Paris

Inna and I just got back a few days ago from visiting Paris over Memorial Day. I'll be honest, I didn't give much thought, or thanks for that matter, for the soldiers who gave their lives for our country. But I was proud of our country when I saw videos and pictures of our troops helping liberate the French from the Nazi's during World War 2. This was displayed in the World War 2 section of the Invalides Museum we visited, not far from the Eiffel Tower. I was also reminded in an earlier part of the museum how the French helped free us from the rule of the British during the American revolution. Most of us know that the French were the ones that gave us the Statue of Liberty, sometime in the early 19th century. What most people don't know, however, is that they have their own miniature Statue of Liberty standing in one of Paris' rivers (the name escapes me!). This is a picture I got of it while seeing it by train.

Bridge City Church

Here are a couple pictures of pictures of the church plant in Chicago we are involved with (Bridge City Church). The top one is from Christmas and the bottom one is from Easter. The name "Bridge" has multiple meanings in our context: First, we are a bridge to Jesus for those who don't know Him- by our words and our walk. Second, the area of Albany Park in Chicago is a bridge for thousands of refugees and immigrants who are being introduced to America and its culture. Third, to get to Albany Park from the east part of the city you have to cross a bridge, whether you are driving on Montrose, Wilson, Lawrence or Foster streets!

My first entry

Blogosloveniya in Russian means "blessings". And since Inna and I have indeed been blessed, and because the word has blog in it, I think this would be an appropriate name for the blog! Of course, I don't know if I should transliterate it blogaslaveniya or blogoslaveniya, but I think you will get close to the right pronunciation. We (or probably mostly I) want to use this blog to talk about our thoughts on life....on God, on church, on culture, on sports, on people, on travel and a host of other things. We hope you will be blessed by it as well!