I'm missing Ukraine

Yesterday I cut my fingernails.  Interesting... not really.  Important... only if I plan to look like a civilized person.  Profound....  a little more today than other days.  Here is my right thumb nail:

That black mark represents a tough day of work in storage building 1 at the Hope Center, or more specifically, the bed frame which dropped on my unsuspecting hand.

Unfortunately it also represents that I have been away from Kerch long enough for this battle wound to have almost grown out.  Within a week or so I will no longer have a reminder of the Hope Center prominently placed on an extremity.  From an esthetic point of view, this may be a good thing but emotionally it will be a sad moment, once again reminding me that I am being kept away from the people I love over there and ministry that I enjoy.  

I just talked to Tanya on Skype and learned that the Ranger will clear customs in another 2-3 weeks, that my friend Roman (a HopeCenter profile on him will be forthcoming) has been employed at the camp full-time (a huge answer to prayer) and that my other buddy Igor is getting married to his sweetheart Natasha at the Hope Center itself.  It is killing us to be away while all these great things are happening but we are trusting that the Lord will get us back at exactly the time he wants us there.

Please don't take offense if you're a reader on this side of the world.  I can simultaneously be glad to be here with you and saddened by our absence from Ukraine.

I'm an Uncle again

Posted from the hospital's WiFi, here is (as far as I know) the first cyber presence of my new nephew Padraig Gibson Orf.  Joy gave birth early this morning (Saturday) after a relatively uneventful labor.  I am beginning to realize how few of Joy and Bobby's friends I actually know.  That's a sad situation since we have only been 1.5 hours south of them for the better part of 3 years.  Anyway, we came up to Boulder this morning to see the happy little family.  He is a cute fella and we are excited to be able to share some time with them.

Congrats Bobby and Joy!

Casual Friday

Not that I'm conceding the point, but I think an argument could be made that a green shirt and orange shoes were an unwise color combination - even on casual Friday.

What do you guys think?

Don't let the man get you down

Yesterday I was in meetings all day which were interesting but frequently had nothing to do with me or my job.  This was particularly unfortunate since Liverpool was playing PSV in the Champions League at 12:45.  In an effort to stay abreast of the game situation and to not let a meeting get in the way of enjoying the game result real-time (or as close to that as possible), I enlisted my faithful buddy Paul.  He stayed up on the game at UEFA.com and promised to let me know when goals were scored.  My main concern was the scoreline and I assumed he would let me know about goals by a show fingers and some pantomime.  However, Paul went above and beyond and you can imagine my stifled excitement when he showed me this sign....

Robbie Keane was playing his 11th game for the Reds this season and was scoreless until yesterday....a huge goal that I hope will open the flood gates for the rest of the season.

I was pretty confident on the outcome but was still glad to see this sign flash at me as I was estimating the game was winding down.
A good day and a victory for football.

Yet another theft

I must be in a klepto state of mind cause this is 2 in a row that I have proudly stolen.  

I got this one from Chernigov blog, a fellow American in Ukraine (after a 2 full days of meetings in Colorado, I am seriously jealous).  Below is a new ad campaign in Ukraine in which they use the familiar yet elusive Euro in an attempt to counter rampant human trafficking.  The text says something like "this is how much you'll make in Europe" but notice the street-walker in the bottom right.  An excellent example of creative advertising and public service announcement.  If you want a little background on the problem I covered it in this earlier post.