It’s snowing when we arrive in Latvia. For months now I’ve been telling my squadmates about how glad I was to be away from South Dakota during the winter months. But seeing the snow makes my heart feel at home immediately. It’s gray and chilly and the trees are all bare…and it’s beautiful.
A couple of my friends and I walk through the airport doors for a quick snowball fight. I’m wearing sandals and capris, just like I have for the last nine months of my life. I don’t feel the cold at first. The air feels fresh and mosquito free, and glorious.
By the time we arrive at the hostel it’s obvious I need to purchase a pair of pants. A few of us head to the nearby mall, which proves to be an entirely new kind of World Race challenge. It’s been nearly a year since I have last been shopping for clothes. I’ve forgotten what it feels like to stand in front of a dressing room mirror. Let’s be honest, I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to stand in front of any kind of full length mirror!
Shopping for clothes is an exercise in trusting God. It’s easy to panic when none of the jeans are fitting and it’s below freezing outside. I constantly whisper, “I trust You, God, to provide what I need” over and over to myself as the clothes hit the dressing room floor. Thankfully, God is provider of jeans and also friends who remind you that you are beautiful, which is exactly what you need to hear when you haven’t been in a dressing room for months.
A few hours and a pair of jeans, mittens, and a hat later, I’m back at the hostel snuggled in my bed. I’ve forgotten how good it feels to snuggle in a bed.
The next morning is Easter. Please read some of my squadmates blogs about this day, because it was amazing. The night before some of my squadmates had taken one of the girls to the hospital because she was sick. They ended up at the wrong hospital, where they met some kind strangers who took them to a different hospital, which is how they found out about a Baptist church. Some of my squadmates go to church there in the morning. A couple of them are wearing sandals, and the church provides them with close-toed shoes on the spot! Then they invite the whole squad to dinner that night.
That evening, the squad, almost fifty of us, gets on a trolley for supper at the church. We are greeted at the door of a lovely old Baptist church. Everything in this city is beautiful, including the basement where we are served a hot supper. The brick walls and striped wallpaper make it look more like a cute café than a church basement. The crepes are fantastic, but that’s not the only surprise. Upstairs piles of winter coats, boots, hats, and other warm clothing have been laid out for us. Most of the people on my squad come away much more equipped for the cold weather than they were before.
The blessings just keep coming. These lovely people also let us use the church for squad worship. We sit in the large sanctuary on old wooden pews, listening to our voices reverberate through the cavernous space. This is by far the loveliest place the squad has ever worshiped. There’s a blue-tiled baptismal up front, right under a large white cross. Six of my squadmates are dipped in water that’s been sprinkled with rose-petals. What an absolutely perfect way to spend Easter Sunday. Baptisms, and blessings from a church that has the love of Christ bursting through its veins. It’s like I can feel a new surge of life and energy as I head into the last section of my race.
Riga is so beautiful I could cry. The old part of town looks like a page right out of a popup book, or maybe a princess movie. Gorgeous old buildings, cobblestone streets, streetlamps shining on the falling snow…I might as well be in a fairytale.
My team is staying two weeks in Riga, one week in a different city, and another week in a third city. We start ministry soon, but I’m not sure what it will be. Right now I am basking in the blessings of my incredibly generous Heavenly Father. So, so, so many things to be thankful for this Easter.
