Tuesday, October 30th

Tuesday, October 30th and time to blog again!

Seems each time I attempt another blog there are new challenges to face and new things to learn! Thankfully we still have O.J. at home sending along helpful advice. And some things he has even been able to correct from home, so we are thankful for his continued help in so many ways. He has been reporting that winter is settling in there. The garden is now mostly harvested but the scarlet runners are still blooming!

Here in Hungary the days are finally beginning to grow colder too. And yesterday we awoke to a fresh dusting of snow on the rooftops! So it seems our lovely Indian summer is finally behind us here in western Hungary.

As we continue on this amazing journey each day seems filled with new opportunities to learn patience as well as to reach out to others around us. Gradually we are getting to know our neighbours and that is a very good feeling. Let me introduce you to Gizi, a little lady that I met our very first morning, here in Tapolca. Then it was September 10th and very warm. As I peered out our kitchen window early on that first day, there was Gizi out in her zinnia garden. So grabbing our camera , I dashed across the street to meet and greet my neighbour. If she loved flowers she had to be nice! Once at Gizi's gate I tried to explain that we had just come from Canada and would be here for three months.....but alas, I think all she really understood was that my name was Lynn (this I wrote out for her and had her do the same for me). She also added that her husband's name was William. It was obvious she was very fond of William.

Gizi in her zinnia garden-- Sept. 10th

Visiting Gizi and William at their apartment last week......

 Some seven weeks later I know that William is 80 years old and used to be the head postmaster here in Tapolca while Gizi worked as a midwife at the local hospital. Now they are both retired and seem very happy together after 56 years of marriage!

I'm so thankful for this good visit last Friday afternoon, made possible because my ESL student and friend, Ildiko, was willing to go with me to try to find this couple.  Finding them meant ringing more than one doorbell and wondering if we were even at the right entry?  But in the end our persistance paid off and we were not only invited in with many smiles but also served tea and treated as honoured guests.  I know it was an encouraging time for Ildiko as she got to be the translator for all of this and seemed to sense and understand my excitement at finally connecting in a more meaningful way with these neighbours.

Though I did ask several questions through my friend, mostly they chatted and Ildiko filled me in on the details.  This couple have four children and one is a girl who happens to be named Ildiko and lives in Budapest.  Then there are three sons; one in Germany; one in Ireland and the third in Canada!  We also discovered that Gizi and William used to attend the Christian Reformed church here in town, but now don't like the priest there so are content to stay home.  However, Ildiko assured me they had a Bible which they read.  So all of this was really quite wonderful news for sure.

Finally we said we must leave but we did want to invite Gizi to our home for tea on Monday afternoon...would she be able to come then.  She eagerly agreed to this but it was William who then interjected and asked if he could come too?!  So we assured him he was welcome too and carried on, hoping that they would indeed follow through and join us at our house on Monday.

Now it's Tuesday and I'm thrilled to report that both neighbours were here for our tea, plus Ava, our landlady and owner of the beautiful Turkish tea set and several others as well.  For sure it was a very special time of reaching out and sensing God drawing us close as new bonds of friendship were formed during our hours together.