A Year in Latvia

A year ago yesterday I arrived in Latvia. Someone suggested that the year had gone by very quickly, but honestly, it's been one of the longest years of my life! A whole year of every single thing being new and with primarily a computer to help me process all of it. Yes, the computer has helped me use my friends from around the world for adjusting and coping and I can't imagine what I would have done without that access. The newness is starting to slow down, but still there are tasks that come up that I have to get up the courage to do on my own or the humility to ask for help. Both things that I needed to learn and am learning daily. A recent 'new experience' example - I had to get a rental car washed before returning it a couple of weeks ago. In the past, I've either just paid the extra fee not to wash it or asked someone to do it for me. But, I was certain that I could now take the car to the station and drive it through the wash without help. I mean, how many dozens of times have I done that in the States? Well, I know the word for card is 'carte' and the little machine said put your 'carte' here (in Latvian!) So, I put my debit card in the slot but I quickly figured out that's not the kind of card they meant! Now my debit card was stuck, there was a car waiting behind me and I had to go confess that I had broken the machine. Not me - I took a pen or something from my purse and starting pulling on my card and in a one of those grace moments, it came out. Now I still have to go buy the right kind of card in the station. The man behind me spoke English and suggested I should pull out and let him go through, which I did. Well, it all ended happily but was a reminder that I am not self-sufficient yet! When I say longest, I don't mean it's been the hardest year - I've had much harder (stories for another time). It's been a great and amazing year in many ways and certainly a challenge and stretching year, which is what I felt God was calling me to. Just long and often difficult and a bit lonely. Even as I write that I realize I've been very fortunate to have so many people around me who have become friends. I know there are many 'missionaries' who don't have the blessing of fellowship that I have here. Earlier in the year my friend Carolyn wrote and asked me what was as I had expected and what was different. That set me on quite a thought process and I started to make a list. I want to look it over, edit a bit and then I'll post it. All week I had been planning on making yesterday a retreat and renewal day. I wasn't going anywhere, just stay in the house and read through my journal, write, pray and make some goals for my second year. Of course, it didn't happen. Thursday had been a very long and exhausting day. Henrik, Lisbeth and I met from 10a.m. until after 6p.m., including going to lunch together. It was a productive and good day - we talked about some detail work, but mostly talked about the big picture for Pestisanas Armija in Latvia. Our own roles and the future when we will be gone. More than any other time, I felt we were all heading in the same direction and I felt a lot of freedom to really share my impressions and vision. Anyway, I was of course too tired to spend the next day in the same kind of mode. So, I worked in the morning and then crashed most of the rest of the day - another kind of retreat! When I find the right day to try retreating I'll probably have lots to write down here. And what we did on Thursday will help me with my goals. (if someone reading this knows how to make paragraphs in these posts, would you let me know - I'm still learning)