Thankful!

How do you get through the first Thanksgiving without your life’s companion?  It helps to focus on what is good in your life.  I am thankful that —

Huni went to sleep today with a new velvet soft orangutang stuff animal that LR sent for me to give him for his 5th birthday.  He is two years away from the time when the Doctor in Budapest forecasts that he will outgrow his weak immune system that is a constant challenge.

I’m thankful the Small Group Discussion members like to meet around my kitchen table.

I’m thankful that Friday morning I had the opportunity to speak to the Advanced English High School Class.

I’m thankful that Friday evening I was able to share “my story” with 14 precious ladies in Malnas, a village about 20 minutes from here by car.

I’m thankful that Saturday Levy & Monica gave me 2 rose bushes AND planted them for me!

I’m thankful that Saturday afternoon, Vasile, Mimi and Camellia helped me prepare Harvest Dinner for the next day.

I’m thankful that I have a table to seat the 10 people who came for Harvest Dinner on Sunday.

I’m thankful that Jutka is still able to have a time for prayer in her home on Sunday evenings.

I’m thankful that Gusti and Aranka’s house is going to be ready for them to move in by Christmas.

Aranka chose a rich, "silky" yellow for the stucco exterior

I am thankful for loving friends and family here in Romania, the U.S., Ghana, Holland, Spain, and many other places in the world.

I am thankful for God’s love, and Jesus’ sacrifice for us…and that He is now alive, interceding for us in Heaven.  — Anne

So Much News and No Time to Write

God is blessing me every day even though the pain of loss is ever with me.  Hanging onto Judy N’s words, “You never get over losing your mate, but God will help you through it,” helps.  The weather is unseasonably gentle with highs for the day in the 50’s.  That’s good for me, but next Spring’s crops need the snow to come soon so that the melting snow will provide life giving moisture.

Last night, my Thursday evening Small Group had a goodbye dinner here to celebrate the closeness that is growing between us, and the deepening of our relationship with God that is developing as a result of our study of “Discovering God.”  Today, I spoke at 9 a.m. to the Advanced English high school class of 17 year old students.  In the evening, Laszlo took me to his village to speak to his congregation’s ladies class.  Our hearts communicated on a very deep level.  They asked me to develop some seminars for them…precious, precious people.

CONTINUING THE TOUR OF MY HOME:

 

This is a room that doubles as counseling room for observing therapists that I am training, and If you come to visit, this makes into a twin sized bed with a very good mattress! (I hate to admit that I thought it had a double mattress! LIve and learn...)

 

Across from the guest room is the upstairs bathroom.

Tub in upstairs bathroom - Gusti's team built that lovely tile base for it.

I bought a stand alone cabinet for the bathroom since there were no cabinets or closets built into the house.

The bathroom radiator doubles as a towel rack. (Notice the fine wood door with very nice opaque glass panes.)

Landing for the stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors. The glass bricks let light stream into the house through the attic room above the garage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stairs from ground floor up to landing leading to 2nd floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May the Lord’s face always shine on you.  — Anne

 

 

 

Come, Sit Awhile

Before you sit down, perhaps you’d like to look around my living room in Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania.

My $70, Persian carpet from Holland. When we were missionaries in Holland, I never could afford to have one of these beautiful rugs.

 

Looking from the terrace door to the other end of the room...

 

 

Looking through the living room window and door, you see across the little valley to the mountain rising up to greet us.

 

If you are hungry, there's minestrone soup, broiled chicken and rice that Aranka prepared and brought in the fridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What we are hoping is that your growing faith…, will give an extra boost to our efforts in outlying areas beyond you.  If you seek glory, seek glory in the Lord because it is not the person who stands behind himself who can be trusted.  It’s the person whom the Lord stands behind .”  2 Corinthians 10: 14-18, The Unvarnished New Testament translated by Andy Gaus.  — Anne

 

 

 

In Response to Your Requests…

You gentlemen may sit this one out…unless you would like to see where people love to gather in my home.  Here’s photos taken today of my 15′ X 18′ kitchen in Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania.  Curtains are to be made and put up next week.

 

Welcome to my kitchen - konyha, as seen when standing in the door. The 3 kitchen windows are 54" tall X 30" wide letting in lots of light.

Across the room from the table you see the little expresso coffee maker sitting atop the cabinet with a piece of wood almost covering the hole where an apartment sized dishwasher is supposed to be. Immediately to the right of the coffee maker is the stainless steel sink, 13" X 14" X 5.5" deep, with drainboard.

 

A view of the kitchen door that opens onto the entry hall. Notice the nice glass blocks in the wall next to the Hungarian handcrafted pottery clock (a welcome gift from Gusti & Aranka).

 

Moving past the sink, you see the cabinet extend to the apartment size electric cook top and oven next to the East wall and the 3rd window.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A closer look at the table which extends to seat 10. Notice the Dutch framed hearth scene that we've had since we left Holland in 1965.

 

And here you see Zoli Baci, my neighbor who owns the ice cream shop, standing in the street that runs in front of my house, finishing up the fence between his property and mine. Now, my yard is safely surrounded by a fence with only a front gate that locks, and a gate to the driveway which bolts on the inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for visiting, via cyberspace, my kitchen.  Maybe one day, if God wills,  you’ll come in person to put your feet under the table and enjoy a big bowl of Hungarian goulash that Gusti cooks in a huge cast iron pot over the open fire!  — Anne

 

 

 

 

 

A Day Full of Blessings

The much desired, long awaited one year visa was placed in my hands today!  Every year I will be allowed to apply for a one year extension.

My dog who gladly adopted me is on the mend after 2 days of being very lethargic, growling when the back of his head was touched.  Unusual looking as he is, I’ve come to love him.

There are finally blinds on the windows of my two bathrooms!  (Open House had a special meaning here.)

God gave me a house, family, land, fruit trees, a garden, a watchdog, and a fruitful work to do for Him.

 

Friends in Washington State  e-mailed that they have collected a LOT of good, warm clothing from their friends and will soon be sending it our way!  (The Next Container is shipping out this coming weekend.)

All of the light fixtures have finally been installed in the house.  The only ones lacking are the 2 in the garage, and the one on my bedroom balcony. (This has been accomplished over a couple of months!)

Five of our favorite U.S. mountain scenes, and one of the Praying Hands were given a home on the walls of my house today.

All of this is living proof that God does keep His promises.   God is good…all the time!  — Anne

“… everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” Matthew 19:28

 

 

My faithful friend and guard

 

 

 

 

 

Some of my Romanian Family gifted me by God

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Dan has received Eternal Life with God

 

 

 

 

Some want to see my house

 

back view showing the rear balcony called the "terrace." The terrace now has a wood "skirt" as I call it around the bottom part so that snow does not collect in the space. Next to the stairs leading up to the terrace is the food cellar window; above that is the window to my office. On the side is the garage waiting for a car to hatch. There's storage space above the entire garage. Above the garage is the guest room window (room doubles as a training room for my students where I observe the work they are doing.) A couch that has two good single mattresses is a typical "double bed" here.

 

Best View from the terrace on the back of the house last August. (At the moment, the landscape is a Winter scene.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The front of the house - the gate to the driveway is complete now with pickets to match the fence. The driveway has nice fitted blocks laid on sand (like a brick street). In the Spring, roses and other flowers will be added to the little front yard. The back "garden" will get a volleyball court, and croquet area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My green house is further down the mountain side a bit from the apricot colored house. A nice elementary school principal and his wife, accounting teacher, live in the apricot house. The dirt road turns to the left and runs past the front of my house for about a city block. Our development will eventually have 10 houses with large lots. All the houses, so far, are built in the Hungarian style with the high roof.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taken last Summer - My next door neighbors - Reka, Adolf and Dorothy Papp on the left are building on the East side of my fruit orchard. Aranka and Gusti on the right, will live on the West side of my house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A View Inside Hungarian Homes

God blesses me daily with friends, and opportunities to serve others.  But I can’t out-give God.  The score is at least God – 1000 blessings for me / Me – 20 blessings for others  : > )  Tonight I was the group facilitator for the English Small Group Bible Discussion.

We are becoming good friends. When you hang out with that crowd, you will laugh and have a good time whether you want to or not!  We enjoyed drinking freshly made apple juice.  Then I left there with a fresh loaf of Zsuza’s homemade apple bread (made from apples from their own trees), and 5 pounds of organic apples.  Csilla gave me some of her apple/horseradish relish.  Have you guessed by now that it is apple season here?

God is good.  God is always good.  —  AnneWe met in Csilla’s lovely apartment

My Automatic Dishwasher - if there are any dirty dishes in my kitchen, Aranka automatically washes them!

In my kitchen studying the Hungarian language flash cards Dan made

She wonders if she will ever learn English...and I wonder if I will ever learn Hungarian. "Hogy vagy," means, "How are you?" Are you sure???

The Breath of Life

Monday evening we had an excellent, uplifting discussion of Gen. 2.  It was beautiful to read the ERV about God breathed some of his soul into man…that is how Kinga interpreted “breathed the breath of life into man.”  That may be the answer to my question,  “Why does each human seems to have a need to worship some one or thing…and keep seeking until they find God or some thing to worship?”

Babies who are given away,whether at birth or later, often have no peace until they find their birth mother years later.  They lived inside their mother’s womb for 9 months.  They know her heart beat, they know her smell.  There is no one else like their mother. Children go through a grieving process when taken from their mother regardless of what age they are.  I think man’s search for God is something like that because God gives us the breath of life…breathing some of His soul into us. — Anne

The framework for Adolf's roof took some heavy lifting!

How it looked from my balcony

Walking on the roof of Gusti's house looked so easy!

Reality of Living on the Edge -- see his leg dangling in the air? That was the easiest way to nail that board on the bottom edge of the roof.

Friends brought flowers, candle and food to honor Dan on the Day of the Dead

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Matthew 7:23-25