Catching up...

Over a month ago we started language school. We go everyday in the afternoons. Most days it's incredibly challenging. It's cool to be learning another language; the downside is that it occassionally makes your brain hurt. In a few weeks Josh and I will be making a little video to show what we do and where we go for day to day stuff, and I'll be sure to post it in the blog so you can check it and get an idea of how life is over here.

This past weekend was a little out of the ordinary for us. We were invited by some friends to join them at their country home. In Estonia, almost everyone has a country home that they go to on the weekends. So, we went down to the very southern part of the country with them. It took about 4 hours to drive from the very top to nearly the bottom. On the way down, we saw the first signs of snow on the ground!

When we got there, they took us around to all sorts of different landmarks: the highest point (a really big hill), a "desert", some granite cliffs, caves, an abandoned Soviet military base, and nature reserves. It's a really beautiful place, not to mention it was great just to be out of the city for a few days.

Most interestingly though, we had the traditional sauna experience. Basically, you sit in the sauna and someone slaps you a few times with birch limbs (like exfoliating), and then when you're too hot to stand it anymore you run outside and jump into the nearest body of water (if there is one) to cool down. Even when the water is iced over in the winter, they'll go and chip it away so you can jump in. It actually felt pretty good, even though it was just about freezing outside.

Spiritually, it's a step in the right direction. As we've been for months, we're allowing our relationships with these friends to grow. Please pray that they will see the mysterious presence of Christ in us. We've not been able to have conversations on that level, but pray that when we do, our actions will have spoken ahead for us.

They tried to make me go to rehab, and I said...oh, alright...

Since I desperately want to avoid surgery in two months, yesterday, I figured it was time to start rehabing my knee. The doctor told me that I should be cycling and swimming (but, not the breast stroke, he kept repeating) at least three times a week. I should also be loung-ga-ing (emphasis on the middle G) and keeping my knee at a very specific angle, which he modeled, with a pillow beneath it.

So, yesterday, I joined a very nearby gym. Today was my first day working out there. It was a little lesson in humility and in feeling really awkward. For starters, I couldn't figure out how to lock my locker and had to ask. Then, I couldn't open the door to get out. Later, I couldn't open the door to get back in. Someone had to show me how to do that, too. It's all very complicated. At the same time, I was the only person (female or male) in the whole place wearing a t-shirt. Everyone else looked like they were coming out of a Nike commercial.

Tomorrow, I'm going to go back in there like a pro. I'll know how to open my locker, and how to get in and out of the door. But, one way or the other, I'm not caving on my t-shirt. After a few months, who knows, maybe I'll have built some relationships and opened a new avenue to our ministry here. Maybe I'll have converted them all to the t-shirt.

The American Beauty Car Show

Last weekend we rode with two Estonian friends in their 1960s Cadillac, to an event called the "American Beauty Car Show." It was being held in a 13th century castle. When we got there we were surprised to see hundreds of cars parked around the fortified walls and out in the fields around it. Even crazier, in this place that would be a national treasure in the states , they parked the good cars, (the ones remodeled especially to be shown), on the inside of the castle grounds.

We knew we were in for something right at the entrance because by a big row of port-a-potties, were cars of every American variety decked out in flags. They weren't Estonian, Russian, or EU flags. They were American, and the vast majority Rebel flags. They were draped over windshields, tied from antennas, and even tied like capes around people's necks. People were all decked out for the occassion too, with boots, some pearl snaps, and some European twists on Western wear. My favorite was the guy with very long hair in a cowboy hat, boots, and a knee length fur coat with the arms cut off, whom we saw head banging later in the night, hat held high.

Apparently, collecting American cars, classic or no, is becoming quite the hobby in Estonia. Of course, they buy muscle cars and that kind of thing, but they buy regular stuff too: 1990s Oldsmobiles, newer Mustangs, Mr. T inspired vans, ordinary minivans, Jeep Cherokees, Wranglers, Suburbans. They'll get anything, as long as it's American.

This is a once a year event, and everyone with an American-built car comes. They bring their tents, as we did, and camp out by their cars. They grill, rev their engines, drink, and listen to a ton of American music. From five in the evening to noon the next day, we heard non-stop everything, from AC/DC, Dolly Parton, Dwight Yokum, to Hanson and (hours of repeated) Ace of Base.

The funny thing was that being American made us minor celebrities by the grill that night; especially, once I mentioned that I grew up in Texas. People were visibly excited about it. It really gave us an avenue to talk to people who might not ordinarily open up to us. For instance, I spoke to one girl about where she should go visit in Texas, life in America, and how she'd seen that money didn't necissarily bring happiness. She and I also got to talk about some deeper matters, like the faith of Johnny Cash, and my own experience with faith and grace.

It was a weird and bizarre night, one that didn't end, even after we tried to go to sleep at 3:30 that morning. All night long people were up singing, playing music, and some Estonian guy was yelling, "Wakey, wakey, eggs and bacey." Being around all those rebel flags, the country music, and revved up engines, it felt a little like home. Or, like your redneck cousins' house that you visit once a year.

Born in the U.S.A.

Not so long ago, Estonia was granted their freedom and given the rights of an independent nation. A big part of getting there was through demonstrations in the song festival. The festival has been happening every fifth summer for the past 140 years. Rain or shine, communism, facism, or democracy, Estonians pour down the streets for hours to file into the song grounds. 70,000 strong, they sing traditional songs together for several hours. Just so happens that this year the song festival has landed on the 4th of July weekend.

A couple of days ago, Josh and I went with two friends to dinner and then stumbled on an early celebration. There was dancing, singing, and lots of accordian action going on. We got there just as an old fashioned looking boat arrived to the shore, carrying a flame that had been taken through the rivers of Estonia and onto the Baltic Sea to make it to Tallinn. As we were leaving, our friends told us about how, as young kids, they had been a part of the human chain that ran the length of the Baltic nations.

So, tonight, we got together with a few American friends. We ate some dessert, popped a handful of fireworks, and listened to a little of Bruce Springstein and Tom Petty. And, maybe this year more than others, we were thankful for the freedom we've had all this time, and oftentimes take for granted.

Tomorrow, we'll go catch the second day of the festival and pray that those 70,000 might find a new kind of freedom that can't be taken away through politics, arms, or the will of any opposing army.

A Change Gonna Come

One day, our blog is not gonna have a thing in it about health stuff. Today's not that day, but it's coming, promise.

We've been in Budapest for the past week getting checked out by the awesome doctors at the awesome facilities there. Turns out Josh's stomach problems have been caused by a bacteria and they're easily fixed with some medication. I also had an MRI taken of my knee, and it'll be about a week before I know definititively what's going on and what will have to be done for it. It seems likely that it's a meniscus tear and might have to be fixed surgically. So, we'll both have to get some follow-up stuff done pretty soon. The main thing is that we are incredibly thankful for the support of our organization. They're a well run machine when stuff like this comes up.

Also, being in Budapest made us feel super fluent in Estonian. You don't realize how much language you've learned until you go somewhere and don't know a word.

We're totally excited about this coming week. We're going to our regional conference, which means a chance to get back together with some friends and colleauges, speak English, be loud Americans, share our experiences from the past couple months, get new ideas, and new energy to come back out again. It's going to be a great time.

Also we're hopeful that when we get back, we'll have some new friendships develop out of acquaintences. It's going to be great to see how God moves.

The Hope Festival

A week ago, Estonia hosted Franklin Graham and a hand-full of bands from around the globe. Some of the musicians were Americans: Dennis Ajadarian (the Guinness Book of World Record's fastest guitar player), John and Anne Barbour, and Michael W. Smith; yet, there were also a variety of European based musicians (from Ukraine, Russia, Finland, and a few of Estonia's own). One Estonian artist in particular, Tõnis Mägi, is very popular, and it was really powerful to hear his songs, usually played in a secular context, reconsidered by his fans in light of the message of the cross. 

As one of the videos I posted earlier said, for many, the Hope Festival may be the only Christian based event they have ever been invited to or attended. We considered it a blessing to be there as our Estonian brothers and sisters were energized again through gathering together; moreover, to see our community of faith grow. We pray, and hope you'll join with us in praying, that a simple alter call won't be the end of the spiritual journey for those who felt compelled to go down. We pray that their experience would grow richer and more powerfully as they are drawn into relationship with the Living God. And, we pray that the festival would not be a weekend event, but a catalyst for the country of Estonia. 

Hope in Estonia