Skip to main content

Day of departure.

So here were are, final hours in Riga, Latvia. It’s been a great weekend. Church was great, although a tad challenging to listen for English in the midst of Latvian and Russian, but wonderful worship and wonderful people!

The weather was cold and church lasted a long time, so we ended up not going the museum. Instead we popped to the cinema, before cooking a delicious pesto and chicken lasagne (which we’re eating the leftovers of for lunch today).

This morning I headed out early to get some fresh croissants and flowers for breakfast since it is Lysette’s birthday (the girl we’re visiting). It was great to be able to have breakfast with her, especially since she has work today and we don’t get to see her much. After breakfast I went to a little cafe close by and had some coffee, tea, and a sweet pastry thing with ricotta cheese and jam inside (it was interesting). I am sharing a bit with a DTS outreach team on Wednesday about intercession and justice, and wanted to start preparing a bit for that. It was really relaxing to sit in the cafe, do my preparation, and in a small way be part of a Monday morning in Riga.

Now I’m packed and hoping my luggage is the right weight. In a minute we’ll have lunch and then in not too long we head off for the bus to the airport. We get in to Amsterdam this evening. It feels like we’ve been here for ages, yet like we just got here. Time has gone so quickly. I am in a bit of a swirl, but that’s ok. It’ll be good to make a schedule for my last two and a bit weeks in Amsterdam, and I hope that that time will bring me clarity and peace about the way I’m to walk.

Popular posts from this blog

Getting to know the local culture.

Life is a strange thing. Last week went…not much happened, and then it was over. The weekend was quite calm without too many wild and exciting things happening. Except, of course, a wee outing to watch the National Championship for Veteran Ploughing. Now, like me, you might be sadly lacking an understanding of what this actually means. So I am delighted to be able to enlighten you in this respect. It’s basically (for the “farm-language-illiterate” like myself) a competition where you use old (hence the name “veteran”) tractors and ploughs, and plough up a stretch of field which is then evaluated and the one scoring the highest sum (accuracy, depth, how well the soil is turned is all given points) wins. I must admit that this information I got by eavesdropping on a conversation next to me where a man was explaining to some of my friends how it all works. So that was a fun adventure….although we only stayed for a bit. What is sort of occupying my mind at present is my upcoming travel abr...
Read more

Taking in the familiar and a heart connected.

Amsterdam. It still has that muggy feeling in Summer, and a constant flow of people which if you stop to think about it, it's quite amazing that there would even be space to accommodate them all. But then I guess they are not all staying. Just passing through on their way to or from somewhere. It's always good for the heart to visit somewhere that was once home. The familiarity of streets and customs makes it easier to embrace what might be new as well as the joy of being reacquainted with old friends. Friends. So many of them to be found in this city, ready with hugs and good words that are uttered when seeing someone who was away again. Friendship. A treasure that cannot be bought. Cobblestones trodden by many, including myself. Sitting on a bench. Praying. Remembering the first time I stumbled upon this area lined with windows with red lights and curtains. An area which has come to represent no longer windows, but people to me. Some still behind a window. Others who have ...
Read more

Romania- so much hope filling my heart for this nation.

As I sit down to write this, I am at the little table in a rented flat in the centre of Bucharest, Romania. It’s quiet. Strangely quiet considering we’re in the centre of a huge city. My feet are propped up on a worn fake-leather puff thing, and as I check the time I realize that I have been in the country less than 24 hours... and yet my heart is overflowing with impressions and emotion for a nation I barely know. It’s getting late, but I know I am too awake to sleep and so have made myself a cup of Earl Grey (with milk) and have sat down to try to capture at least a bit of what this day has been. As always, I write mostly for myself and the occasional other who desires to enter into the telling of my story. Driving from the airport last night, and getting the first glimpse of the city and seeing majestic buildings lit up towards the night sky, filled me with expectation. A beautiful city filled with so much history. I came wondering. Wondering what this nation I knew from w...
Read more