Broken Things

It's funny how things over here are made to be disposable.  Ok, so things in Canada are becoming more disposable as well, but, it seems like everything here is made to break, or at the very least, break soon after you buy it.  We bought a fan, mainly because I am too cheap to pay the 50 cents per kilowatt hour, and this fan, the first time we used it to oscillate air around the room smelled like burning.  We discovered that there is too much resistance for the fan to move the propellers and the head and will burn out the motor so it is a stationary fan.  Also, the Lada, a wonderful Soviet car that is made to fall apart after 1 year and need fixing.  One such car needed repairs outside of our apartment and Colleen enthusiastically told me to bring the camera, I did, and this is what we saw.

Who needs jacks or tire ramps, just get a bunch of your buddies together and tilt it to the side and prop it up with a stick.  This kind of reminded me of my father-in-law, Les, as this is right up his alley, you don't have to pay for a tow truck, or a mechanic, or jacks, or anything else, just invite some friends over for a "car tilting" party!

Onto my subject of broken things.  Have you ever had a child that breaks everything?  Maybe all children do, but Ellianna is especially brilliant at said task.  I set up building blocks and she destroys them, I build a sandcastle, decorate it and she doesn't even think about the time and effort I put in, all for her, but all she sees is something to destroy.  Anyways, we have these wonderful shelves on either side of our bed and they are nice because they hold the alarm clock, glasses, lamps, etc.  Well, the problem is they are made of glass.  So Ellianna, my wonderful monkey of a daughter, thought it would be great to use this shelf to support all of her weight.

Needless to say, it doesn't, so if anyone knows where I can buy a glass shelf like this in Kiev, that would be great!  I was taking a shower, reflecting on the recent events and saying to myself, "Man, that kid breaks everything!"  Then a Casting Crowns song came to mind.  (I just googled how to add it to my blog, so hopefully it works!)

(I think it worked)

Well, the song mentions how our sinful self gets in the way of God's work and in essence "breaks the ministry."  Man, I get upset at my daughter for not listening and breaking things when I do the same thing to His work.  (Where should the finger really be pointing?)

I guess I just am getting frustrated with all this cultural mumbo-jumbo.  Like, if I want to give cookies to someone out of the kindness of my heart, they shouldn't be offended or think "now I owe him one" but just be grateful for the gift.  But culturally, that is not how things work here, if you do something for me, then I owe you one.  I will scratch your back, but you will have to scratch my back down the road.  We took in Bible School how education brings responsibility.  In other words, if you have the knowledge, you will be judged more severely, like if I know cultural no-no's and do them anyway because I just want to be me and not culturally respectful, that is not a great testimony for Christ.

I was venting my frustration to one of my friends and he mentioned to me 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 -

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became a Jew, to win the Jews.  To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.  I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

So why would I try to be anything else but culturally sensitive?  (Keeping in mind of course that the Gospel is counter cultural, in that it demands grace!)

So, a huge prayer request from this side of the Atlantic is patience for us as we adjust and try to learn how to not have people stumble over us on their way to His Kingdom!