Converging lives

I spent the weekend in Pecs with 4 other women and we enjoyed some of the things most women enjoy...eating, talking, laughing, talking, shopping, talking, eating, talking, sharing, thermal baths, encouraging one another, talking, sleeping and just plain hanging out sans family responsibilities. We stayed in a small hotel near downtown, and right across the street from us was a synagogue. It struck me how fitting our location...women, all of whom are walking in the New Covenant, the fulfillment of the Old Covenant, resting in the shadow of the Almighty. As the snow fell and blanketed the synagogue and our hotel, I saw in this physical picture God's grace blanketing all of humanity.

Rain Tax and Train "tax"

Because I teach conversation classes at school, I sometimes give the following homework: "I want you to watch the news and in the next lesson tell me what is going on here in Hungary and in the world!"

This week, a student in one of my classes reported that she'd heard that Hungary has now instituted a new tax. This is called the "Rain Tax." I looked at her quizzically and asked her to explain. "Well," she began, "since we've had so much rain in the past couple of years, and the pipes in the streets which carry that rain are worn out, all business owners must now pay what is called "Rain Tax". This will help pay for replacing the worn out pipe system in the streets."

I stood, nodding my head, and thought about the challenges these people continue to face day in and day out with new taxes being required, benefits being cut, and salaries staying the same.

One cut which will affect a large number of people is the 50% off train discount pass that many people get. The new law states that someone is only permitted to travel 12 times in a year at the 50% off rate; after that, they must pay the full price. I have a friend whose husband works in Budapest, and after completing her teaching job at the university on Wednesday, she travels weekly to be with him there. This new law will impact them tremendously.

Rain tax and Train "tax". They warned it would be "challenging" for the first 7 years after entering the european union.

The whole earth is full of His glory!

As I drove into the school parking lot this morning at 7:15, the sky boasted a beautiful pinkish-bluish morning hue. My CD player was blasting the worship song, "The whole earth is full of His glory, great is the Lord, worthy of praise, lift up your voice, lift up His praise, the heavens declare, our God is the King, sing with the song that the angels sing!"

As I was belting out this song, I spotted three large, wide "Vs" of geese flying across this painted morning sky in front of me! "The whole earth is full of His glory!" I parked quickly, got out of the car and watched these 3 interlocking "Vs" of geese make their way across the sky and thought, 'what a gift from God...a symbolic picture of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 3 persons but one God, working in unity! God is so good to remind us that the whole earth is indeed full of His glory, and He blesses us with tangible pictures of this!!!

New Year, New Beginnings

New years are great! Besides getting the opportunity to write 2007 on every official document, letter, email, etc., there's a sense of newness, freshness, chances to begin anew and press into change!

Because God doesn't "work" on our calendar time, He is always ready, every morning, for a "new" start. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and therefore, every day, every moment, is like a "new year's start" for the follower of Jesus!

I bought a dresser today...it was the ONLY one available at the furniture shop across the street from my house, and it was less than 1/2 the original price. I also bought a night table to replace the tottering fold-up "table" I've been using for 6 1/2 years now. I've needed the dresser for a while, but have procrastinated getting anything new, settling for tossing my socks and underthings in the upper cabinet part of a standing wardrobe. Now I have separate drawers for these things...it's all a new experience for me, and they are organized! During the cleaning and organizing process of today, I filled a large garbage bag full of old papers and such, and that from just one room. I tend to hang on to things, but today was clean out and get organized day. The new year is a good time to do such things, and it dawned on me this evening that it's just like God. He's longing to come in and bring in the new, the necessary, and take out the old. He wants His house in order, the clutter removed so that He can pour in all that He wants to in our lives.

Now I have a tangible picture sitting in my bedroom to remind me of this object lesson, and every time I look at my new dresser, I'll think about how God, every morning, gives us a new start in His Spirit, that we can walk anew with Him, in His peace, freedom and covered by the blood of the Lamb, free from the clutter.