Bible Study! yeeeesssss :o)

"He is before all things and in Him all things hold together."
-Colossians 1:17
(this verse has nothing to do with my post--except that maybe He is before it and holding it together--but I read it yesterday and thought I would share)

Yesterday was mine and Calyn's first night at Bible Study and getting there was intense.

At work we were meeting with these people from Missions Development International and so when we were finished with them, I said goodbye to Sergey and Valera and headed to the elevator. I waited...and waited...and waited. I remembered one time when Dennis and I took the stairs down...was I going to have to do that again? 24 floors and I was already afraid of being late. Finally the elevator stopped at our floor and the doors opened. I rode it down and then darted to the bus stop, crossed the street and got on the bus. Checking my watch (or rather, clock on my cell phone--I don't wear a watch) I try and decided if I will have time to eat anything or not. Not. So, I write Calyn as I am running to the metro and ask her to grab me something from one of the little stands that sell bread and stuff. She is THE best and had some pastries and cookies all ready for her as I walked up to our meeting spot. We walked to Pastor Bob and Mrs. JoAnn's sharing stories of our respective days.

We were excited to see familiar faces as well as some new ones as we entered the welcoming apartment. As us girls were heading to the room we were going to meet in memories of The Best Bible Study Ever started playing through my head. (Maybe I will have to introduce my new Bible Study to 'Show and Tell.') Anyway, the girls there last night we me, Calyn, Mrs. JoAnn, Emily--an American who goes to Calyn's school, Ira--a Ukrainian who is friends with Emily and very involved at the International Church, and Tanya--who is from Cuba and goes to both the International Church and a Spanish speaking church. We are talking about John 15 and what it means to ABIDE in Christ. Which is really cool for me because it was something I had been dealing with a lot personally recently. God is so good about meeting us where we are. I love it. I loved listening to Mrs. JoAnn's stories and sharing with the other girls. I can't wait for next Wednesday :o)

Afterwards, Mrs. JoAnn had made an apple cake and we all sat around the bar in the kitchen and talked and ate and laughed and shared. It was so good.

On the way to the bus, we were talking to Muhammad and he was telling us that the other day he was in this class with these other people and he and his friend were talking about how one of the other classmates looked American and the other one looked Iranian, so eventually they decided to go and ask. They were right and got to talking. The American found out they were Christians and said that he didn't want to hear anything about church. So, Muhammad turned to the other student, and in Farsi told him about a Farsi Bible Study that he leads and asked him if he wanted to come. They exchanged phone numbers. The American asked what they had been talking about and Muhammad told him "church stuff." Muhammad said he was shocked that it was the American who didn't want to hear about it. That he had met American's who weren't Christians, but not ones who were totally unopen to even talking about church. But, so cool that he was able to talk to the Iranian in Farsi and get his number. Muhammad is one of the coolest people I have ever met and he is so focused on introducing people to Christ. It's awesome.

It's a puzzle

"Thanks for calling the Reber-Jackson Inn, all beds are full, but if you don't mind sleeping on the floor, we'd love to have you" may be what you would here if you were to call our house today. There is a HillSong conference going on this weekend and Dennis, his mom, his cousin Oksanna and 2 friends (Max and Alexei) from their hometown are staying in our apartment. Calyn and I went to the opening of the conference last night and it was awesome (but that is for another blog post...maybe Calyn will work on that one later). After the conference we were all exhausted--heads were falling on plates at the dinner table. So, promptly upon finishing, the boys went to the living room to fight with the futon/couch thing in hopes of making it into a bed. From the kitchen Dennis, Calyn and I watched for a little while. I told Dennis that I would try to do it, but not with everyone in the room. I could just hear everyone "Try this. Do it this way. Here, let me help." No, if you want me to do something then let me do it. Dennis said the guys were having fun-- it was a puzzle--they would figure it out. So, Calyn and I retired to our room to do some homework. Dennis walked by and I asked if they had gotten it yet. Nope. No sooner had Dennis made it into the chair in our room did his mom stand in the doorway with a very distraught expression on her face. Still no luck. Dennis told her that I said I would try if the guys would leave the room, so she attempted to run them out, but they would not have it. I went into the living room--bringing Calyn along for moral support--and sat down to wait for the boys to give up. As I waited, I turned to Calyn, "the problem is," I said, "that boys think it's all about force. 'If I push hard enough, then it will do what I want it to do.' No, if you push hard enough it will break. The couch was made to become a bed. There is some sort of trick to it. You do something just right and it will fall into place. Figuring out how to do it may be difficult, but actually putting it down will not." Eventually the boys left, I pulled the couch out from the wall and sat down beside it to examine how it might work. I sent Calyn for a flashlight and started feeling the henges under the couch. I pushed one up and pulled the bed down. "Vin, eighty-six that flashlight. I got it."
I love logic games--the twisted nails you have to separate, that game where you have to get everyone across the river but only 2 people can go at a time and certain people can't ever be alone together, that box that Mrs. Debbie put our tickets in that Christmas--so good.