Cold, hot, cold, hot....

This week's blog will just be some random ramblings as nothing outstanding happened this week. Oh, if I am going to be honest, the most noteworthy thing is that I hit bottom this past week. We have had such a wonderful experience so far and really love living here, but I guess it was just time for a good cry.

I have really missed Chris and Kate, my Dad, Queenie and Pa, and other family members this past month, and it just built up. I realized that I am going to miss all of them like I have for the past month for the next 15 years! I've been worried about my Dad's health too, and wish I were able to help him like before. I appreciate my sister Elizabeth and brother Jay, and recognize that my share of the care for him has fallen to them so that I can be over here. I know we are where God wants us to be, and I know that this will pass, but in the meantime, it is hard. I would appreciate your prayers for me. Glenn would appreciate your prayers for me too, as he has had to deal with my tears this past week!



On a lighter note, I did get my hair cut this past week by one of our missionaries. That, in itself, made me feel better! A lot of the Hungarian women my age color their hair a wonderful magenta but Glenn hasn't come around to letting me go that color. Yet. Maybe when Kari and Jonathan arrive this coming Friday, she might be able to talk her Dad into letting me do something wild, like magenta. If Kari wants something, all she has to do is ask her Dad!



For the past two weeks we've had a road crew working on the street in front of our house laying sewer pipes. Currently, we are on septic. Even though we've had lots more dust and noise due to the work they're doing, the good news is that once the pipes are laid, we can hook into the lines and then take the washing machine out of the bathroom and put it in the basement! That will double the floor space in our bathroom!



Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning I walk for an hour with a friend, Kristie. Believe it or not, the temperature this past week has been dropping into the 60's during the night, and so I've had to pull out my winter clothes to wear in the mornings! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous during the day, getting up to mid-70's with lots of cool breezes! The weather turned hot (86 degrees at 3:00 pm) again today, but we are supposed to have another "cold front" blow through on Wednesday. Ahhhh! I sleep so well when it is cool at night since we don't have any air conditioning.



Our supervisor and his wife came through town on their way back to Prague (where they live) from our meeting in Greece. We had them over for dinner and I fixed my all-time favorite dessert, American Chocolate Eclair. You may remember from an earlier blog posting that my wonderful friend, Kristin Cook, sent me a care package for my birthday with all the ingredients to make this dessert! Chocolate graham crackers, vanilla pudding, Dream Whip, and chocolate frosting in the tub. Yum! Everyone loved it, and were especially pleased that we were willing to share such a treat using my American ingredients with them. Thanks, Kristin! We enjoyed your gift!



Glenn and I went to Ikea this past week to buy a couple more pieces of furniture and Glenn has been using his handyman skills to put them together. What we can't buy, he has been building himself. Boy, he sure misses some of his tools! I think the only furniture that we are still needing are two chairs for the "living room" that will go with our oak futon. (Glenn can't build them.) I'm holding out for the American Embassy sale that is in August, hoping to pick up something that will go with the futon. (I know-fat chance.) We've looked at lots of furniture places here, but the Hungarians like all this uncomfortable, contemporary, boxy looking stuff in bright orange, green or gold. I want something comfy and not in orange, green or gold.



Our grass is coming along beautifully. This is our yard. You see all of our yard in this picture. When we moved in, this was all dirt, and nothing was planted in the yard except for the tree on the left. Since then, we've been planting flowers galore and



this apple tree that was from Glenn for my birthday. This tree is what I am using to count the days until my Dad comes to visit (assuming his health improves). The fruit on the tree should be ripe about the time he comes, so the riper the apples, the closer I get to his visit. When I was growing up and living in Virginia, our yard had two apple trees, and I remember those fall days when I would come home from school and climb one of the trees to pick me an apple for a snack. There aren't many things that taste better than a freshly picked apple, so I am really excited about having another apple tree of my own!

Well, that's about it for another week. The Doyles fly out next Sunday. As always, pray for someone to come help us with the the guest house, The Eden House, and to help with the medical care of our missionaries.

Pray also for Kari and Jonathan to have a safe, smooth flight to Budapest on Friday. Kari isn't crazy about flying after one particularly rough flight.

Pray for my Dad's health to improve.

Chris and Kate are wanting to come to Europe next summer for 4-6 weeks to visit and do some volunteer work while they are here. Pray that the Lord will direct them to the right ministry opportunities and that their finances will allow them to do this. Chris has gone back to school and is working towards a nursing degree, so pray for him to balance his time with work, studies and wife!

Pray for us to meet a Hungarian couple with whom we can become good friends.

We appreciate your interest in what God is doing in and through us, and thank you for your prayers on our behalf. We ask you to also pray for our missionaries serving across Europe. Until next Sunday, God bless you!

Greece is gorgeous!

To continue our trip to Greece....




Our time of worship on Sunday was fantastic! We thoroughly enjoyed worshipping in English with 200 voices singing praises and hearing a message that went straight to our hearts (without having to be translated)! It wasn't Pastor Ken, but it was still good!

The rest of the week was a blur. We had a full schedule all week of worship, training, inspiration, and peer learning. At breakfast and lunch and during the two morning and afternoon breaks, we had 30 minute (or more, if needed) sessions with our co-workers for them to talk about anything that was on their mind and to share with us any struggles that they were going through. Glenn stayed busy the whole week while I stayed in bed.




Yes, this is where I spent most of the week. I fell sick with a sinus infection Tuesday and didn't go out of the room again until Friday afternoon! I must admit though, as much as I hated to be sick while in Greece, at least I was in an air conditioned room (well, it was air conditioned from 11 am-4 pm and 11 pm -4 am, which we do NOT have in Budapest at all) and I had delicious meals served to me by my wonderful husband who didn't have to stop what he was doing to cook them!!! So, as for pictures of our work during the week, there are none since the photographer was sick.

Glenn spent the week meeting with the families, networking, taking care of lots of business, waiting on me hand and foot, yada, yada, yada, while I rested. I am sure he is exhausted and would appreciate your prayers for him!



Friends from Virginia October-December

Friday afternoon I got out of bed to attend the last of the counseling sessions because it dealt with a family whose child has some educational issues, and it was important that I be involved as the education consultant. Since I'd gone to all that trouble to shower, do my hair and put on makeup, we decided to join the group that we were with in Virginia when they all went out for dinner. It was good to be able to visit with them and to get caught up on their news.



After dinner we all decided to hop on the ferry that would take us to the mainland, somewhere in Athens. The ferry ride takes about 15-20 minutes and cost almost $2! Where in America can you ride on a boat and see such beautiful scenery for less than $2???

Glenn is fascinated with the loading of the cars on the ferry

7 rows deep and not a spare spot. Every side mirror intact!

As the ferry takes off-

Below are some random scenes from our trip across the Aegean Sea, back to the mainland.

The next 3 pictures are for the benefit of Chris, Kate, Kari, Jonathan, my dad, Queenie and Pa, and everyone else who has been to Ivory Coast or Senegal. There were just some parts of the scenery in Greece that strongly resembles what we saw and experienced in Africa! The flat roof builidings; stores on the bottom with 2-3 stories of apartments above....

kinda trashy....

palm trees....

and random stuff for sale on the sidewalks!

Another ferry boat going to get more tourists

I thought the country side was beautiful! There would be small, well developed communities dotted along the shoreline with rocky, scrubby mountains in the background. Everywhere you look, there are hills and mountains in view!

Long, flat bridge over part of the Aegean Sea

Lots of small islands in the Aegean Sea

By the way, the temperature in Greece registered 112 degrees on Wednesday. Don't know if you heard about all the wildfires that were spreading across Greece, particularly near Athens, due to the dry weather and the extreme heat? Well, we could see the smoke from some of the fires from our bungalow, and on the return trip to the airport on Saturday, we could see the burn scars on the ground from some of the fires.

We are now back in Budapest. I am still a little sick (so Dad, I'll call you in a day or two when I feel a little better!) but life must go on.

We have much to do in the next two weeks. Our co-workers, the Doyles, leave for their 6 months in the States on July 15th so we need to learn as much as we can about the details of their jobs. God may be sending us a couple to help with the guesthouse ministry so continue to pray with us about that need!!!! Also, we have a possible answer to our prayer for help with part of the medical side of their job so add that to your prayer list for us! God knows our needs, our limits and our schedule. Pray that we trust Him to provide for what we need in His TIME and in His WAY, and to not jump ahead of Him to "fix" things, as I am so prone to do!

An interesting side note-while we were in Greece, Glenn was eating with the Doyles and their son Dwayne and his wife Melissa. As it turns out, Melissa used to live in Marietta for a few years and was a member at First Baptist Church of Marietta where Glenn grew up! And, even wilder than that, Melissa and Diane Andrew Rose led an Acteen group of 4 girls, one of which was our daughter! Kari was in the 7th grade and it was the year of the Olympics! Melissa (who was Missy Woodward then) and Diane taught Kari, Jill Elliott, Lisa Courson and Cami Smith in clowning, and they used their "gifts and talents" at the Olympics for a week in a clowning ministry! Isn't it a small world?!?

As I close and I think of things I'd like to ask you to pray for, the top of the list begins with our many co-workers with whom Glenn met this week. Besides the everyday needs of isolation in a culture not their own, besides the difficulties of raising children without the help of healthy churches and other Americans or family members nearby, and aside from the stressors of "not fitting in", Satan is quick to attack whenever someone is sharing the news of Christ. So please, pray for our friends. Pray for us, as we are in the same boat. We do count it all joy whenever we face trials of many kinds because we do know that the testing of our faith produces perseverance, and perseverance must finish its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything, but it's still hard! We covet your prayers and thank God for each one of you!

Gone to Greece. Be back soon!

It seems I usually start off our blog with "It's been a busy week." Well, I'm not going to be redundant, but by the number of pictures I've uploaded for you, you can tell it...........


Country road out to Telki Hospital

Most of this week was spent taking care of one of our missionaries that had to be hospitalized again. Something else came up as a result of the first procedure that was done last week. Telki Hospital is a very modern hospital (which is why missionaries come to Budapest if good medical care is not available where they live), but it is out in a tiny village about 45 minutes outside of Budapest.

Telki Hospital-It's small but provides excellent care.


Glenn and I wait for her to come out of the anesthesia

On Wednesday though, we welcomed Bill and Susan Viser to Budapest and to our home. Bill has been one of our volunteer counselors at our AGM's (annual general meetings) for several years, just like Glenn and I were in Poland last year. We had actually met Bill in 1993 when we attended a Stress Management conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas that he led.



When we met up with Bill last year in Poland, we invited him to come stay with us if he ever wanted to see Budapest, so he took us up on our offer!

They arrived on Wednesday morning, and after resting in the afternoon, we hit the streets doing all the touristy things. Of course, we started on Vaci Utca (pronounced Vatzi Ootza. Utca = street)

Pedestrians stroll down Vaci Utca

Handmade Hungarian lace for sale on Vaci Street

Night view of the Danube River

Dinner at our favorite cafe

Tourist Menu for two

We usually order the Tourist Menu which has three different kinds of meet, rice, potatoes and "salad" (which is made up of pickles, sweet peppers, cabbage and grated carrots) Ymmm!

The 100th picture of the Parliment

Fisherman's Bastillion

City Park

You may remember a previous picture of a huge outdoor ice skating area. Well, this is it! The place becomes a outdoor concert hall and restaurant during the summer to draw and entertain the tourists!

On Thursday night, as we were heading home, we got caught in a rain storm that included hail about the size of dimes! I learned long ago that the only thing rain should dampen is your clothes, so we laughed at how wet we were all the way home. A blessing in the rain was that it pushed out the heat wave we were having and made it much cooler for sleeping that night! (We don't have air conditioning.)

Malev- the Hungarian Airline

On Saturday morning, the Visers and the Borders met up with all our co-workers in Hungary and flew to Greece for our AGM. It was a one hour and forty minute flight, and we landed in the middle of their stiffling heat wave!

Those are Olive trees! They are everywhere!

I know, it's a rough job. Glad we get to do it!

This picture only shows you 1/7th of the pool! There are about 7 pools that are connected and wind around an island of paradise with beautiful shrubbery. You cross over the pool by footbridge to get to the island in the middle. I don't know that we will get into the pool during the day because of our work schedule, but we will probably find/make some time at night, if for no other reason than to cool off before going to bed!

Bungalows

We are staying in bungalows that are attached to one another at various levels and we share a common courtyard. There is a walking path around the outer edge of the complex that we enjoyed in the "cool" of this morning.

I know, it's hard to feel sorry for us with all this beauty. We understand! We are so blessed to be able to share in this ministry, and are thankful to the Lord for calling us to this work.

Now, on a more serious note, our co-workers Mary and Alvin Doyle leave for their stateside assignment of 6 months on July 15. We still do not have anyone to cover for their ministry of running the guest house in Budapest, and so we ask you to seriously pray for this!

Doyles gone crazy-in need of recovery in States!

Their ministry is so important to the 400 CEE missionaries, and it is often a thankless job. If no one is found to cover for them, Glenn and I will need to step in and try to fill their shoes, and do as much of our job as possible. If we don't get help, we may look like the Doyles when they return in 6 months! Please pray for us to rest in Him, to recognize that God knows our limits and will expect us to do only what He equips us to do, and to let the rest go. Easier for me to say than to do!

I don't really like what this sign says (because I don't want to do it my way, but rather, God's way) but it tickles me every time I see signs written in English. Do the Hungarians even know what it means????

We return to Budapest on Saturday, and then have two weeks before Kari and Jonathan come for a visit. Yea!

How many more days until the Doyles return???

First off, we would like to wish our fathers, Bill Borders and Jim Brown, a very Happy Fathers Day! We wish we could be there to celebrate with you and honor both of you for being the wonderful father that every child should be so fortunate to have!

Bill Borders

I am not the eloquent writer in our family (I think that distinction goes to our daughter), but hope to express to Pop and Pa how much we miss you, especially today when our thoughts are turned towards fathers, and how much we love and appreciate you. Thank you Pa for the influence you had in Glenn's life and for helping him to become the man he is today. If for no other reason (even though there are lots!), I love you for that because I love your son!

Jim Brown

To my own Dad, I thank you for showing me what to look for in a husband by being a good husband to Mom. All those times when you thought I wasn't listening, well, I was, and I was watching too! Because of you, I did not settle for anything but the best. Thank you!

On the homefront, it has been an incredible week! We have been covering for the Doyles while they are on vacation, running the guest house and taking care of our co-workers who are here for medical care.

This week we had two hospitalizations that kept us busy, not to mention a couple of folks who came for doctors appointments. Fortunately, I was NOT one of the two admitted into the hospital (I just laid a hospital gown over my clothes and laid on the bed). Glenn is practicing his good bedside manner (although, I did get another picture of him sprawled fully out over the empty bed while we were waiting for our "patient" to return from the lab, which is not good bedside posture! Hopefully, our life will return to normal, whatever that is, when the Doyles return this week; if not, I might really be a patient in the hospital, having collapsed from exhaustion! This week has given Glenn and me a greater appreciation for the Doyles!

Cherry pie, cherry cobbler, cherry soup, cherry delight...

Glenn and I did find some time one evening to pick more cherries off our tree. We have already picked about 5 gallons that will soon find their way into our freezer for use during the year. We have really enjoyed fresh cherries!

This week we woke to the sound of heavy machinery outside our bedroom window as the crew began digging up the asphalt and laying pipes to hook our street up to the sewer system. They begin work at 7:30 am, , make loud construction noises all day long, work even on Saturday, and create layers of thick dust all over our furniture, but the good news is we will then be able to move our washing machine out of our bathroom and put it in the basement!!!! I love this picture of the worker wearing shorts, no shirt and tennis shoes as he handles the machine that saws through the 6 inches of asphalt! We've been told that when the weather gets really hot, it won't be unusual to see men working on a construction sight wearing nothing but Speedo underwear!!!! Now that is a picture that I call "blog-worthy".

This is a sign down the street from our house that is advertising the " new Smart Car". Don't know if you've ever seen any there in America, but they aren't much bigger than a Matchbox car or Hot Wheel! Don't you just love the length of that word? No wonder we struggle with the Hungarian language.

And here is one in real life. Aren't they "cute"? (My Dad taught me that the word cute really means small. He's in real estate.)

In closing, we ask you to double your prayers for a volunteer couple to come run the guest house during the Doyles' 6 month furlough that begins in July, or better yet, to stay for two years! This past week has shown us that it is a definite need, and if it is not filled by someone, that "someone" will become "us", which will mean we will not be able to do what we came to do!

Also, if you have sent us an email in the past month or two and have not yet heard back from us, please be patient with me. We appreciate each and every email, and it is my desire to respond to each one personally, but I am finding it hard to keep up. With integrity as an employee of the IMB and a desire to be involved in ministry to our co-workers, which is what we came to do, the largest part of our day needs to be spent doing our jobs. We hope you will continue to lift us up in prayer even if you don't hear back from us quickly.