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It was just a little over a year ago, on February 21, 2010, when the old truck pulled up to our apartment building in Moscow. The night before, Moscow had had its biggest snowfall on record. This made the narrow street in front of the apartment building even narrower, and to this day, it is a mystery to me how the driver from Perm managed to get the truck all the way up to the entrance.
I had asked Rachel in early 2010 what she wanted for her birthday. She had said that she wanted to be living in Moscow on her birthday (February 24th). Of course, it seemed impossible that we could make all of the arrangements so quickly, but I always enjoy a challenge.
I had invited a Dagestani friend who lives in Moscow to help unload the truck, and he in turn had invited a Malaysian friend. Somehow the three non-Russians unloading our worldly possession from the truck alarmed some of the residents in the building, as the police came twice to check us out. Usually, it's not a burglary if you're carrying items INto the building, but we can never be too suspicious, now can we?
The next morning, I met Rachel and the kids at the train station. They also were not packing lightly, so it was necessary to enlist the assistance of a nearby porter. He wanted more than $70 to push 3 or 4 suitcases on his old rusty cart the 200 yards to the waiting van that I had rented. My ensuing diatribe was successful in shaming the porter to a reasonable price.
Yes, when you arrive in Moscow it can seem somewhat intimidating. But we soon found that arriving in Moscow and living in Moscow are very different experiences.
Understanding Moscow and putting down roots were some of our main objectives for this past year. Of course, any city of this size will have its share of complications. On the one hand there are the terrorist attacks and racial riots we saw over the past year. And on the other hand we are surprised by both the politeness and the openness to spiritual conversations by the people we meet each day.
We have learned that if you want to grow in patience, we can suggest moving to Moscow. The traffic is, of course, legendary. I remember being stuck in a traffic jam for six and a half hours this last December. But it is also smaller things like finding a parking spot when we arrive at home on any given evening.
But it's when I'm in traffic, or waiting in line at the post office, or trying to get the shopping cart through an insanely crowded store that I realize that people in the city are far more patient than seemingly laid-back country folk. I know I've learned to go easy on the horn this year. Yes, we will all eventually make it home. All 15 million of us.
While Rachel uses our mini-van most days as the taxi driver for our children, I've enjoyed getting to know one of the world's best subway systems. In my situation, the choice for exercise and lower carbon footprint is usually also the cheapest and fastest way to get around the city on most days. It's win/win/win/win!
In the last couple of handyrachet heralds Rachel shared some about our life here as a family. Many missionary families leave the field when their children reach school age and inevitably begin to ask, "Why don't we live in America?". We felt very strongly that God has something for our children here, as well as for our ministry, and we are happy with the balance that we have found with homeschooling, music school, art lessons, karate, dance, and Montessori class for Jaden and Benjamin, all in Russian schools. We want our children to love both Russia and America! It hasn't been an easy transition, but clearly, God has provided for their needs as well.
The Russian schools even provide a few humorous moments. Recently, Charlie's choir teacher asked Rachel "if Charlie had experienced any head trauma at birth." I asked Rachel why she had asked this. Apparently, my eldest son sings all of the songs perfectly, but at half-tempo. I don't know if I've ever been prouder.
We overcame that little challenge a year ago and celebrated Rachel's birthday in Moscow. We weren't called to Moscow because it is the easiest city in Russia for ministry. We believe we were called to the place where we would be most dependent on God. Moving to a new city is always a learning experience, and there are many greater challenges ahead, but together with your prayers we will see the impossible become reality. | 
