Oswalt Family

Please continue to pray for my cousin Jeremy and his family. The surgery on Wednesday was semi successful. They took out part of the largest tumor to relieve the pressure in his brain so he wouldn't have terrible headaches. However, the doctors also said that the cancer is throughout his brain. They have recommended some chemotherapy and radiation treatments for a few weeks and they hope that after a few months he might even be able to go back to work. But basically, they don't seem to be extending a lot of hope for him to beat this.
Pray for Jeremy as he sorts through this all, he's been on drugs all week because of pain, so I am sure he is having a hard time grasping and sorting through all of this. His wife, Beth, as she reels from the shock of it all that God would give her wisdom and comfort and hope and peace. My uncle and aunt as they themselves try to take in all this information and help Beth and help make the necessary decisions. And, of course, all my cousins and my grandparents. This has just been a huge shock to us all. Even I have found myself feeling drained and exhausted and I am not closely tied into the situation either physically or emotionally (comparatively speaking).
Pray especially for Andrea, she's the youngest of the five in that family (Jeremy is the oldest). Her husband is in the military and has been assigned to Korea for two years. She is supposed to be joining him in March. The other siblings have all been able to go to Jeremy and Beth, but she has not, so pray for her as it must be especially difficult not to be with the family right now and to think about having to leave so soon for Korea.
Thanks for all your prayers.

Lika and Carmen and Other Prayer Requests

Here is a picture of Lika and Carmen.
The second picture is of our supper "table". Another one of those cultural things. I don't have a table in my kitchen as there isn't really room and I don't feel the need. I have a table in the living room that I use when I have guests. Lika, however, feels that it is too much effort to take the food out there (it's easier to carry the chairs into the kitchen), and besides we might spill and mess up the table cloth, or spill on the floor and have to clean it up... So, we eat at the kitchen counter, which is supremely awkward and unique for conversation! On the other hand, it keeps Tyotya Luba away from me, which probably enables her to eat her food in peace without having to look at the evil foreignor. :D As you may have noticed, she turned her back in this picture and has refused to let me take any of her. Do pray for her, she must be a most unhappy woman. :(

On a completely different topic: I just found out that my cousin has cancer; brain tumors to be exact. He only found out on Monday and he is having surgery today to see what they can do, then they will begin radiation. Please pray for him and his family, wife and three kids six and under. Also for his parents and siblings and our grandparents. Jeremy is 37. It is a shock to us all and even though I don't know my cousin well, I still feel like it is part of a nightmare. Thank you for your prayers.

Funny Stuff

Over the past while, I've been making mental notes of stuff that cracks me up. Hopefully I can remember them all for you!

For one, there is the naming of certain businesses here: like the dental office called RoDent (apparently having "dent" in it is enough to make it about teeth). Or some of my favorites are the banks. There was the MT Bank, which was later replaced by the Brokbusiness Bank, which has (shockingly) been replaced by another bank.
There are tons of other names that have simply been transliterated into Ukrainian or Russian. Like the Blooz Cafe. I took a taxi there the other day with a friend, he couldn't understand when I told him I wanted to go to the Blues Cafe, but when she (very wisely) pronounced it Blooz, he got it right away! :)

Some of the other things that have made me laugh recently are cultural differences that I am discovering with having Lika and Co. living with me.
The first thing was the carpet in the living room. I have parquet floors, but I bought a 2x3m rug/carpet for the living room as well last year when I moved in. However, I discovered when Lika and Luba moved in that they pushed it to the wall and would just walk around the edge (the six inches between the rug and the couch), so that they wouldn't "ruin" it. By the time I came back from my sister's they had rolled it up and put it in the sewing room because of their fear of walking on it! lol the very purpose for which I bought the rug, yet for them the purpose of the rug is to look beautiful, not comfort.
We have a similar situation with the rugs in the hallway. They are not new, they are hand me downs from my brother to my parents to me and I use them to catch the dirt off my shoes when I first come in the house, so I don't have a mess in my hallway all the time. Well, I noticed a while ago that when Lika would come home she'd carefully step around the rugs or fold them in half so that she wouldn't get her dirty boots on them! :P

It's been great to have something to laugh about.