What can I say? Hungary is not Egypt. I was especially excited to get to Egypt when signing up for this trip so I have definitely grieved the change this month. But hey, who doesn’t want a layover in Budapest?! Right?!
So, Hungary is pretty sweet. The days have been perfectly warm Indian summer days and there is an array of outdoorsy things to do at the campground we are tented at. There are 3 soccer fields, a full track and basketball courts as well as a super-righteous skate park. I have taken up soccer in the last week (for the first time in my life) and am having a bit of an inappropriate love affair with it. My body takes to it fairly naturally and my sisters on my team (especially Denise) are amazing coaches and encouragers, so I find it hard to stop.
When the sun goes down a major chill goes over the campground like no other. The temperature drops super dramatically and it is all- of- the- sudden autumn. We keep warm by putting hot water in our Nalgene bottles and putting them at the foot of our sleeping bags. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but I do pray every night that God would increase the size of my bladder so I don’t have to brave the cold darkness 3 times in the night to use the restroom. I share a tent with Ashley and Daina (who gracefully deal with the sound of the multiple zippings and unzippings of the tent at 4am) and we look pretty hysterical all cinched up in our mummy sleeping bags, side by side, with only our eyes exposed. I’ve gotta try and get a picture of it.
A group of six other people and myself are heading to another small city in Hungary tomorrow. There are 4 people from my team and three from Beautiful Feet. We are heading to Gyor, where we don’t have any idea of what to expect. We don’t have a place to stay or even a contact lined up yet so we have to depend totally on the Lord and His plans for us. I asked for adventure in the unknown, and here it is. I’m excited and ready to move on. Except….
I have made a little kitten friend here whom we’ve named Kenya. He stumbled upon me a couple days ago and immediately stole my heart. He is obviously a stray, skinny and starving for love but surprisingly open to affection. I picked him up and plopped him on my lap and he pretty much stayed in my arms the rest of the evening. When bedtime came I set a sweater outside our tent for him to sleep on and got him a glass of milk. To my surprise he was still there in the morning. He follows us around everywhere we go and meows the sweetest kitty-meows whenever I am in the tent and he’s outside. Honestly, the thought of having to leave him here when we venture on tomorrow brings me close to tears. It stinks. Seriously stinks. But I guess that’s the reality of this trip right? We create relationships that touch and change us and we give love unabashedly. Then the time comes when God moves us on and we have to release them back into His hands and trust that He cares for them more than we do, and will bring others into their lives when we are gone. Wow, I better get used to this now. Although I know it will never be something I am good atL
