Family Picture: Take One

Last year, Grace Community Church produced a missionary calendar so that members could have a reminder to be praying for their missionaries. This year we were told by Outreach to get a family picture ready because they plan on doing the same thing for next year! This is really exciting but not so exciting trying to capture that perfect picture. For one thing, I highly recommend that you don't try to get a good picture right before leaving for church. I also recommend that if you are running late for church already that you do not attempt this either. For some reason both boys get super silly when we try to get a picture. You think that Josiah would cooperate now that he is older but actually it is worse that he is older. He knows exactly what to do to push our buttons. Nathan just copies everything he does. It is also not recommended that you have a friend take your pictures while at church, even though this helps to keep you accountable from blowing up at your children, you can find yourself threatening them with their lives.....of course not out loud but in a strict whisper. We finally did get a decent picture even though we weren't totally happy with it but it will have to do.

I was having fun on Picnik editing these pictures. I am not super crazy about editing pictures because sometimes I think people get a little out of hand but I had some extra time so I thought I would give it a try.




Self-timer pictures take forever. My husband, the perfectionist, always likes to test the pictures out first. Let's just say that for the sake of our marriage I better not make any more comments about this one.

Tea Time

I don't like tea. Actually, I don't even like hot drinks in general but I love, love, love to buy tea! Lately I have been skipping the tea aisle so I can flee temptation because when I see a new kind of tea I have to buy it.

This is my latest purchase. (I had to buy it for a meeting)


This is my tea collection.


This is green tea and Russians love to drink it. They say it is very healthy for you.

Fall Is Here

Saved By Grace

Pictured on the left side is a former Russian Orthodox priest. One day he came home and told his wife that he could no longer pray to the icons. Those convictions got stronger and then the Lord was gracious to save him! He happened to be at Central Church sharing his testimony on the morning of the conference. He didn't even know about the conference but decided to stick around. Jon and the other leaders sat up front during the conference and Jon says that every time he looked down into the audience he could see him listening intently to all the messages.

Preacher's Conference Part II

During the preacher's conference Jon had the opportunity to drive John Piper to and fro! He also served as John Piper's personal bodyguard. Needless to say Jon was super excited about his responsibilities!

Preacher's Conference Part I

Every year the Central Church hosts a preacher's conference. This year we had the privilege of having John Piper as the main speaker. At last year's conference there were about 375 men, this year there were close to 700 men! This is an incredible number of attendees for us. About 100 men didn't even register and just showed up. Needless to say many men slept on thin mattresses in a couple of churches because there was no where else for them to stay. The theme of this year's conference was "Preaching Christ". All the preachers who attended were greatly blessed by the preaching and by all the free books and audio cds and dvds they received.

Josiahisms

The other day Josiah's clone troopers were having a conversation. It went like this:
Clone Trooper "A" asking his fellow Clone Trooper a question: "Are you an Israelite?"
Clone Trooper "B" "Yes, are you from Israel"
Clone Trooper "A" answers: "Yes, I'm the new king"

As a side note you may want to know that we are currently learning about the kings of Israel.

Topiary

We kicked off our craft time this semester with a big hit! Heather put together this month's craft and everyone loved it. The wives had a great time putting together their beautiful craft. A couple of the women weren't able to make it to this event and when they saw the pictures on my Facebook account they were so disappointed about not being there!!! I think that each individual topiary turned out beautiful. Unfortunately, most of the supplies can't even be found here in Russia. Heather brought it all from Canada making this a real special craft.

"Russian School"

This year we decided to put Josiah and Nathan in a program offered at the Central Church. It is called "leetsay", which is basically a prep program for school and it is all in Russian! Nathan has classes on Saturday from 10 am to 12 noon. Josiah goes on Tuesday evenings and Saturdays from 10 am to 1 pm. Josiah absolutely loves it but Nathan still isn't too sure. He is actually too young for the program but they are letting him participate. Nathan's classes include Bible, craft, music, and physical education. Josiah's classes include math, Bible, drawing, music, physical education, Russian grammar, Russian speech, science, and I may be forgetting one or two. The positive thing is that the boys are hearing the Russian language. I have noticed that Josiah has been using some Russian words lately so this is definitely a plus!!!

Baptism Sunday

Not too long ago there was a baptism at our church. Anya and Alexey were baptized Anya is a teenager and the Lord saved her through one of the annual summer camps. Her parents are not believers but she is very faithful to be at church on Sundays and seeks to serve in any way she can. Alexey was a drug addict until the Lord saved him from this awful lifestyle. His wife left him because of the drug abuse and even when he came to know the Lord she still didn't want anything to do with him. They have a little boy and Alexey gets to spend some time with him every once in a while.

Some little facts about baptism in the Russian Baptist Union (the denomination that we work with)
- most churches don't have a baptismal. Often times people are baptized in rivers. Our church has a portable baptismal made out of wood!
- one can not be baptized until 1 year after their salvation
- one can not take communion until they are baptized

Bed Contents

Since Josiah has started sleeping on the top bunk he has slowly accumulated "treasures" to sleep with. Jon had to put his foot down and tell him no more.
Let's start from left to right : his pillow, Nemo, Mickey Mouse, a plastic magnifying glass, 6 of his Star Wars Galactic Heroes figures, Woody, the Pooh Bear he has had since 2 months, a blue pillow he took from my bed, a pillow that Jon's grandma made for Jon when he was a little boy, a "softy" that I bought intended for Nathan which Nathan rejected and so Josiah made it his own (he covers Nemo, Mickey,Pooh, and Woody with it), his Pooh Bear blanket made by his great aunt Carolyn, and a quilt that he stole from our sofa!!!