How Quickly Things Change...

It finally happened! I finally succumbed to covid! I had hoped that I would be able to avoid it after 2 years but on Sunday morning those two little lines appeared on my test. Like many other people all my plans suddenly had to change. Unlike in the UK, I have had to self isolate and will stay in quarantine until I test negative. Fortunately Cornhill has finished for the Easter holidays and I was due to be visiting a friend in a different city over the weekend so the only thing I've missed has been my language lessons for the week. Of course I was disappointed but to be honest I've felt so ill with it I've enjoyed having an excuse to stay home in bed for a week.

In Slovenia, Good Friday is like any other work day. Despite this I have managed to make some hot cross buns and was encouraged by being able to tune into the service this morning from my church in Swindon. Every Sunday evening I log into the service and feel very blessed to be able to hear God's word in my own language each week.

Having spent the week in isolation, not too much has happened but I am grateful to have a bit of outdoors space. Two weeks ago we were coming to the end of a glorious March where we had had sunshine and warmth for many days. Coupled with the fact that the door to my balcony was finally fixed (it had broken in October), I decided that the time was right to finally get some furniture for my balcony. I was very excited to finally be able to use the space. As I don't have a car here I managed to sign up for the local car share scheme and prepared to drive to IKEA. I knew in my head that the cars were electric and automatic but I had never driven one before. It felt a bit like a comedy of errors. My feet didn't know what they were doing, my arm didn't know what it was doing. I should add that it was the first time I had driven since I came back to Slovenia. Oh, and did I mention? It was snowing! Somehow I made it safely there but then I had the fun of trying to fit several boxes into a reasonably small car. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's felt the panic of thinking a large box won't fit in the car! I eventually got it all in but because of the boxes I couldn't see out of the rear window. So there I was on my return journey in the snow in an unfamiliar car on the wrong side of the road and unable to see clearly. I was definitely praying through that journey! Since then I've been able to enjoy the sunshine and do some of my work outside. I look forward to be able to use it more through the summer period.

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing that He cannot do...

Mountains in Slovenia (taken 5 years ago)

Today I have been thinking about what I'm preparing for Sunday School this week. This will be my first time leading here but since all the children in the group are American I will be able to lead the session in English. One of the songs we will be singing is My God is so big. I've had the the song in my head all day but it's only as I'm sitting here writing this that the words of it have struck me afresh. Only this morning I was reading of atrocities in Ukraine but our great God is bigger than that, there's nothing he cannot do. The mountains are his. If the weather is clear I can see mountains from my street. Even from miles away they look huge but God created them. The stars are his handiwork too. Just like in Genesis 1 where there is the throwaway line that God created the stars too, I am reminded that the whole universe belongs to God. It is all under his control. We may live in troubling times but that means that we should be turning to our big, strong God who can do all things.

The past few weeks have both felt busy but also quiet. At the beginning of March I gave a talk on Ecclesiastes 3 which was quite daunting. I was then asked to translate it and give it to the Ladies' Bible Study group. You may remember that I was asked to do this for my last talk in Exodus, so this was my second talk in Slovene. Again I had help from Google translate but again it was well worth the effort. It was so encouraging to see the ladies thinking about these things and discussing what the passage meant. My next talk is due at the end of April and it is on 1 Samuel 2. I don't yet know if I will be asked to translate this one as well.

We're now in the run up to Easter so things will start to slow down a bit although I will be leading youth group next week (hopefully in Slovene!) I'm also planning to take a short trip to visit a friend in Ptuj, a town in the north of the country, over Easter. This week will be a little bit different as well. ECM are having their biennial which once again will be held online. I look forward to catching up with different people and hearing how God is using them in different parts of Europe.

Facebook has also reminded me this week that it is exactly 5 years since I first visited the church here in Ljubljana to see if this was where God was calling me to work. A lot has happened in those 5 years but I am so grateful for the way the church here has welcomed me and looked after me in all the highs and lows of life. I know I am in the place that God wants me to be, doing the work He wants me to do and I am just so blessed to serve here alongside His people in Ljubljana.