Another Mish-Mash Blog

          Leif had a great time on the mountain climbing trip this year.  God really blessed his conversations with the guys, and deepened these relationships.  It was also a beautiful time of enjoying God's creation!

     I'm so thankful for these friends!  There are not any Goodwills or yard sales here where you can get rid of things.  As we prepare to move, we have things to give away.  We also had a bunch of things to give away from friends who had moved back to Canada and had been storing their things here....



These friends came for tea and then helped me to distribute things.  We did it all in a day!

     Our friends, the Giuras, came and surprised us at our home group in the village one night.  It was so great!  It looks like Ike is pushing Lyova away here, but really he's just sort of bringing him in.  =)

     The girls' teachers had to suddenly go back to America for a family emergency, so I was their teacher for a few weeks.  I brought them along with me wherever I went.  Anneka is the same height as this lady!



     This dear lady is an English teacher.  Here she was looking over a grammar textbook with Anneka.  Leif and I are preparing for a course on how to do an ethnographic survey.  For part of the preparation, we needed to interview someone local (in English).  She was so sweet to give of her time and so good at thoroughly answering our questions.  She is a Buryat believer and has many valuable insights and is a prayer warrior.

     Leif's been working several days a week on our house.  This friend, Roma, has been helping. I make soup for them each day.  God has provided other people to help with the house, too, and He's blessed a lot of those conversations and connections.

Biking to pick up Ike from preschool

     Ella likes to go to the store for me.  This day we were at a friends', and she took a scooter out with her to get tea and milk.

     We've been wanting to say goodbyes well to people in our current neighborhood.  I was so proud of Anneka on this night.  She's had a bad interaction with this friend the last time they were together.  She wanted to make it right and apologize to him.  We went to his house and she waited patiently for over an hour for him to finish playing a computer game and then pushed through in making amends.  The evening ended with them playing a couple of games together and a renewed relationship.  I love when I see evidence of God at work in my kids' hearts and when he brings beauty and healing.

     These friends took Ike after church one Sunday to go and feed horses.  They squeezed eight people into this tiny car!

  May 9 is a big holiday here- Victory Day!  The kids and I braved the crowds and met up with another family downtown for the parade.  There were so many people it was hard to see.  But it was so nice to soak in the beautiful sunshine!   Another day the girls went to a ballet for children with some friends while I stayed home and packed up some boxes.

 

One morning the girls helped me babysit a friend's kids while she taught a class.

Ella and Nina had a great time playing rock-paper-scissors!

     Ella (very quickly!) learned to ride a bike this past month.  There's a great place for learning to ride at the school of arts.  On a couple of our rest days we've gone there with the kids to let them ride.  Ella and Anneka like to race, and Ella sometimes beats Anneka!

     Ike also learned to ride!  He needs help getting started still, but once he's moving, he's got it down!




     Leif and Denis have been working closely together on the house.  They're working on plumbing now.  They bought all of these pipes and piled them on top of Denis' little car!

    This is my dream car.  Leif says we can't get one because it'll break down too often.  But I say that parts are cheap!  ;)

     Roma's family joined us for dinner one evening.  Our kids hit it off.  We really like this family!

    After the Buryat Partnership last week we enjoyed having tea with a local pastor and his wife.  It's encouraging to hear what the Lord is doing in other parts of Buryatia!



     The Wickers came for one last time to say goodbye before they fully transition to another job.  It was both sweet and sad to see them.  Us ladies got together for coffee date before Sharon left.

Ike learned to tie his shoes!

It's Kvas season again!  (our beloved summer beverage- fermented bread water)

     I bought raspberry starters for our garden!  I bought manure from these nice guys who just sit with their trucks at the side of the road.  Their first language is Buryat.

     In the middle of everything going on, our sweet Ike got sick.  It was a really bad case of the flu, and he was out of school for a full week!  Here's his sister, taking good care of him.

... and then our sweet girls got sick!  This virus is a nasty one.  They were too sick to even watch t.v.  They just layed there, side by side.  Today they've turned a corner, and we hope to see them fully back to their happy, active selves soon!  One blessing from this time is that I've sat and read  and talked with the kids (when I normally would have been packing).  We've had quality time together in the midst of a whirlwind time, and I'm trusting God will make up for all of the lost time with the other things that need to get done.  

          The kids had their annual end-of-the-year picnic with people from church.  Ella got sick on that day and couldn't go.  =(  Anneka got sick the evening of, so she enjoyed a special day with friends.

I posted this on our Facebook page today, and thought I'd share it here, too...

We're in the middle of a big transition right now- preparing to move to the village (and finishing up the building of our house). We move a week from today! As I've been praying about all of the details, I've been tempted to pray for things like the floors and walls to be done. But each time I try to pray for these things, I've sensed that God has kindly told me, "no, pray for far better- Pray for joy. Pray for peace." And so, these have been my prayers instead. This verse in Colossians keeps popping up these past couple of weeks, too. I recently learned that the word "patience" pertains more to going through difficult circumstances and the word "endurance", in dealing with people. I see that God wants to give us His power to have both patience and endurance. We can trust Him for it! I definitely feel like each day has been filled with random, crazy things that have thrown a wrench in our plans. For example, just this morning, we had no electricity when I needed to prepare soup for Leif to take to the worksite. And when I went to the store, the bank machine was broken (and I didn't have cash on me), so I couldn't buy my basket of items. Then Leif called, needing a number on a receipt to make sure he was buying the right wallpaper, and the store had stamped right over that number so I couldn't read it! And each day there are things like this (it feels like every hour!). Our kids have been really sick (thankfully getting better!), we have a lot of coursework for a class we'll be taking, we need to pack, etc! But God is so good to show me that He was preparing us for this season ahead of time. When things come up, I'm not surprised. I know it's a chance for Him to show up. He is strong when we are weak. He is with us and will give His joy and power (and is giving it now). We are so thankful. And we're thankful for YOU and for your prayers!