Greetings from Maine!

First of all, my thanks to all of you...I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate all of your prayers, your encouragement, and your friendship. It is an incredible feeling to have all of you out there, rooting for us. I'm thinking that I don't have words to express how very lucky (well, really blessed) I feel to have all of you in my life.

I am now, in Maine, but I am REALLY tired. But in a good way. So this will be short tonight. I promise to post more later.

I arrived last night, and was met very promptly by my friend Kenn (who had been waiting, because the plane was late--a weather delay). He whisked me off to a yummy dinner (Sorry, Jenny Craig--but it's vacation!) and then, after talking and talking and driving, we crashed.

Today we journeyed into Salem, where we went through the House of the Seven Gables and visited a "witch store" (where they basically had things like Tarot cards and herbs--but no eye of newt or icky things like that). Then we ventured on into Boston where we ate (again) and then walked around and window shopped and then wondered through the Public Gardens, Boston Common and the very cool graveyard where Paul Revere is buried. Lots of funny/silly stories about the very expensive store with basically over-"bedazzeled" clothes and finding (eventually) Paul Revere's tombstone...let's just say we had a good day seeing things that were new to me, revisited for Kenn, and talking about all the people that we have dated/grew up with.

Also had a very "freaky/odd" moment when I was taking a picture of the church that Steve and I went to on the day after our wedding (we went to Boston on our honeymoon) and he called me at the same time that I was sending him the picture on my phone. That was too bizarre...but fun.

Tonight we hung out at home, and watched "Confessions of a Shopaholic." Tomorrow I get to see more of Maine.

Much love to all

Prayers, please...

Just an update. I haven't posted in awhile because there just hasn't been anything to post. And, honestly, I haven't known exactly what to say.

Things in Tula are not all they should be (most of you who have been following that have probably guessed that much). MOE official is back from vacation, but there has been little communication with our agency. S is apparently going to try to get an appointment with them in the next couple of weeks, but C is discouraged with the lack of action and response there. Our "remotely possible" referral has been adopted by a Russian family. I find that I'm not upset by this--I'm glad that she has someone to love her now, and glad that a connection was made there. We didn't really let ourselves even get hopes up about her, and with things not going as they should there, I am glad that God has found her family.

I know that I have no control over this part--and I know that God does. I know that all things work in HIS time and that they work out right. I'm just really tired of waiting right now. I guess that I would ask for prayers for patience, and that we have the wisdom and the clarity to listen to whatever it is that God neeeds us to do in all this. In the meantime, my beloved husband is trying to write the curriculum for church camp--and it's all about God and making "breakthroughs." I find myself smiling and shaking my head in wonder at this one. My ladies Bible Study has also been doing a short study on "Walking By Faith"---so, yeah, I know that God is right here--there's too much evidence that He is. I'm just tired and a bit sad, is all.

Having said all that---I'm running away next week. I scheduled this trip about a month or so ago, but I realize that the timing here is also pretty perfect--I need a distraction. My good friend since the 6th grade, Kenn, lives in South Maine, not all that far from Boston. I got cheap cheap tickets to fly into Boston, and we're going to just "have fun" next week. Steve will have quiet time to work on the curriculum and I will have some great time away with a friend who makes me laugh.

Thanks to all of you. Even when I'm not posting, I'm reading all that you write. Thank you for your friendship, your love, and your prayers. You are all so very important to me...

All Quiet on the Tula Front

No news out of Tula. The head of the MOE is reportedly back from vacation, but nothing is happening.

This is getting old.

Bleah.

Really and Truly---I'm still here, but there's still no news from Tula

Hi everybody!

Thanks for all of the good wishes. We just still don't have any news from Tula. Apparently the head of the MOE is on vacation following the May holidays, and may not be back at work until sometime in June. (Nice vacation!)

That is not to say that nothing is going on here. We're ok, and mostly resigned to the "God's time" part of this for the moment. Our Sarah graduated from college a couple of weekends ago with honors (Magna Cum), and also (thank you, God) has a job. She's going to be the dietician for the WIC program. That's her with proud papa above---by the way, will somebody be kind enough to explain to me how to get the photos to show up anyplace but at the top of your post? Do you have to post the photos first, and then type? I can't get the photo to cut and paste once it's posted here on the screen! Sarah is off now with her roommate on a backpacking trip through Europe--fun! Makes me a bit jealous!

Last weekend we made the journey down to Little Rock to the Riverfest (fun! They had corndogs, alligator, funnel cakes, and Kris Allen sno-cones--red, white and blue!) We went especially to see the B-52's. They can still do an amazing concert! They sang "(Little) Rock Lobster" for their second encore. It was such fun, but we were TIRED the next day.

Right now, I'm working on doing all those things I said I would do when school was over. Mostly, that's clean and purge my house (and Kristine, there is WAY too much to take pictures of!) Most of my winter clothes, books to discard/repurpose, etc are on the dining room table ready to be moved someplace else. My office already looks better, but there's still a LOT to do. I'm determined, though---I'm going to make a huge dent in the chaos and extra "stuff"! I've got a bunch of Russian history books that are duplicates of ones that I already have (part of the joy of being a teacher is that you get "free copies" of books if you assign them for a class). If anyone is interested, I'll let you know. Perhaps I will post of picture of them, once they're all assembled.

The other BIG news is that I started on the Jenny Craig program around May 5. As of this last week, I have lost a total of 8 pounds. I am very happy about this, since it is something that I have control over--with Russia being out of my hands right now, it is good to have a "focus" that I can work on. Plus, I really need to lose some serious weight.

That's what's up for now---I'm sure that I've missed some details, but that's the important stuff. Thanks, all of you, for hanging with me--please pray that once the Tula MOE is back in business that we get moving soon!

Much love!

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--

Sometimes it just feels like you're being tested...

Oh, my dear friends---it has been one of those weeks......

First of all, about 11:00 Sunday, one of the headaches from heck hit. Perhaps I should back up a bit and explain. For the last way-too-many years, I've been fighting these weird headaches. They don't have a huge hormonal connection (only sometimes), but they do have a weather connection. After way too many attempts to rule out sinuses, migraines, etc., the doctors determined that I have TMJ. That has been treated with drugs and physical therapy--but mostly drugs that make me feel logy. Basically, I've had to take drugs and just go to bed until the spasms in my jaw stop.

This therapy changed this past summer when a very good friend of mine introduced me to her orthodontist. He's a specialist in TMJ, and treats the problem by realigning your jaw and bite. The x-rays he took of my neck and jaw convinced me that he could help. So, since this summer I've been wearing a "pivot splint" (it looks kind of like a retainer) on my lower teeth to realign my jaw, and since about December I've had braces on my upper teeth---


They're oh so cute--not. I feel like I have transcended geeky-ness here. The good news is that this has been working--I haven't had any bad jaw problems for a LONG time.

The latest change is that I'm supposed to be weaning myself off the splint so that I can have braces put on my bottom teeth the week before Easter. Well, I went too long without the splint the other day (Friday), and then spent most of the next day hunched over my laptop writing a lecture for my online class. And BAM, on Sunday, it hit with a vengeance.

Ok, so I'm better now--I went to the chiropractor yesterday, she gave me a "talking to," said I should have come in sooner, and proceeded to get my neck back into place. She also put two acupuncture needles in my ears to help with the pain in my jaw. Now, I've never really been a big fan of the needle thing, but I have to admit that this worked. Today I feel much, much better.

But here's the weird part. On my way to the chiropractor yesterday, on the HIGHWAY with some substantial traffic, in the middle of the afternoon, a wild TURKEY ran (not flew) out in front of my car and committed suicide. I kid you not. There was no way, with the cars around, that I could have missed the sucker. It wasn't until I came out of the chiropractor and looked at my car that I realized what had happened:



So, I had to come home, call the insurance company, and tell them that I played Dr. Kervorkian for a turkey. The lady at the insurance company actually laughed out loud--but they are going to fix the car. The thing is, I grew up near the country, and saw turkeys (and deer and all those things) all the time--but I never hit one. I have to be in an urban area to hit a turkey! Perhaps it was a turkey that was fed up with all of the challenges of urban living...who knows. The good news in all of this is that it's all good or in the process of being good, now--but this, coupled with the transition from one class to another, and working on finishing up grading made for a stressful last couple of days. I will breathe a big sigh of relief about the middle of next week, when most of the big stuff for me will be done.

I should probably add that we have one other stress right now. We talked with C at the agency yesterday, and she suggested that we consider trying to register in one of the regions that they work in that just recently announced they were re-opening to international adoptions. There are positives and negatives to this, just as there are in all regions, and we're prayefully considering exactly what it is that we should do here. I know that God is in the midst of all of this, and, like the song says, "little ones to Him belong." But I also know that we will have to make the decision. Please pray for us that we are open to God's direction in this decision, and that we listen to his voice.

I am so grateful for all of you. May you have an amazing weekend.

Focus problems...

Ok, I know that the weather is absolutely beautiful outside...so that is part of the problem. I also don't get a spring break because I'm teaching 2 courses back to back online...and that is part of the problem. But for the life of me, I'm having the hardest time focusing on school stuff: grading the stuff that I still have to finish for the last course, and getting information/materials ready for the next one. I'd much rather be doing all kinds of other things; including cleaning out my garage, closets, painting the closet in the nursery, working outside on the yard....

I've also gotten back into the blog/FRUA addiction.

I need help! :-)