I have lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 17 years, and so snow is something I have had to become at least a little familiar with. I was sharing today in an English class at a high school here in Banja Luka (a friend is the teacher and she gets me to come and talk about South Africa and do it in English!), and I told them the story of my first full winter here as at the time I was not familiar with snow AT ALL.
The snow started on Thanksgiving (so end of November) and stuck around until the end of January. It was a bad winter, not all of them are like that! I had a car which you couldn't get winter tyres for and so I was slipping and sliding around until one of my Bosnian friends suggested I put the chains on. And so I did - and drove around with them all winter (which is ok where there is snow on the roads, but where they had cleared it, I was like a tractor!! and to say that people looked at me funny is an understatement, but I was happy I could drive!!)
Now, I have a car which has been duly winterised. Lovely winter tyres. Antrifreeze in the cooling system which can go below -30, and cleaning fluid in the windscreen wipers which also helps to deice the windscreen. These are all things I never thought I would think about! I have been blessed in that I do manage to go to South Africa every other year or so and skip part of the winter (and I have managed to skip many of the really bad ones), so I can't really complain.
I was thinking the other day that just like me car needs to get winterised, and change and adapt to different circumstances, I had to do that as well. I needed to adapt to this culture and people in order to be comfortable. I needed to make sure I had all the necessities in order to live here successfully.
And besides doing that on a cultural and language level, I needed to do it in other ways too... I mean am now proficient in all things needed to be warm in -10 degree weather... long underwear, scarves, hats, and the warmest coat ever (pictured above!). I bought the coat last November as I lost so much weight (yay!) that I was too small for the old one... and it had been such a mild winter until now, that I hadn't really needed it. But now it has come in way handy and I am so glad I bought it!! Even if I do look a bit like Anna Karenina!! As the Norwegians say - there isn't any bad weather, just bad clothing!
This week we are starting up the Book Club and I was so tempted to postpone it, as the weather really is bad, but in the end, I thought it was just good to keep going and so we will see how it goes tonight and if my brave volunteers will come through for me!! But I realised that in the past the weather would have been a reason to cancel as I wouldn't have adapted to it, but now with God's help I have adapted. We all need to adapt and change over time.
Last night at our bible study we were talking through Romans 13. I especially like the last verse, in the Message version: "Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!". I am now thinking that just like I get dressed in all my wintery garb in order to make it out of the house, it is so important to dress myself in Christ in all that I do. To be His hands and feet in this world...and I am so glad that we didn't cancel the Book Club... we need to be up and about!
The snow started on Thanksgiving (so end of November) and stuck around until the end of January. It was a bad winter, not all of them are like that! I had a car which you couldn't get winter tyres for and so I was slipping and sliding around until one of my Bosnian friends suggested I put the chains on. And so I did - and drove around with them all winter (which is ok where there is snow on the roads, but where they had cleared it, I was like a tractor!! and to say that people looked at me funny is an understatement, but I was happy I could drive!!)
Now, I have a car which has been duly winterised. Lovely winter tyres. Antrifreeze in the cooling system which can go below -30, and cleaning fluid in the windscreen wipers which also helps to deice the windscreen. These are all things I never thought I would think about! I have been blessed in that I do manage to go to South Africa every other year or so and skip part of the winter (and I have managed to skip many of the really bad ones), so I can't really complain.
I was thinking the other day that just like me car needs to get winterised, and change and adapt to different circumstances, I had to do that as well. I needed to adapt to this culture and people in order to be comfortable. I needed to make sure I had all the necessities in order to live here successfully.
This week we are starting up the Book Club and I was so tempted to postpone it, as the weather really is bad, but in the end, I thought it was just good to keep going and so we will see how it goes tonight and if my brave volunteers will come through for me!! But I realised that in the past the weather would have been a reason to cancel as I wouldn't have adapted to it, but now with God's help I have adapted. We all need to adapt and change over time.
Last night at our bible study we were talking through Romans 13. I especially like the last verse, in the Message version: "Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!". I am now thinking that just like I get dressed in all my wintery garb in order to make it out of the house, it is so important to dress myself in Christ in all that I do. To be His hands and feet in this world...and I am so glad that we didn't cancel the Book Club... we need to be up and about!
