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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Vienna waited for me

I spent two semesters living and studying in Vienna back in 1984 and 1987 through a program with the Duke Wind Symphony. I made lifelong friends with the students and our director, and I got to know and love the city dearly. It, like St. Petersburg, is a cultural center. In fact, I spent the summer of 1987 in Leningrad (now Petersburg), and almost immediately turned around and spent the fall in Vienna.

So it was ironic that the first city we would go to from Petersburg was Vienna. Our agency has a conference almost yearly for all staff in Europe in a different location. This year Sopron, Hungary was choosen. We and the kids decided to fly in and out of Vienna (less than an hour away) and get in a little bonus vacation time on either side (though only 1 and 2 days, respectively).

So some pictures are in order:

Our first breakfast was at a classic Viennese restaurant that the lady at the hostel suggested to us. Turn of the century feel with Strauss waltzes in the background, and cheap but great food.









Afterwards, we saw strolled through downtown and just had to get some ice cream right outside St. Stephen's Cathedral. Kerith is so tickled because we didn't even get lunch.











After another long hike past many a historical site, nothing but fountain water (literally) from a monumental source in the city park would hit the spot.






At the end of the week, we came back through with our teammates, the O'Byrnes. Here you see us crashing in the Volksgarten after yet another long hike through the city. It was a glorious and invigorating crash, though.











Diana and I had to pose and look couple-y too.








They had an incredible playground at Schonbrunn.

Lyle flew a bird.


The best part of the whole time was the protracted opportunities for informal, fun, and simple social times getting to know better and bond with the O'Byrne's. We are so glad that God put us together with them, and amazed at how well He paired us.

Here we are just shooting the breeze over some great Austrian food at a hidden local joint that the same hostel worker sent us to. On point!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Educational About-face

I came here certain that we still needed to homeschool our kids. We both have strong convictions about that subject, so the only remaining question was how to get them into the culture to learn the language, etc. It didn't take me long to realize that playing on the playground is good, but an excruciatingly slow process, particularly for the boys, who aren't as outgoing as Lydia.

Diana had already been thinking a lot about sending the boys to a local school part-time, but I was not comfortable with the idea. Then we found out through my new close associate here, Pastor Sokolov (I need to do an entry on the great things God is doing there) that their church has a Christian school, and it sounded like a possible fit.

We met this week with the director.
They have only 2 slots left in their kindergarten (In Russia kindergartens are up to age 7) and our boys would round out the class of 10. We asked many questions about the routine, instructors, curriculum, etc, and were pleased with the answers. We can also pretty much "write our own ticket" in terms of how long the boys stay each day and how many days each week they attend! Some children stay from 9 am - 6 pm! We would only have the boys participate in the morning activities and perhaps not every day. It is affordable for us as well. In a word, we could hardly ask for more.

We told them "yes" today, and we really feel good about it.
Our goal is for the boys to get a good foundation in Russian, make some friends, and begin to get inside the culture they are called to serve. I'm actually excited about how it will transform them and give Diana and Lydia a great chance to catch up on some things that Lydia is behind on.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Faith and finding a home

The last time we looked at moving was nearly 12 years ago. Not only were our needs vastly different from what they are now, we were vastly different people. Now I am growing in my understanding that a home is more than finding a fit between finances, the amenities, and desire. I’m beginning to see that in every aspect of the process of settling on a home, there is a spiritual dynamic. Allow me to process this question “out loud,” as it were, with you.

How we search. In the very process of searching for a new home, there are spiritual dynamics. How much do we “pound the pavement” vs. let our contacts (including friends, Realtors, and e-groups) bring them to us? The question isn’t how passive to be, as though God were going to do it all for us without effort. It’s just that there comes a point when effort becomes fretting because of the deadline to find something or fear that nothing will materialize. Maybe I can say that we need to not leave any stone unturned that lies in the path that God has us on. We need discernment about the path so we don’t bother with stones that are outside it.

What we need. It goes without saying by now that we aren’t here in Russia to live high on the hog, or even really nicely. We don’t even struggle, in principle, with the truth that we want only to have in a home that which God wants us to have. For example, would we like to live in a cool, 19th century building with parquet floors and high ceilings? You bet, and there are a ton of them around in the center of the city. But they can be expensive too, and may have other detractors, so we have laid that one down as a goal. A harder one is how much green to have nearby. Not merely are parks esthetically pleasing, but, more importantly, they are a place for the kids to play, since they have to give up a yard moving here. Or do they? Should we look for an actual free-standing house so we can also be able to host better?

Here’s a more fundamental question: how much do we predetermine vs. decide when we have an option on the table? No doubt you will say, “you have to start with your non-negotiables.” I assure you, even those are very hard to determine. About all we can say there is:

  1. it has to have 4 rooms or more;
  2. it has to be affordable within our budget.

Other variables include:

  • location in the city
    • near a metro or not
    • near our teammates or not
    • near the center or not
    • near a park or not
  • to purchase or rent

Interestingly enough, we are both in agreement about a preference for being near a metro, our teammates, in the center, near a good park. We have not yet come to agreement about purchasing, as this has its own highly complex implications.

Moreover, we were able to come to agreement to pursue one home we saw (see my last post) that was for sale because as a package deal, we could see that it was a good choice for us, even though it was missing some of our preferences.

The spiritual implications are in how much we limit our field of vision in faith that God is calling us to x, y, or z, or do we trust God to provide the home that we can receive in faith, despite whatever it’s apparent limitations?

What we believe. Each of these paths implies a certain conviction about who God is and how He works in our lives. Does God want to bless our socks off with a home that not only testifies to His hand on us and so that we can have a place where we can settle in for the long haul? Many stories have I heard about missionaries who lived a Spartan and supposedly incarnational lifestyle to be like the locals but who didn’t last long because it was too hard for them. One non-negotiable for me is that Diana has to be at peace with the final decision. She is struggling with how much God wants to challenge her to let go of the desires of her heart to serve Him single-mindedly. She desires green, but is it an idol? I don’t think so. A partial answer, it seems to me, is that God constructed her to revere beauty and nature, but He may have creative ways of providing the green.

The more I write, the more I am coming to the conclusion that the more questions we have, the more we need to let God do the leading instead of us determining the outcome ahead of time. My theme verse of late has been, “I will lead the blind in the way they do not know.” Isaiah

God will show us the home. He has it prepared in advance for us. This much I know.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Apartment hunting

Our current apartment is close to perfect for our needs (see pics), so we we're wondering how God is going to work out our permanent location. This temporary place has three large bedrooms, is fully furnished, and is in the old city, not too far from our teammates, the O'Byrnes.
They even have a bunch of videos to keep us from getting too homesick and exercise e
quipment. The ceilings are really high, and the building has a lot of character, being well over a hundred years old.



We have had very little success so far in even being able to look at other options. A search through the papers and online has gotten us nowhere.

Most folk do things here the old fashioned way, by word of mouth. Trouble is, word has only found us one place, and it is for sale, but it is a very interesting option.

This new possibility is a 3-bedroom place being vacated by much older missionaries who have been here since '92 and are either leaving the city or the country - haven't decided. Their heart is to bless another missionary couple by selling it below market value without the use of a Realtor to save fees, etc. We're talking about $32,000 off the street value here.

We had looked into buying an aparment several months back, but it didn't go anywhere, and our current temporary option came up as a perfect solution that would allow Diana to be a part of the decision-making process when we got around to finding something permanent. So, what about this apartment for sale?

Pluses: The apartment is extremely well maintained and fixed up to nearly US standards. It looks very attractive inside, and all the furniture (very nice stuff) conveys. There are two balconies that can be used for plants, extra storage space, and/or fixed to be additional living space (like an office). The grounds are nice, and very large, with lots of grass and nice play equipment for the kids. This is almost unheard of here in the center of the city.

Minuses: It's not in the center, which is a bummer from the perspective of aesthetics. The buildings in the city center are SO cool. Those buildings out there look like the Soviet Union. It's also further from our teammates, making community with them harder.

Moreover, how are we going to pay for it? The price is almost what we sold our house in VA for, and loans are really tough to find here. (Our house in VA has yet to close, by the way.) Ideal would be a generous benefactor(s). Second best would be a group of folk who partner together to offer us a private loan. This has been done with some other missionaries, so I'm looking into this now.

I welcome all comments and ideas.

August 9th update: I called today to talk about buying the apartment, and it has already been claimed. The general impact on me has been a strengthening of my resolve to buy if the Lord will make it possible.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

We have lived in our new home for almost a week now. Our comfort zones are widening as we explore and experience life in St. Petersburg. Coming home from a visit to outside of the city today, our temporary apartment started to feel like a home base. What more have we learned this past week? Here’s a recap:

Shopping. Our teammate, Priscilla, and I (Diana) visited the farmer’s market, called the Ree` nok, in the city center on Saturday. Markets of other cultures are some of my favorite places, and this was no exception. I enjoy browsing the fresh produce, cheeses, and spices. Prices were a bit lower than in the large “Okay” grocery store. Priscilla steered me through the bustling crowds and narrated her experiences. This was invaluable, since I had no idea which “fruit lady” has the best reputation. I was pleased that my Russian was good enough to make purchases, but Priscilla was there to bail me out when I got stuck on anything more than simple transactions.


The Internet. Lyle had a true Russian experience this weekend in trying to get Internet hook up at the apartment. He took along Lydia and Kerith for the Metro rides with the intent of visiting the DSL store to pay up the account and get it activated. Of course, it wasn’t that simple. The Metro line was closed for 3 stops, which he didn’t know until he arrived at the station. No problem, just go around the closed stations with a few extra rides, and then it will be all smoothed out. Right? Wrong. After a very circuitous route, my three heroes found the store, but it was closed! The bright spot of the journey was a huge container of wild raspberries purchased to keep hungry tummies happy. The price? About $2.50. In the US, the same amount would sell for no less than $10.

Kids. Lydia has now played twice with a girl, Nastia, who she met at the nearby playground. This pleased Lyle and I greatly, and makes Lydia feel that “Russia isn’t so bad.” Today (Tuesday) she met a few more girls on our outing to the country when we visited a Russian pastor and his family. Lydia is very motivated to speak, and her good ear with music helps her with proper Russian pronunciation.

Kerith and Simon just play with kids. It doesn’t seem to matter to them that there is a language barrier. Simon walked right up to a boy at a park on Friday and asked, “Why don’t you speak English”? Kerith is good about saying “thank you” and “good-bye” in Russian, and, in fact, he picks up on many words and surprises us later by translating at the dinner table.


Outing to the country. On Tuesday we tackled the Metro as a family on our way to visit the Igor Sokolov family. It’s about a 25-minute walk to the Metro station from our apartment, but the stroll allowed us to see another part of the city and enjoy the many beautiful buildings and canals. After a few station stops, Igor met us with his van for the rest of the trip to his house.

Igor and Angela have three lovely girls, the eldest 11 and the youngest 3 ½. Lyle had met Igor in VA at a coaching conference and then again when he visited St. P in March. I have been looking forward to meeting this family since then. We had a wonderful visit and found many similarities in values and goals, including education and ministry. It’s exciting to see how God has brought us into relationship and where He will lead.