Amazed!

I’ve been a bad blogger lately. It’s not that I don’t have stuff to write about, it’s just that I don’t have time to write it. Perhaps it’s the 30 minutes a day I’m spending trying to learn Russian! I’m pleased to tell you that I’m almost ready for lesson 4! It’s doubtful I’ll complete all 20 lessons before I leave in August but I’m hoping that I’ll at least learn how to say, “Where is the bathroom?” That seems like a critical sentence.

Speaking of Russia, some amazing things have happened this week that are too exciting not to share. There are a total of ten team members going on the mission trip. Each of us has an assignment, and one of mine was to plan four craft projects for the 20 kids at the orphanage. This is complicated by many factors, not the least of which is my lack of crafting ability. One idea I managed to come up with involves decorating composition notebooks (chosen mainly because they are fairly inexpensive and can be done by a wide range of ages.)

Last Tuesday night John told me one of his patients had called offering a huge box of school supplies. She didn’t care where they went, as long as they were used for missions. So, even though we probably won’t need many school supplies for Russia, I said I’d take them to send to Africa when a team from our church goes in December. I stopped at her house on Wednesday (just hours before going shopping for the craft supplies) to pick up the items. And what was in this box of school supplies? 26 composition notebooks! Perfect – six more than I actually need!

One of the non-craft related things we’d like to bring for the women and the older girls at the orphanage is make-up. It’s very expensive in Russia and we felt like it would be something fun for them. We also plan on doing manicures for the women at the orphanage to make them feel special. Basically, we want them to feel as loved by us as they are by Christ (even though our love can’t begin to compare to His.) And, as much as I’d like to set them all up with an entire sets of make-up, it would just be cost prohibitive. So, I offered the girls in my small group the opportunity to donate some products. (Do you love the wording? Offered, not begged.) Many of them brought some things and one woman even got a bunch of perfume samples donated from another department store. Still, we were short a number of products.

I decided to ask a friend of mine, who works at a local, big name department store, if she knew anyone in the cosmetics department, and if so, would she mind inquiring about getting some mascara samples donated. There are 7 women working at the orphanage and 8 girls, not all of whom are at make-up wearing age. Not only did we get mascara, but we got 15, count them, 15 make-up kits, complete with mascara, bronzer, eye shadow, lip stick, lip gloss, eye make-up remover and “lifting cream” (which I shamefully considered keeping for myself!) And the best part, each kit comes with an adorable case which will be fun for all ages, with, or without, make-up!

On top of all that, my friend, Annette, who owns The Family Salon in Cannon Falls, is donating manicure kits for us to use. Is that not the coolest?

So, why am I amazed? It’s not because of the generosity of the people involved, though that is awesome. It’s the numbers. 15 make-up kits! 26 notebooks! More than enough perfume, and plenty of manicure kits. Only God could pull that off. As the song goes, “I Stand in Awe!”

Now, I just have to figure out how to actually do a manicure! Painting fingernails backwards just baffles my brain. But, if I can learn Russian….