Still alive and kickin'!! Very long post!!

I have a few hours to myself--well, myself and four kiddos--but now a days that is to myself. John is not working over here in Russia, so life has readjusted in many ways. We wake up later, get to see Daddy almost all day and more things. It's really different but good too! So, what is our schedule like these days? Very different from day to day. We tried to start school on Monday, but really need a printer and the one at this apartment appears not to work???? So, we might be making a purchase at Lenta(Russian version of a cross between Costco and Walmart). So, we have done some school, just not our particular curriculum. So far, we have done Reading, writing and Arithmetic---just the basics, but it's something.
Right now, Lena went with John to drop off our computer and the "family home" computer to be fixed by a brother of a friend of ours in town. Nope, we are not just dropping it off with just anyone:). I can't wait til it is working b/c then I can post pictures.
Lena will go with John and then continue on to church tonight. They don't have children's service on Wednesday, so we will be staying home. Vera has gone to her church too. So, tonight we will enjoy a quieter family evening home alone. It's funny to think of being home with your family as alone---but it is for now.

Yesterday, we had a meeting with the group we are involved with here and we met other Americans, Brits, Canadians, and more...all of us spoke English, most spoke Russian too. Anyways, what a great time to be with other Christians and see other families that felt the call to come over around the same time. There is one family with a 12 year old and 7 year old! We are going over to their place tomorrow and will eat dinner with them. They came at the end of July! It's so nice to see that God does work with many people on the same "theme" or calling ---so we know we aren't alone.
So, for this meeting at 10am, we had to leave at 8:30!!!! No, it's not that far away, but with taking the metro and buses at "rush hour" time, you need that much time to get there!!! We were on time!!! Russians are not the most "on-time" people ...it reminds me of my parents when they said the American Indian time was "ish"...that is the way it is over here. Some people are on time, some are not. We were gone from 8:30 til about 4ish:). We even ate at a Restaurant by ourselves--ok--no we didn't order in Russian, there happened to be a lady there that knew English who could help us. Thank the Lord!!! She even helped us order something for Katie without milk. By the way, this has been doable(is that even a word??) to eat without milk products.

Every day here, we are growing to love the people more and more. God has so much of a bigger picture than we typically do, so it's nice to be able to rest and rely on His time and His will/purpose.

If you are wondering how to pray for us??? Here are some prayer points to consider in prayer:
Basic needs: Computer to be fixed(screen doesn't work), Interenet connection so we can call home. Discipline needs: balance between school and scheduling things to do--visiting orphanages/dormitories. Spiritual: Continue to call upon the Lord daily...b/c as a friend of ours said today---this work with orphans---you can't do on your own, you must rely on the Lord. This is true of all ministry in Russia or US or anywhere!

I also want to end with this--thank you for all your prayers, comments here and emails too!!! We so appreciate all of them. We love you and hope you all are doing well. If you check this blog and think of someone who doesn't typically check blogs--you might remind them to check so they can see this post. Thanks!!