Days Like These

Studying: 1 Thessalonians 1-5
Memorizing: Romans 1:1-20
Thoughts: Good

I'm tired. No, very tired. Today is one of those days when my brain feels like oatmeal. It was encouraging in many respects but exhausting at the same time.

This day began with my Russian lesson. It went very very well, one of the better ones I've had in a long time. Lately the light has been clicking on more and more in my head about this language. I'm finally starting to have productive conversations with people. After the lesson we all left to go do one of my new projects I've been working on. On Thursday afternoons I now teach 4 ministry students how to read music and sing, all in Russian. Last week was the first time and things got started very well. This week went very well too. While this is a really hard thing to do at first, I think it's going to pay off in the end. It's forcing me to speak and use the language like I've never had to do since I've been here, mainly having to speak extemporaneously. I do a lot of preparation to get words and phrases down, but overall I have to be read to listen and respond to questions. The results are encouraging thus far. The students are actually learning to read music and I'm actually learning to speak Russian! It's great how that comes together.

After the class we had a regular doctor's appointment for Isaiah, our son. Don't worry, everything is okay, it was just a regular 2 year checkup with a local doctor. There's a very westernized clinic here in SP named "MEDEM" where we usually take him. The clinic has modern things like lights and running water and stuff (just kidding). But seriously, the place is on par with any hospital in the U.S. The pediatrician we see is Dr. Olga Glukhova and she's really great at her job, very gentle caring and friendly to boot. We got to know her pretty well several months ago when Isaiah went through a bout with 3 back-to-back urinary tract infections. It was nice to go visit her without being under stress.

We made it home at almost 9PM and put Isaiah down to sleep. Now we're relaxing and letting our brains settle. So I'm tired, but for some reason days like this just remind me of how deeply the Lord is caring for us. He is really helping us to learn this language and at the same time giving us an opportunity to minister through it. He has provided such great care for Isaiah here and has relieved much of the emotional strain we were under for so long.

So pray for our perseverance. Pray that we will not become content where we are with our Russian. Our desire is to master it not simply be able to speak it enough to get by.