June 16, 2005

• The past couple of days have been full. Despite the fact that one of us is always tied to our little abode during the time the repairman is here, we've managed to stay pretty busy.

  
  

  Pille and I had some more time yesterday to work on language. We're meeting a couple of times a week .. on Mondays and Wednesdays. We had stopped our lessons and were just attending our Monday night beginner's class because Pille thought she would be gone for most of the summer working. She's a tour guide to wonderful places like France, Norway, and Spain. For various reasons, her scheduled tours have fallen through, so we are taking advantage of our unexpected time together and getting back to serious work on the language. I'm so thankful to have her here to help me with that (even though she's a ruthless taskmaster ) and she's such a blessing in so many other ways. She is great with Kayli and we all just enjoy laughing and spending time together. I keep telling her that God is keeping her here for my benefit so I won't be too lonely. She's says she's okay with that cause she loves me. Of course! After all, what's not to love???? smile

  
  

  I also had some prayer time with a group of English speaking ladies I've met. Some of them are here in Tartu to carry out some sort of ministry, a couple are married to Estonians and a couple are here for other work purposes. We meet together every other Wednesday evening and just share what's going on in our lives and ministry, then pray for each other. It is a great blessing to have sweet fellowship with women who love the Lord and are willing to listen to the sharing of concerns, hurts, inadequacies and joyful praises for every little step of progress made. We usually meet from about 7:30 p.m. to around midnight. Last night we ended a little earlier and I was home before dark ... about  11:30 p.m.

  
  

  Though we don't have as many sunny days as I'd like and the warm ones are too few as well, we do have light until the wee hours of morning. It never really gets dark, dark ... but the sun goes down close to midnight. By 3:30 a.m. we nearly have daylight flowing in our windows. We brought those little mask thingies to put over our eyes but we just can't seem to get used to them. We just pull the edges of our sheets over our eyes and pretend we are taking an afternoon nap. We know that it will be way too soon before our days are long and dark once again, so we are feeling grateful for the long summer days while we have them.

  
  

  Today Brandi had to take the Mazda to the auto shop for it's annual inspection. They do things so differently here. It cost almost $40 to have it inspected and they gave Brandi a list of repairs needed before the inspection would be finalized. The car is over 12 years old, so you can imagine it's not exactly in tip-top shape. The problem is ... there is only one guy who Brandi can talk to about these particular repairs and he's on vacation. So, he's got an appointment to have it looked at on the 28th of the month. For now, we have this little form that says we are working on getting the car inspected but it's not finished yet. They say it will keep us out of trouble if stopped by the police and we're so glad for that.

  
  

  Got to talk to Jared on 'S.K.Y.P.E.' today. S.K.Y.P.E. is a computer program that allows us to talk to each other for free. That has been a great blessing for our family who have computers and has given us the opportunity to visit more than we would be able to otherwise. Jared and I enjoyed laughing about all the things he's encountered in the Ukraine since his arrival and all the old memories that have come back to him with his new experiences. We talked about the markets, the smells, the foods and the wonderful people. He's having a great time and God is doing great things with him in that ministry. He says he might get to visit us for Thanksgiving and stay long enough to give me a birthday hug on Dec. 1 before returning to his work. We're all excited at the prospect of his visit.

  
  

  Brandi and I have spent a lot of reflection time these past few weeks as we continue to seek God's clear direction for our focus of ministry here. There are so many  needs and no way to meet them all. We are fervently asking for God's vision, as well as, the strength and courage to be His instruments for seeing that vision come to pass.

  
  

  We stand on the promise from Exodus 15:13 that declares:

  
  

  "In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling"

  
  

   

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