where are our boxes?

just got a message from a friend.  The guy that was supposed to send out our boxes from Moscow to the US has been in the hospital for the past two weeks.  He was recently diagnosed with diabetes.  We have been told that our things should get shipped out on the 1st of September.  We'll see! 

Keep us in your prayers. 

made it to North Carolina

The next time we get on a plane, September 6th, we will be on our way to Belize!!  Counting down the days!!

thought for today

When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.” ~ W. Clement Stone

puppies!!

Sharon's dog Diamond Girl had her litter last night... 9 pups!  And they are soooo cute!

check them out here: http://www.rosehavengoldens.com/pics

Durango, Colorado

We are enjoying some down time here in CO.  We are staying in the home of a gal who was also a missionary in Russia for several years.  Her home is peaceful, yet filled with life. 

She has four golden retrievers and two cats.  We are enjoying being able to be loved on and give love to the dogs.  It has been three years since our family had a dog.  This dog therapy is well timed.  Next week we will begin our debriefing week at Missionary Training International.

On one hand I am excited about seeing some team mates of ours who will be there at the same time.  On the other hand I am dreading all of the emotions that are waiting to burst out of me from our five years in Russia.  I don't know how much is there... but I do know that I will be in a safe place to let it all out.

For now... I will just go back to petting Max.

thought for today

Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love. I want you to be the first in moral excellence. I want you to be the first in generosity.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Wind Farms in Western Kansas

As we were driving to Hays, Kansas on Friday we saw these wind farms on the way. How exciting to see this type of energy being tapped in to out in Western Kansas!

thought for today

People love to talk but hate to listen. Listening is not merely not talking, though even that is beyond most of our powers; it means taking a vigorous, human interest in what is being told us. You can listen like a blank wall or like a splendid auditorium where every sound comes back fuller and richer.

- Alice Duer Miller

customs...

We just heard news yesterday that our belongings have finally been released from customs in Moscow and should be getting shipped out to us soon.  It will be interesting to see what is in our boxes and what may have gotten "lost" in the process.

thought for today

A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference.
Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh

in the land of Oz

We left NM yesterday and are now in Kansas.

It sure was hard saying goodbye to both Nathan and Spencer.  Spencer is leaving for University of the Nations in Hawaii and Nathan will be moving to California soon.  We enjoy being together as a family and the hard part is not knowing when we will all be together again. 

We are so grateful for Facebook, email, text messaging and Skype so that we can stay in touch!

thought for today

“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” – G. K. Chesterton

looking forward to cooking again...

I keep hearing about how good the bananas will be in Belize and I found this recipe when I was checking out Paula Deen's website:

Not Yo’ Mama’s Banana Pudding

Ingredients:

1   12-ounce container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whip
1   14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1   8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 cup milk
1   5-ounce box instant French vanilla pudding
6-8   bananas, sliced
2   bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies

Directions:

Line the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.
In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer.  Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth.  Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture.  Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended.  Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Servings: 12 servings
Prep Time: 30 min
Difficulty: Easy
Show: Paula's Home Cooking/Just Desserts cookbook/Mar/Apr 2006 issue

 

so what happened with those 10 spies?

I found this article yesterday.  Here is the link to the original:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100725/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_singing_spies

Russia's Putin sings with expelled agents

FOROS, Ukraine – Vladimir Putin says he met with the Russian spies who were expelled from the United States, joining them in singing an unofficial KGB anthem and promising them good jobs and a bright future back in their homeland.
Russia's prime minister said late Saturday he recently got together with the 10 sleeper agents, without saying when or where. The agents were deported from the U.S. earlier this month in a biggest spy scandal since the Cold War.
"We talked about life," Putin told reporters in Ukraine. "We sang 'What Motherland Begins With' and other songs of that character."
"What Motherland Begins With" is a song from the 1968 television series about Soviet spies in Nazi Germany. The song is widely known as an unofficial anthem of Russian intelligence officers.
Putin, a former KGB officer who in the early 1980s worked in communist East Germany as a low-level functionary, spoke about the uneasy lives the secret agents had in the U.S., where they were caught by the FBI in U.S. cities and suburbs where they had been living for more than a decade.
"They had a very difficult fate," Putin said, referring to the expelled spies who spent years of burrowing into American society. "They had to carry out a task to benefit their motherland's interests for many, many years without a diplomatic cover, risking themselves and those close to them."
The 10 agents were deported in exchange for three former intelligence officers and a think tank arms expert convicted and sentenced to long prison sentences in Russia. An 11th Russian spy escaped authorities in Cyprus and remains at large, and a 12th one, who had worked for Microsoft, was deported from the United States in mid-July.
U.S. authorities did not charge the agents with spying, and it is not clear whether they actually compromised any U.S. secrets. Some Russian analysts called their mission a failure that showed how inefficient Russian intelligence agencies are.
Putin, however, promised that Russia will take a good care of its spying sons and daughters.
"They will work, and I am sure they will have decent jobs," he said. "And I am sure they will have an interesting and bright life."
The biggest spy swap since the Soviet collapse did not complicate President Barack Obama's campaign to improve and broaden U.S. relations with Russia, and both Moscow and Washington sides expressed satisfaction with the resolution of the spy case.

fun with family over the 4th

thought for today

“It is especially important to encourage unorthodox thinking when the situation is critical: At such moments every new word and fresh thought is more precious than gold. Indeed, people must not be deprived of the right to think their own thoughts.”

Boris Yeltsin

everything is bigger in America

Each time we go somewhere to eat we are constantly amazed at the portion sizes of food and drinks.  When did a small drink become so large?!  The culture shock continues...

Pastor Killed in Dagestan

I just read about this in the news this morning.  Please be in prayer for the church in Russia and for the Dagestan area specifically.

Pastor killed by gunman

Published: Friday 16 July 2010

Country: RUSSIA

A dynamic Christian pastor has died after being shot in the head as he was leaving church, in what is being seen as a bid to intimidate converts from Islam in the strongly Islamic republic of Dagestan.
Artur Suleimanov (49), himself a convert from Islam, was murdered by a gunman who approached and opened fire as the pastor got into a car outside Hosanna House of Prayer in the capital, Makhachkala, on Thursday 15 July. He died from his wounds in hospital around an hour later. Nobody else was injured in the attack. Pastor Suleimanov leaves behind a wife, Zina, and five children, the youngest of whom is twelve years old. Mr Suleimanov’s church is one of the largest Protestant churches in Dagestan. In a context where Christians face regular harassment and intimidation, his life had been threatened on several previous occasions.
Barnabas Aid has supported Christians in Dagestan, and our co-ordinator for the Former Soviet Union met Pastor Suleimanov a number of times. He said, “Pastor Suleimanov was a wonderful Christian brother and his shocking death is a devastating loss for the Dagestan church. He and the Hosanna House of Prayer church were very active in ministry and outreach in particular. We see his murder as an attempt to put further pressure on Christian converts in Dagestan.”
The Russian Republic of Dagestan borders Chechnya in the turbulent North Caucasus. The population is 98 per cent Muslim, and the Church faces harassment and intimidation from various groups.

Please Pray:

• That God will comfort and uphold Pastor Suleimanov’s family, and their large church family, in their distress and grief.
• That the murderer and all those behind this horrendous incident will be brought to justice, and that they will come to faith in the Lord Jesus.
• For protection over those attending Pastor Suleimanov’s funeral as well as the wider Church in Dagestan.
• That Christians will not be intimidated by this act of violence

http://barnabasfund.org/%C2%A0/?m=7%23227&a=1837

learning about Belmopan

Found a website today that has some great info about Belize and about the city we are moving to... Belize.  Here is the link for you to check it out for your self:   http://belizex.com/belmopan.htm

slowly but surely

We are here in America.  Texas to be exact.  We have been able to spend time already with my family and some friends of ours.  We are sort of back to a normal sleeping schedule.  It has been hard to adjust to the time difference, and the reverse culture shock is still giving us problems here and there. 

Thanks to all who have prayed for us... we truly are grateful for this time of rest and renewal before moving on to Belize!