Thursday, September 27, 2007
Staying afloat...
There's no ONE individual thing that's too much right now, but the conglomeration of things is like being dunked under water over and over again. There's the opportunity to breathe in some air in between the dunking, but not quite enough that you really feel like swimming.
Guess I should thank Will for dunking me under water so often as a kid.
Be praying - we can use it.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Wedding Poem
Wedding Day
~For Amy and Jeff
Scattered one to the Masaii, swirling up
Between spear and red cloth,
And one to the Russian,
Resting between beet soup and nesting dolls,
and yet, what strong Hand brought them together,
holding them in the tightest grip,
though blown by every wind,
across years, across continents?
There is wonder in this mysterious
Coming together—a girl running radiant in the direction of God,
Persevering, her head held up like a giraffe
Alone on the plains of
And this boy, all balance and rhythm,
All energy and hope,
Knowing she’s out there somewhere.
And the Lord releases His breath,
Sends the two where He knows they will find one another.
And recognize they have found a place to rest.
They take root, first in him, and then each other,
And a new thing is made—
Something no language can describe
And no border can contain.
The Lord Himself is their dwelling place
And on the beauty of this day,
They hold each other, exchange vows, become one,
And just as the dandelion, a singular thing, expands out
Signifying wonder
May your love together overflow and
Bring many to know the
One who caught you first in His Hand.
Napping is good for you!
I think perhaps this post is inspired by the fact that Amy and I get up 2-3 mornings a week at 4:40am for her to get to work on time... we're both tired. When I actually get up, I'm really okay... but sometime in the afternoon the desire for a nap is only broken by the consumption of caffeine.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Who I Am in Christ
I know for me that the consumerist mindset has a really strong pull. I just want to have it because other people have it and it's cool. Sometimes, that's okay. I love music and an iPod is an excellent music player. Mine is 2 or 3 years old. I do NOT need a new one. But I want one. Who am I?
Body image is a big part of American culture. God was really good to me in Russia and I lost 35 lbs. And I've gained 10 back here in the States. It's a struggle for me because I'm worried about what I look like (and how I feel). I want to be healthy, but I struggle sometimes with the motivation... do I want to BE healthy or just LOOK healthy. How ridiculous. Who am I?
Neil T. Anderson has written several books and one of them is all about identity. I haven't read it actually, Amy has though - and the truths are summarized in a list of identity statements from the Bible. I've linked to them through this post and hope that it encourages you.
Sometimes I really need a solid reminder of Who I Am.
Monday, September 24, 2007
I've added an RSS Feed
If you don't know what an rss feed is, here's a definition:
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) It is a web technology that allows you to subscribe to content on the web. So now, you can subscribe to automatically receive updates from my blog if you use an RSS feed reader (I suggest using Google Reader).
Basically, you can read any posts that I make to my blog by adding this link http://infoczar.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default to your rss reader and you'll automatically keep up with me!
The family tree
She's learning the names of all the family members now. So she made a family tree to describe everyone to her class... She ended up taping 6 pieces of paper together to get her family on one sheet! If I'm remembering correctly there's 6 siblings in her dad's family (all married with kids) and 3 in her mom's.
Incidentally it was good for me too. That's a lot of people to meet and remember.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
life outside the bubble
It started when I realized I was spending almost all my time at church, at youth group, working on becoming a missionary. I was living my life completely inside the 'Christian' bubble.
That is NOT where life is to be lived. So I made a decision to try and live my life outside the bubble.
Ironically, living in Siberia (or Kenya) or wherever God leads is certainly living outside the bubble of my comfort zone.
So - here goes continually living life outside the bubble.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Evan Almighty
Just goes to show that making goals in your life really does have purpose... once upon a time, I thought my goal and purpose in life was to make at least one person smile or laugh a day... it's a good aim, don't you think?
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Home Renovations
We really want to be together as much as possible (I think that's what happens when you're on different continents for 11 months), so we're doubled up sometimes when we run errands or just try to get things done (like going to the grocery store).
Well, we just had to separate. I can't really help her do her Russian homework... I kinda get in the way a little bit and help too eagerly... she has to do it by herself to learn. So I headed off to Lowe's and bought the hardware to install new handles on our screen doors. I only messed up one door!
So now we can get in and out of the house easily! Yes! We've been going in and out of the garage door for nearly three weeks...
... I've already become one of those husbands who fall behind in home projects.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Speaking before Presbytery
It was wonderful to share with them the story of how we met, Amy shared about her time in Kenya, I gave an update about what's been going on in Russia, AND they spontaneously prayed for us. It was really great. Amy & I have both been feeling the pressure and stress of being too busy and trying to figure out how to prioritize a bit better. We're learning how to do it, but it's taken a bit of a toll as we've been trying to figure it all out.
Friday, September 14, 2007
First Russian Grades
The test was about 5 pages long and had everything from listening comprehension, grammar, speaking, and vocabulary.
That's it. I'm really proud of her and how diligently she's dedicated herself to learning Russian.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Русский Чай - Russian Tea
I hope we're able to keep going - it was really great practice!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Frenetically paced
I had a small freak out moment last night. I'm not really sure why, but I was just FULL of stress. Usually when I'm stressed (which isn't that usual) I know the cause. So it was interesting to try and figure out what the cause was.
We sat down last night and wrote out a list of the priorities that we have for our time in the states. Hopefully this will help us to just be focused on what we need and want to be doing with the year. It is really daunting to be: husband, wife, student, employee, employer, son, daughter, friend, mentor... We're feeling pulled in all directions and trying to be true to our hopes to establish our marriage as our top priority this year.
Your prayers are welcomed!
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Early mornings
The University of Michigan has started classes and Amy is enrolled (well, will be soon) in the first year Intensive Russian language program. This means that Amy's job had to fit in with her class schedule. And when you have class from 11am - 1pm everyday (and 3 hours of conversation practice to fit in too, along with at LEAST 20 hours of homework a week) you end up working the early morning shift.
So we rise before the sun. We rush around for about 20 minutes or so, Amy drinks a quick cup of living life (coffee) and I pack a quick lunch for each of us. She reads her Bible and I try to get my hair to stop sticking up. You'd think a man with as little hair as me wouldn't have a problem with that in the morning. Within a blink of the eye our time together in the morning is over and it's "to the bat mobile!" The 3 miles to campus usually takes 15-20 minutes in the morning, but this early... it's about 8 minutes. There are a few cars on the streets, but mostly is just us.
So this means that I'm at work 2.5 hours before most everyone else. It's been quite nice because I get SO much accomplished in the first couple hours of the day. I think maybe that I'm annoying to my colleagues, because I have a bit too much energy by 8am and they haven't even seen coffee yet!