A couple of my kids have croup, so yesterday, the other two kids and I went to church alone. This was my first solo trip navigating the metro and buses and I was excited to be so independent. Church was wonderful. My kids are about 80% of the Sunday School program, but they love their teachers dearly who represent several different countries around the world. I asked Number 1 why she likes church so much and she said, “Because the leaders are so different from us. They have different lives and families, but we have one thing in common---we all come here because we love Jesus.” What wisdom from an eight year-old.
One of the highlights of Sunday mornings is the florist stand outside the metro stop. Every time we attend, I treat myself to a bouquet to remind myself that living things do grow in this cold atmosphere. This week, Number 3 had requested roses. They are expensive, but we found some pretty orange ones. In Russia, it is bad luck to give flowers in even numbers so you would never see a dozen. We purchased five. I paid the man 300 rubles and waited for him to wrap them. After he wrapped them he proclaimed in a loud voice with opened arms, “EYE LUUFFF YOU!” I smiled and said, “Spaseebah.” He saw my confusion and pointed to the flowers and said again, “EYE LUUFF YOU!” I said, “Da,Da” and walked away. While I thought the vendor was proclaiming his undying devotion to me, he was actually explaining what the flowers represented.
Occasionally on the metro, they will empty the train completely at a random stop. I don’t know why. Official police (sometimes with guns) motion for everyone to get off. Usually you just wait for the next train, but today they would not let us get back on. So I was forced to re-route. An older lady saw the map in my hands and assumed my confusion. I said to her in Russian, “Do you speak English?” She nodded and showed us where we needed to go, even going so far as to give us directions regarding the next station. Nothing like this has happened when my husband is with me.
We arrived in our town and I thought we would try a taxi this time. But I discovered that I had misplaced my badge that grants entrance to our private community. So I waited for the bus. I took the girls to a coffee shop where I ordered hot chocolates, a latte, and a yogurt parfait. She delivered the hot chocolates and they were exactly that! Cups of warm chocolate syrup. It looked more like pudding than a beverage. We all laughed about it and re-checked the menu. Cocoa was one line down from hot chocolate and it contained milk. Lesson learned. The bus came and we went home.
I took a hot shower, turned on the bathroom heater, sat by the fire and thanked God for all the small treasures I had enjoyed today.
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