A Tale of Two Brothers

Cain and Abel, we've all heard the story of one brother killing the other brother. But why, why did he do it? The Bible mentions that Cain didn't place God first in his life. You can see that in the way that he didn't bring God the first and best of his crops, "in the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord" (Gen. 4:3) Where Abel brought the Lord part of his firstborn, well how did it make Cain look? Abel immediately thought of God and of thanking him, where Cain eventually came around to thanking him. So what happens, Cain became jealous of Abel because the Lord looked on Abel's offering with favor.

It's amazing that even though God warned Cain of Satan seeking him out and trying to make him sin, he still didn't pause and take a look at his actions. Instead, he invited his brother out to the field and killed him. He killed him! God told him, "But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." -Genesis 4:7

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding...there it is for you Cain! God laid it out for you! Plan and simple. God straight up warned him, and he didn't even stop and listen. Wow. It makes me wonder when God Himself has said the same words to me, and I've ignored them? Why didn't I listen to His still small voice?

For Cain, he didn't listen because he was angry and had a bad attitude and was jealous of his brother.

Why didn't I listen?

Of course, I haven't killed one of my brothers, but what sin could've been avoided and mastered if only I'd listen to the Father?

Ruth

I want to be like Ruth, I want to believe so strongly in my beliefs and convictions that I would be willing to walk away from not only my family and friends but from my way of life, from everything familiar, and leave my culture behind. I've already done that to some extent, but not fully, not like Ruth. I have modern conveniences that help me, and I can always hop on a plane and be home the next day. She didn't have that. When Ruth left Naomi, she didn't say goodbye for a year or two, she said goodbye. All she had was Naomi and a future of working hard and struggling each day to provide for the two of them. It wasn't the brightest future, yet she went willingly.

I want to be like Ruth, I want to have that much faith, enough faith to leave it all behind and to even embrace a life of hardships and hard work, to serve Him.

I am a plow.

I hate it when I can’t sleep. I’ve always been a night owl, so I love to stay up late, but occasionally, when I’m lying there in bed and I’m trying to go to sleep and idea pops into my mind. Most of the time it’s about the day or it’s some feeling that I had and that I need to think and pray through. Well, tonight it’s two stories. These two stories tell about how God is working in little ways, ways that I don’t always see. Ways that I don’t really think of as big or gigantic, but then I’m reminded that more than likely my job is the job as the plow, not the harvester. I’m not working in countries where you barely mention the Fathers name and the harvest is ready. Nope, that’s not Europe.

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I had the opportunity to meet a new friend this last week, his name is George. Throughout the day and through our conversations I had the feeling that he was spiritually searching. When it came time to go home, I found myself alone with him in the taxi. He asked me if the reason I couldn’t hang out on Sunday was because of church, and I said yes. I had to change our plans because I would’ve had to miss church. I explained to him that I do not attend an Orthodox church and he said, “Oh I know”. I wasn’t really sure if I should take the conversation a little deeper, but I could feel the spirit nudging me so I asked him, “Do you go to church?” He told me that he used to go to church and his dad used to be a pastor. I pressed a little deeper and asked him why his dad wasn’t a pastor anymore. He told me that his dad had died of a heart attack. I gathered from the conversation that he doesn’t go anymore since his father’s death, but I also learned that his brother is still active in church and is even a minister. I wasn’t able to take the conversation too much farther because we arrived at my house, but I did make sure that he knew he was invited to church and that it is an awesome church with tons of college students.

Please pray for my new friend. Pray that he starts to seek the Father and that he will know Him intimately. Pray that he will be bold and show up at church while I’m here so I can introduce him to the people our age. Pray that the Father will use him to reach his lost friends.

Another friend, Stefan (name has been changed), called me the other night and wanted to hang out one day this week. We were busy making plans and out of nowhere he asks me if I was going to church on Sunday. I told him yes, and then came that debate in my head, should I invite him, or should I just let him bring it up if he wants to go. But I felt that little nudge again, and I said, "Well, why do you want to know? Do you want to come with me?" He said, "Yes, of course."

Okay so at this point I'm just a little shocked. That wasn't the answer I was expecting. I told him about my church and the times we meet and he was sad to hear that we only had church on Sunday mornings. He works on Sunday and only has the evenings free. He asked me, "You only go to church on Sundays? That's it?" I wanted so bad to be back home so I could've said well no, I actually go on Wednesdays as well, but churches are a little different here. I could tell that he really wanted to come with me.

Please pray for Stefan and that his work schedule will change so he can start attending church. Pray that the Father will continue to work in his life and soften him and place questions in his heart. Pray that he will feel comfortable attending and that if he's not able to go with me that he will still be brave and go by himself.

So from these past two instances, I've come to fully realize, I am a plow.

Women vs Men

American women have fought so hard for independence and equality with men, and I think in doing so they have hurt themselves. After visiting several countries, I’ve noticed that we don’t have it so good as American women. I think that we have fought so hard to be equal that it’s affecting our relationships with men. In Russia, women are revered and they are valued, not just for their beauty, but also because they are more fragile and need protection from the evil of this world. Women are treasured.

Julie and I attended a women’s conference a few months ago and we got the biggest kick out of our friends. Most of these ladies are young married women, and when it came time to setup the room and move some pews around, and setup two tables, the women immediately started going through a list of men to call to help them move the pews and setup tables. I know of several women’s organizations in America that when something needs to be setup for a women’s event, the ladies themselves pull out the tables from storage and set them up, and they move around the pews or chairs all by themselves. Julie and I started laughing because we were used to moving things and we could have easily lifted the pews, moved them around, and setup the two tables. In America, we would have done so without stopping to think of what man to call to come move them. Our friends ended up not having to call anyone because two men from the church were dropping off their wives and we asked them to help. As Julie and I watched the men move the pews and setup the tables and I realized that they appreciated being helpful and useful to us. They liked solving our problems and being the man, being whom God made them to be, the helper and provider.

That night got me to thinking about how in America we miss out on so many opportunities as women to validate men and to appreciate them. It doesn’t have to be to call them up and ask them to setup a room for a women’s event, it’s the little things. We don’t appreciate them enough when they hold open doors for us and or give up a chair for us. It’s not often in America that this happens and yes it doesn’t always happen here in Russia, but I see it more, and I like it. I like being valued as a woman, just because I’m a woman. I like having someone offer their seat for me, or hold open a door for me. I like it when they offer to open that five-gallon bottle of water and I let them, even though I could have done it myself.

I can’t help but think of how much this would help marriages, let the man be the man and the woman be the woman. No more demanding for equality, they are stronger than us, let them be. Ladies sit back, enjoy being a woman, and appreciate the men you have in your life.

Walkin' On Water..okay technically it’s ice

Life in the Far East isn’t really hard, but it is harder to live out here. Often we have to go to two stores and a market to buy food or ingredients for daily life. Then what you buy you have to carry home. I’ve gotten used to the whole, how heavy is this now, and will I be able to walk home with it? Oh and with the ice it just makes things even lovelier! In a few places, the ice is very very thick.

In November, one day it got right around 33 degrees F and the ice started to melt and it was wonderful because I thought the ice would go away, oh boy was I wrong. Within a few hours, the temperature dropped and everything started freezing again. So what was slowly melting and was sorta a mushy/slushy material all of a sudden became hard frozen ice. In many places, I would say the ice is about 6 inches deep.

I’ve gotten pretty good with walking on ice, and I’ve slipped twice, once I did this little half fall and the second time I took someone down with me. It was my Russian friend Inna, and we both laughed, but after standing up and walking a distance we realized our legs hurt. But not because they were bruised from the fall, but because they were cold. It was New Years, I was being very Russian, and I decided to wear boots, black tights, a dress, and then a long sleeve black shirt underneath. All I had over the dress was my long Russian coat, scarf, hat, and gloves. Inna had on a very similar outfit and when we fell on the early New Years day morning, our poor barely covered legs got the worst of the fall. We got up and started inching our way to the car and all of a sudden, our legs felt like razors were slicing our legs, all over. You see, when our legs came into such close contact with the ice, that thin little layer of tights didn’t really do a good job of keeping our legs warm. But I did warm up soon when I finally made it to the car,but even when I got home twenty minutes later, my legs were still cold!

(these photos are from New Years)

Ice, Ice, and More Ice

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted on here and that’s because I’ve not had the internet in my apartment! However, I now have internet, and I’ve had it now for like two weeks but I’ve been busy catching up to facebook messages, and thanking everyone for their nice wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and also I’ve just been lazy!

I had a friend of mine who is American but studying in Tallinn, Estonia come stay with us for about two weeks during Christmas, and it was good to have her here , but we didn’t really get out and do much. I’ll bet your wondering “Why?”. Well, the answer is that it was freezing cold and when the wind blew it felt like it was cutting into our skin. It was cold when the wind wasn’t blowing, but then it got worse when the wind was! The wind chill was often in the negative teens with gusts about twenty miles per hour. On two various days, Shera and I got out of the apartment to venture into the cold to do a little sightseeing and we got no further than our bus stop and after waiting 15 minutes for a bus gave up and came inside. It was miserably cold and not typical days for a sightseeing trip. Now things are a little better outside, and we are not having such cold weather, but it’s still a lot colder than what this Texas girl is used to! I do not believe it has been over 32 degrees F for the past month. The other day it was around 27 degrees F and I thought it was a beautiful warm day. Crazy huh?

(This video is from one night when our friend Shera was in town and we were playing Zilch with some friends)

Русская Mузыка

Every Tuesday for our conversation class, we have the privilege of attending music class. It's really not that bad, and we get to learn a little about Russian history through the old folk songs that we are singing, oh and we get to watch tv as well! So, I guess it's good! :)

Well, today, Julie and I were faced with the task of singing an American song. Do you know how hard it is to find a song that has some great meaning and that's also considered old?? Yeah, there's not that many, especially ones that are easy to sing, but thankfully our teacher kept asking for spirituals, and these two girls, well we know a few spirituals. The song that came to both of our minds was Amazing Grace. So, before it was our turn to sing, I just asked God for guidance and for the knowledge of how to explain the song in Russian and that our classmates and teacher would get an understanding of the song and of its meaning.

So, when it came time to singing, I opened my mouth and out came the words of that beautiful song. I heard the Korean girl across from me, breathe in and say something in Korean and then she smiled. Also, I could see our teacher from the corner of my eye, and I saw that she too recognized the song. We only sang the two verses we could remember and then it was time for me to explain. All I could put together with my limited Russian, along with the help of my trusty dictionary, was that it was an old British and American song that's about when Jesus Christ died for us, He gave us grace. When we first believe in Him, we receive that grace.

After I finished explaining the song, our teacher told us that she had heard the song before when she visited America. Then she asked if we could give her the words.

Julie and I know for a fact that we were the only believers in the room and I pray that our song, along with it's very limited translation reached the hearts of our classmates and teacher. Here are the names of our classmates, Moto, Hyien, Yukari, Mien, Roma, Enjay, Hoozal, and Pak Segee. I'm not sure of our music teacher's name because we only have her once a week, and I forgot it!

Please be praying for our class, that Julie and I will seek to glorify the Father and that through us seeking Him that others will in turn start to desire and seek that themselves. Also, please pray that each of our classmates and teachers will have a believer in their lives that is able to communicate to them in their native language and speak the truth to their hearts.