Long time, no blog...

I feel like it has been forever since I have had a chance to sit down long enough to gather my thoughts and blog.  And, while my thoughts are far from gathered an unfortunate accident last week that left me with a broken pinky toe has given me lots of time this week to sit around and catch up on life in general.

If you haven't heard by now, the big news in our lives is that this summer we will be moving to Prague, Czech Republic for me to take a new position with our company.  I will serve on the Forward Communications Team for the European Affinity Group.  While that is quite a mouthful, what it means is that I will be working with missionaries from across Europe and not just in Russia.   Of course, this was a very difficult decision for our family to make.  While we do not usually enjoy life in Moscow, we do love Russia and Russians, and we believe that we will always work with some kind of Russian ministry.  We are very excited because we have many friends that life in and near Prague and it will be a joy to live in such a fairy-tale city.  At the same time, we will miss the dear friends (both American and Russian) that we have made while we have been here.

The Engage Russia project continues to roll on at full pace, although I am on the injured reserve list this week.  Tim and Jimmy will still travel to Bryansk this weekend where they will shoot interviews for another partnership profile.  The thing I hate about missing this trip is that I will not get to see a winter river-side baptism where they will cut a hole in the ice in order to baptize.  I hate to miss seeing that firsthand.  Next weekend we are scheduled to go to the Arctic Circle and the city of Murmansk.  Believe it or not, it has been warmer there than it was during our trip to Siberia!  We are grateful for all of the people that have come alongside of us during this project.  Several weeks ago we officially launched our new web site (www.engagerussia.org) and as of today we have 222 members on our Engage Russia Facebook group.  That is truly amazing!  In addition, we have made contact with several churches who will be staging a 4-week prayer campaign for the Chuvash people group and two churches are sending volunteer teams to Cheboksary over the next six months.  God is good.

I am starting to realize that my time with my children is starting to slip past.  In recent weeks I have had the opportunity to catch up with old friends through Facebook.  And, as I look at some of the photos from our high school days that have been posted, I am often shocked to think that Sarah Beth is now the age I was when many of those photos were taken.  Where has time gone?  I have no idea.  While I am excited to listen to her make plans for her future (which at this point include OBU), I often realize that my time with her is quickly slipping through my fingers.  I wish you could know what an incredible young lady she is.  She is funny, smart, and so in-tune with God.  She makes me laugh and smile and I am so proud of her.  I know that I am her Daddy, but you really should get to know SB if you have the chance.  Hannah and John are equally amazing and it always surprises me when I look at my kids to see how different they are.  Hannah is sooooo smart, and such a hard worker.  She is constantly making sure she is where she needs to be in school and she studies non-stop.  She is also incredibly creative.  I love to watch her sit at the computer and create.  She also crochets, knits, and makes all sorts of interesting things.  She tries to be funny, and sometimes succeeds.  But, she always makes me smile and I love it when she curls up with me just to snuggle.  John is...well, John is just John.  He is one funny kid.  He is so creative, and incredibly computer savvy.  He amazes me each week as we get a new spelling list.  There is rarely a Monday where he does not know how to spell all the words for Friday.  John is very social and adores his friends.  Nothing about life in a foreign country seems to bother John.  While he is learning Russian in school, communication never seems to be a barrier for him, even if he does not really understand what the other person is saying.  John is going to love all people and God's "little guys" (bugs and anything creepy crawly) no matter what.  He loves to memorize his Bible verses for the week and will be the first to correct you if you misquote (or even use another translation.)  So, while my job keeps me very busy with travel, I am especially thankful for the times I have at home to spend with my children.  I think I will cherish them for as long as they last.

And, speaking of cherish.  I can never say enough about my wife.  Scholars have not invented enough words for me to tell you about Kellye -- in English or Russian.  (OK, maybe they have in Russian.   But if they have, I haven't learned them yet.  And if I did, I have forgotten them already.)  My wife is one of the greatest people I know and she is not just my wife, but my best friend too.  Last night we were sitting on the bed together, watching television and eating pizza...not really doing anything, and it was my favorite part of my day.  Just a quiet moment that we got to share together.

So, what do the next couple of months hold?  Next weekend we will travel to Murmansk.  Following that I am attending a media conference in Richmond, VA and have arranged to spend the weekend before and after the conference with my parents in Maryland.  So, I am really looking forward to my time in the States, seeing family and friends, and speaking in churches about the Engage Russia project.  I will be here in Moscow to celebrate birthdays with Hannah and Sarah Beth and then it is back on the road again.  There is a possibility I will be traveling to Rome, Italy to work on a video project and following that I will take a quick trip back to Surgut to get video footage of a traditional Khanti festival.  Then our family will lead a mission team to Cheboksary to work with the Chuvash.  We will renew our visas in April and will be out of the country for a few weeks while those are processed.  And, in May my pastor, Alan, and I will travel to central Siberia to shoot video for an Engage Russia project.  In June we will lead another team to Chuvashia and then head off to Greece for our annual conference.  The week we return from Greece we will finish packing our apartment and make the move to Prague.  So, as you can see, the next six months will be both busy and exciting.  Pray for our family as we travel, minister, move and say hard goodbyes.  

Again, let me thank you for following us on this journey and for keeping us in your prayers.

Blessings,

Marc