June 20th, 2009

The weather is nice now...quite nice.
I am spending time outdoors with my friend, Galya. She rides a train from her village for 2 hours each way into Kiev to sell her farmer's cheese and sour cream. Every day she estimates how many kilos of cheese she will sell. Most days she sells about 18 kilos.

It has become my habit to go and spend about an hour just hanging out, talking with her. During this time, we talk about many things. One day, she told me that she really doesn't have a friend. It made me so sad but, I realized that God has given her to me as a friend, and so...we are spending time together. One of these days, I will have a picture of her. She asked me if I had a camera and if we could take a picture together sometime...

While we are talking, she is constantly on the look-out for potential customers. She calls out to people who are passing by, that she has fresh cheese. Some are drawn to her and they ask for a sample. The customers know what they are looking for in the cheese. Some want a high fat content, some want softer texture, others want a harder type. It seems that she has a little of each kind. Sometimes they can't find what they are looking for. It is really interesting to be an observer of this whole process. I am amazed at the number of neighbors I meet while hanging outside with Galya.

I am hoping that this time we spend together will help our friendship to deepen. Usually our conversation touches on spiritual things, I am praying that our talks go deeper into what really matters in life.

Parker is home from BFA for the summer. It is so wonderful to have him home with us. I miss him so much during the school year. He borrowed a few text books from the school library for "light" reading over the summer. The one that I am looking at is called 'AP Biology'. He has chosen a tough academic load for the next school year and wants to get a head start on his studies.

We leave tomorrow for Sevastopol, Ukraine. It is on the southern tip of the Crimea. We are going there to hunt for an apartment for our colleagues. Please join us in prayer as we find just the one that God has for them.

We are also going to take a few days of vacation there at the beach. I will take pictures to share....
Hope you are all enjoying your summer and have great vacations wherever you go, whatever you do!
Happy Father's Day!!!!