Waardeer die klein dingetjies om jou

Hoe gaan mens van oorlewing na belewing....

Is mens daagliks besig om besig te wees om dinge te doen, afgehandel te kry, in 'n mate net te 'oorleef'? Dis so 'n groot deel van ons bestaan. God het dit so paar oggende terug op my hart kom lê dat ons nie so gefokus moet wees op die fisiese doen van dinge nie, maar eerder die lewe moet belewe ... als om jou èn dit waarmee jy besig is. 

 Somer beteken blomme! Oral is malvaplantjies wat die huise verfraai!

 Die suurpruim boom se takke hang skoon swaar met al die baie vruggies aan.

Die nagtegaal se gunsteling plek in ons tuin... En wanneer dit donker word net so voor half tien saans, dan sien jy vuurvliegies oral oor, selfs binne in die huis!

 Hierdie ou Fiat model, is nie 'n vreemde gesig in Gostilitsa nie. Inteendeel, hulle is nogal volop reg deur die 'village'! Wittes, rooies en selfs bloues!

 Veldblommetjies langs die pad...

Nog nooit so 'n groot 'dandelion' gesien nie!

'n Drom met 'n band bo-op... ons asblik cum tafel ... improviseer... 

 Net buite Gostilitsa... my stilword-plekkie

 Waterput, net boontoe in die straat.

 Versiering van 'n huis hier naby ... ons huis dateer uit dieselfde tyd!

 Skoorsteen

Net nog 'n straatjie na boontoe in die village...

Koffie, kuiergaste en kat-dinge

Jack, Elsabe en Lora Louw het al die pad van Sofia af (3 ure se ry!) vir ons  kom kuier! Wat 'n lekkerte was dit nie gewees nie! Ons het te lekker in Afrikaans gekuier, harte gedeel asook roomys gaan eet in ons eie klein en enigste winkel(tjie) hier in Gostilitsa!

Ons ontmoet hul die 22ste Julie in Sofia, waar ons 2 weke saam met hulle en nog 32 ander vrywilligers van oor die hele wêreld 'n kamp met 50 kinders van Bulgarye gaan meemaak. Jack en Elsabe is nou al 14 jaar woonagtig hier in Bulgarye en bied jaarliks hierdie kamp aan. Ons vertrou dat God elkeen van ons kragtig sal gebruik in elke kind se lewe.

Die uitsig vanaf die boonste verdieping laat my telkens stilstaan voor ek by die trappe af loop... Dit is net ongelooflik mooi!

Uitsig vanuit ons kamer venster, dorp se kant toe. Ek en Christoph stap elke dag winkel toe om brood, katkos of aartappels te koop, maar die eintlike rede is die kontak met wie ookal ons in die straat of in die winkel raakloop! Verhoudinge word gebou en die taal word geoefen! Dit gaan maar stadig... maar ons selfvertroue staan vir niks terug nie!

Sondagmiddag koffie en koekies by Marianna (van die skool) en haar ouma en oupa se huis met al die ander familie wat baie vrae oor Suid-Afrika te vra het! Die arme Marianna en haar sussie (nie in die foto hierbo) moes net bontstaan met die vertaling! Want nie een van hul praat Engels nie en ons gebroke Bulgaars gaan ons in so 'n gekuier nie veel help nie!

Die katjies is te oulik vir woorde! Ons geniet hulle baie! Mamma-kat Abu het haar eerste muis ingebring vir die kleintjies. Ons aldrie het die affêre groot-oog dopgehou en was verstom om te sien hoe Abu die kleintjies se aandag op die muis probeer vestig het. Asook hoe sy die vangery mimiek en hulle probeer kry om dit na te boots! Mens besef net weer hoe ongelooflik God alles gemaak het ...

Christoph se klimrame kry groot aftrek! Hul klim en klouter al te oulik! Die 'bokspring'-mannewales is vir ons die oulikste!!

 Een keer 'n week neem ons die uittog na Veliko Turnovo vir aankoop van voorrade. Dit bly vir ons een van die mooiste plekke in Bulgarye! Die strate was laasweek Vrydag aand vol studente en gesinne wat die lekker warm weer geniet en sommer net rondloop en kuier! Die atmosfeer was aansteeklik ...

Restoration

 While busy going through the process of taking off the broken window frames, sanding them, sanding them some more, adding wood filler etc, etc, I experienced something very special... 

What a process, to restore an old neglected window frame...

Certain things need to be done to this once beautiful and perfect frame to be able to be restored. On it's own, it will never become whole and new ... It has to be taken out of the 'structure', to the working station, where the process of restoration can be performed.

The big sanding machine removes all the old paint and dead wood - surely a painful process. How often do we have to go through pain in order to grow ... We have to get rid of unneeded baggage, added by this world or experiences in life that has damaged our inner pure person created by God to serve Him ...

 After the first attempt of sanding, the frame might come out looking smooth like this... or reveal some real damage ...

that needs more ...

 and special attention ...

God is so interested in each broken 'window frame' in this world whom He has created in order to be vessels to show His Glory to the world,

To be attractive bearers of light

To bless those around us

That He will do everything to restore us...

He will sand us ... if it means using a machine, sanding paper or even an iron brush...

He will fill those scars with love, His love, with mercy, with empathy by sending His children over our paths...

He wants us to shine, to be beautiful, to be attractive to the lost around us ... to bring beauty and love to this world...

Embrace the process of restoration in your life. If it entails experiencing pain or discomfort, embrace it ... grow through it ... so that you can shine again. For Him and for those around you!

The dictionary echoed what I have been experiencing about this amazing word, restoration:

res·to·ra·tion

1.

the act of restoring; renewal, revival, or reestablishment.

2.

the state or fact of being restored.

3.

a return of something to a former, original, normal, or unimpaired condition.

4.

restitution of something taken away or lost.

5.

something that is restored, as by renovating.

Becoming an attractive force...

Becoming an attractive force got a whole new meaning when the Gostilitsa cow came wandering into our 'garden'!  (In the background on the left is our house barn, with our outside living area as well as working area. The house is to the right, with the garden in front.)

Kobus fixing a loose panel an the inside of the roof - standing on the window sill on the second floor!

Buying fresh produce at the Dryonovo market, 15 km away. So many beautiful and fresh vegetables are just an amazing sight! And so cheap!

 Second stage of our vegetable cum flower garden. Deschka (67 years old) again providing flower plants as well as assisting with the planting! How amazing!

Fashion and Cosmetic Surgery

Somehow success and prosperity really manages to mess up our value system. Hanneke once mentioned to me how she enjoys walking to the shop in Gotsilitsa not feeling conscious about what she is wearing. 

This made me realize that things like fashion and cosmetic surgery do not exist in Gotsilitsa. I began to wonder why people (including myself) get trapped into spend money on things that does not make any contribution the welfare of society in any way. We seem to be trapped in a process of moving resources (money) from those who have to those who have more, to acquire things that actually are of no real value. . .  

Shouldn’t resources rather move from those who have to those who are in desperate need to accomplish something of real value? Something like saving a live for now and for eternity . . .

Doen en late in Gostilitsa...

Wat sal ons doen sonder tannie Deschka! Sy is dierbaar en as dit nie haasbredie is nie, bring sy vars eiers of ingelegte tamatiesap en selfs plantjies uit haar eie tuin! Sy is een in woord: DIERBAAR! O, Haneka...!! En Christoph kry tien soene en 'n groot druk! Gelukkig het Rita my gewaarsku en het ek 'n koekresep of 2 saamgebring om ook van my kant af te kan bederf! En as jy nie geblikte appels kry nie, skil jy sommer groen appels en stowe dit self, en sif koekmeel saam met bakpoeier 4 keer om bruismeel te maak, wat jy ook nie hier kry nie! En siedaar, heerlike appeltert!!!  

 Haasvleis (ook uit haar ... mmm ... agtertuin!)

 Tannie Deschka se hoenders en kuikens.

'n Deel van haar groentetuin. Nee, kyk, groen vingers het sy beslis! En tuinmaak, wel, ek dink sy is 'n ster!

 Christoph woes besig om die grond voor te berei vir ons groente bedding. Ons wou blommetjies plant maar  het agtergekom dat groente so belangrik is vir die mense, dat dit 'n beter plan is om eerder groente te plant om te 'belong' ... Iets wat baie belangrik is...

 Deschka bring tamatieplantjies uit haar tuin en help ons selfs om dit te plant! Iets waaroor ek baie dankbaar is, want ek het nog nooit vantevore tamaties geplant nie!

Gostilitsa het 'n koei! Sy wei vroegaand in die strate en hierdie foto is geneem so net na 9 in die aand, so 4 huise van ons af. Wat 'n interessante gesig!

 Die huiskat Abu, kom soek bietjie liefde en aandag.

Mamma Abu by haar 2 kleintjies.

Christoph bou self vir hul 'n 'jungle gym' of twee. Dis nou sommer praktiese opleiding met die boor, saag en allerhande gereedskap. 

 Die katjies is hier so tussen 3 en 4 wekies oud. Sal sien hoe hul groter word! Hul was aanvanklik maar baie lomp, maar spring nou al as hul Christoph hoor aankom! Te oulik!

A Meeting of Hearts

Last Wednesday evening we had Marianna over for dinner. Hanneke met Marianna in the local shop and learnt that she was a teacher at the only school in Gostilista with about 50 children. Soon after our return from Bulgaria last year October, we came across an article about the school titled: “Bulgaria: Changing Orphans’ Lives” (http://www.ethiosun.com/2011/06/03/bulgaria-changing-orphans-lives/). Below is an excerpt from the article which  describes the nature of the school very well:

 Mark and I traveled to a very small town in Bulgaria on Sunday, where we heard about a wonderfully innovative program for very poor Roma children in Gostilitsa. Surrounded by the Stara Planina Mountains and the hills and valleys of the endless verdant countryside of Bulgaria, we visited a very old orphanage, but one that was very clean and filled with evidence of love and care. We also saw a 160-year-old community school building that, too, felt like a place of warmth and love. Fifty-six Roma children live in the orphanage five days a week and go home to their impoverished families in the town on the weekend.

Marianna is a 25 year old part time teacher at the school. After witnessing her with some of the children after school I knew this was not a job to her, it was evident that children is her passion. (I guess it is in any case hard to think of an "activity" that pays the equivalent of about R40 per day as a job . . . )

 So knowing that we shared a passion and "a language" (the second is not as obvious as you might think) we decided to invite her over for dinner. We had the most wonderful time talking and listening to some of her dreams for the children. One of her dreams is to start a summer school for the children where they can be occupied in a constructive manner over the 3 month long summer holiday period. She also shared with us that it is a dream of hers to make a movie about the children and that she already wrote the script for it. The title of the movie: "Letter to God"

After a wonderful supper (thank you Hanneke) we watched an inspiring movie based on a true story with Marianna. The movie is about a 24-year-old first-time teacher who overcomes her initial fears and prejudices and makes a difference in the lives of the homeless children she teaches in a shelter's makeshift classroom. (How it happened that this is the one and only movie on my Laptop is a story for another day.)   So the evening ended with Hanneke and Marianna sharing a couple of tissues and an invitation to come to the school concert on Friday.  After reflecting on the evening, Hanneke and I were convinced that meeting Marianna is one of the reasons we had to come to Bulgaria for the 3 months.

 

 

 

Most of the pictures were taken at the school concert. The children and teachers saying goodbye for the 3 month summer holidays was a bit of an emotional affair at times . . . You can watch the trailer of "Beyond the Black Board" below.