We were invited to the church in Sharia by Father Demitri, a kind, gentle, humble man who is the head priest at the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church. Unfortunately, not all of the other priests were so excited about our arrival. One of the priests who eventually warmed up to us was Father Vladimir, a 33 year old priest with a wife and 3 children, who wore a black leather vest over his black robe, drove a 27 year old orange station wagon, and loved to talk and ask questions..over tea at his home one night, Fr. Vladimir shared stories of growing up with an alcoholic father, serving in the military as captain of a ship, an explosion that almost took his life, finding the Orthodox Church, and many other random things...here are some things I journaled before bed...
Tea - any kind - is always better with chocolate.
I'm rarely silent in a 2 hour conversation - it's good to listen.
My car isn't so bad.
Crazy is just a short drive from fascinating.
It's an honor to be the wife of a priest.
I love Misty Flowers.
Some experiences between God and man are so amazing, so intimate, they should not be spoken of.
5 comments:
Came across your blog, sounds like you had a truly amazing trip. I loved the statement you put in your post "Some experiences between God and man are so amazing, so intimate, they should not be spoken of." hmmm....how true.
Keep on loving Jesus!
oh i miss you GREACH (as our Father Vladimir would call you). Thanks for your post and for loving me. I too love and appreciate you and that you valued this experience as much as I did...I think it was even better because we could share it together.
:-)
I just read over your post again b/c I linked you in my post and was seeing if it worked, and it made me cry just thinking of being there again with him in his home and wishing that the time would go on forever and that it wouldn't have been so late...and imagined speaking without a translator and how further we could have all gotten in our understandings...
and esp. about the needs we have..."to know and to be known".
thanks for writing this. it brought me back. we have much to look forward to in heaven.
I know...it was so wierd how uncomfortable and preoccupied I was about not being able to tell MY story to him.....wanting to be known.....ugh....it's already making me more aware of how much I enjoy talking about myself instead of listening...
Tea is also better when served with great company.
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