Weekend life

Last night I had Aivis, Sarah and Josh over for dinner, but we had it at their place!  Josh goes to bed early so it was easier to spend the evening there, but I wanted to fix dinner.  It was really fun. We didn’t do anything exciting, just eat and talk – 2 of my favorite things to do.  We tried to talk about things other than work, but I’m afraid we didn’t manage that very well.  Anyway, we had good conversation and listened to a Latvian Christian CD which I’m going to get – my first Latvian music purchase.  I definitely hope to have them over for dinner again!  Sarah has become a great encourager for me.  She and Aivis are such a blessing.
Thursday I sent out the prayer alert and what an amazing response I’ve had.  From Poland, Moscow, Indianapolis, Chicago, London and many other places I know that people are praying. And maybe the most precious assurance of prayer came last night as I was returning from Ilsters.  Miša met me in the stairway and told me that a few of them had been praying for the training program, but especially they were and would continue to pray for me.  He suggested I might find my home enchanted when I arrived (not sure what that meant but if it has anything to do with cleaning windows and dusting, I’d be really thrilled!)  I think the only other time I’ve felt such incredible prayer surrounding me was when my mom and dad died.  Those prayers carried me through a difficult time.  These prayers are going to bring us into something wonderful and exciting.  I keep thinking about Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. “  We are asking for God to do something really great, but the amazing thing is He can do even more than what we are asking and I have a feeling He is going to.  I don’t have any idea what that might be, but I pray that whatever it is, we will be sure to give Him the glory and that it will all be for His Kingdom’s sake.
Today was another of those perfect Saturdays. I slept in, went into Old Riga for a few hours and came home with no plans.  I read Harry Potter (Half Blood Prince) and listened to NPR online.  It’s fun to have that connection to home.  My excursion into the city was great, again.  I made a list of some of the ‘must see’ tourist sites and tried to get in a few.  I went to St. Peter’s church and took the lift to the top of the tower, which is supposed to be the highest church tower in Europe.  It was beautiful and I’ll try to download some pictures.  I also went to Doma church, which has the world’s (?) biggest organ.  Unfortunately it was being repaired and anyway, they charge an extra 2 lats to take pictures.  I’m hoping to go to an organ concert there this fall.  Speaking of Latvian cultural events, I’ve decided I need to do as much as possible before January because when training starts I really don’t know how much time or energy I will have to enjoy the city/country.  So, I stopped at the opera house and bought a ticket to see Swan Lake tomorrow.  I haven’t been to many ballets in my lifetime, but Latvia is supposed to have a great ballet company.  Riga is a very cultural city and there are always concerts, exhibits and something to celebrate.  I have been waiting to find someone to do all these things with but that hasn’t happened.  So I’m doing some on my own.  Later this fall Graeme, Zoe and I, with Sian of course, are going to take a long weekend out in the country.  That will be fun and we are exploring an area none of us have seen before, so that will make it even better.  I talked with Dace about going out again for a day.  We will head toward western Latvia because I haven’t seen anything that way.  This fall should be a real Latvian experience for me.