A fun day at the photo...uh, feed store

One thing I really like about being a missionary is that I'm forced, more or less, to live beyond my coping capacity. I'm convinced that what is wrong with many churches and the people in them is that they have set up their lives so that they can cope without anyone's help--even God's. When I left America for the mission field, I no longer was able to cope with the life I had chosen. It was a bit beyond me. It has forced me to rely on God in a way that I never have previously. Being an Aroma of Christ by Karen Pearce

I know you're probably sick of hearing about this book, but honestly, she said it so well, so perfectly, that I don't even need to expound. She's right--being on the field has made me rely on God in a new way.

Okay, this is going to be short--it's my day to go to the superstore to stock up on groceries, and Frances will be here soon to pick me up. I simply had to share our experience yesterday. On Friday, we received an email that said they had found a way to get work permits for those of us on "religious workers" visas. Now, this is a long story and hard to explain, but five days after we moved here, Russian visa laws changed, and those changes have resulted in a mass exodus from the country for a period of time and then a mass migration back into the country. Hard to explain in a short way, but work permits were the only way around the law, and they are hard to come by, so news that they had found a way to get them was so exciting and such an answer to prayer. (Long and short--it could mean that we will be able to stay in Russia instead of moving in and out every six months.) With the news came a long list of stuff we had to have, including pictures on specific kinds of paper.

Well, we didn't know how to get those pictures, but after calling around, our friends found a place close to the office where we could get them and then go to the office and turn in all the stuff we needed. So at about 1p.m. yesterday, Kris and Frances and Dan and Kyle came and picked us up in the car, and we all headed out. We finally found the place...it was a back room in an animal feed store. I'm not even kidding. But this is Russia, so we just kind of shrugged our shoulders and went on. This was a little like taking your passport picture at Walgreens, except you need to add some unpleasant smells. (And I won't get into some of the brand names that had been transliterated in a very, very funny way, but there were a few chuckles.) Here's the difference--in my passport photo, I am smiling. I am American, and so I am smiling, because that is what we do. However, in my work permit photo, I must look Russian, and so I must not smile. It is very important. NO SMILING! Of course, once you know you're not supposed to smile, it's almost impossible to keep from smiling. Add Frances into the mix, and it is impossible not to smile. Finally, after three or four takes, the guy got my picture, we paid, and we went to the office.

Of course, I had to leave the pictures at the office (one set in black and white, so just imagine how that looked), but we did our best to recreate our pictures, and you see the results above. I might look a little more crazed in the picture above, but not much. I honestly think these are the craziest pictures I have ever taken in my whole life. But I'll give them this--I definitely look Russian. (And Marc looks a little like the drunk guys on the metro, but that seemed appropriate, too.)

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you are enjoying a wonderful morning, and that somewhere you have some crazy, crazy pictures of yourself. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye