A Long Week

It's been a long week and we are only half way through! We are still getting used to having a faster internet connection. We keep wanting to disconnect or wait for it to connect.

Today, our friend of many years now, Igor Ouglev, finally was able to begin his internship at Kyiv's Zhulyani airport and flew to Simferopol in Crimea. He has been training to be a pilot, it seems, for forever. We are so happy for him. Both his father and grandfather were pilots so the great tradition continues. We host our Cherkassy Conference every year in his parents' house.

Today the landlady called and wanted to say just "two words" to Lena because I told her Lena was leaving. She wanted to raise the rent. Our rent has gone up almost 50% this year. For years, they never raised it and suddenly it hits because of inflation and skyrocketing rent prices. It just seemed like it came in this string of unpleasant pieces of news we've been getting this week.

Ever feel you are being hunted by someone you can't see? I've had that feeling this week. It's an unpleasant one. I can't really explain why but it's just unpleasant. Enough about that.

I have been blessed this week by so many people who have encouraged me. There have been many more hugs than usual, many "thank you's" for what you do, a general sense of support and commitment to the work of the kingdom. It's been great to experience that. Rarely do people tell you why they think your work is important or how you helped them grow in the faith. Several people have done that this week, and I am very thankful for their kind words.

And we wish Tanya Lokot a happy birthday. We know she occasionally reads this blog.