The Red Button

This past Sunday I cooked dinner at my friends' place as a thank you for letting me store Big Bird in their freezer. Cooking at someone else's place is always an adventure- especially when they aren't there to give you insights in where things are at and how they work. I searched and found something to marinade the chicken in, I searched and found something to cook the chicken in...and now came that fateful moment- time to pre-heat the oven.
In Russia, there are a handful of things of the mechanical/appliance nature that are notoriously temperamental...they work in various stages of efficiency- ranging from fairly efficient to not working at all...these include elevators, cars of the older Lada persuasion, and ovens- I was tempted to add on metro station doors and hot water- but I felt those may push the mechanical/technical classification. Besides- the oven is the star of this post. Approaching an unfamiliar gas oven in Russia has to be done with great caution and care- as though approaching a tiger that you aren't sure whether is asleep or dead. My friends' have a wonderfully retro Soviet gas oven...i.e. a piece of antiquity that operates on a system of logic unknown to this generation. I'll explain- to light the oven you must not only turn the gas knob to the desired temperature, but you must also hold a red button for 5 minutes...and not a second less. If you hold the button for 4 minutes and 53 seconds, you will be sorely disappointed to realize that upon releasing the button, your flame has gone out- and thus you must hold the button again for an additional 5 minutes. TRUST me- 5 minutes, no less. It took me about 23 minutes (yes, you can do the math to estimate how many times I went through this ritual) before I realized the magic 5 minute mark. This was definitely a moment when it would have been good to have the homeowners..well, home.

Actual Oven and Actual Red Button

Holding a red button for 5 minutes is an interesting situation as you can really do little else at the same time. I was greatly relieved when the oven was good and lit and the chicken cooking. After we ate dinner, we had some late comers arrive. I realized that while I had enough pasta and chicken, I needed more garlic toast. A thought that didn't cause me the slightest concern until I reached the kitchen and saw it- the Red Button. I momentarily stood there in disbelief- what? seriously? would I have to stand and hold the red button for another 5 minutes? Really? I mean I held it for a solid 5 minutes earlier when I finally got the oven lit for the chicken...the oven should like me by now, right? We should be old friends by now, right? Aren't we past the whole "hold for 5 minutes" thing?
The Red Button mockingly glared at my naivete. Of course, I would have to hold the button again- for there was no other way to keep flame going long enough for the oven to be actually "lit."

As I stood there- I was amused at myself and began to think of how often in life- I've felt that same exasperated feeling of having to do something once "again." We have this tendency to feel that if we just put enough time into something- then we'll be done with it once and for all. If we held the Red Button for 5 minutes the first time...we shouldn't have to hold it for another 5 minutes the next time we want to use it. "If I just get into shape once- I'll never have to worry about my health again"...."If I just work the 18 hour days for the first two years- I'll not have to worry about my job performance and security again"....the list goes on and on...It's as though we think if we put the time in and check it off our list, we can move on and never look back except to note that we've been there, done that and got the shirt. It is easier to go through difficult and unpleasant experiences when we think once it's over, we'll never have to do it again.

Later in the week, God brought the Red Button to mind again during the meeting for all the ministry directors in Moscow. Yuri shared his thoughts on how we are called to "present our bodies a living sacrifice" and how that correlates with Leviticus 6:12, where instruction was given concerning the altar on which sacrifices were to be offered in the temple "The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood.."
Maintaining the fire that was required for sacrifices was a continual and ongoing process. If we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice- it requires continual attention. We must not let the fire go out. As Yuri shared, I found my thoughts once again going back to the Red Button. While what God gave me Sunday night was insight in to my own reluctance to revisit something I thought I was finished with, on Tuesday it was a reminder of the importance of not letting the fire go out. For once the fire goes out, you will have to press "the Red Button" once again for 5 minutes...for there is no other way to get the flame lit again.

It's a Great Turkey, Charlie Brown...

Okay, I know...technically "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving", but when you lug home a 27lb turkey...well..."It's a Great Turkey" seems just more appropriate.

In Moscow, getting a whole turkey is not an easy feat. You either pay tons of money for a frozen turkey from on import grocery store or you are blessed by being not only able to get a fresh turkey, but also support the senior fundraiser at the Christian academy by ordering one from them. It's great to get a fresh turkey...even if you have to pluck a few quills...and it's great to support the kids...the guys who sold me the turkey were listening to Billie Holiday- got to love that! The only problem with this..is well..the turkeys are gargantuan...I mean at 27lbs.- I got the smallest one there!

I arranged for one of my friends, who has a car, to help me get the big baby home. I was greatly relieved to see that she does fit in my oven..in one piece even! Unfortunately, my freezer...well, that's another story.

Searching for an apartment...

There are things I love about Moscow and there are things I love about the US- one of which is the ease with which one can find an apartment. Yes, ease. In the US- finding an apartment is a matter of determining your price range and finding something with the right number of rooms, in the area you like and the standard you hope for (often this is pre-determined by your price range)

In Moscow, it is much, much harder. Apartments here are individually owned, which means each apartment is unique to the furnishings, to the condition and to the landlord. Moscow being the most expensive city in Europe doesn't help either. So as my roommate and I scan the most reliable real estate site for apartments, we put in the desired number of rooms, select about 7 metro stations near which we would like to live, and put in our upper limit for price. That is the easy part. Next we go through the listings to try and figure out what fits our overall needs..being 10 minutes or less from the metro...having a washing machine...not being on the first floor (unless it has bars on the windows)....not being wall to wall of the landlord's old ratty furniture that they refuse to part with...that there are no pianos taking up empty space...that the cabinets aren't serving as the landlords storage space.- once we establish those things within our price range, we then start calling. Surprisingly enough, we've already been shot down on two apartments for the mere fact that we are two single girls...just wait til they find out I'm an American! So after we see which apartments from the short list of what we liked are open to singles and foreigners- we get to a much shorter list. This usually has you asking big quesetions about what you want... is it worth walking 15 minutes to the metro, if the place has two bedrooms? Is it worth sacrificing a bedroom, getting a one bedroom- which would have the living room doubling as my bedroom, to be closer to the metro? Is it worth trying to stretch the budget to try and find something that is close and has two bedrooms? Is it worth getting a place that doesn't have an oven...oh, wait, no- that's not an option..that's an immediate disqualifying factor. The trade-offs can seem unending. A big factor here is not just my personal preferences, but ministry aspects. A small group meets at my place, leadership meetings happen at my place, I love having people over to help faciliate relationships outside of structured "ministry time"- those are all things that are a part of why I am here. Living more than 10 minutes doesn't just mean a longer walk for me to and from work- it means that people who travel about an hour each Friday night for small group, will then have to travel even further- it means girls can't stay as late as they would like. Having small rooms will lots of "landlord" furniture makes it real hard to comfortably fit 16-20 people for meetings and small group. It can be hard to balance all the factors...

So if you think about it..pray for me and my roommate this week as we have to move by Friday...that God will make it overwhelming evident which apartment is right for us- that can be used for His purposes.