, cars, military personnel, computer experts and alien specialists from Sector 7, I could not help but think of all of the past and current transformations in our lives.

Nathan no longer living with our family, Spencer being the only child (almost adult) left at home, Tom and I preparing for life after raising kids. We are transforming into a different kind of family. One that will involve long distances and adult children.

Weren't they just born yesterday?

How did we time travel from being 27 with a three year old and a newborn to being 44 with kids who are no longer kids?

Life happens, transformation is a part of that. If someone would have told Tom and I when we married twenty-five years ago that one day we would be living in Russia and learning Russian in our forties, we both would have laughed so hard at them our sides would have ached.

Yet, here we are... eager to get back to Russia, worried that we will have forgotten basic words during our time away, curious to learn about transformations that have taken place in our absence.

What transformations has life brought your way?

Ruth Bell Graham

Thursday July 5,2007












Blessings in the form of a book from the Billy Graham Association came the other day... As a way to commerate the dynamic life of wife and mother Ruth Bell Graham they are giving away a book of her poetry. Her poetry is written from the heart and initially was not intended for publication.

What a delight it is to read through the thoughts and feelings of such a remarkable and godly woman!

Happy Holiday!

Wednesday July 4, 2007

another trip to ER

Tuesday July 3, 2007

Early Tuesday morning... around 2:30 am, we loaded up the car and took Tom into the ER at UNM Hospital. From about 3am until 8:30 he had an intake session around 4am and a blood draw around 5:30am. But he didn't see a doctor until about 8:30. After that they did some testing. Another ultrasound and a CAT scan. He has sludge in the gallbladder and some small stones. He has stones in both kidneys as well. We left there shortly after noon!

We were told that pain is not an indicator of an emergency. So he can stay in pain and that is not a reason to have surgery anytime soon. Yes, he was given some medication to help alleviate the pain. But surgery is still what he needs.

We came back to the hotel and slept. I had been awake for over 24 hours and Tom had slept intermittently for about an hour.

Needless to say we are both frustrated. He has an appointment with a surgeon on August 7th. Who knows how soon surgery will be after that. We are becoming disillusioned with the medical system in the US... but what can we do? If he had the surgery in Moscow he would have to pay out of pocket for the procedure.

Please pray for us as we wait and weigh our options.

what does your speech say about you?

Monday July 2,2007












"what does my marriage communicate to those who don't know me?"
Christine @ Fruit in Season

"In our marriage we tell the next generation what sex and marriage and fidelity look like to Christians. We are prophets, for better and for worse, of the future of Christian marriage."
(Evelyn and James Whitehead, quoted in Sacred Marriage)



As I worked this past week on my goals I found myself aware of how marriage is portrayed on TV and in the lives of those around me. Sometimes people are very sarcastic with one another and it can seem funny at the time... but, is it really? Having this realization has helped me to hold my tongue and not just immediately say what comes to my head. How can I honor God or my husband if I speak without thinking?

According to my sources this was a very good week! What Tom thinks of me as a wife is the most important thing.

As I continue to read through "The Second Half of Marriage" I learned that couples can find a communication pattern "that builds on your desire for companionship and we-ness, one that transcends your own tendency, cultural conditioning, or personality".


goals for this week:
continue to speak in a respectful and soft tone
finish reading "The Second Half of Marriage"
relax and enjoy whatever time we have alone together


The recipe for success in marriage is effort plus insight.
-David and Vera Mace

The Second Half of Marriage

Can you relate to any of these?

• You have teenagers who will soon leave the nest.

• Your own parents are aging.

• You were recently invited to a 25th high school reunion.

• You exercise more and burn fewer calories doing it.

• You just received an invitation to join AARP.

• By the time you get your spouse's attention, you've forgotten what you were going to say.



If you found yourself answering yes more often that not then the book The Second Half of Marriage might be for you!

David and Claudia give 8 challenges couples must face to successfully navigate a marriage in the second half.

I am currently reading this book and have gained new insight, been inspired and educated along the way!

Additional marriage resources from the Arps can be found here:

http://www.marriagemissions.com/index.php

up, up, and away!

Early Thursday morning...














they prepared their cameras...

watched the balloon inflate...














and prepared for take off!














Spencer (17) and his grandfather, Norm (75) went for a hot air balloon ride!

We still aren't sure who was more excited. Both of these brave adventurous men enjoyed their time flying high above the city of Albuquerque.

Tom went with them to see the take off and following the flight, three generations of Sharp men went out to breakfast!

I heard talk of a helicopter ride... who knows if they are serious or not. Time will tell!

The hazards of home assignment #1

What does "home assignment" mean? It means instead of being at work in the country we have been assigned to, we are temporarily assigned to our home country.

For us that means we are here in America for a short time.

What hazards could there possibly be for us in America? Plenty!

The number one hazard of being in America is weight gain!

When we moved to Russia two years ago, what is known today as a small... was a medium.

Portion sizes of food have gotten huge. Tom and I ate at Applebees and don't get me wrong, we loved it... yet, even though we split a dish for dinner we still took almost half of it back to our hotel!

We have had friends who have returned from time in America having gained weight.

I came prepared or so I thought. My number one goal that I set for myself in regards to our time here was... not to gain any weight!

Did I succeed? No!

I gained 9 pounds. Of the 9 pounds I gained while here, over the course of the past three weeks I have lost 5 1/2 of them. I have to carefully control how much I eat, how often I snack and what I eat.

The temptation to eat is huge here.

TV ads jump out at you, print ads in magazines won't leave you alone, radio commercials tempt you to drive through for the latest special.

Food is used for such things as celebrating, welcoming, comforting, giving thanks and greeting! We were at a church in Wichita, Kansas that gave out a gift bag to welcome visitors... inside was a coffee mug, various church flyers and a bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies!

There is always a reason to chow down!

Now you know Hazard Number One of being at home in America... more to be revealed!

honey, guess what?

Tom had a couple of exciting things happen for him today.

The first one was; we took some photos of a table display, printed out the pictures, drove over to a local Christian bookstore, spoke with the owner and were granted permission to set up outside the store and sell jewelry.




Shortly after arriving back at the house the anvil arrives!



















An anvil?

Yes, an anvil.

Tom will be able to use the anvil to hammer out silver wire to provide texture for some pieces he wants to make.

Tom has made some very beautiful pieces and his jewelry sales have been very successful during our time here. It is vital that Tom pick up any supplies he needs while we are in the states.

I wonder what the customs officials will think when we arrive in Russia with an anvil?!