I know No-think...

Yep, that about says it all. No news. And according to C, we probably won't have any news now until after the May holidays in Russia. Bleah. I don't even want to think about it, because it makes me depressed. But I did want to share with all of you who have been waiting to hear something.

I wish that I had more interesting or exciting stuff to share, but I don't. The best news of the week has been that I finallly caught up with my classes last night, and as of last night, I have everything graded. That means a whole weekend with no grading hanging over my head! Yahoo! After this weekend, I have only one more assignment to write and 3 sets of papers to grade--then I'm done for the semester.

Dad is continuing to do well---my sis and Brad and I made the journey last Friday to visit, and he's up and walking and can even do stairs (slowly). They think he's making amazing progress. He's frustrated because he can't heal immediately. Hm...impatience. Wonder if that's where mine comes from??

Much love to all of you---and Happy May!

Update on Dad

Thanks to all of you for your prayers for my Dad. Mom called about noon and said that the surgery was over and that the doctor was very pleased with how well things had gone. It helped so much that the doctor and my dad are good friends, and we knew he was being very well taken care of.

Dad called a few minutes ago, and I got to talk with him. He was zonky, but good. I asked him if he had eaten anything, and he said he was ready to send out for pizza and beer. That's a very good sign!

Hmm....now I'm hungry.....

Much love!

Those who wait upon the Lord...

Hi guys!

The news is: there's no news. We were registered in Tula, but things are quiet right now. According to C, there is no word on how quickly or when things will happen. So, we wait. But at least now we're "really waiting" and not "waiting to wait."

Last night my Bible Study group watched our weekly installment of Beth Moore's study of the book of Esther. She talked about "time"--and it was, not to be "punny," incredibly timely. She talked about knowing when it's time to do something, knowing when it is not time to do something, and understanding that it is all God's time. She ended with an idea that has been sticking with me this morning; that when we wait upon an event or upon a person to act, that wait can take forever, and it can drain us of all our strength. But, when we "wait upon the Lord" to act, the book of Isaiah tells us that our strength will be renewed. It's all a matter of perspective. When we know that it's all God's time, and that God is acting to bring all things right in His time, then we should be excited about seeing what happens, and anticipate the completing of all things in the "right time". I'm trying to let God move that idea from my head to my heart this week.

Some other good stuff has happened this week. I got to see my Dad yesterday (and my sister, too) at my nephew's track meet--he ran the 1 mile, and did an awesome job (just under 6 minutes--good for a 7th grader). I got to spend a great afternoon in the car Monday driving Jeremiah back to the airport in St Louis for his flight home to Buffalo, and just have time to laugh and catch up with him. I got my hair cut shorter in StL, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for this semester. So while there have been some stresses, I've also seen God move in some amazing ways this week in my life and the lives of other people.

A quick prayer request for all of you: my Dad is having one of his knees replaced on Monday. Could you keep him, and my Mom in your prayers? I'd appreciate it muchly!

Hope that you all have an amazing weekend!

It's time for an update: Maundy Thursday and Good Friday

First of all, thank you for all of the laughter that resulted from the suicidal "LUV" turkey. I am happy to report that my dear beloved little car (Betty-Lou, the Blue Subaru) should be home from the body shop tomorrow. Thanks also to our good friend Brad, who loaned us a vehicle so that I could get back and forth the past few days. Easter week in a pastor's family is really full of responsibilities for the pastor, and it was nice to be able to drive myself to my orthodontist appointment yesterday, among other places that I needed to go.

The big ortho news: I now have braces on the bottom teeth, too. They hurt. Advil has become my good friend for the past two days. It feels as if my molars are trying to migrate to the front of my mouth. The good news is that the orthodontist told me that the upper teeth are where they're supposed to be, and that I'm progressing nicely. Yay braces! (Wait...did I just type that?? Must be the drugs!)

I suppose that I should really be good and give you all the adoption update. I received an email from C this morning--we are officially registered--in Tula. YAY! This is way farther than we have ever been in this process (a year ago we were waiting in line behind about 9 families just to be registered in Izhevsk). They have no idea how fast things will go now, but it is a big step for us. Thank you to all of you for your prayers; we really feel that God has led us to this region, and are trying very hard to be as patient as possible. Well, trying some to be as patient as possible.

Other news: I finally caught up on grading about 5:00 on Friday last week. I had been behind for about a month and a half, so it was nice to be able to go to bed and not have anything that I still needed to grade. I have a set of papers I need to do this afternoon, but I'm hopeful that I'll get them done quickly. I have discovered that I have wicked senioritis this semester; I just am tired with teaching online, and trying to fit a normal semester's amount of work into about 1/3 the normal time. I am SO ready to be back in a real classroom.

Finally, if you have a chance to go, please go see the "United" tour of concerts with Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman. We saw them in Springfield last week, and they were amazing. Some amazing worship music (they played for over 3 hours!), testimony from both men, and a huge emphasis on the Chapmans' "Show Hope" ministry to orphans. It was just exactly what both of us needed to hear, especially with Easter week coming up and with us


having just made the decision to pursue Tula as a region. God is good!

My best wishes to all of you for a blessed Easter week--