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04/12/08
Waldren Wonderings
Update in a Nutshell:
1. The joy of children.
2. More school.
3. Our team.
4. English Bible study resumed.
5. A small story about life at the park.
Prayers
-Please pray for our youth.
-Pray for our continued language learning and
cultural adaption.
-Pray for Max coming to visit Krasnodar that
the tip would be glorifying to God.
-Pray for the people of the Bible study that
they might find truth.
Praises
-Spring is coming and life is beginning to
bloom.
-God is working in the lives of people around
us.
-Children are a blessing from God.
-God is our loving Father.
After a long night of homework and picking up
the house, we settle into a warm bed to enjoy much needed sleep. We
drift off to peaceful dreams. Then after a couple of hours the baby
cries and wants to be fed, a normal occurrence for a family with a
little one. After eating he returns to his own wonderful bed of
dreams. Shortly thereafter we fall fast asleep again. Then comes
the time right before the sun rises and our youngest son decides to
serenade the house. He starts out with his small rumblings that
turn into long gabbing sessions. They are very happy sounds, but
all too noisy. After a good hour or more he finally either gives
into tiredness or the day begins. Too often this has been our days
in the morning. We awake to the happy but loud and drawn out
gabbing of a 5 month old. This is our alarm clock. This is the
start of our day.
For all of you who have had or do have young
children I am sure this scene is all too familiar to you. Our house
is definitely filled with joy, laughter, gabbing, and pitter patter
of little feet. We also have our share of messes as we potty train,
time out, and spankings. We would just like to say that children
are definitely a blessing from God. We do our best to raise and
love our children. Our prayers are constantly filled with their
names. We are thankful for today and pray for tomorrow. Join us in
prayer for the young ones, the future generation of God’s people.
As we mentioned earlier, homework fills most of
our nights. Jennifer learns how to form verbs in the future, past,
and present. Andrew learns how to correctly ask for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
or more of something in the market, without pointing and grunting.
School continues to be a good place for us to learn and grow in our
language skills. We both feel like we have more time to focus on
school unlike when Jennifer was in and out of the hospital and
adjustment to a new baby.
Our teammates have added one more member to
their household as of recent. No they are not pregnant again. A
sweet lady from the states has come to be their nanny for three
months. She has come on her own will to watch the kids so that
Jason and Joanna can have time for teaching, studying, and each
other. So far things have been working out well and she has been a
great help. They have also recently acquired a car that allows them
to get around better, though it needs a tune up and I am sure some
prayers. Jason has been a little under the weather so we welcome
prayers for his health.
We also welcome prayers for the visit of Max.
Max is a beloved friend, mentor, and director of the mission we
work with. He will be coming down this next weekend for a short
while. Please pray that this trip with be productive for
encouraging one another, planning as we can for the future, and
drawing from Max’s experience in Russia.
The Bible study that Andrew has been a part of
has been encouraging as of late. Those that attend always have
interesting comments that open my eyes to the people around me.
There is especially one woman who has lots of interest in Jesus,
Romans, the church, the Ten Commandments, and personal life as a
Christian. She comes with lots of questions and lots of comments.
I really believe that God is working in her life and pray that God
will move her closer to Jesus. Recently we have gotten into
discussions about the law and grace of Jesus. They have been very
eye opening I pray as I along with the other teacher try and explain
how Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.
We finish with a small story about a normal
outing to a park with the kids. Just so you can begin to see a
little bit into our lives. We decided to go out to and stroll “on
the street” as people say. We packed the kids up, making sure that
Nathanael had a hat on—dressing for the season not an individual
day, and headed out the door. The park we went to is a block big.
It has a fountain in the middle, a monument on one side, and an
Orthodox Church on the other. We found a bench and sat down.
Michael John got his cars out and played with them for awhile.
Meanwhile other people were smoking, taking pictures with the
tulips, resting from their 5 inch heels, playing with their kids,
and talking on cell phones. If there would have been more kids, I
am sure that Michael John would have enjoyed playing with them. He
would be “encouraged” to share his toys while the other kids share
their toys with him. It is kind of like a communal pot. Everybody
dumps their toys in and every kid has a toy to play with. This is
how we have acquired a couple of cars that we did not buy. After we
were done sitting, Andrew took Michael John to the potty. They paid
their 10 rubbles and enjoyed the luxury of a Turkish toilet. We
then packed everyone up and headed out to stroll some more. On our
way out we passed skate boarders, other people strolling as well,
and a couple of rappers that had set up a sound system right in
front of the monument. That is short and condensed story of a
typical outing to a park.
Andrew and Jennifer Waldren
andyjen@awaldren.org
417-429-2671
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