weighing in!

Three pounds to go!!

Like Michaels!

Yesterday Spencer and I took a trip out to the new mall just outside of town. There is a new store there called Leonardo's. It sure reminded me of home. I had fun checking out the yarn and Spencer got his phone out to take my picture!

They have a website you can look at: www.leonardohobby.ru

Tomorrow Tom and I will go back so he can check out their art supplies.

Thought for Today

“Ultimately, we must transcend the categories of liberal and conservative to reclaim the politics of Jesus. We must reject the aspects of each that contradict Jesus’ politics and embrace those things that are in accord with his Gospel. We must embrace conservatism’s willingness to speak its faith and the transformational power of that witness. And we must lay claim to liberalism’s care for the poor and weak and it insistence on equity and justice.

We Christians must not let ourselves be deceived into either exclusive allegiance or exclusive opposition to either party. What must be opposed is valorization of the rich as if they have a natural right to rule. What must be opposed is moral laxity masquerading as liberation. What must be opposed is hunger and violence and exploitation and oppression, and mistreatment of anyone for any reason. We must oppose all these because they fly in the face of the politics of Jesus. To do otherwise is to dishonor his ministry, his mission, and the death he willingly died for our sakes.”

The Politics of Jesus, by Obery M. Hendricks, Jr.


Ever since reading this book on our 30 hour long train ride to Moscow I have been pondering these paragraphs... and they will definitely influence how I plan to vote in the future.

Rootbeer Floats!

Thanks to a garage sale held by an American family who is going back to the states for a while, we were able to discover the joy of rootbeer concentrate!

Our friends Katya and Alexei came over for dinner on Friday and we introduced them to one of my favorite American treats... Rootbeer floats!

You can find the recipe I used by clicking here

Charles gave us this tip: Use the extra strong carbonated water to make your rootbeer.

I know, I know, I know, this is no big deal to those of you who live in a place where you can buy anything and everything at anytime of the day or night. But for those of us living in places that don't have that kind of freedom this is a major deal!

Can you guess wht is going on my Christmas wish list this year?!!


Edited to add:
I just recieved a link from my friend Michele and wanted to include it here on the post for everybody to have:

http://www.alpharubicon.com/kids/makesoda.html

If anyone ever finds Dr. Pepper flavored concentrate we would love that for Christmas too!!!

Tom’s Dictionary:

A normal night at the Sharp’s house:
When in the course of telling an old Buddy Hackett joke that includes an anvil you get asked “what is an anvil?” and you just happen to have one to show to the guest, if the guest is not surprised that you have the anvil in the first place and/or doesn’t ask why you have the aforementioned anvil…then it was just another night at the Sharp’s house.

weighing in!

So far today is a great day!! I got up and weighed myself and I am down a pound... so I guess giving up ice cream actually works, go figure!

I went to school and had a great lesson; afterwards I went to do some shopping because we have a young Russian couple coming over for pizza.

As I was riding the bus to the supermarket an older lady came and sat down beside me... the man behind her asked her which stop to get off at to go the Ocular Micro-Surgical Center. She starts to answer, turns to me and gives me an "I can't ask her, she doesn't speak Russian" look. So I just let her keep talking because my mama taught me not to interrupt my elders! When she finished her round-about explanation I turned to him and said "it is better if you get off at the next stop and walk across the road at the light". They both look at me wide-eyed... and finally she says to him "what a great young lady...you should have asked her to begin with!" And we all laughed!

We all stood up to get off at the same stop and she turned around and said to me "you look like that beautiful man who is going to be the president in America, have you seen him, his name is Barack Obama?" I thanked her for the compliment and she smiled and went on her way.

It made my day. One of our lessons at school was about Russians not smiling unless there is a weighty reason to do so... to see her walk away smiling was truly a blessing to me. I pray that she has a good feeling about interacting with foreigners and that she will experience kindness from the next one she meets!

As I was walking home from my trip to the market a young man from our church was driving by and he waved me over to his car... he was coming to my house to deliver a painting of Tom's that he had framed. So I got a free ride home from the supermarket and Tom is thrilled to have his painting hanging up in our hallway.

Some days I wonder about what life would be like if we had chosen to purchase a car instead of our apartment... but days like today make me glad that we are seen regularly by our neighbors, church family and friends that we have made in our region. And with how much rent has risen here (and how much our property has appreciated in value) since the announcement of the 2014 Olympics coming to our state, we can see that God had His hand on our decision to purchase the apartment! I was talking with someone about rent and they don't know if they can afford to live in this area anymore... thankfully, we don't have that fear to contend with.


So ... now I can go and get the pizza dough ready... our guests are coming after work so I expect them to come hungry!!

a beautiful young couple!

Timor






Oksana




















Tom and I had the priviledge of attending the wedding of Timor and Oksana.



















I was impressed with the simple elegant beauty of the wedding. Timor's brother Marat performed the ceremony, and their sister Elina sang a song that she wrote while Marat played the guitar... it was a beautiful song and she has an incredible voice!

When Tom and I came home we both had the same impression... they surrounded themselves with married couples and families! As we thought about the guests who were there, we came to realise that very few of the guests were single. We were impressed that they decided to start their marriage off in the company of other couples!

There was a combination of American and Russian traditions... they did not have attendants, the family was escorted in first, walking slowly to soft piano music in the background, Oksana came in alone, she sat on the bench with her side of the family and Timor sat with his side. Marat gave a talk on the value and meaning of a godly marriage. And then he called the couple forward for their vows... after he pronounced them husband and wife Oksana went to sit with Timor and his family. His sister sang and then Marat prayed and blessed the couple. There was no big party with lots of games afterward. There were tables laden with fruit and snacks, and a gorgeous and tasty wedding cake. I made it a point to go and tell the gal who made the cake that it was beautiful and tasted good. Sometimes cakes in the store here look great but taste awful!

During the reception time the couple posed for photos with everyone in attendance and afterward we took a large group shot of everyone. Following that was a walk in the Botanical Garden for more pictures and just hanging out!

Oksana and Timor even chose a very significant date for their ceremony... it was his parents 33rd wedding anniversary! It truly was a celebration of godly and loving marriages. We are going to miss Oksana, she was one of the worship leaders at our church... but we are excited for the new adventure that she and Timor are beginning!!




















This is what I wrote for Timor and Oksana...

Пусть Бог благослови вас…
день за днём
и шаг за шагом,
и в жизни и в браке.

Мы желаем вам радости,
счастья, и много детей!!!

Любите друг друга всем сердцем,
Обрашайтесь друг к другу с уважением,
С горением духа трудитесь для Господа!

от всего нашего сердце,
с любовью,

Том и Алида

in English it says:


May God bless you,
day after day
step by step
in life and in marriage

We wish you joy, happiness
and many children!

Love each other with all your heart
treat one another with respect
serve God together with zeal!

Wholeheartedly,
with love,
Tom and Alida

Thought for Today

Men and women must treat each other as who we are: God’s representatives on earth. If we degrade, abuse or neglect on another, we insult the very glory of God.

from the book Intimate Allies written by Dan Allender and Tremper Longman


This reminds me that all the people that we interact with here in Russia on a daily basis are worthy of respect and kindness... I pray that we will be mindful of this on a daily basis!

to market, to market!

Strolling through the outdoor market with Tom is always fun. Ever since I have known him he has always been the type of person to greet everyone he sees and he makes friends quite easily. We saw several people whose faces lit up as Tom approached them. He has a friend he knows from AA who sells miscellaneous goods, an acquaintance who sells fruits and vegetables and another who duplicates keys. My favorite person who greeted Tom was the grandmother selling flowers who told him he should buy flowers for his beautiful young wife!!

Tom's Olympic sermon...

Yesterday Tom spoke at our church. His topic was spiritual resiliency. He used Hebrews 12:1-2 as the basis for his message.

His example of someone who shows resiliency was Dinara Safina. He talked about how she is a great Russian tennis player who sometimes makes mistakes, gets upset, but keeps on going to the end of each match!

From Tom’s vantage point he could see people diligently taking notes… one person had tears in their eyes. Many people came up to him afterwards to say they were encouraged. Tom talked about how we do not receive our prize until we have finished the race. We may want our reward now for all of our hard work. But as seen in Hebrews 11 our heroes of faith did not receive their prizes while they were alive.

The highlight for me was Tom talking about the great cloud of witnesses. He talked about how they are all cheering us on and waiting for us to finish the race so that we can all collect our reward together!!

weighing in!

I only lost a half of a pound... despite all the walking I do each day. Maybe it is time to give up ice cream??

Alida's dictionary:

True Love:
A husband watching synchronized swimming with his wife!

Thought for Today

“A godly woman engages in the battle of life with as much courage and valor as her husband. But her focus is less on defending against external enemies and more on teaching her family about the high calling of relationship.”

Dan Allender and Tremper Longman, from their book Intimate Allies

It definitely felt like a battle getting the children to show love and respect to one another when they were young. I am grateful for the relationship that Tom and I have. I am grateful for the relationships that Tom and I have with Nathan and Spencer. Furthermore, Tom and I are grateful that our sons have expressed to us their thanks for the unconditional love that we have worked hard to give them!

Whenever I read the word battle my association is not a 'physical' battle but emotional and spiritual ones. Over the past 26 ½ years of our marriage we have battled with various trials of life… such as the stillbirths of Patricia and Cameron, financial setbacks, the challenge of Tom attending seminary with a young family, our transition to life here in Russia and the ups and downs of day to day living (to name just a few!). I was never a good fighter physically... but then I didn't need to be. I grew up with four brothers and I always felt sorry for those who chose to pick on me, I always had a brother nearby who wouldn't have it!

The only way I am gifted to face each of the relational and situational challenges our family of four is presented with is to stay on my knees in prayer.

I give thanks to God for helping Tom and I to continually grow as a couple, as parents of adult children and as spiritual warriors!

Tom's Olympic observations...

Watching the Olympics in our adopted country of Russia is simply…different than if we were in the US. We love Russia & her people…& we still love America. Our feelings are mixed when the two countries compete against each other in the games.

Russia is getting NBC’s feed of the tv coverage, with Russian commentators. At every commercial break, we have a block of basically the same 4 ads. We know the Russian broadcast is paid for by Lukoil (Russia’s Luke Oil Co); Megaphone (a Russian mobile phone company); Sport Kanal (Russia’s Sports Channel) & America’s Nike Co. (“I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier.” While this ditty makes sense if English is your primary language, it doesn’t make sense for non-English speakers…which begs the question ‘who was in charge of Nike’s international marketing plan?’ In a global context, this ad campaign falls short.) If there are a few minutes of air time to fill, we’ll watch these same four ads several times!!

I noticed a cultural difference highlighted in the Russian Megaphone commercial & Nike’s ad. In Nike’s spot, close ups of past & present famous athletes are shown. Even if it’s a team sport, such as basketball, only Kobe Bryant or LeBron James are shown; & always by themselves. In typical Western culture, the message communicated is that ‘the individual is most important.’ Contrast this to the Megaphone ad: several large groups & pairs of people are out in a city’s square. Each person holds up their phone while a computer generated piece of green screen ascends from each phone. All of these little pieces come together, forming a large screen in the sky for all the people to collectively enjoy the sport event shown on the screen. In a typical Russian/European cultural value, the message which is communicated is that ‘together we are better & stronger that we are individually.’

While I believe that the two cultures are simply different, & not wrong, I wonder: which is more Biblical?

weighing in!

I am down a half pound this week. Slowly but surely I am making progress toward this goal... I hate the slowly part. I like instant gratification!

Happy 21st Birthday!!

Nathan,
It is so hard to believe that you are 21 already... it seems like we were just blessed by your birth yesterday. We pray that this year is a great year for you and that God blesses each step you take toward your goals for this year!

Here is a birthday video that Spencer made to celebrate your special day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR_aqxOLtYI

We are proud of you and we wish we could be with you today!!

Happy Birthday buddy!

We love you bunches and bunches and oodles and oodles,

Mama, Daddy and Spencer

Thought for Today

My thought for today comes from my daily Al-Anon meditation book that I use. And this is my first attempt at publishing my thought in English and in Russian!!


I will not look for perfection in another person until I have attained perfection myself.

Я не буду искать совершентва в других, пока не достигну совершентва сама.

One Day at A time in Al-Anon
День за Днём в Ал-Аноне
Pg 225

Before I got involved in Al-Anon I thought that all of the problems I had in life were because of being raised in family of people that struggled with a life affected by the ravages of alcohol. I have come to realize that my problems began with me and that rising above those problems begins with me as well.

Перед тем как я стала членом Ал-Анона я думала что все мои проблемы начинаются из-за того что я выросла в семье людей которые бороться с жизнью побеспокоившись опустошение алкоголизма. Теперь я сознаю что все мои проблемы начинаются со мной и что выход который я должна выйти является сама в себе.

6 Quirks I have

OK, so I've been tagged by Shasher and I have to do this before I forget... otherwise I am terrible at these things!

The Rules!
1. Link the person(s) who tagged me
2. Mention the rules on my blog
3. Tell about six unspectacular quirks of mine
4. Tag six fellow blogger's by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged

OK, now onto important information that I know you can't live without... 6 quirky things about me:

1. I have to stand and face the direction I am speaking of when I give someone directions... this is especially funny when I am on the phone and my husband notices what I am doing!

2. I don't like the sight of bugs whether they are real or just a picture. Tom has a pair of pajamas with ants on them that I can't stand to look at!!

3. I don't like blood... even when it is fake movie blood. My guys all tell me when I can open my eyes again!

4. I hate repetitive noises... it just drives me nuts!

5. I cannot study listening to music but I can study and watch TV!!!

6. If someone hands me money I arrange it by denomination in descending order... I was a bank teller and then a manager long ago!

Those my top six quirks... Tom had more about me to list here but I won't bore you anymore!! And here are the friends I am choosing to bless with this task!!

Cyndi

Michele

Heartsong

Blythe

Liza

Rebecca

Tom at Work

Tom worked on sheet rocking the sound booth at church a few weeks back... the very next day we were at the Diagnostic Center beginning Tom's treatment that helped him pass his kidney stone. Working in the heat seemed to help get things moving!

weighing in!

I think my scale is broken... it has not moved all week. Oh well, in the past I would have used my disappointment as an excuse to eat chocolate. Today I chose a fresh strawberry juice instead. And am resigned to keep plugging away!