House Transformation
Since our last post, we had to say 'Good-bye' to our daughter Ashley. She flew out of Zaparosia on November 6 and then spent a few days in Romania before flying back home to Canada. We are so thankful for the time we had together with Ashley!
Vlad and Valero did some more stuccoing on our house before they painted it. The house looks so much better now with the house painted white and the bricks around the base of the house painted black. It took them a little over a week to complete their work.
On Saturday, November 9, we put the last of our tough-chewing chickens into cold storage. We found out that they are only for soup or stew where the meat has lots of time to tenderize. We want to share some with the students and make some room in our freezer.
We have had two more English follow-up on Sunday afternoons. We have really appreciated the participation by each of the students and their interest and questions keep us looking forward to our next time together.
On November 11, we had our supper meeting and devotional time with the students. We called it our Thanksgiving supper as it is halfway between the Canadian and American Thanksgivings. This was a meal where all the staff contributed a part and it was very tasty.
In the devotional, we talked about what we are thankful for and how God can make a difference to our lives and bring colour to our lives that otherwise wouldn't be there. We went out to our fire-pit for an illustration to show how God in our lives makes ALL the difference.
Years ago we were shown how to add beauty to a fire. You take a 3/4 inch copper pipe about 12-14 inches long. Drill about 12 holes in the pipe and then add a piece of rubber garden hose. Toss it into the fire (after you're done cooking). The colours that come from the combination of copper and rubber hose are amazing!
The illustration that we used was that we as humans are the rubber hose. If you toss the rubber hose into a fire, it just burns up with maybe a little bit of black smoke. BUT if we put the hose in the copper pipe, amazing colours appear (pink, blue, green, orange). When we are IN Christ (represented in the copper pipe), that rubber hose in the copper pipe now has colours that are not available when it burns on its own. The same goes for us. When we are IN Christ (John 15), God will do things in our lives that we never thought possible.
On November 12, we had a Hope For Each staff day. We went to a spa in Dnipro and the different things one can do there are amazing! There are difference temperatures of hot tubs and a +5-7 C 'cold/cold tub' to go into. Brrr. They say it is good for your heart to go from hot to cold and then back. Not sure if they are right but Scott will take their word for it as he DID NOT try it. Shannon was more adventurous and did go in and then came quickly back to the hot tub. There was a good sized pool, saunas of different varieties. None of us had a massage, but you could if you paid extra. They had a salt room that was very relaxing. The temperature was a bit cooler so you needed to cover up. The gentle music and neat lights made for a very peaceful atmosphere. The air was so refreshing to breath and Scott fell asleep fairly quickly. Putting his head on a pillow does that to him.
After our time at the spa, we went to a Georgian restaurant and had an amazing meal. We tried some new things and were not disappointed. None of us went home hungry.
November 13 was a special day for us as we celebrated 37 years of marriage! Wow, has the time ever gone quickly. We went into Dnipro and rented an apartment and spent two days not doing a whole lot. We slept in, walked some and went out for meals. We enjoyed the Georgian restaurant the night before, that we returned for our anniversary supper.
We looked back over the years and talked about some memorable times we have had and dreamed a bit of what we want to do in the future. We are so thankful to God for being able to celebrate 37 years because we are only able to do that because of Him! We came to know Jesus almost 3 years into our marriage and we were going down a dead-end street. We were selfish and the 'D' word was in the air at times. God took a mess and made something very special! Our marriage hasn't been perfect, but we cannot begin to imagine where we would be today without Jesus in our lives!
We are trying to do the last of our yard work. With the stuccoing and painting, our flowerbed on the north side of the house looked more like a sidewalk than a flowerbed. Shannon dug up some of her tulips and Scott dug up the soil to loosen it up. The temperatures are starting to cool off here and this week Scott will likely put the winter tires on the car. Not looking forward to winter, but better to be safe than sorry. We have had a good fall, so we cannot complain.
With the outside work near an end, we will hopefully see more strides made in learning Russian.
We are enjoying morning walks and getting some exercise. We sometimes take Garry and Teresa's dog 'Bear' for a walk when we go for milk. He enjoys being able to get out and walk.
Vlad and Valero did some more stuccoing on our house before they painted it. The house looks so much better now with the house painted white and the bricks around the base of the house painted black. It took them a little over a week to complete their work.
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| Vlad stuccoing |
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| Stuccoing |
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| Valero stuccoing |
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| Starting to paint |
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| House painted |
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| House painted |
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| House painted |
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| House painted |
On Saturday, November 9, we put the last of our tough-chewing chickens into cold storage. We found out that they are only for soup or stew where the meat has lots of time to tenderize. We want to share some with the students and make some room in our freezer.
We have had two more English follow-up on Sunday afternoons. We have really appreciated the participation by each of the students and their interest and questions keep us looking forward to our next time together.
On November 11, we had our supper meeting and devotional time with the students. We called it our Thanksgiving supper as it is halfway between the Canadian and American Thanksgivings. This was a meal where all the staff contributed a part and it was very tasty.
In the devotional, we talked about what we are thankful for and how God can make a difference to our lives and bring colour to our lives that otherwise wouldn't be there. We went out to our fire-pit for an illustration to show how God in our lives makes ALL the difference.
 |
| Devotional time |
 |
| Victor reading from the Bible in Russian |
 |
| Devotional time |
 |
| Thanksgiving supper |
 |
| Supper time |
Years ago we were shown how to add beauty to a fire. You take a 3/4 inch copper pipe about 12-14 inches long. Drill about 12 holes in the pipe and then add a piece of rubber garden hose. Toss it into the fire (after you're done cooking). The colours that come from the combination of copper and rubber hose are amazing!
 |
| Amazing colours |
 |
| Amazing colours |
The illustration that we used was that we as humans are the rubber hose. If you toss the rubber hose into a fire, it just burns up with maybe a little bit of black smoke. BUT if we put the hose in the copper pipe, amazing colours appear (pink, blue, green, orange). When we are IN Christ (represented in the copper pipe), that rubber hose in the copper pipe now has colours that are not available when it burns on its own. The same goes for us. When we are IN Christ (John 15), God will do things in our lives that we never thought possible.
On November 12, we had a Hope For Each staff day. We went to a spa in Dnipro and the different things one can do there are amazing! There are difference temperatures of hot tubs and a +5-7 C 'cold/cold tub' to go into. Brrr. They say it is good for your heart to go from hot to cold and then back. Not sure if they are right but Scott will take their word for it as he DID NOT try it. Shannon was more adventurous and did go in and then came quickly back to the hot tub. There was a good sized pool, saunas of different varieties. None of us had a massage, but you could if you paid extra. They had a salt room that was very relaxing. The temperature was a bit cooler so you needed to cover up. The gentle music and neat lights made for a very peaceful atmosphere. The air was so refreshing to breath and Scott fell asleep fairly quickly. Putting his head on a pillow does that to him.
After our time at the spa, we went to a Georgian restaurant and had an amazing meal. We tried some new things and were not disappointed. None of us went home hungry.
 |
| Hope For Each staff supper |
November 13 was a special day for us as we celebrated 37 years of marriage! Wow, has the time ever gone quickly. We went into Dnipro and rented an apartment and spent two days not doing a whole lot. We slept in, walked some and went out for meals. We enjoyed the Georgian restaurant the night before, that we returned for our anniversary supper.
We looked back over the years and talked about some memorable times we have had and dreamed a bit of what we want to do in the future. We are so thankful to God for being able to celebrate 37 years because we are only able to do that because of Him! We came to know Jesus almost 3 years into our marriage and we were going down a dead-end street. We were selfish and the 'D' word was in the air at times. God took a mess and made something very special! Our marriage hasn't been perfect, but we cannot begin to imagine where we would be today without Jesus in our lives!
We are trying to do the last of our yard work. With the stuccoing and painting, our flowerbed on the north side of the house looked more like a sidewalk than a flowerbed. Shannon dug up some of her tulips and Scott dug up the soil to loosen it up. The temperatures are starting to cool off here and this week Scott will likely put the winter tires on the car. Not looking forward to winter, but better to be safe than sorry. We have had a good fall, so we cannot complain.
With the outside work near an end, we will hopefully see more strides made in learning Russian.
We are enjoying morning walks and getting some exercise. We sometimes take Garry and Teresa's dog 'Bear' for a walk when we go for milk. He enjoys being able to get out and walk.
 |
| Bear |
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