Our Random Day in Russia

Today we woke up a little earlier than usual with Jesse and Jonas waking up their little sister. It was a little after 6, so we put them all back in bed and made them lay quietly till 7. We were all a bit tired, since the night before, we hosted our annual Faculty/Staff Christmas Party and didn't make it to bed until after 11. The children were all in bed around their usual time but with all the activity in the other part of the house, it was difficult for them to fall asleep.

We all ate breakfast while listening to the Christmas concert at Grace Community Church. All of the missionaries are able to listen to it via livestream and it is such a huge blessing. On Sundays we are able to listen to MacArthur preach as well, which again is such a huge blessing, considering we go to church and understand very little of what is being said. Normal everyday conversation is not too hard for us at this point, but understanding a sermon can be pretty tricky.

After breakfast I put on a pot of Russian tea. I served it the night before at our Christmas Party and it was funny to explain to the Russians about this tea that we have every Christmas called Russian tea, but it really isn't Russian tea, and they agreed on that point as well. It is not even similar to anything they would drink. One Russian, the pastor of our church, Oleg, actually likened it to Theraflu! It really does taste good, but it has citrus tones.

Jonathan soon retired to his office for some good study time while the boys and Miriam played. I started baking one of our favorite Christmas cookies. They are a chocolate cookie, with a cherry on top and frosting on top of that. So yummy! I had quite a difficult time finding maraschino cherries here, but Heather Klassen found them in a specialty store. We love this cookie so much that I had already made plans to try and make the cherries myself and googled, "How to make maraschino cherries". Let's just say, I was glad she found them. The cookies turned out scrumptious! I even made a double batch.

The next few hours were pretty normal: lunch, naps, computer time for the boys.... I had supper planned but Jonathan mentioned walking down to a Russian restaurant called "Zsheelee Beelee". It is not far from us and would be a great experience, so around 4 we started bundling everyone up: tight, jeans, snow pants, jackets, gloves, hats, snowboots. It takes us about half an hour to do this if we work together. We headed outside where it had warmed up quite a bit from the last few days. The temperatures had been in -30's, but now were around 1 degrees F. We made it there pretty easily and began the de-clothing process. We were quite happy to be led to a whole room to ourselves, which was great considering we wouldn't bother anyone and we wouldn't have to endure the stares! We always get stared at when we head out, for almost no one in Russia has 5 children. No English menu was a setback, but we started making out the ingredients. We ordered random Russian "bloudie" or food and this is what we had: borsht (beet soup with potatoes), some other soup with meat and beans and onions and garlic, a piece of chicken with a sweet breading, Russian pork chops, a white fish fillet, and "pameighnee" (Russian dumplings with meat inside). To drink we got some coke and Kvas (2 kinds: one that tasted normal (sour tea) and another one that tasted like sour tea with a shot of horseradish). Everything tasted great except the horseradish drink. Yuck!

Upon returning home, we realized there was no cold water. Hot water, we had, but the hot water in our apartment is hot enough to boil chicken. Trust me, I have tried it, just to see. So I put a little hot water in the tub and then put all the ice we had in our freezer and went around to every faucet in our house to get every last drop of cold water still left in the pipes. There wasn't much, but enough for me to wash all the children, using only one pump of body wash each, to keep the bubbles at a minimum. Jonathan read the Bible. They were off to bed. Then, of course, the cold water came back on. A lovely brown tint at first, mind you, but we were just happy to be able to take a shower!

Now I have finished my white tea and cookie and am enjoying the quiet that only happens about this time every night. So, in all, it was quite an interesting day. Tomorrow will be nice I think, even though we won't make it to church. Our van won't start since it has been so cold lately. We will stay home and listen to the concert in the morning. I will probably bake something. The children will enjoy having no schedule, whatsoever. Jonathan will study and we will enjoy having him at home. And at night, we will listen to the concert again, probably. Not too shabby, as Jonathan would say.

There are so many reasons to love the Christmas Season. Being home with family is one. Enjoying the many blessings we have as a family and as believers is another. These blessings, we know, come from our Heavenly Father, who sent His only Beloved Son to be a baby in this very cold world. And that baby would grow and then die for this very cold world!

What a blessing to know and be known by Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate at this time!