Today is Independence Day for us Americans, and the weather in Poland could not be better for it.  It is sunny and hot.  Exactly the type of weather we would want to celebrate the birth of our country while living in another one.

We have a guest visiting us this weekend.  Our friend Daria from Szczecin came down for a few days.  It is great that she can be here to help us set off some firecrackers and then help explain to the neighbors why we are setting off firecrackers.  This evening our co-workers, the Kieffers, will also be coming over for a time of grilling and fun.

Unless I'm mistaken, this is my 7th fourth of July outside of the US.  That's almost 1 out of every 4.  Oh well, if we can't celebrate the 4th in America then at least we will celebrate it with friends.

Some new pictures of our girls enjoying their summer :)

Yesterday Sasha gave me a great father's day.  She basically gave me a free day to relax.  She took on most of my parenting and household duties and gave me time to relax.  This left me free to play with the girls and go out for a little personal time in the afternoon.
On top of all this, we had great weather.  It was a warm sunny day which has been a rarity these past couple months.
Today we are back to a dreary cloudy wet day.  Was a great spring for plants, but not the greatest for outside play.  Hopefully the weather will warm up for July.  We have a short-term team coming, and the plan is for them to spend a good amount of time outdoors weather permitting.

I (Dave) have recently been looking for ways to meet people with common interests in Lodz, and I have discovered what a good tool the internet can be for making real life contacts.  Just this last week I made contact with two locals and I'm hoping to get together with them in the next few days.
Of course, you have to be careful when dealing with the internet.  People can easily lie about themselves or have bad intentions, so I have to check them out a bit before we get too close.  I'm not concerned so much about myself (because I'm huge and can lift most people in this country above my head) as those around me, but I believe I'm being cautious enough.  4 years in down town Chicago gives you some street savvy, and you have to be willing to risk a bit if you want to move forward.  After all, the main reason we are here is to impact peoples lives.  How are we to do that if we don't take a chance?

Sasha and I visited a local preschool yesterday.  We hoped to enroll Sophie in the fall, but unfortunately that preschool and most of the schools in our area are already full for the fall.  We put her name on a waiting list in the hopes that a spot opens up, but there are no promises.  Apparently registration opened up in March and was already full in April.  (Not having registered a kid for preschool before we did not know this.)
We want to get Sophie in a preschool for at least a day or two a week just so that she can get a stronger grasp on Polish before starting kindergarten next year.  Please pray that we find a good option for her.

Yesterday we had two very good friends and their daughter visit us from Szczecin.  They came in the afternoon and spend the night at our house.  It was very nice to see them, and it made us miss our former home.  Their little one year old has grown significantly since we last saw her a year ago, and I would guess our girls look bigger to them as well.
We are sad to see them go this morning, but hopefully we will see them again soon.

An older and well respected missionary couple once told me that, in their many decades of service, there were several times they felt like they were "just playing church."  Having a few years under our belts now I think we have a better understanding of what this is like.  There are times when we have absolute clarity about what we are doing and where we are going in ministry.  We know what needs to be done and we do it.  (By God's grace we do it well.)
Then there are other times when we do not know what the next step is in ministry.  This is frustrating to me as the leader of our family because I like to know what the next step is and where we go from here at all times.  I (though I hate to admit it) still prefer to follow my own voice rather than stop and listen to the Holy Spirit.  Yet at dry times like this, that is especially what I need to do.
One of the nice things about our sending agency is that they ask us to spend one day a month and a few days once a year in refection and planning.  I find that these times to be very helpful in slowing us down to listen to Him.  Without His guidance we will be just spinning our wheals.  Dry seasons will still come like they did for this other couple, but at least we will not walk through these deserts alone.

This evening I went to a gathering celebrating the release of a new translation of the New Testament into Polish.  The main speaker was a man who has devoted much of his life to translating the Bible into Polish.  At the beginning of his talk he said, "It was never God's intention to substitute a relationship with Him with a relationship with a book."  That's good to remember and even more impressive when it comes from someone who has devoted his life's work to that book.
I have met several people (professors mostly) who have devoted their lives to the study of the Bible.  It is usually obvious which ones have forgotten to live the Christian life while studying scripture.  It is sad and pathetic.
Read the Bible.  It is good to do so just as it is good to read e-mail from your friend.  However, mail is not a relationship.  It is only a conduit that allows a relationship.  The Bible is not a relationship either.  It is a crucial way in which God communicates with us, but it is a means to an end.  Let us never forget the end in our study of the Bible.

This morning Sasha's dad and mom arrived from Bulgaria.  They were expected to arrive early this afternoon, but the bus made good time at the Serbian border and they got in 5 hours early.
The girls were so happy to see them, and within an hour Sophie was back to talking to Baba in Bulgarian.  She was also very happy to see Diado.  She has not seen him in almost 2 years, but the smile on her face made it clear that she remembers him.  There were hugs all around.
Veronica was also happy to see Baba and Diado.  She was especially happy at the presents they brought for them.  She has been carrying around three ladybug dolls since they got here.  (There was suposed to be one doll per granddaughter, but Veronica has claimed the collection as her own.  Sophie has been nice enough to let her do so without a fight.)
Baba and Diado will be staying with us for a month.  It will be nice to have them around.

This afternoon Sophie and I went to the computer store to pick up our backup computer.  Our backup computer is an old computer we keep around in the event that our main computer breaks down.  It was not starting up, so I brought it into a local shop a couple of days ago to see if they could repair it.  I knew what to expect because I talked to the repair man on the phone, but just to be polite, the service man again explained to me that the computer has an issue that he is unable to repair.  He then handed me my new paperweight and the cord that goes with it and Sophie and I headed for the door.
I never know how much of a Polish conversation our girls understand, but in this case Sophie understood so well that she felt it necessary to tell me what the service man had just told me.  She informed me, "The computer's broken Daddy."
It's nice to have a little translator with me.