tea with Valentina

Tonight I had one of those "this is what life is all about" experiences. After the Tuesday night prayer meeting at my home church here in Yekat, I escorted home one of our dear "babushkas." Valentina Vasiliyevna (which is how I am obliged to refer to her because of here age) is 70 years old and lives just behind me in different apartment building. Today she had her cane with her because her leg was hurting - but without the cane you would never guess she was 70 years old.
We walked the stairs to apartment #133 on the third floor where she lives (elevators are only find in buildings with more than 5 stories). As I predicted, she invited me in for tea. How could I say no? She showed me the remodelling that was under way in her little one room apartment (not 1 bedroom, 1 room) - the new sewage pipes, freshly painted bathroom, recently wallpapered hallway. Then we sat down at the table in her 9x6 kitchen. I noticed how simply she lived. And yet how content she was. It was appealing - the simplicity of her life.
Valentina has no relatives in our city of 2,000,000 people. She became a widow in her 20's and never remarried. Her two daughters moved far away to the western edge of Russia. Valentina lives alone. Tonight I had tea with a 70-year-old babushka, almost 5o years widowed, with no living relatives withing driving distance, who lives alone in a tiny one room apartment, with very little to call her own. And I had a wonderful time...
She laid the table with cookes, chocolates, candies, and bread with a cheese, garlic, mayonaisse spread. For about an hour we talked - mostly of our Lord. She shared how God recently gave her the opportunity to tell about His love to an 80-year-old lady who she found crying in the pharmacy. In very few words but direct words she invited the woman to commit her life into the hands of Christ. I think her words were something like, "Do you know about Jesus? Yes? Well, don't you want to give your life fully to Him and repent. You have a lot of sins." And Valentina led the woman in a prayer to God to receive forgiveness and new life from His hands.
Valentina doesn't have much, but yet she is so content, happy, hopeful, and vigorous. She loves God with all her heart. She expressed to me how she regrets that it wasn't until she was about 60 that she fully dedicated her life to Him.
Yeah, what Valentina has is indeed what life is all about - contentment. She has Christ, she has it all!

It's a bloggy blog world

I have decided to join the world of blogging. (I know the picture is a little cheesy. I will work on a less formal one. Get off my back.) I thought about creating a blog in the past, however, the thought of all that computer work kept me at bay. I loathe being behind a computer, but I do it because I enjoy some of the benefits...like being able to download music from itunes while in Russia and staying in touch with folks at home. So what gave me a big enough nudge to cross the line and become a blogger? Experiences. This week I had a couple of interesting experiences (I will share later). They were thought provoking, in some ways irritating; the kind that make you think about the roots of life. I found myself desiring to share those experiences with others. At times that is hard to do here. One, it it is still difficult to discuss deep topics in the Russian language. And, two, here I don't have nearly the pool of Christian friends to pull from for invigorating discussion that I do in the States. So, I have decided to try a blog on for while. This will be my space to vent some thoughts, share stuff I'm learning and maybe some funny things that just aren't as funny to people on this side of the world. Of course I will try to post pictures and keep you up to date on current events, but I don't make any promises. As I said, I don't enjoy being behind a computer. Anyways, without further ado (That was close. I almost typed "adieu" rather than "ado." I had to google that one.), here is my blog. Welcome...