neljapäev, august 05, 2004
Weiners, Vorst & the Buddha
We had dinner with our landlord and her son tonight. It was a good opportunity to get to know them better, and gave us a view of a real Estonian home and real Estonian food. We ate in their backyard. We had weiners (like small hot dogs) and vorst (kind of like Italian sausage, but there seems to be hundreds of varieties) cooked on the grill, potato and egg salad, tomato and cucumber salad with sour cream, bread, cake and ice-cream. It was good local food and another great opportunity to build relationships.
Our shipment from the USA arrives tomorrow. We've been living on what we brought in our 10 suitcases for the past month; now we're trying to figure out where we are going to fit 98 boxes of things in our two-bedroom apartment! We're planning around a week to get it all sorted and unpacked so that we can really have a place for everything. We tried to be conservative when we packed, but now we are wondering.
When the shipper called today to tell us they're coming tomorrow, he said that one of the crates used to move our stuff was damaged in transit. He doesn't know if anything was damaged; we will have to check the boxes that are in that part of the crate once they deliver it. We are hoping it will be okay.
I spoke with one of my classmates today who wanted to tell me that he had had an interesting discussion on spirituality with some of the others the night before. I was so glad that he saw me as a person to talk to about spiritual things. He told me that he is a Buddhist, and he despaired over the lack of faith expressed by the people around him, and Europeans in general (a feeling I have also had). He has found purpose and direction in his belief, and felt a strong affinity with me because he said he could see I am the same. I asked how he came to his belief, and he gladly shared his story. I was able to talk about my own spiritual journey and how I have seen God working in my life. It was an interesting and respectful conversation as the Christian and the Buddhist walked through Raekoja Plats (Town Hall Square) discussing the meaning of life, until some of the others came along and turned the conversation in another direction.
I am grateful that God gave me that opportunity to talk with him and learn from his point of view. Please pray for Hans-Peter, that his openness to spiritual things and his search for a meaningful expression of his faith will lead him to the Saviour.
--Tim
Our shipment from the USA arrives tomorrow. We've been living on what we brought in our 10 suitcases for the past month; now we're trying to figure out where we are going to fit 98 boxes of things in our two-bedroom apartment! We're planning around a week to get it all sorted and unpacked so that we can really have a place for everything. We tried to be conservative when we packed, but now we are wondering.
When the shipper called today to tell us they're coming tomorrow, he said that one of the crates used to move our stuff was damaged in transit. He doesn't know if anything was damaged; we will have to check the boxes that are in that part of the crate once they deliver it. We are hoping it will be okay.
I spoke with one of my classmates today who wanted to tell me that he had had an interesting discussion on spirituality with some of the others the night before. I was so glad that he saw me as a person to talk to about spiritual things. He told me that he is a Buddhist, and he despaired over the lack of faith expressed by the people around him, and Europeans in general (a feeling I have also had). He has found purpose and direction in his belief, and felt a strong affinity with me because he said he could see I am the same. I asked how he came to his belief, and he gladly shared his story. I was able to talk about my own spiritual journey and how I have seen God working in my life. It was an interesting and respectful conversation as the Christian and the Buddhist walked through Raekoja Plats (Town Hall Square) discussing the meaning of life, until some of the others came along and turned the conversation in another direction.
I am grateful that God gave me that opportunity to talk with him and learn from his point of view. Please pray for Hans-Peter, that his openness to spiritual things and his search for a meaningful expression of his faith will lead him to the Saviour.
--Tim
