One week and counting till I have to give my cats, Toby and Simon, last hugs and start missing them for 3 months. I've had them since they were 6 weeks old; Toby turns 8 this month, and Simon next month. Everyone who meets them falls in love with them, unless of course he/she has allergies to cats, or is afraid of cats in general. Even non-cat lovers have said how much they like MY cats...this is why I'm so sad. I'm gonna miss them....and they me, I'm sure. Cats can teach us lots about life...and because my boys are not typical cats, but more like dogs, they have taught me much about love. Much about asking for what you want. Much about what it means to chill out and relax. Much about how much we all need a good rub sometimes. Much about cuddling. Much about independent moments. Whenever anyone calls me, Toby is right here ready to speak with whomever has called! I'm gonna miss them!
This Spring is very strange for me. I'm home, recovering from a herniated disc in my back. It's strange not to be teaching and feeling the overwhelming exhaustion that comes at the end of the school year. Yet in this, there is also joy...I don't have to wake up early and get to work each morning. My 3 month sabbatical has turned into 4 months, thanks to this herniated disc. Spring also brings to us here in Szeged the annual wine festival. I've heard this year that there are 80 different wine "stalls" in the park, just a 5 min. walk from my house. I think I need to take my daily walk that direction one of these days to check out the wine scene. Spring also means hormonal cats...there's a "rapturous" symphony outside my bedroom window every evening. My poor "sterilized" boys would love to take part in the rites of Spring for cats, but cannot. Toby, however, has discovered how to do some lovely "spraying"...thankfully he is only doing it outside for now, but I'm not happy about this and just spent a fortune at the vet on some aromatic thing that is supposed to "calm" the cats so they don't get agitated and spray their pee on the stairwell wall or anyplace else they decide to leave their scent. All this joy, just as I'm going to be leaving them for 3 full months...Finally, there is the joy of getting ready to travel...packing, laundry, cleaning, last minute shopping, saying "see you laters", etc. Oh, I nearly forgot the joy of picking up my residency permit today! I left rejoicing thinking that I'd gotten it for 2 years....but it dawned on me later that once again, they only gave me a one year residency permit, despite the herculean efforts we all made to have everything in order for a 5 year residency permit to be granted. I think they like creating work for themselves. Such joy....Yet as I lie here on the floor of my living room, enjoying the wood smell of my new loft, hearing the wind blow through the trees outside, and relish in the fact that yet another day has been granted to me to live and thrive, I am truly filled with joy...the joy of being alive!
I awakened the other morning to the sound of a chain saw and a hand saw, and branches falling! I looked out the window to see two men trimming the tree that has drooped over the wall into our side of the "yard" from the neighbor's yard for years. Finally, they were trimming the tree, pruning. As the sagging branches dropped to the ground, it was as if new life was breathed into the rest of the tree, which could stretch skyward with greater strength than before! It was freer to stretch, reach, and now grow! Isn't it the same with God's pruning? He trims and cuts off those branches, wanting more growth, more healthy fruit, children who grow heavenward!
I just finished reading my former students' book, "When God Says Jump", by J.R. Briggs, and promptly loaned it to one of my 20-somethings Bible study girls! It's a very good book for that age group...for any age group, but J.R. is connecting with those in that age group especially who are battling with the pull of what the world expects and the draw of the love of God and His calling on our lives. J.R. stepped up to the plate and risked big in writing this book, and I know many, many lives will be blessed by it! God calls us to step up...to recognize that He is God, that His love, power, and mercy transcend anything we could ever imagine, and He is completely and totally trustworthy. We are called to step up and trust Him to where He is going to take us. In this picture, you cannot see where the steps are leading, and that is the picture Scripture gives us as well...the "leaders" in faith didn't know where God was taking them, but they knew WHO was leading them. And this is all we need to know to step up, closer to the Father's heart, which is beating for us, passionately, and for the world!!!
I'm having a loft built in my flat. The joys of construction. Upheaval and dust everywhere. But, in the end, the final product is going to be beautiful. Isn't that the way it is with God's "construction" as well? Just look around at the people you know in whom He is doing His great work...aren't they beautiful?
Well, here you have it folks. This picture pretty much captures the peak of the 2006 flooding of the Tisza River in Szeged, Hungary. As you can see the sandbags were needed to trap the overflow. Apparently, they even removed the artwork from the museum (pictured), just in case. There were soldiers and volunteers patrolling the riverside to make sure people didn't get near the riverside. I believe this is the highest it has risen since the big flood in 1879, which basically destroyed the entire city of Szeged. No profound thoughts...maybe you will have some.
