boxes, eyes and gold stars

Let me introduce you to some of the Sweet Sleep carpenters.





We got Artur on the left trying to look tough.

Ivan is in the middle looking.... well, I don't know what that face is supposed to imply.

Dima is on the right sending out the vibes.

A motely crew we are.


Here is a little taste of what we have been working in. The sad thing is that this is the best it has looked since we started. We have no space or room to get it better organized. Boxes were literally stacked to the ceiling the entire way around the room. We have been putting together all this furniture which the orphanage received from some company as humanitarian aid. Basically it is damaged, useless, or missing parts half of the time.

I've been trying out some of the furniture. I fit in this one much better then some other ones. As you can see, I've shaved my beard. I grew tired of beard sickles. It was a move I regretted almost instantly. Maybe I just need to get more familiar to my hairless chin(s).

I've enjoyed working with the guys. It has been tiring at times, mainly because of the difficulties of communicating. But it has helped me get a good feel for the guys.

English classes have started. Oxana did an amazing job and held their attention for a solid 2 hours. It was pretty cool to watch. They enjoyed it and laughed quite a bit as they butchered the English language, but in a loving way. To help pay for this, and their 70$ books, send checks to Sweet Sleep with English lessons in the memo. Go to the sweet sleep link for payment information. http://www.sweetsleep.org

This is Ivan at class. He loved it. During class, he looked at me and said "I like this, fun." He really did enjoy it. You can see it in his face.

Ivan's face is fascinating to me.

In the back of his eyes there is a constant fear standing against an infant hope. Even when he is happy those things are there fighting for control. Even a little hope can be enough to fight back and he has got a lot of things to fight through and overcome. We are here to help him, to show him the way to Christ, to help the light prevail and to love him.

One day he told me that he hears God in one ear and the devil in the other. I asked which he listens to. The answer was in his eyes. He is wrestling, trying to figure our how to listen to God. His eyes reveal how delicate he really is. There are a lot of those kind of eyes in this place.

I'm sure, if you were to look for them, you could find Ivan's eyes in the faces of people you see and interact with everyday. You might even find them when you look, honestly, into your own eyes. We are delicate creatures. We were made in God's image but always seem to be forgetting that. Paul prayed we, the church and God's children, would have the eyes of our hearts enlightened, that we may know what is the hope to which he has called us, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. (Eph 1.18)

This is my prayer for Ivan, for all these guys and for a world God loves immeasurably. I want his eyes, the lamps of his body, to be so full of light that to look at him would blind you with the truth and with the hope that so richly dwells in him. I want that fear out of them suckers. There is no fear in love, and Love lives in us when we let Christ dwell there. And He is willing, perfectly willing, and even wanting to live in us. That is easily beautiful.