Who's There?

Thomas, Isaiah and I were getting ready to head out to a friend's flat for an afternoon, when I head the doorbell.  Our doorbell does not ring that often.  I did the safety thing, asking who's there and looking through the peep hole of our steel door with four different locks on it.  

"Pochta."  Responded a male voice through the thick door.   I opened the door and looked at him curiously.  Normally when we receive a package, a slip is placed in our mail box, or occasionally a lady will give us the slip personally.  This time was different.  

Much to my bewilderment the man at my door was actually holding a package and asking me if I was "Cristy Slo-oo-son".  To which of course I responded in the affirmative as my excitement and curiosity increased--who in the world could this big box be from?  We weren't expecting anything that I knew of.

Before I could sign for the package I had to show my documents to prove that I was, in fact, me.  Then I noticed the return address, and all my trusty Russian phrases left my head, I was so surprised.  Thankfully Thomas came to the door by then and told me what to do.

One of my dear friends from grad school had surprised us with such a sweet package.  There was something for everyone, some seasonal sweets that we'd never find here, chapstick, lip gloss, and 2 incredible books for Isaiah, with which he is now quite enamored.  Such a special treat!  Thank you Guitta and David!

And I just have to add that we have felt so loved by so many people since we moved away.  I mean, we have always felt very loved, but sometimes you move away from people and things change and you lose touch and such.  I realize that those things are still possible, but during this first year with all its ups and downs and really strange feelings, knowing that there are people at home who love us and pray for us and think about us, as represented above and through countless emails and special phone calls...well, I wish that I had the right words to tell you all how much you have encouraged us and lifted us up and kept us going.  I'm not as creative as I would like to be at such times.  But I will say that I have rarely felt so humbled and honored to be part of the body of Christ, and that my understanding of the universal church has so greatly increased, that no matter what, I wouldn't trade this year for anything.  I pray that God will continue to draw us all closer to Him and thereby to each other and that we can lift each other up for many, many years to come!

Here's Isaiah enjoying one of his new books--I couldn't distract him even to look at the camera!

He finally looked up from his reading to smile his thanks.