It's a wonderful life....

My life is a wonderful life. The past 2 weeks, I've been incredibly blessed to have my dear, dear friend from Russia here with me at my home in Oregon! She flew in from Russia on the 18th (of November...), and since then we've been having a blast. It was hard, to be absolutely honest, the first few days. Why? Well...I guess you could say I wasn't expecting to experience culture shock when she arrived - after all, I'm American, and I'm in America, and I already know her very well, and Shawna and I see her nearly every day in Russia (sometimes several times a day!), so I wasn't thinking it'd be...well, different. But it was. Of course my dear friend Nina has never been outside the Soviet Union before, so for her, coming to the USA was a shock in every way - and she absolutely loves it. :o)
It was funny, though - I didn't expect for my 2 worlds to collide so drastically. Not that they did outside, really - but inside myself, I found it pretty difficult - having Russia come to me, I realized I really am two different 'people', as it were - in that I'm American, and I'm also Russian. In Russia, Russian things make sense, the Russian way. And they don't bother me in the slightest.
In the states, I'm American. I understand why we do what we do, the way we do it, and the logic behind American culture - what makes us tick the way we tick.

I guess you could say I've learned both - and I've come to understand both. I've been feeling very analytical lately, thinking about what effects a society, and what makes people the way they are. Perhaps sometime soon here I'll get a chance to put my thoughts about Russia and the USA down in words, but for now, I'm enjoying to the fullest having my Russian friend here with me, in the states. We've been having a blast, going places, seeing things, and talking for hours.
I think what's fun is that she is enjoying everything, so much - going for a walk thru our neighborhood was filled with amazed comments and questions about everything from waterlines to what kind of windows to an amazement that people would have mailboxes out near the road.
Going to restaurants has been fun, too - I just love how excited she gets about everything!

So - I just thought I'd share that this dream that Shawna & I have had for the past few years, really became a reality. We were able to bring our dear friend and teacher to the states, on a vacation she never thought she'd really get to experience. Praise God!
I so pray that her time here will be spiritually challenging and encouraging, as well. You can pray with me about that one. How I long to see her realize, truly understand, what she was created for, and that He made a way to Himself, free of charge, thru Jesus Christ!

Nina is an incredibly perceptive woman, which has been fun to watch - she sees everything with a lot of depth. She's been amazed at my family, and church, at how people can be so sincere, and so real, and so nice, and display things like patience and kindness and strength, all at once. We spent Thanksgiving at my uncle & aunt's house, which was amazing - everyone loved Nina, and she loved everyone. She got especially close to my cousin Andy, though. She keeps remembering him, and his brother, and she keeps saying how amazing they were - they do what they're told, and they're always thinking of other people, and they can do everything themselves - in short, she was greatly impressed.

And it's been fun, to see the USA thru her eyes. It's been fun to explain things I never thought about not understanding.

Isn't God amazing? I'm still amazed, and oh, so happy, that He would be so merciful to me.

Good things are happening in regards to going back to Russia, too! We're finishing up the necessary documents, we've got plane tickets, and visas are being processed right now.

The most beautiful thing is that we found someone who has the authority to register us for the 3 months it'll take to apply for temporary residency permits! Our prayers have been answered yet again. Praise our awesome, mighty King!

So yes, it is indeed a wonderful life. Not a perfect one - that would be boring. You never appreciate the good stuff if you don't have any bad to compare it to, right? Right. :o)