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.

Holiday cheer

Here in Hungary, there are some neat Christmas happenings! Outdoor Christmas markets are fun to visit, but in the freezing temps like we are having now, my heart goes out to the vendors, who have no option but to stand in the freezing weather. At these markets, one can purchase hot spiced wine and something called kurtoskalacs...it is like a long tube of sweet donut! Yummy!

Santa already came on December 6th, so now the focus is on the gift-giving. On December 24th, Jezuska (the baby Jesus) comes and brings the Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, many literally only see the sweet baby Jesus and don't realize the significance of His birth.

One of the greatest joys I have during this season is the opportunity to bring my guitar into all of my classes and sing Christmas carols in English! Of course we sing everything from Jingle Bells to Joy to the World! Just last week, after one of my lessons, I could hear the students walking down the hall singing out "Glo-o-o-o-o -oria, in excelsis Deo!" May God penetrate the hearts of MANY students in the school, that they will hear and understand and respond to the TRUE message of Christmas: God has come in the flesh to reconcile people to Himself for all of eternity!

Kidney stone blasting!!!

Wow, what an experience! We began lining up at 8 a.m. in the waiting room...all patients waiting to have kidney stones "blasted"! I was 3rd in line, and when the guy before me came out, we asked him if it hurt. "No!" So, I got in there fully expecting very little pain...maybe some discomfort....well, 1/2 way through the electrical blasting of the right kidney, the doctor asked if I wanted pain killer...I must have had SOME look on my face! I said, "Yes, that would be good!" I made it, but it was UNCOMFORTABLE!!!

Be sure to drink PLENTY of water...trust me on this one!!!

Cross-cultural Medicine - II

Today, I "fit-in" with the Hungarians...for the most part...in my visit to the hospital for blood test and EKG before my procedure tomorrow. I arrived and was number 6 in line for getting my blood drawn; the woman about freaked out when she saw I was a foreigner, asking me how I intended to pay...and I had to explain to her that I am a resident, I work here, and pay taxes and am covered by the Hungarian medical program. This greatly relieved her. Drawing blood took about 5 minutes total.

EKG was an interesting adventure. That took about 2 minutes, and I was out of the hospital. I looked at my watch as I walked out of the hospital and the entire "ordeal" took one and a half hours; doing the math lets you know just how much time I spent waiting. That's what life here is like...waiting...waiting...

Cross-cultural Medicine

I've had an interesting couple of days, especially today. I awakened Monday with cramping in my lower abdomen and decided to stay home and rest. When I woke up at noon, I was still not on the up and up, and decided to pay a visit to my family doctor...who examined me and promptly sent me to another clinic where I could see a surgeon there, have an ultra-sound and figure out if I had a kidney stone or appendicitis! Well, when I met the cute doctor, I started speaking in Hungarian, and about 1 minute later, he said in near perfect English, "where are you from?" I laughed and asked him why he didn't tell me he speaks English??

Anyway, I have 3 kidney stones...one is big enough to need "blasting" apart. So today I meet cute doctor at another hospital, and he ushers me past 985 people waiting to see the urologist, and I go in after waiting maybe 10 min....it's a catch-22 being a foreigner....you get nasty looks from those you "cut in line" in front of, but you get in to see the doctor a whole lot faster. And I've found you cannot really argue and say, "No, I want to wait here with the other 985 people who were here before me," because that will insult the doctor who is trying to take good care of you...who, has an ulterior motive...he wants English lessons! Amazing how one can get "roped" into things in a different culture.

So, it turns out the urologist speaks English as well! Hallelujah! The only time he "broke out" of his completely serious mode was when I happened to mention that my dad is a urologist...it was at that point that he raised his eyebrows and probably realized he needs to take very good care of me. So, my question is, what do I need to do for him, because here in Hungary, there is a "special payment system" in this socialized medical system. I'm thinking a nice bottle of wine and some chocolate will be in order when I go in on Thursday to have my stone BLASTED...and tell him the wine is from my father, who says "Thank you!"

Ah, but the adventure continues...I have to go down to x-ray....which doesn't take too long....but waiting for the x-ray in a hallway with 20 other people and only 3 seats, for 1 1/2 hours, is yet another adventure...."do I really live here?" Once I garnered my x-ray, I returned to see only 743 people waiting to see the urologist, and again, after two people before me, I was called in...this time I heard some mumurs from people....I think they had been there 2 hours earlier and were STILL waiting to get in for the first visit. Hmmm.

So, Thursday is blasting the kidney stone day!!! I'm so excited, really! As the doctors pointed out, it sure beats trying to pass a 6mm stone, which would be worse than giving birth to a child! They are indeed looking out for my best interest....I left the doctor's room, eyes to the floor and mumbled a sheepish "goodbye" in Hungarian to those in the waiting area, wanting ever so much to have been lowered down from the window in the doctor's room so I wouldn't have to face the stares of those patient people, who wait in these kinds of lines for medical care every day. Ah, the adventures continue!

Water

Water. It's an amazing resource...every living thing needs it to survive; it can be a powerful tool for good, or it can, when left unchecked or allowed to come in torrents, cause great destruction. Water can be soothing or suffocating; it can buoy you up, or bowl you under.

When I get around water these days, doesn't seem to matter where, I learn. It's no surprise that in the Bible, there are innumerable references to water, in many different contexts, but the ones that fascinate me the most are those in connection with the Holy Spirit.

When I was in Kansas City this summer at the International House of Prayer (www.IHOP.org), the Lord gave me a song as I sat in His presence in the main prayer room. The song is entitled "River of Your Love". The refrain goes like this: "The river of your love washes over me, and I am consumed with You."

In our harried world, it is challenging to find time to sit or lie in God's presence and allow His love to wash over us like a river and be consumed with Him; however, when we do, the blessings are amazing: conviction of sin, revelation of Who He is, comfort, peace, joy, love, contentment, and sometimes for me, tears (more water) come flowing...tears of thankfulness for His amazing goodness!

May you experience the healing waters of His love the next time you are around water...

Thanksgiving part 2

As promised, here are some fun pix straight from my Thanksgiving party!!! Two good friends, Bori and Zsuzsi, who grew up in the children's home and have now moved out and have babies of their own, came with their two little girls, Bori and Vivien! My friend and colleague, Krisztina came with her daughter, Adel. Tom Turkey turned out beautifully, as you can see, and we ate, laughed, played, and spent much needed time together!!! I thank God for these precious ones!!!

Article in the paper

On Wednesday, I was minding my own business at school when the regional newspaper, Delmagyarorszag called the schoool to ask if any American teachers there would be preparing a traditional Thanksgiving meal on Thursday. I was the "chosen one" to open my home to the journalists, who came that afternoon to take pictures of the Thanksgiving preparations and write an article as well!

So, here is the link to that article where you can see me busily preparing the turkey, which, by the way, one of my students' grandmothers killed and prepared especially for me!!!
http://www.delmagyar.hu/cikk.php?id=70&cid=137205

Follow-up pictures to come in the next posting!!!

Thanksgiving Day!

This year is an especially blessed year for me this Thanksgiving! For the first time in 7 years of teaching here in Hungary, I have only 2 lessons on Thursdays, and finish at 9:10 a.m.....so, I finally have time to cook a proper Thanksgiving dinner! And this morning, I received an added blessing...my second class wasn't even in the school, so I could get home even earlier to put the turkey in the oven!!!

However, there's a test today...this is the FIRST TIME EVER cooking a turkey...and I have no temperature gauge on my oven; could be a really interesting day!!! One of my students' grandmother's killed and cleaned the turkey for me!!! Talk about fresh! Hope I don't ruin it by not cooking it correctly!

In the next blog, you'll get to see pictures from the big event! Until then, remember how incredibly blessed we ALL are!!!

Locked doors

This past Thursday was parent/teacher conferences at school from, get this: 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.! Can't complain. All teachers are assigned a room in which to be for conferences (we don't have our own classrooms in Hungary), and parents look at the listing of names and rooms to determine where they need to go to find their child's teacher.

I arrived to find I was to be in room 126 with one other teacher. Parents were mingling around, and I looked for the key. There was no key to be found in the school...so, the door remained locked and darkened. The other teacher who was supposed to be there had found another room, displaced the teachers who were supposed to be in there, and proceeded with her conferences. I decided to plant myself on the bench outside the darkened classroom and as parents came to inquire, I was there.

I watched as parents arrived, walked up to the door, tried the handle, saw it was locked and darkened, and yet some of them stood there, continuing to wait...it seemed that maybe somehow, miraculously, the door would open...or something. Others tried two or three times, looked around, and walked off. Others tried, then asked those standing nearby if they knew anything about the teachers who were supposed to be in that room.

Lots of reactions to closed, locked doors and darkened rooms. "But they are supposed to be here!" "You can't change things on me, I cannot handle that change!" "But the sheet SAYS room 126, so I'm going to wait here!"

The teachers were still available, just in different places...they had not changed, they remained the same...but it took some openness on the parents' parts to realize that maybe they had to do something "out of the ordinary" or something "they weren't used to doing" in order to meet the teachers. They may have had to shift their paradigm to see things from a different perspective...to experience parent/teacher conferences. Of course they could still meet with the "unchanged" teachers...but for some, it was VERY uncomfortable to have to "change" locations.

Interestingly, I think that for some followers of Jesus, it becomes uncomfortable when God shows up in a different place. He's not changed, but He's drawing us to Himself, the unchanging God, in a new location, and we may have to change our thinking about how "things are supposed to be" with Him, because He is in the business of taking us to new places with Himself, and He sometimes, or often, does that by making us a bit uncomfortable. He doesn't want us standing at the locked door, stuck in the ways we are comfortable functioning in...rather He wants us to seek Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and that may mean going to uncomfortable, unfamiliar places.

Sometimes He doesn't ask us to understand; He asks us to trust Him; because if we understood, then we wouldn't have to have faith in Him, we could have faith in our understanding, and to have faith in anything but Him alone could lead us into idolatry.

Wrestling with God

I picked up a book the other night off my shelf...it actually belongs to some friends of mine...sorry, I'll get it back to you soon. It's called "Lover of My Soul - Delighting in God's Passionate Love" by Alan Wright. The following is an excerpt which captures exactly where I am.

"One night by the Jabbok, Jacob was preparing to reenter the Promised Land. I suppose God wrestled with Jacob just so the patriarch would never forget the source of his blessings. The Lord wrestled the man who had always come out on top just so he'd never forget that the Lord always gives the victory. But mostly, I think God wrestled Jacob for the same reason He wrestled with the Hebrew people and He continues to wrestle with you and me. God would rather stoop to wrestle us than let us wander away from Him in pride. He wrestles us because He wants to keep us. He wrestles us because He wants to be close to us. If you feel as if you're wrestling with God, has it occurred to you that maybe He's just looking for a little more contact with you?"

It's interesting to be in a place that not many can understand, and even I have a hard time sometimes understanding where God has me; but like Jacob, I know that my Beloved wants even more contact with me, and He was willing to go to the cross for me, and now He is willing to wrestle with me, to draw me closer to Himself, that I might experience His passionate love for me and be able to hear His voice even more intimately and clearly.

Peaceful

There's just something about being in a peaceful setting with no one around, and no sounds except the breeze blowing through the trees and reeds. These pictures show the small lake in Dios Jeno where I spent a couple of days during our fall break hanging out with a friend and relaxing. The Lord does lead us beside quiet waters and restore our souls.

Alone on a Train

After a full day of Christmas shopping in Budapest at the end of October, I boarded the afternoon inter-city train to Szeged. When I found my seat, I noticed a young man, maybe 22 years old, helping a young girl, maybe 8 or 9 years old, get settled in her seat. Once she was set, he said goodbye, and this 8-9 year old girl was left alone on the train.

I made a mental note, as did the people sitting across the aisle from her I'm sure, that I was going to keep an eye on her the whole way and make sure she arrived safely to wherever and to whomever would meet her in Szeged.

I believe most Americans would find it unconscionable to put a 9 year old girl on a train, alone, for a journey of nearly 3 hours. But this is Hungary, and she reached her destination safely, even enjoying a sandwich and drink along the way.

The Lord reminded me that He, like me with the girl, never lets us out of His sight, keeps us safe, and will make sure we reach or final destination, sometimes, we may have to travel alone, and there will be scary, uncertain hours, but He's promised never to leave nor forsake us.

Bird

While in Dios Jeno, in northern Hungary, sitting by the lake and watching a bird soar on the lift of the strong wind, I heard the Lord say to me...."You see, he's facing the source of the wind---facing into the wind, and the wind is giving him lift, is maintaining him---he doesn't have to work at all to stay afloat; one drop of a wing tip and he's sailing with the wind, racing along"; it was almost like the bird was playing, enjoying just BEING a bird.

God calls us to BE, to look full into His face, to rest in the lift that He alone can provide and to know that wherever His Spirit takes us, it is a GOOD place. He is not going to dash us into the tumultuous water below, but rather lift us to the heights, above the tumult---and it's easy when our eyes are facing Him and we are fully submitted to His Spirit and not fighting to go our own way.

Cocoons and butterflies

The word "cocoon" came up during lessons this week as some of my classes and I discussed the exciting topic of plants and animals. We were talking about the names of the "babies" of various animals....eg. dogs - puppies, cats - kittens. We came to butterflies and said caterpillars. Then we talked about how the caterpillars go into a cocoon and are transformed into beautiful butterflies.

I asked my students if they'd ever seen a butterfly trying to get out of its cocoon, and watched the struggle. I asked if they knew what would happen if someone comes along, during the struggle, and "helps" the butterfly break out of its cocoon. No one knew....so I told them. "If we see a struggling butterfly trying to break out of its cocoon, and try to help it along by tearing away the outer cocoon, then the butterfly will die very quickly. You see, in the process of the struggle, the butterflies' wings are being strengthened, so that it can fly and live as it was intended. Trying to "reduce its apparent suffering or struggle" actually is detrimental to the butterfly and quickly brings death instead of life.

Obviously, it was an easy transition to discuss human life and the struggles that individuals face in life...and there are times when we need to let people struggle through the "cocoons" in their lives; yes we can cheer them on, speak words of encouragement, but we should not necessarily try to "remove" the "cocoon" because it is in that person pushing through that he or she will come out strong and will be prepared for his or her future life as a new butterfly!!!

Cutting grass and painting doors

As a teacher, I often have to wait years to "see results" in students' lives. Of course it is worth the wait, but sometimes I just need to see immediate results! That's when I find fun projects to do! Saturday, I went to a friend's house and had a blast cutting grass and painting an ugly green door! The grass was not too long, but afterwards it looked great! The ugly green door was really ugly. I put two coats of white paint on it, and the entire door and wall area where it is located was transformed!!!

Seeing these two "transformations", one not so radical, (the grass), and the other, shockingly (in a good way) transformed, (the door), reminded me of how God works in our lives. Sometimes, His work is subtle; He changes us and it's noticeable, but not earth-shattering! Other times, He does MAJOR work, and the transformation can be seen by all, at first glance, because He's done so much work in us!!!

May we always be open to the way that GOD wants to transform us, and may we never limit Him in what He wants to do both in and through us!

I'm naive

I had a very disturbing class discussion today with one of my classes of seniors. Quite honestly, I cannot even share the content of it; however I can share that I learned that I am very naive. I know about murder, I know about incest, I know about corruption, I know about cheating, I know about pornography, I know about all sorts of sordid things which are the reality of the world we live in. But, to hear my students frankly state what they did today left me speechless! All I can hint at is that the discussion made me think that our world is entrenched in what plagued Sodom and Gomorrah, plus some. I think my students got a kick out of realizing how naive I am...this "revelation" for me about them and about people brings me to my knees again, crying out for mercy.