dvi silkes

It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, and I can truly say that we have a tremendous lot to be thankful for. Often, we are surrounded by such an abundance of love, goodness, and ‘stuff,’ that we can’t help but be thankful. Sometimes we choose to express thankfulness for the less comfortable aspects of life, knowing that even through painful experiences, our lives are enriched.

And then, every once in a while, something completely unexpected happens that makes us thankful in a way that can only be expressed by heartily laughing out loud! That was today.

This evening, we had a chance to meet up with my parents as they were driving home from an overnight trip to beautiful Lake Louise. While we had planned on going to a particular coffee shop for lattes, it turned out the store had closed early for the weekend break. Instead, we went to one of the other ubiquitous coffee shops in the area, and settled down with pumpkin spice lattes (yum!). We had a good chat, but Mom and Dad still had to drive a ways to get home, so we licked the foam out of our cups and started to pack things up.

Just as we were getting ready to go, one of the employees came over to our table. I thought, actually, that she was going to say that they were closing. Instead, she said that they were about to throw out a bunch of their food, and if we would like to take any of it home, we should just let her know what we would like…for free! It took a few minutes for that to sink in, but once we realized what she was offering, we jumped from our seats! At the counter, she had already laid out trays of baking, and as we approached the counter she handed us the tongs and said, “help yourself!” At first, we were ever-so-polite, gratefully plopping a few muffins in our bag, then offering to let the other employees take the rest. But she just kept telling us to take more; they had already taken everything they wanted, and were really going to throw out all that was left. At last, we ended up taking everything!

As we piled into the car with three full bags of snacks, we couldn’t stop laughing - a laughter of thankfulness! In fact, I didn’t have anything for Nathan’s lunch tomorrow, but now we have enough goodies for weeks! Here’s what we hauled home tonight from the coffee shop:
- 9 assorted muffins               - 3 turnovers
- 6 fruit and granola bars        - 3 bagels
- 4 cheese buns                      - 7 scones
- 3 cinnamon buns

Thanks, God! We have been hugely blessed, and we are joyfully thankful!

Every chair in the room was filled, and more people were inching their way through the doorway. On Thursday’s food distribution at the Salvation Army, we handed out bags of food to a record 86 registered clients, many of whom were visiting for the first time. The total number of people the food will help is a staggering 217.

Though a small amount of food is donated each Thursday from local shops, the few wizened vegetables and at-expiry-date goods we receive are never enough to meet the need. This week, however, we were very grateful to have a freshly stocked pantry of dry goods to supplement the donation from the shops.

Earlier this week, three of us went on a fantastically huge shopping trip to the largest grocery store in town, and piled six carts to overflowing with food. From staples like rice, buckwheat, sugar, and oil, to goodies like tea, coffee, and cookies, we managed to buy enough food to keep the pantry going a little while longer. Also, a donation from family enabled us to buy enough milk and butter to give everyone one of each over the past two weeks.

We are extremely grateful for donations from our Canadian church, family, friends, and even strangers that helped make this possible! The need here is great, but your generosity, kindness, and your prayers are making a difference in people’s lives. Thank you!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend; peaceful, joyful, filled with friendship and laughter, full of remembrance and thankfulness.The day began next to the Baltic Sea, with our songs accompanied by the sound of softly rolling waves. Modestas spoke about the joy we have because of Christ’s resurrection, and we lingered in the sun as it broke through the morning fog.

Most of us gathered at Modestas and Ramune’s house for a lunch that included meat and cheese, fish, herring mayonnaise salad, and dark bread. The kids (big and little) enjoyed playing a traditional egg-cracking game, and the sun stayed out long enough for a few people to take a stroll in the village.

When we had just arrived home, our neighbour’s son, Richardas, came by and asked if we would come over for a late lunch! All of this, after Valerija had already had Richardas deliver an adorable little gift bag of goodies to us on Friday. It was a lovely surprise, and even though we were already full, we managed to squeeze in a few more Lithuanian specialties like hot cabbage, white bean and garlic bread salad, pea salad, pork sausage, and more hard-boiled eggs. Valerija had also invited another friend, and we had a fun afternoon talking about Easter traditions, church, the heating system, and probably a few complicated Lithuanian bits that slipped by us.

It was a fantastic weekend, and with all the sunshine, it looks like the start of spring has finally arrived. We have so many things to be thankful for: friends, sunshine, plenty of food, and the true joy of Easter. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!