Catching Up...Getting Ahead

Today is a day that we didn't think we had. Somehow, ("pregnancy brain"), I had miscalculated and thought that we would be reunited with the kids today. Actually, it is tomorrow, and has always been tomorrow. So, today is now sort of a bonus day. We slept in to 10:45am Latvian time ( 3:45am EST), and have been reading emails about what is going on back home.

Here is a picture of our friend Pete Richards, taken last Tuesday when Pete and Brenda were kind enough to have us for dinner so that we could pray over our trip, even though Pete had not been feeling well. Last Wednesday he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has now been moved to hospice care. We are stunned at the swift change of events and pray earnestly for Brenda and family as they walk this unexpected journey. Last week they were talking of trips with grandchildren that they were planning. They are, as much as anyone I know, beautiful examples of people who live life and faith well. They are always thinking of the larger story.

"Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great purpose in heart." ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

You can sent Pete and Brenda an encouraging word at his caringbridge site:

Peterichards1

We are using the morning to catch up on our read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan. I am not too keen on the one year number as I tend to absorb more if I stop, take notes, and journal to try apply what I am reading. Thus, I am probably about a month behind. I also know that our Sunday School girls will be doing a Beth Moore biblestudy on James in July. I got the workbook early since I know it takes me more time to actually process the material and not just do the homework. So, I am working ahead on that study.

Speaking of learning:

Mr. Bean is pretty funny, even on Russian tv, but mostly we have many hours of quiet, which I love! Andy had already read three books, and Laurel had read five. That will probably come to an end tomorrow with two more non-reading family members in the house. We have set up sticky notes around our apartment to begin the language immersion process.

Today we discovered that the expression "living on the other side of the tracks" applies here in Riga as well. We walked across the city. On one side of the train tracks is a large opulent shopping mall, and on the other are buildings less glitzy. We walked through the large central market here. They have repurposed German zeppelin hangars into flower markets, meat markets, pickled things markets, etc. After the pickled things booths, we decided not to go into the fish market.

We did find a chain here that we love: Double Coffee- where you can get coffee...and a hamburger. That seemed weird to me until I remembered that you could do that at McDonald's too. I had mango yogurt for dinner from the corner store. That was seriously delicious. We are told Latvians are serious about their dairy. I can see why.

Look Nee Nee, hot dogs for breakfast, just like Romania.

There are little signs of the midsummer festival popping up over town. Lots of people were buying flowers and wreathes at the market. We've seen flowers on taxis and outside storefronts, kind of like you might see in autumn for harvest decorations. The parks are covered in little wild daisies. I hope to get some good pictures of the kids later this week in these pretty parks. Wreathes turned up on the cow exhibits in all the parks too. We passed these same cows yesterday, so we know that they are newly decorated. We will miss celebrating the fourth of July at home, but look forward to seeing some festivities here. At least we know where we can get a hamburger.

Do not worry about tomorrow. Let tomorrow worry about itself. Living faithfully is a large enough task for today. (Matthew 6: 34, The Voice translation).