Tomorrow's plans

Dan and I are both still recovering from pretty bad colds. We're both sniffling less and coughing more now. Tomorrow is a long day at church - Dan will preach in the morning service (10am-noon) and then I will speak at the afternoon youth service (2-4pm). Services here tend to run longer and involve quite a bit more standing than services in America, which added to the fact that everything is in a second language makes for a tiring day when you're feeling under the weather. It's also our last Sunday in Russia this year, which is always a very bittersweet feeling.

As always, time has flown by. We have found that while we really missed having our own apartment to live in, it was also a gift to spend so much time with both Kostya & Luda, here in Ekaterinburg, and Ilya & Anya and their children in Chelyabinsk. Living for several weeks with people leads either to bonding or a severe case of getting on one another's nerves - or both. I hope - and trust - we had more of the former than the latter. Living with people also means you learn a lot more about the ins and outs of daily life in a different culture. I know much more about how Russians handle babies than I did before, for example, after living with Ilya & Anya last month. Or, perhaps I just know more about how Ilya & Anya handle their baby... which is, of course, the problem - distinguishing cultural norms from individual idiosyncrecies. Which should make you wonder... what do people here think is "normal" for Americans after spending so much time with Dan & Lucy!

I digress, though. Please pray that tomorrow goes well, our voices hold out, our translators understand us, and that we have enough energy to say our goodbyes well.

As an update - our documents for the new apartment should be in on Monday morning, according to our lawyer in Chelyabinsk. We pray there are no more mistakes! Ilya plans to travel to Ekaterinburg on Tuesday so that he and Dan can go to the notary and get a formal power of attorney for him. We leave very, very early Wednesday morning. As always, we're cutting it close!

Pictures are harder here in Ekaterinburg because our internet connection is slower. But many more will be posted on Facebook and here when we get home, if not before.

Thanks for praying!