Women's Day

I wish you could step into my shoes for a bit. Then you could stretch out your toes, and though they might "pinch" a bit at first, the wearing would grow comfy in time. If then you were to have stepped into my shoes today, you could have seen the beginnings of springtime coming. . .

Spring is on its way. The days grow steadily longer, uplifting my heart with increased light and sunshine. But with the thawing comes the mud. Latvia is full of mud. It is impossible for me to avoid it when coming home from the bus stop. Be sure and watch out for those puddles as you step into my shoes, my house is now like a castle surrounded by a moat. Who knows what lies beneath these few inches of water :)

Today was one of those days where nothing goes quite the way you thought it would. My feet were flying along today trying to be everywhere on time. But never quite succeeding. I don't like that feeling, it makes me feel ruffled all over. But in the midst of rushing it reminds me to stop my worrisome scurrying and fix my eyes on him, who is my Peace. He, who is outside time and undisturbed by it. How good it is to know God holds my times in his hands.

Today as you tread in my path through the streets of Riga, can't you just feel the warm spring air on your face. OH! How lovely it is to hear an occasional bird singing, and to be able to walk hatless again without getting cold ears.

There are people rushing here and there, many of them are carrying flowers, wrapped up in paper. You may have wondered why. . . I will tell you. Today is woman's day. This was a day that during Communist times was a holiday I guess. It was traditional to give red carnations or red tulips. Due to the fact that Janis' parents raised tons of red tulips for this very purpose, he has quite an aversion to them. (Make sure you never give him any red tulips). I had heard that this holiday was no longer celebrated. But it appears that this day provides just the excuse for women to remind their husbands and significant others that they like flowers and should be pampered, and gives the men just the excuse they need to pamper the women in their lives a bit.

In the last week I have been offered another job. One of the local banks is in need of an English teacher. I am amazed at how suddenly God has provided me with such an abundance of teaching opportunities. Surely he is good!

Just now we have someone surveying the prospects for our kitchen. We really need to do some major work on our downstairs in order to make it respectable for guests. We hope to get the kitchen finished before my parents come. If you think of it you could say a prayer for us on that one.

Besides all of this we have had quite a lot of visitors lately. Even Liga was to see us yesterday, and I watched the little boy she babysits while she had a work interview nearby. I always have loved cooking and having people over. We have been blessed to be able open our house in this way lately and to encourage people a bit in the process. It is so wonderful to see God beginning to teach us to serve Him together.

Here a couple of pictures from when Liga was to visit us.

I'm off for now, write if you can.