Happy Thanksgiving!!!

First, here is an update on a few things that have been going on recently:

Last Wednesday night we had our last Cooking Club.  We made green bean casserole (in honor of Thanksgiving coming up) and homemade Reese’s peanut butter cups.  Once again this was a great time of fellowship.  We had some new women come this week.  Throughout the evening, Eileen was able to share about why we celebrate Thanksgiving and why she and Chris felt led to come to Ufa.  I feel like God used this night to speak to a couple of the ladies. 

Shannon, Kelly, and I were asked to teach 2 English classes at a linguistics school last Thursday night.  We were asked to teach about Thanksgiving.  Shannon and I were together and Kelly taught the other class by herself.  Kelly’s class had older students, but mine and Shannon’s class had 16 kids probably around 10 years old.  Oh my! It was SO much fun.  We explained a little bit about Thanksgiving, and then spent the rest of the time answering all of their questions about everything you can imagine.  …what is your favorite color, do we like fast food, do we have pets, do we have brothers and sisters, who are our favorite actors … etc.  At one point they sang a popular Russian song to us and we sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to them (there aren’t really any Thanksgiving songs, so we skipped to Christmas lol) Shannon and I could not have enjoyed this evening more.  The kids were so precious.  After the kids had left, we had some tea and a small dinner with the other teachers.  This was a lot of fun, and Shannon and I were able to try some more Bashkir foods (they were quite tasty J )   

Side note: We had our first Taxi experience in Russia this night haha  it was interesting

God definitely used this experience to bring me great encouragement and joy.  After this evening, I felt so much joy and peacefulness.  I can’t even begin to explain in words how much I needed that experience. 

Weather Update: The darkness of winter has settled in here.  Much like in Alaska, there are very few daylight hours here right now.  It doesn’t even get bright enough for the streetlights to turn off until at least 10 AM and it is completely dark again by 5:30 or so.  This is making it incredibly difficult to get up in the mornings!  During the day, it is also pretty cloudy all the time, so we rarely get to see the sun.  However, we are very much so enjoying all the beautiful snow!!! Right now we probably have at least a foot of snow built up in most places.  Temps are dropping as well.  For Thanksgiving, the high is supposed to be below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.  Maybe we should have a snowball fight with all the Carr Kids to celebrate such cold temperatures! J  

Speaking of Thanksgiving... as I have said previously, we will have had 3 different Thanksgiving meals by the end of this week.  We had our first Thanksgiving last night.  Shannon, Kelly, and I cooked a traditional Thanksgiving meal (or as close as we could get it with our lack of skills and with what ingredients we could find here) for our classmates last night.  It was so much fun!  I think everyone really enjoyed it!  We were able to have a turkey (I actually carved the turkey!) green bean casserole, rolls, corn, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, a pumpkin roll, and a Russian version of an apple pie.  It was such a wonderful experience to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends of 7 different nationalities! (American, Chinese, Vietnamese, Serbian, Turkish, Peruvian, and Korean)  Overall it was a great night.  We had great food and great friends. We spent the evening talking, playing some songs on guitar, sharing about what we are thankful for.  What a blessing this night was.

At this moment, I am sitting in the Carr’s apartment enjoying Thanksgiving Day with my adopted family here in Russia.  I absolutely love this family and feel so blessed to be able to spend the day with them.  Right now, I can smell a delicious turkey and am watching some of my adopted little brothers play some games on Wii.  If I have to be away from my family for the holiday, this is the best way I can think of to spend the day!

Tomorrow we will be having a joint Men’s and Women’s club to celebrate a traditional American Thanksgiving with the Russians who usually attend the Men’s Club and Women’s Club each month. 

It is hard to believe that we only have 2 and a half weeks left here.  I am very much so ready to see my friends and family again (and sleep in my own bed! lol), but I know that I will miss the people here so much as well.  I know these last weeks will go by so fast.  I am trying to make the most of what time we have left here.

I have had to start trying to plan for what I will do when I get back.  I am thoroughly enjoying planning the fun stuff like seeing everyone, giving everybody their gifts, and going to all of my favorite restaurants and coffee shops, doing all sorts of crafty stuff with my favorite sister and such.  But trying to plan what to do with my life after Christmas is proving to be a bit difficult.  I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for guidance in this area!

Answered Prayers

·         Our cooking club last week went so well! 

·         Teaching an English class was an absolutely amazing experience! 

·         Thanksgiving with our class went extremely well

Prayer Requests:

·         Pray that the men’s and women’s club Thanksgiving celebration will be a great time of fellowship and that we will be able to share about the Gospel through explaining why and how we celebrate Thanksgiving.  Please pray that this will be a joyful time and that Shannon and I will not be missing our families too badly.

·         On Dec. 7^th, our university will be putting on a presentation with some of the language students and all of the international students.  The international students from each different country will be sharing about how their country celebrates New Year’s or Christmas.  Shannon, Kelly, and I are the only Americans so we have decided to share about how we celebrate Christmas.  We are in the planning stage right now, but so far we have decided that we will be singing “The 12 Days of Christmas” and “Mary Did You Know?” and bringing cookies (because you have to leave cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve! J).  We will be able to share about our Christmas traditions.  Please pray that we will be able to follow God’s guidance on how to go about sharing the true reason for Christmas. 

·         As you can see, we are going to be incredibly busy in our last weeks here.  This is a good thing.  I definitely want to make the most of what little time I have left here.  But I would also like to ask that you pray for plenty of rest and limited stress for Shannon and I.  With so much going on, it could be rather easy for us to get worn out and make these last 2 and a half weeks very difficult for us.

Every Christian a World Christian, Part Two

Again, the main habits of a World Christian are:

1. Going
2. Praying
3. Sending
4. Welcoming
5. Mobilizing

We have already looked at Going, Praying and Sending. Today, we will tackle Welcoming and Mobilizing.
Welcoming“Would you mind buying me a study Bible for Christmas…that way I can read and understand?” -Saudi Arabian Student to my father-in-law in his kitchen

America is hosting the largest number of internationals of any country and thus, the world is at our doorstep! More than 650,000 international students and scholars are studying here from 188 countries of the world. What a perfect opportunity to extend God's grace and love to the world, and you don't even have to leave home! The Welcomer gets his name from the idea that he welcomes those from other countries to his country.

The foreigner is close to the Lord's heart. More than forty times in the Old Testament alone we are commanded to care for the foreigner in our land,

"The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God" (Lev 19:34).

"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt" (Deut 10:18-20).

God reminds the Israelites of their past exile in Egypt so that they will be motivated to love the foreigners in their midst, for they once were foreigners. Similarly, we should be reminded of our past, how we were foreigners to God, yet he had mercy on us. Now it’s our turn to have mercy on the foreigners in our midst with the hope of introducing them to the God who created them and who loves them.

Sadly, as available as ministry to international students is to college students, it is sorely overlooked. Did you know that 80% of the internationals on your campus will never be invited into an American home? With high hopes they come to study, but soon realize that the hospitality they are used to in their home countries is just as foreign to the United States as they are. So they live in their isolated community with fellow internationals and eventually return to their homeland. I wonder what they tell their friends about this renowned “Christian nation.”

Anyone can be a Welcomer. All it takes is a little time, energy and a willingness to say hello to a stranger. There is no reason that Christians on campus shouldn't have 2-3 new international friends each semester. As we wander the aisles of Target and pass an international, why not reach out and say “hello”? Can you imagine how the opportunities would increase and the gospel would spread if that were a reality? At the college where I worked, there were 80 students from Saudi Arabia who hung out in their corner of the Student Center. I can remember the first time I took two guys from my Bible study to meet and get to know them. After a few weeks of just saying hello and making ourselves available we became part of the group. We shared the Gospel with about 10 of them during the next year. It’s amazing to think of the hardship I would face should I go to Saudi Arabia and try to do the same thing! Yet here we have complete freedom to share with otherwise unreached people!

The one who welcomes is willing to serve internationals and reach out to them in the hopes that Christ will be glorified. They will see how easy it is to get involved and soon they will be loving internationals and this strategic ministry.

Mobilizing“The business of the recruiting officer may not blazon the pages of history but it wins battles.” - Thomas Richards, 1906

A mobilizer is a normal, everyday Christian who walks with God, yet has a global perspective and stays on the home front to rouse others to action. Anyone who has a vision for the world has at one time been mobilized. Whether someone asked them to go on a short-term trip, invited them to a missions conference, took them to a Bible study on the topic or introduced them to a missionary, somehow they were recruited. In a nutshell, a mobilizer is a recruiter. Mobilizers are out looking for others to enlist in God's agenda with their entire lives. Their focus is on Christians who are unaware of God's global plan and they consistently seek to raise the missions awareness in creative ways, whether it is in a small group or large group setting. Like Habakkuk, they "Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets so that the one who reads it may run" (Hab. 2:2).

Claude Hickman, executive director of The Traveling Team, makes an incredible observation when he says, "Every Christian a World Christian and every World Christian a mobilizer." Think about the awesome potential in that statement. Every Christian would be orchestrating his life around God's heart for the world and fulfilling the Great Commission while at the same time passing on that vision to the new believers and next generation. Unbelievable!

Whether it is just the right missions book or a short video, magazine, agency, prayer profile, or something else, you need to be able to show others resources. I can remember when I was in college gathering my own collection of tools. I labeled a manila folder "Mobilization Resources." Now it fills two filing cabinets! Part of being equipped with resources is being a networker. You will need to know what God is doing and who He is doing it with. I challenge anyone trying to cultivate their mobilization skills to help others collect and learn how to use the resources and material available in missions. As they are collecting and learning this material they are building a confidence that will enable them to teach others.

Every great mobilizer thinks in terms of three areas: motivation, information, and attention. With motivation the key is sharing the missions theme of the Bible and be able to telling your own story in a powerful and concise way. Whether through magazines, books, websites or statistics of the reached versus the unreached, the mobilizer is informed. Beyond motivation and information, mobilizers are also able to give attention. This is bringing the key ingredient of follow up and accountability so that those who enter the pipeline stay in the pipeline.

The mobilizer is key in raising up laborers. It takes a burning heart for the world, yet a willingness to stay at home and recruit others to go. Every World Christian has been mobilized and every World Christian can mobilize others!

So what does this mean?

In the end it is about balance. Take a look at these five habits and ask these questions: What habits can I major in while in this season of life and which should I minor in? What habits are my strongest? Which are my weakest? What are some practical applications I can make regarding each habit to build them into my life? Just like a wheel must be well rounded to work effectively, so the World Christian must carefully watch to see how well-rounded they are. If the Church is to truly reach the world, it will take the enlistment of all believers to be engaged in going, praying, welcoming, sending and mobilizing.

Adapted from thetravelingteam.org.  Please complete the follow-up questions on the next page.

Follow-Up Questions

1. List below the ways you have been a Welcomer, and Mobilizer in the past.

Welcomer

Mobilizer

WELCOMER QUESTIONS

1.       Who do you know who is an international in your community or at your school? List as many people as possible.

2.       How can you be intentional about getting to know two of the internationals you listed above? Write out two different ways to befriend them and establish a relationship with them.

MOBILIZER QUESTIONS

1.       How are you a mobilizer right now?

2.       How could your daily conversations with your friends and family be giving a challenge for others to go on mission?

3.       In what area of mobilization (motivation, information, attention) are you strong?

4.       In what area of mobilization do you think you are weak? How could you work on your weak area(s)?

5.       How will you be a mobilizer in the coming months? List three specific actions you will take to mobilize others for mission.

Every Christian a World Christian, part one

Ingrained in the minds of many Christians is the idea that to be involved in mission work means one thing only: living overseas long-term. This is a limited way to approach missions because it excludes most people from being involved. Even those that go long-term will eventually come home and need to appropriate their vision in another way. If it is an attribute of God to desire the redemption of all nations, then it must be cultivated into every one of His followers as an attribute. That is why it is vital to the Church that other avenues of missions involvement are explored. The following five habits are not to be viewed in terms of "which one is for me?" The idea is that a person who prioritizes God's global plan will do all or most of them.

The main habits are:

1. Going
2. Praying
3. Sending
4. Welcoming
5. Mobilizing

Going“The calling of the missionary to the heathen is a glorious high calling. He who thinks himself above it, ought not to call himself a follower of Christ” – Samuel Mills, 1806

This habit is most commonly associated with missions. In the past and even still today, when someone thinks about missions, going is the most natural association. A definition of the goer is the person physically present, laboring cross-culturally on the mission field. Going may mean a short-term trip or an extended amount of time. Ultimately, the goer is willing to completely immerse himself in an unfamiliar culture with the intention of furthering the Gospel in that culture. The best goers tend to be characterized as innovative, low maintenance, steadfast, and persevere with little fellowship.

In Exodus 3:7-10, God mentions nine different times to Moses that He is concerned with the Israelites and their condition as slaves and is getting ready to bring them into the Promised Land. During this discourse, God makes one reference to Moses himself. Look at Moses' reaction: "But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’" (Ex. 3:11). Doesn’t this sound like us sometimes? Our temptation is to focus on ourselves and our insufficiency! We think there is no way God could want us involved and so many of us never enjoy the blessing of participating. Look at God's reaction; He puts the focus back on Himself in the next verse by saying, "I will be with you" (Ex. 3:12). Before Robert Morrison left to be the first Bible translator in China, someone asked if he really thought he could change the 2,000 year problem of idolatry in China. His response was, "No I don't, but I expect God can." It is not so much about our ability but instead our availability.

I can remember just after I graduated from college, when a friend of mine said, “Hey Todd, come with me to North Sudan to share the gospel with Muslims.” I said, “I am not ready!” He said, “No problem… you’ve got 20 minutes.” What was I waiting for? For some, we assume we have to be pretty close to perfect spiritually before we can move forward. This is paralyzing to so many potential goers who, in reality, would be great cross-cultural workers. As you begin to consider going on a short-term trip, it will be natural for you to look at your abilities (or inabilities) and become discouraged. It is at this point you must be reminded, "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him" (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). In light of this truth we are all overqualified!

Praying"I used to think that prayer should have the first place and teaching the second. I now feel it would be truer to give prayer the first, second and third places and teaching the fourth." - James O. Fraser

Another passage that challenges us to pray for the world is found in Matthew 9:36-38. It says, "When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'" Jesus saw the vastness of lost souls compared to the scarcity of the laborers and He looked to the disciples and said, "Ask." What a powerful image! Not go, or preach, or have a conference, but to ask. It is hard to read this passage and not get convicted about your prayer life. Let's evaluate our own prayer lives and see if we come to God with only our desires or if we are concerned with His. It is said that the average Christian prays 2 minutes a day. I have to say…that could be high! Think about two things: (1) how often do we pray, and (2) what is the content of that prayer? Obviously, we need to pray for ourselves and yes, we need to lift up our family and friends, but God also desires that we join together and intercede on behalf of all nations and beg Him to send forth laborers into the field. What would it take to truly see a prayer movement in your heart of purposeful intercession for the nations that would spill out to your community?

Consider asking three or more of your friends to start a Global Prayer Team.  The booklets are available free from the IMB’s Student Mobilization Team.  You can call 1-800-999-3113 ext. 1363 or email studentteam@imb.org to order.

Sending"Do not think me mad. It is not to make money that I believe a Christian should live. The noblest thing a man can do is, just humbly to receive, and then go amongst others and give." - David Livingstone

The Apostle Paul has an interesting observation: "And how can they preach unless they are sent?" (Rom. 10:15). The unreached do not have a chance at hearing the Gospel if there are not people on the home front funding and praying for those that are going. It is like asking the question, "which is more important – the rescuer who goes down into the well to save a life or the man at the top holding the rope?" You can't have one without the other. There was a principle in Israelite warfare, "The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike" (1 Sam. 30:24-25). Why? Because they are equally important in God's army.

In our culture we think we are entitled to live at whatever standard matches our income. Our reasoning is that since a person makes $80,000 a year they should live at $80,000. When a person gets a raise, their standard of living gets a raise too! But the World Christian should have a different mindset. Maybe when a Christian gets a raise or comes into unexpected financial gain, God intends that person to be a resource for someone else! This thinking is so contrary to American culture.

The responsibilities of a sender are critical to the mission task and the activities are diverse. The most obvious aspect of sending is giving of one's financial resources to support a missionary, but giving is certainly not the only facet of sending. A sender may work in one or all the following specialized roles: logistics, prayer coordination, communications, research, finances, or re-entry coordinator. A specialist in logistics deals with the practical side of sending. They deal with packing the missionary's goods, travel plans, cost and acquirement of items needed on the field. The prayer coordinator can find specific prayer needs based on research, missionaries in the field and missions societies. They are also needed to enlist others in intercessory prayer for the team and organize special prayer meetings. For prayer needs to be known, a communications specialist is enormously helpful. It is their responsibility to open lines of communication to the team so that prayer requests and equipment and other needs are known. Sending is neither glamorous nor easy. The task of dealing with the day-to-day, behind the scenes tasks of mission work may even seem thankless, but it is not without reward.

This is a seemingly difficult habit for young adults to develop because they always feel broke! But the point is not the amount that is given. The point is that they are building a habit of sacrifice. Bill Stearns in his book, Run With the Vision, has a few observations regarding the sender.

“How different are World Christians from other Christians? In some ways, very little. They still spend much of their time doing day-to-day chores, filling their role in life (being a parent, spouse, friend), fulfilling the requirements of a job, fixing things around the house. They too work on character issues in their own life… But in other ways, they are very different. The World Christian uses his free time differently, keeping in mind a global perspective…He spends his finances wisely, freeing up more money for the global expansion of the kingdom. He always envisions how his ministry and activities can somehow result in eventually having an impact in the nations.

Living a World Christian lifestyle as a sender doesn’t mean taking a vow of poverty – since poverty isn’t necessarily spiritual and wealth isn’t necessarily unspiritual. But being good stewards of money as we seek first the Kingdom of heaven is definitely a mark of a World Christian sender…the lifestyle of a globally significant sender isn’t mostly about money. It’s about character.”

I believe Bill is right on the mark. May we say, “Lord, I hold my wallet with an open hand!”

Follow-Up Questions

1.       List below the ways you have been a goer, pray-er, or sender in the past.

Goer:

Pray-er:

Sender:

2.       Are you living any of the five habits right now? Which one(s) and how?

3.       How do you plan to live the five habits? List one specific action you will do for each habit.

4. What are some questions or concerns you have about being a World Christian?

GOER QUESTIONS1. 1

1. How are you a goer right now?

2. How might you be a goer in the future?

3. What would hinder you from going to the mission field in the future?

4. What questions do you have about the World Christian habit of going?

PRAY-ER QUESTIONS

1.       How are you a pray-er right now?

2.       What do you usually pray about? Are your prayer requests usually focused on yourself or on God’s heart for the nations?

3.       Write below a prayer that reflects God’s heart for the nations.

4.       Commit to pray at least once a day for God to send out laborers to the harvest fields among the unreached peoples of the world.

SENDER QUESTIONS

1.    How are you a sender? If you don’t think you are practicing the habit of sending right now, list some ways you could become a sender.

2.       What area of sending most appeals to you (financial supporter, prayer coordinator, logistics coordinator, re-entry coordinator)?

3.       How will you be a sender in the future?

adapted from thetravelingteam.org.

Part two coming soon...

Coming Up Next.... very busy weeks!

I will be posting parts 1 and 2 of an article type thing that has been very impacting for me in the next day or two, but I wanted to give yall an update about what is coming up in the near future first. 

What is coming up:

We are having our Cooking Club tomorrow night (Wed night here, Wed. morning Texas time) Pray that the women who come will be blessed and we will be able to build relationships with them and continue conversations with them.

Shannon and I will be teaching an English class about Thanksgiving on Thursday.  This is a local college (somewhat equivalent to a community college in the States) class so we have to be a little bit careful about what we say, but because the lesson is about Thanksgiving, we are going to try to share about what we are thankful for and slip in a little bit about the Gospel.  Pray that the lesson will go well, that the students will be able to understand us and be interested, and that God will use us to speak to their hearts through this lesson.

Next week Shannon and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving 3 times! :) On Wed. Shannon Kelly and I will be hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for our classmates.  Pray that this will be a great time of fellowship and that we will be able to share about the Gospel through explaining why and how we celebrate Thanksgiving.  On Thursday, Shannon and I will be spending the day with the Carr’s, celebrating with them.  Please pray that this will be a joyful time and that we will not be missing our families too badly. Then on Friday, we will be having a joint Men’s and Women’s club to celebrate a traditional American Thanksgiving with the Russians who usually attend the Men’s Club and Women’s Club each month.  Pray that this will be a special time of blessings for those who attend and that we will all enjoy a great time of fellowship and celebration of how much we have to be thankful for.

On Dec. 7^th, our university will be putting on a presentation with some of the language students and all of the international students.  The international students from each different country will be sharing about how their country celebrates New Year’s or Christmas.  Shannon, Kelly, and I are the only Americans so we have decided to share about how we celebrate Christmas.  We are in the planning stage right now, but so far we have decided that we will be singing a song (possibly O Holy Night or Silent Night) and bringing cookies (because you have to leave cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve! J).  We will be able to share about our Christmas traditions and possibly have the Carr family act out a family opening presents and such on Christmas morning.  Please pray that we will be able to follow God’s guidance on how to go about sharing the true reason for Christmas.  

As you can see, we are going to be incredibly busy in our last few weeks here.  This is a good thing.  I definitely want to make the most of what little time I have left here.  But I would also like to ask that you pray for plenty of rest and limited stress for Shannon and I.  With so much going on, it could be rather easy for us to get worn out and make these last 3 and a half weeks very difficult for us.


Also, I have been working to get any of you who would like to connected with praying for 1 or 2 individuals here on a more personal level.  If you are interested in praying for a specific person here in Ufa, please let me know and I can send you a short bio and some specific prayer requests for an individual. I am hoping to keep this going even after I return to the States through some of the Ms here.  Thanks!

So Many Thoughts...

I have been wanting to post an update, but there are so many things floating through my mind that I can’t seem to formulate a clear enough pattern.  So, I thought I would copy an idea from a friend of mine and post an update of all the thoughts that are going through my head as they come.  So here it is… a peek into my scattered and unorganized mind:

I can’t wait to get my hair cut and highlighted! And have a straightener that works so that I can fix my hair with more than 1 style

It makes me so overjoyed to see Russian people (particularly the elderly people or the people working on busses or trams) happy, smiling, and joking around in a public setting.  It makes my heart so happy.

I can’t wait to see and talk to all my friends and family, but most of all I think I can’t wait to hug everyone!  I have missed my hug-crazed family!

Before now, I have been on the fence about whether or not Christmas-themed things should be played/watched/seen before Thanksgiving…. I am no longer on the fence…. Christmas stuff is great all year long!  I think Christmas music and Christmas episodes of NCIS and seeing Christmas lights on buildings and trees here have warmed my heart in a much-needed way over the last 3 months. 

I excited and nervous about really entering the real world when I get back…

-          What kind of job should I look for?

-          Where should I live?

I have SO many different crafting ideas in my head right now that I would Love to do if only I had the supplies and the free time.

Exactly 1 month from right now I will be in London for debrief and then 3 days later I will be headed home.

-          I am completely torn about this…. I want to go home and see everyone SOOOOO badly, but I am going to miss everyone here when I leave….

I really really hope I can keep learning Russian when I go home.

-          I really wish I understood more grammar rules!

Leal’s sounds SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good right now!!  I miss their queso like no other! Lol

I can’t wait to watch all those cheesy Lifetime Christmas movies with my mom (and annoy Ashley and dad to death! J )

I really wish I could play the piano

I just started looking at Pinterest… part of me is really excited, and part of me is really mad that this is going to use up so much of my free time…

Sometimes I wish my conscience would let me go to bed without setting an alarm and sleep peacefully until whenever I happen to wake up.

I have been eating Way too much chocolate and sweets during my stay in Russia… but that really doesn’t bother me too much

I’m going to have to start running again…. But I’ll wait until After Christmas.

Forgiveness is such a wonderful thing! I can’t believe how much God has taught me about forgiveness and patience over the past 3 months.

More than anything, I can’t wait to worship my Savior in Heaven.

-          There are so many people that I desperately hope to see in Heaven someday, but right now I know they wouldn’t be there…

UNC’s first basketball game of the season starts in about 7 hours!!! J

Its 11/11/11!  - I have had an alarm set to go off at 11:09 on this day for at least a year and a half so that I would be able to make a wish at 11:11.  I don’t have my phone with me, but I still managed to make a wish this morning, and I’m definitely going to be watching the clock closely tonight as well J

I am so thankful for the service men and women who have served and are serving to protect our freedom.

I have so many books on my “To Read” list.

This trip would have been so much harder if it weren’t for the Carr family and their willingness to adopt Shannon and I into their family

I am so excited to cook chocolate chip muffins, cheesecake brownies, bleeny, and whatever else I learn to cook during my time here.

Someday I truly hope that I get to visit Moscow and/or St. Petersburg with the lovely Casey Brazell.

My time here has flown by so quickly.

I don’t really like tea that much, but living in Russia has made me want an electric kettle.  Those things are Awesome!

It is not nearly as cold here as I was expecting.  Yay for preparing well enough for the weather here!

Can I please have a craft room in my future house!?!

I don’t know what I’m gonna do with myself when I don’t have to walk up 10 flights of stairs a day and I won’t have to leave my house 30 mins before I have to be somewhere

I probably shouldn’t be thinking about going home so much, because I really don’t want to spend this last month fighting homesickness. 

I wish I had a better eye for photography, and that it was less awkward to carry around a camera and take pictures of everything I see.

I hope I will never forget anything about my time here in Ufa.

This will be the first time I have not been home for Thanksgiving with my family.

Chex mix would be awesome right now.

I find myself often wishing that I could know exactly how God is using me to affect each person’s life.  I trust His plan and feel so blessed to be used to accomplish that plan, but it can be hard when you don’t get to see the results very often.

Well, there ya go… I hope through that mess of thoughts you can see a little of what is going on right now and perhaps you will be encouraged to pray for my sanity with all that going through my mind. J

Shannon and Rachel Went to Moscow!

Shannon and I were able to spend a few days in Moscow for our vacation last week!  We had such a great time!  Some friends of Chris’ were out of town for the weekend and were kind enough to allow us to stay in their apartment.  Here is a summary of what we did:

Thursday:

Our first morning in Moscow, we decided to walk around our area and do some general exploring on our own.  We saw some pretty cool sights and found a really cool park along the way.  There was a Mcdonalds and a Starbucks right next to the metro stop that was about 5 minute walk from our apartment.  So, of course we had to visit both!  We were able to navigate the metro by ourselves as well and made it to Arbat St. on our own with no problem.  This is a big souvenir area.  There are a ton of shops that sell traditional Russian souvenirs all along this street.  We did some great shopping and were able to buy nearly all of the gifts we hope to give to friends and family back home.  In general, we spent this day just enjoying the city and the fact that we were in Moscow.  Later we met up with a friend of Shannon’s who is studying in Moscow this semester.  We, of course, spent some time in Starbucks (and enjoyed the Christmas music they were playing!), and we ate dinner at Wendy’s.  After this, we walked through a great Russian bookstore(it was SO hard not to buy anything!).  Then we spent some time relaxing and hanging out at our apartment. (This was our vacation after all J)

Friday:

Friday morning, Shannon and I were able to navigate the metro to find the Kremlin, but we could not see how to get across the street.  But in the process of trying to find a crosswalk, we also found the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and a great bridge to take pictures on!  Eventually we figured out how to cross the street and made it to the Kremlin, bought our tickets to enter (So thankful for student prices! J our tickets cost the equivalent of about 3 dollars).  Shannon and I walked around the inside of the Kremlin and Cathedral Square.  This is a very beautiful place with some amazing architecture and gorgeous views.  We met up with Tyler and a friend of his, and walked around the corner to St Basil's Cathedral!!! This has to be my personal favorite!  I loved it!(as many of you can probably tell by how may pictures I took and uploaded to Facebook)  We ate lunch at a Russian type restaurant that was delicious.  We saw a little bit of Red Square (part of it was closed)  We tried to visit a souvenir fair that is in a park, but it was a little too late in the day so everyone was already packing up.  However, while we were trying to figure out how to get there we walked through a very nice park.  We ate at Chili’s for supper that night.

Saturday:

We decided to go back to Old Arbat to get our last few souvenirs (and Shannon and I just really liked that area).  We had a delicious snack at Cinnabon and walked around for a while.  We ended up heading back to our area of town and enjoyed one last trip to Starbucks.  We ate dinner at TGI Fridays and Shannon and I shared a chicken alfredo. Oh My Word it was Amazing!!!  (I realize it sounds like we ate at a lot of American restaurants, but really it has been 3 months since we’ve even had the opportunity to eat at these places and we’ve missed them! J ) Our last few hours before heading to the airport were spent going to the store just to get M&Ms and then trying to catch them in our mouths from down the hallway.

It was an Amazing trip!  Shannon and I were able to see so many things that we have both wanted to see for many many years.  And we were also able to relax and enjoy a few days of vacation.  I very much so hope that I get to come back some day and see even more of Moscow someday.