Birthday bash and more!

Well, another week when I am behind on updating my blog. I'd like to think now that the Eden House moves into the hands of the Stevens that I will have a little more time, but I fear my supervisor (Glenn) will find other things for me to do!!!


My birthday dinner!

I received an email a couple of weeks ago from a friend here that said on my birthday I should "Be home at 5:20 pm and be hungry." Well, we had our Member Care team meeting at the Doyles at 3:30, and while we were at the meeting, all the ladies of Budapest (you know, the wholesome ones) gathered at my house and prepared a Mexican spread like I've never seen!! We were also celebrating the birthday of another one of the ladies who's birthday was a few days after mine. The ladies here have become my good friends, and I thank God for them.


Mexican food-a true American favorite of mine!

I missed being with my family to celebrate, but in addition to the wonderful Mexican feast, I received enough birthday wishes from around the world to make the day special! Another thing that made my birthday special was knowing that literally thousands of people (mostly WMU ladies) would be praying for me! I needed those prayers on that day because being away from my family on my birthday was hard. I don't know if it is because I am getting older or if it is because I am living overseas away from my family, but birthdays are a big deal to me now (they never were before) and I was a little weepy that day. I am so glad I had all those people praying for me.


Worship at the International Baptist Church of Budapest

On Sunday, Glenn and I rode with Alvin and the Eden House guests to the International Baptist Church of Budapest (on the other side of town) to learn how to get there by car. We have been only one other time, and that was a year ago, and we went by public. Even though I hand the keys to the Eden House to the Stevens this week, we will still have responsibilites there one weekend a month to give the Stevens some much needed time off. On those weekends when Glenn and I are "on duty", it will be our responsibility to take Eden House guests to the International Baptist Church if they would like to worship in English (so we had to find out how to get there!) I must admit, it felt a little weird to be singing songs in English and be able to understand the words!! Weird in a good way.

During the week Glenn and I went into town to look for some curtains for our living room. We've been here 16 months and have yet to put up curtains because we can't find chairs to match our couch!! The curtains need to coordinate with the chairs, of course. We have looked and looked (and looked) for chairs that will go with our fouton couch, but the furniture style here in Hungary is boxy, contemporary, uncomfortable and comes in tacky colors!!! (I figure eventually we will come across a missionary that is returning to the US, selling their stuff off and has a couch they brought out from the States.) I've given up looking for the time being. We decided that in preparation for our kids coming next month, we would hang curtains and then worry about the chairs later.



While we were out looking for fabric, we splurged and ate at Burger King. A year ago I would not have considered eating at Burger King a "splurge", but with the rise in prices and the fall of the dollar, it is now a splurge!! When we arrived 16 months ago, a Whopper combo meal cost about $5. Now it is $7.50! For the two of us, our combo meals were $15. That one little tub of barbeque sauce that comes with the meal in the U.S. costs us 40 cents here!! Kind of takes the pleasure out of eating out to know that burgers are $15.



While in town, we saw this construction on a new metro/subway line that is coming soon, like 2010. Massive amounts of steel!



We saw the Pizza Hut delivery guy!

By the way, we never bought fabric. We found that the fabric is like the furniture.



One day this week Glenn and I woke to the sounds of heavy machinery digging holes in the triangle out in front of our house. We got excited, thinking they might be building a playground or a park right there. (Just about anything would be better than the dumping ground it had become due to the recycling bins located there!) We were a little disappointed to find that it was for a HUGE billboard right out front!!



Last night Glenn and I went to pick sour cherries from the Pollard's cherry tree. I pitted (is that a real verb?) cherries all night and made a big batch of cherry soup. As far as I know, we don't have anything like fruit soup in the U.S. Do we? When Kari, Jonathan, Chris and Kate come in July, I will make more cherry soup for them, and then you will be able to get the recipe off of Kari's blog-see the link to the right for her RECIPES.

Glenn and I leave this Friday for one of our 5 annual general meetings (AGM) and we will be gone for a week. I don't know how much internet access we will have. Probably not much, and even less time in which to blog. Anyway, if you don't hear from me, don't worry. We will be back soon (and then gone again, then back, then gone....) Please pray for us as we meet with families at each of these AGM's. Pray also for Glenn as he leads a couple of seminars during the AGM. We want to share God's truth with these families, and not our own "wisdom", so we covet your prayers. Thanks!!