Remembering

That's what I'm doing a lot of these days, as always happens when I return from a trip; remembering.

Mostly people of course, and mostly the five kiddos pictured above.

(Don't we all look fine in our tye-die? :)

Scott accompanied mom, dad, and I on the overnight train ride back to Kiev, and I love the wonderful time we had together with him before leaving! I also got some pretty awesome pictures of him and I but I will refrain from posting them because when you're a dignified missionary, some pictures just need to be kept in the family. Heh.

Scott and Oksy, thank you SO MUCH for the delightful visit we had with you and the kids! Thanks for being people that I can look up to and emmulate. Thanks for making it so special for us. You guys are amazing.

So now I'm back in Massechusets, waking up to the sounds of surf and gulls, fallings asleep on Miss Elisabeth's lap (wait shouldn't that be reversed? I'll chalk it up to jet lag...) ...And enjoying life where God has me.

Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God. Jim Elliot said that. It's really easy to do when you're enoying a foreign country or doing exciting things. The rub comes when you're back home, livin' the grind, doing the predictable daily life things. I've been encouraged by reading in Oswald Chambers' profound book, My Utmost For His Highest, to live the private life of a saint. Worship God in private. Meditate on HIM in the quiet moments He gives me. Concentrate on HIM as the focus of my life; the sphere around which every other thought, action, and attitude revolves.