Hannah's 11th Birthday

Apples!

Oranges!

My Banana!

Stand up and yell if you love Hannah!

YEAAAAAAAAAAAA!

I can't tell you how many years ago I started doing that cheer with Hannah.  It has been our special thing since she was very small.  And now she is 11 and not too many years away from being the tallest person in the family.

Hannah is truly an amazing child.  While transitioning to life here in Russia has not always been easy for her, she is usually one of the first to remind us why God brought us here.  She has a heart for Jesus that grows and grows every day and I am proud of the young woman that she is becoming.  She understands missionary life and that God has called us to this place for this time in our lives.  She is not only stunningly beautiful, but very smart, funny, talented and loves to create things.   Hannah spends many hours each week creating things by using the computer and I can already see that she has an amazing eye and is quite talented.  She loves all things Hannah Montana and can sing and dance along with High School Musical with the best of them!

I love spending time with my Banana.  Whether it is sitting in bed with her resting her head on my shoulder, going for our special McDonalds dates, or just singing our cheer in the hallway of the apartment, time with Hannah is always fun and never boring!  So, Happy Birthday, Hannah!  Your Daddy loves you!

Hannah gets a new song...

Not locked in a Siberian gulag...

It has been awhile since I have written, so I wanted to assure you that I have not been locked away in a Siberian gulag or set adrift at sea...

I have, however, been quite busy working on several different projects.  And, for those of you who know me well, I would much rather be busy with project work than having too much time on my hands.  Frankly, it is nice to finally feel useful here.

One quick note about language before I go.  Most of you know that on Thursday nights we host an English Club for Russians.  It is truly a great experience and I plan to write more about that later.  However, I thought that I would look forward to that time because it was a time and place where it was appropriate to speak with Russians in MY native tongue, and not theirs.  However, what I have found is that when I am speaking to a Russian person, my brain automatically switches to Russian language and I begin to think (and often communicate) in Russian!  It really is the wildest thing!  So, while I am helping them with their English, they are helping me with my Russian.  We really enjoy our time together.  So, at this juncture I have to give proper credit to Irena, our language teacher.  I may not always enjoy how I am being taught, but whatever she is doing seems to be working.  At times like these it makes the long hours of language study (ok, maybe not the grammar part) worthwhile.

And, speaking of which, I have some grammar homework to finish before my lesson this afternoon.  So, hopefully this weekend I will have an opportunity to write "The Kiev Chronicles" and bring you up to speed on some of the other happenings in our lives.  Until then, know that we appreciate you taking the time to read our thoughts and pray for us.  

Blessings,

Marc

Better Than A Puppy!

We hosted a Sweet 16 party last night.  And, while I realize that back at home March Madness abounds, this party had nothing to do with college basketball and everything to do with Sarah Beth.  It is hard to believe that she is really 16 years old.

For months Kellye and I had been struggling with what we should get SB for her birthday.  This was 16 after all, but life in Moscow is different that life at home.  There would be no driver's license on her 16th.  And there certainly wouldn't be a car -- not that there would have been if we still lived in Middleburg.  But we wanted to make this a special and memorable birthday for her.  So we were always on the lookout to see what kind of meaningful gift we could get her for this milestone birthday.  And, we were struggling.  Until one night around 4 months ago when SB was sitting in her room making plans for her Sweet 16 party.  Things were going along pretty well, but I started to hear sobs coming from her room.  When I went in to check on her, she looked at me through make-up smeared eyes and said, "my best friends isn't going to be here for my party."

Time to digress and give a little background.  Last year before moving to Russia Sarah Beth had the opportunity to come to Eastern Europe and live and work with a missionary family in Prague for 6 weeks.  During that time she was able to attend the region's annual meeting where all of the missionaries (and the missionary kids (MKs) get together for a week.  During that time she made wonderful friends.  She didn't even want to come back home, just meet us in Moscow when we finally got here!  And that is where she met Anna.  Anna has lived in Russia for most of her life and she lives in a city that is a full day's travel north of Moscow.  She and SB became fast friends and they communicate via Internet nearly every day.  And, while SB has many friends here in Moscow, Anna is her closest.  So when Kellye and I found her sobbing about Anna not being in here for her party we knew immediately what her "big present" would be.  I don't even think I waited for her to go to sleep that night before I hid in my room with my computer and sent Anna's dad an email asking if we could bring her down for the weekend.

The timing of this surprise was tricky and it was a coordinated effort to keep the cat in the bag.  Anna arrived Thursday night and stayed with other friends of ours (and hers, of course) in Moscow and even attended a play at Hinkson that night.  Thankfully we had just returned from Kiev that afternoon and SB was too tired to even ask to go to the play.  Then SB went to school for her chorus class on Friday, so we had to make sure that none of her friends accidentally mentioned that Anna was in town or that they had seen her at the play the night before.  As time for the party arrived it seemed as if "the package" was still a secret and SB was still hoping to get a pet for her birthday present.

So, this was the scene as the teenagers arrived for the party...

We had a really great time last night.  SB has a wonderful set of friends who are truly a joy to be around.  We are blessed that God has allowed us to serve in a place where there are lots of teenagers who are believers and who provide SB with such a wonderful network of friends.  And, let me say again how proud we are of Sarah Beth.  She is a wonderful, smart, funny and beautiful young woman who adds immeasurable amounts to our family.  She has dealt with this transition extremely well and has become a leader to her siblings.  We are quite blessed to have her as our oldest daughter.

In the days to come I will be sharing my version of  "The Kiev Chronicles" -- the account of our first trip out of the country and four days of Russian language immersion.  So, stay tuned....

What you didn't know about Easter in Russia

If you literally translate the Russian Bible's account of the Easter story it reads something like this:

"And sitting on the rock outside of the tomb was a man dressed in garments as white as snow. Which made him very hard to see. And the women said to him, "Where have you taken our Lord?" And he replied, "He is risen, just as he said. Look! Follow his footprints in the snow and you will find Him!"

Ok, so maybe that is not what it says, even in the Russian translation. But I do think that I have discovered why Easter is a whole month later on the Russian Orthodox calendar...because nothing says Easter quite like a fresh coat of snow on the ground! That's right, we had over an inch of snow last night. So as you are going to church this morning in your pretty white dresses and Easter hats, we will be trudging to the Metro in our snow boots, and scarves!

I have many favorite sections of the Easter story, not the least of which is when Mary Magdalene realizes that she is talking with Jesus. Don't you wish you could have seen that? Another favorite is when Jesus appears to Thomas. We often criticize Thomas for his doubts and unbelief, but many days I wonder if I would have been in the room at all. So, I try to give Thomas a break.

This year as I re-read the Easter account in the gospels my attention was drawn to the men on the road to Emmaus. Can you imagine getting a Bible lesson from Jesus himself? Now I am sure that those who were there for the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus' other teachings were captivated by him. Who wouldn't be. But just imagine these two guys. They had Jesus...God himself...walk them through the Old Testament and passage by passage he explained how the symbolism, the sacrificial system, and the prophecies all pointed to his death on the cross and His resurrection which occurred just hours ago. Wow! If we get to choose what we get to do in heaven when we get there, that will be one of the first things I want to see!

Well, it is time to get the kiddos up and see if we have been visited by the Easter Bunny, the Easter Beagle, or maybe even the Russian Easter Bear (ok, I made that one up too).

I hope that as you read this you will take hope in this...HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!

Blessings,

Marc

Much too young to be this dang old...

Happy Birthday to my Boo-Boo!  

It really is impossible that 16 years have passed since your Mom and I spent countless days in the Medical Center in Columbus, Georgia waiting for you to arrive.  We spent many of those days dreaming about what kind of person you would become.  However, I don't think any of my dreams compared to the wonderful daughter you have grown to be.  Not only are you beautiful (like your mother) but you are funny, compassionate, kind and have a heart for Jesus.  There is rarely a day that goes by that you do not amaze me with  the kind of person that you are.

I hope that your 16th birthday is everything you dreamed of it being.  Just remember that your family thinks that you are awesome and we love you very much.  Our lives would not be as rich and full without you in them.

May God bless you on your special day.

Love,

Daddy

Moscow Arts Team Conversational English Master Class 2008-Our First Ministry Project!

As you will see in this video we have been pretty busy this week.  I don't have time to write much tonight because it is getting late and I have come down with a small case of the flu, but we wanted to share some of the fun we have had this past week.

This week-long camp was hosted by the Moscow Arts Team and classes were taught by volunteers from First Baptist Church of Allen, Texas.  The goal was to reach our target group (artists) with an opportunity for them to study conversational English with native speakers.  Yes, I know that many will argue that Texans are not necessarily native speakers, but for our purposes it was close enough!  :-)  

Starting next week our team will follow up by hosting weekly English Clubs in our homes with the hopes that these relationships based on a common foundation of speaking English will lead to deeper relationships, discipleship, and hopefully a church plant in our homes.  We had nearly 50 Russians attend our Master Class this week and as you will see it was a wonderful time.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Blessings,

Marc