Nadine -

Let me tell you how God used your special note to me during our travel from Russia!

We were sooo thankful that my Dad and his wife got to come to Merinda’s graduation!! We had a wonderful time showing Dad and Patsy the sights and sounds of Russia and the Baltics, and they generously treated us to a great break (a calm before the storm!)

It seems that no matter how far in advance you prepare – there is often an unexpected something that changes the best laid plans. When we saw you on Saturday afternoon - you could see that we still had a long way to go! What you probably didn’t know is that on Sunday morning - Bob's legs and ankles for some strange reason swelled up to 2 times normal size and he could barely walk! Yet we still had all these things that had to be taken over to the storage room. Normally he and the kids could have done that with no problem.1

We've seen in years past that we never know how God is going to work in these impossible situations, but it is always a delight - afterwards!

This time- Merinda had rec'd a phone call from someone that she thought she met in France last summer. This girl was coming to St.Pete for 2 weeks and wanted to visit. We only had 2 days left, so Rin invited her to come to church with us that last Sunday we were there. Well, by Sunday morning it was clear that we were not going to make it to church, but we planned to go after the service to say goodbye one last time.2

So when this girl called that morning, Rin told her the situation and offered to give her directions to the church; but the girl offered to bring her Dad over instead, to help us. Rin had not mentioned to her about Bob or anything. They came, and Rin realized she had no idea who this girl was! We finally figured out that they had met over 2 years ago when this girl had visited Proof of Life – the youth group that Rin and some others started with ICS and other MK’s in the city. She had found Rin's cell phone number on some SMS list on the web – scary thought – and called her!

Her Dad was in a suit, she was in street clothes. It was pouring down rain. Now, for those of you who aren’t in Russia – for a Russian man (or woman) to offer to help without having work clothes to change into is very unusual- and frankly just not done! However, I think they were Ukranian as it turned out…He didn't even hesitate but just began hauling things. God's provision #1. We were able to make it in time to say some special good byes and she was able to meet some folks from the church! Unfortunately for us – we didn’t really know at that point how bad Bob’s feet were or we might have recruited some more help!

Then, we came back and worked some more. Polya came over and worked VERY hard helping us. She helped close out the rooms one by one and vacuumed and mopped. I am positive that we would not have finished otherwise. We had to be out of the flat by midnight and turn over the key. She cheerfully stayed with us until 11pm and wound up helping us with some issues with our dog as well. Provision #2.

Then our neighbor, whose son died last year, came just before midnight, unbidden, and helped with the last few big items - by that time there is no way Bob could have carried the things that Michael helped us with. Somehow he had gotten off of work. We had said goodbye to he and his special family hours before. But God knew – who could I have called at that time of night!! He helped us haul the last few things to the storage room, and we got some really good time with he and his wife and daughter. It was very hard to say goodbye! Provision # 3

But, how do we get our 4 BIG boxes (70# - dishpak size) and suitcases over to the Gerig's to "spend the night" since we had to be out of the flat that night?! Thankfully, Titus who was moving flats himself had already taken 6 boxes over there for us earlier that day. Our van was now on a boat from Finland to Houston and the taxis we had planned on using didn’t like our boxes. So, Merinda and Heidi3 went out to the street to see if they could flag a car. The first one they saw was an old, and I mean old, car but it had a car top carrier! In less than 5 minutes he had pulled up and started loading our stuff! It’s now about 1:30am.

Now in the midst of all this, what had also slowed us down, is that the dog kennel that Fitz (a friend coming into St. Pete) had tried to bring in for us never made it. Lufthansa lost it. They promised it would get here the day before we left, but it didn't come! Not only that - they had shipped it back to the States!!! And so Bob had spent hours on the phone trying to track down another one - to no avail. We were also still waiting to hear from someone we affectionately called the "dog lady" – she worked with the vet and customs to get all of Tasha’s papers in order. Unfortunately, she never came when she said she would. We were still waiting to get the papers at 10pm the night before we flew at 6 am the next morning. When she finally called about 11 – we told her the situation with the kennel, and she began making calls to try and find one!

So, this "angel with a car top carrier" that they flagged down4 made 2 trips and took us to the Gerig's for "the night". I was a little nervous when I realized that the box on top had the computer in it, and it wasn't tied down at all. Thankfully, we live very close to the Gerig's. We finally amidst a flurry of other good byes got all of us and our junk there by about 3:00 am. Provision # 4.

For some reason, I asked Roma (the "angel with the car top carrier") if he would consider coming again in 3 hours to take us to the airport, and so he gave me his cell phone number and said he'd be glad to. IN the meantime, the "dog lady" said that she had found a dog kennel for us, and brought it to us about 2am. Amazing! We never could figure out what she does – she seemed as though it was perfectly normal to search for a dog cage at 3 in the morning! We thanked her profusely, and gratefully paid her; to have delayed one of our tickets to stay back with Tasha would have been very expensive, not to mention they would have no place to live!!! The only problem was that the cage had no bottom! Liquid waste on the plane was going to be a slight issue! She hadn't thought of that, but said she could get a bottom?! One hour later she showed up with a bottom to it - but I still had doubts that the airline would accept it - but what to do? By now it's 3:30am! Provision #5

So we took showers5 - our hot water was off in our flat! Bob put his poor swollen legs up and slept for an hour and a half; Heidi and Rin talked 6 and matched this bag FULL of socks that we’d forgotten about, Dust and Am slept a little, and we tried to cram in those last minute things to bags. Bob was not able to walk hardly at all by this point, so I was wondering how we would even get the boxes down the stairs to the cars we already had lined up.

Somehow, we loaded the cars. Titus and his back, (and van) were a Godsend! J One of our friends was late, so having Roma there must have been a prompting from God. Provision #6

So, off we went to the airport. Sweat pouring down our faces; getting everything in and through customs; then the Lufthansa folks told us we had no reservation for the dog! We of course did, and she later changed her story, but nevertheless they made us miss our flight – not to mention lost the dog cage, too! We were feeling pretty _________ (plug in your own word!) As it turned out, I don't think they would have taken the cage anyway, but they basically just didn't want to mess with all of our stuff and the dog, even though check in was still proceeding.

We were utterly exhausted at this point, so we just piled up all of our stuff on a BIG luggage cart and sat in that "no man’s land" between customs and passport control – ever wondered what those chairs are really for!? 7 The kids fell asleep; Tasha was happy to be with us and not left behind this time; and there we sat for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do with no flat to return to, no car, a cell phone almost out of money and battery power 3 taxis or 2 vans worth of stuff, and a husband who can barely walk and in pain!!

We heard there was another flight with seats available at 2:30, but then they finally told us the cage wasn't acceptable. What now!? We had been to or called so many stores and no one had one - they had little ones, but not big ones. Finally, one of the clerks came over and asked us what our situation was. She was very kind and helpful. She got on the phone to a friend, and they found a store that had a cage!!! We later learned that it was the ONLY one! Now how to get it in time? Roma! I called him on the cell phone which Titus had thankfully put some more money on for us. 8

"Roma, remember the family you dropped at the airport about 7 hours ago? Guess what - we are still here! L "

Believe it or not, he was off work by that time, and was happy for the extra money to fix up that car :) So he took Dustin all the way up to Gorkovskaya metro and they made it back just in time for the 7:30pm flight. 9 Provision #7

We were all able to get on that flight to Germany, but not across the Atlantic. 3 of us were waitlisted. But oh well, "let's just get out of this airport!! " So 13 very long hours later, we boarded a plane to Germany…

Now, Nadine, where your letter came into play....

After we re-grouped and Bob had made a jillion phone calls to Germany and elsewhere trying to track down the original dog cage, and to figure out some different options for later flights and connections, we decided to try one last time with the ticket office upstairs. We were confirmed on a flight 3 days later, but that meant getting help moving all of our junk in and out of the airport again, renting a hotel room for us (and a dog!), etc. etc.! So I went upstairs, only to find that the ticket office had closed 10 minutes earlier! It was a holiday, and they wouldn't re-open for another 5 hours, which, at that time, we thought was the last flight out that day.

I just stood there and cried for a few minutes - mainly from exhaustion I guess, but honestly…! We had spent a very hard time with our landlord the evening before. Bob was in such pain, and the landlord was haggling over rent money that wasn't even his. All despite the fact that we had improved his flat to the extent that he now wanted to charge 200 extra Euro per month to friends of ours that wanted to rent the flat. So between that and.... the dog cage... then Bob's feet...the unknowns once here in the States... saying good bye to so many special folks...we were just plain tired.

When I went back downstairs to break the news we all just looked at each other and prayed and sat down again wondering what the next step should be. The kids took Tasha for a walk (we couldn't let her eat since we were still hoping we might be able to fly that day) and I started going through my bag and cleaning out trash. Then I found your note. (a beautiful note it was!!!)10 I read it and what an encouragement it was to me!! I needed that boost right then for sure, and it gave me the energy to hang in there another few hours. So we took naps, folks came and went and some brought Tasha water, and we waited. The came the breaks with the dog kennel! So Nadine, thank you from the bottom of my heart - it truly was the highlight of that day!!! Provision #8

One good thing that came from all of this – apart from seeing God’s provisions for us- this little peon family…. Because the airline messed up so badly with us, they waived the fee for extra luggage! It saved us a bundle of money, and paved the way for what transpired in Frankfurt. They for some reason put all the bags under one name. Well, sure enough, when we were waiting for our names to be called and un-waitlisted, it was apparent that 3 of us were not going to make the flight. Rin and Bob were on, but we were destined to spend 2 lonely nights in F'furt. Normally I would have been thrilled - but we were just too tired and out of money for it to seem like anything but expensive torture! Just as I was kissing Bob good-bye, I heard them making the last boarding call for a flight to Dallas at the next gate! My ears perked up, and I asked the attendant if that flight had any room left. It did! They took all 3 of us on, and we actually landed in Texas 5 minutes before Bob. Thankfully I got some sleep on the plane, and then we were able to rent a car (a cute little red one :) ) and Dust and Amber and I drove on to Houston that same day! Yeaaahhhh - we were all home safely! Tasha did fine, too.

Whew - so here we are. I’ve listed all these provisions above because they were unexpected Godsends! But I don’t want to take for granted what God had already put in place for us to make our homecoming as easy as possible. Bob’s Mom welcomes us into her home and feeds us our 2-year cravings of food and Bob’s brother and his family graciously lugs our boxes from the airport and back in their "Texas truck" each time. This is no minor feat! In addition they are allowing us to use a car for a year so that we were mobile as soon as we landed. We could not function here or on the field without their support! God’s faithful provision!

The next day we headed to A&M to get Merinda taken care of at the university. This past week, we went again for 3 days for orientation. 2 days ago, Rin's friend that has faithfully written her for 2 years came by with his 2 buddies and stayed with us for a couple of days - he's a topnotch guy. They also helped us clean out the house that we will likely live in. We spent 2 days down there cleaning carpets and pulling weeds and basically cleaning out all the junk the renters left behind. They were our angels on this side of the ocean - 3 young men that love the Lord and were great fun to be with! Provision #9

And now, we are off to see my family in Alabama, and you are headed for your vacation. I pray that it is totally uneventful!!!

Nadine, thank you for your special friendship! I have a warm spot in my heart every time I look at your cards (I brought most of them home with me and the latest is on my dresser upstairs) and think of all the ways you have challenged me to trust in the Lord. May God bless you Nadinechic!

Love you,

Suzanne

1 It must have been lack of sleep – we later figured up that we had gotten 3 hours sleep out of the 52 leading up to the flight.

2 We had already had a going away party the week before, so this was just a final good bye.

3I forgot to mention that Heidi and Jordan came over to help about 10pm. Jordan left at 11, but Heidi went with us to the airport.

4 It’s very common in Russia to "hitchhike" and pay them for their time. Much cheaper than taxis and at this point, very safe and normal. Not something to do at 2am by yourself as a young lady, but we were all together.

5 - Thank you Gerig’s!! It was absolutely wonderful to take a hot shower!!!

6Thanks Heidi for going that extra mile with us!!

7 Nadine - when you go through the airport on your way to Germany - just picture us sitting in those chairs between customs and passport control where all the airline check-in desks are - surrounded by 10 huge boxes, a dog, and 4 big suitcases, and kids (and Bob and I occasionally) asleep on pillows.

8 Cell phone plans are different in Russia. You pay as you go, so you just keep money in your account and fill ‘er up once in a while.

9Keep in mind that we had just met this guy a few hours earlier, and I was putting my son in the car with ($250 in his pocket) and praying that God would protect Dustin and bring him back safely with or without the cage

10 Nadine makes these gorgeous handmade cards – they truly are keepsakes! Nadine is our business manager at the school where I worked, and a special friend.