Playground

A tree blooming out the kitchen window. 

 Today we started painting the play structure near our apartment building. 

We had invited some of the youth we've been getting to know to come and help and only one girl - Katya, showed up (and it's more than likely only because I told her that I'd cut her hair afterwards!) BUT nevertheless - she came, she painted, she got a haircut and then she stayed for supper and the evening which was a nice bonus to get to know her a little better! She is one of the ones that we've spent the most time with between Young Life, School 25 and the drop in night at New Hope Center. She is graduating in a month and plans to go to university to study sign language. I must say - hanging out with someone for 5 hours having to decipher as much Russian as possible makes me really tired! And poor Bobi - she was busy translating as much as possible from Russian (her THIRD language) to English (her second language) - I can't imagine how fried her brain felt! Languages use a part of your brain that you don't even know exists! 

We are battling some sickness here for over a week now. The only one who has been healthy is Steve (he is strong, like ox) - the rest of us have gone between recurring colds and a 24-hour stomach bug (that wasn't horrific in the usual ways). Right now Bobi is sick and August is quite sick with a fever and cough so please pray for healing and that the rest of us don't get sick again.