Milk and Holy Water

Today I took milk to Babushka K.  After knocking down a huge icicle from her balcony, we had tea.  As we were finishing our tea, she mentioned her son had been there yesterday and had brought her a bottle of holy water.  On January 19, the Orthodox church celebrated Theophany, which is the day of the baptism of Jesus. It is one of the bigger church holidays.  Among other things (like being baptized in the often icy cold water on this night), on this day, it is believed that the Holy Spirit comes down and changes the natural properties of the water and it is able to heal people and bless people in other situations as well.  The priests bless the water, which is actually called Theophany water, on this day so that people can take home and use it whenever they need it. They can drink it not just in cases of illness but for whenever they need  a blessing in the year or years to come. It is believed that this water won’t spoil with time and can last for several years.   Babushka K still had a bottle left from last year and didn’t think she needed that much. She asked me if I had any and I said no so she decided to give me a bottle.  It was important for her to give me a bottle and she considered it something valuable.  While I don’t feel I need this water, I saw no reason so offend her so I took it quietly and thanked her.  So now I have a bottle of holy water.

Bring People Together

Back late last summer, Babushka O.N. fell and broke her arm.  Her arm is fine now but she is much more cautious about going out now.  This winter has been especially slippery so she has basically stays at home.  Her son brings her groceries.  She is friends with Babushka K and used to come visit her regularly.  She lives probably a 10 minute walk away.  Since she has broken her arm, she is now afraid to go that far so they haven’t seen each other for months.  I think the last time they saw each other was probably at the Day of Elderly/Retired People Dinner back at the beginning of October.  They talk on the phone but that isn’t the same.  This week we offered to get Babushka O.N. in the car and bring her to Babushka K’s place.  They were really excited about this idea.  So on Thursdays morning I went and picked up Babushka O.N. and delivered her to Babushka K.  Then about three hours later I returned and picked her back up and took her home.  They had a really enjoyed seeing each other.

While it was fun for Babushka O.N., I think it was more important for Babushka K who can’t get out at all.  There were three babushky who regularly visited her.  One of those was Babushka A, who passed away, and one was Babushka O.N., who because of her arm hasn’t come in months.  Babushka Z still comes to visit her faithfully but she has certainly been feeling more lonely these past few months so having Babushka O.N. come was a big blessing for her.  We will probably try to do it again if they are interested in it.

Babushka LV and the hospital trip

Babushka LV lives probably about five minutes from the hospital but she can’t walk that far.  She was going to go to the hospital for a week for some treatment so she asked us if we could give her a ride.  Last week we took her to the hospital and on Thursday we picked her back up and took her back home after her week of treatment.  The trip took less than two minutes, with maybe another five helping her to the car or apartment. On the way home, I was thinking how sad it is that she lives so close but for her it could just as well been 1oo miles away.  She couldn’t get there on her own.  She is one of the few babushky we work with who has no family at all.  Her husband has already passed away and they had no children.  Apparently neither of them came from big families either because she doesn’t appear to have any sisters or brother or even nieces or nephews who could help her.  So no family to ask to help. She could have taken a taxi, which is probably what she would had to do if we hadn’t agreed to help her but seems like such a waste of money to take a taxi two blocks.  It is possible the organization that helps elderly and handicapped people might have helped her but for whatever reason she asked us instead. I don’t know why but it just really struck me as sad that she lives so close to the hospital but yet so far away. Something needed can be so close yet so far away for so many of them.

Reconnecting and new opportunities

Today we made a trip to the village.  We were able to bring groceries for our regular ones. In Nikola Ushna, we also brought bones for Babushka N’s dog.  This is the second time she has asked us to bring them for her.  She normally doesn’t like to ask us to do think for her even though we offer.  When I took the bones to her today, I had a chance to talk to her a bit.  She is still having trouble with her blood pressure and it is hard for her to walk.  She mentioned that she needed to go to the neighboring village to the bank to get money out.   She can’t walk to the bus stop now so wasn’t sure how to do it.  I said we would be happy to take her.  She wasn’t ready to go today but agreed that when we come back in two weeks, we will take her.  She is also interested in maybe getting a new lighter shovel there.  Hopefully she won’t change her mind in the next two weeks.

In Karpovo, we bought medicine for Babushka AE for the first time this trip.  She saw our car and came to meet us.  We weren’t able to find one of the medicines she asked for because it isn’t sold everywhere and we didn’t know that so we didn’t find it this morning.  She was still very happy to have what we brought her.  We told her we were happy to bring her other groceries if she needed them.  She took Nastya’s cell phone number so that was a good step. She is still struggling being alone now and almost cried when Nastya asked her how she was doing.  She is a believer and we want to try to encourage her.  However, she also seems kind of hesitant to stay and visit or to invite us to her place. Hopefully with time we will be able to have more contact with her and to be an encouragement for her.

Babushka Z also stopped by while we were delivering the groceries to Babushka O and Babushka L.  She also is very hesitant to stay and talk with us but today at least she stayed for a little bit.  She has a very sad family situation.  She has a grown-up daughter and grown-up grandson who live in Vladimir but they aren’t any help to her.  She is in her late’s 70′s and really needs more help.  We would really like to be  more help to her so we were thankful for one more chance to talk with her and strengthen our relationship with her so that she will be more willing to let us help her however we can.

We got a little stuck trying to turn around in Karpovo because there is so much snow everywhere!  Thankfully, we were able to dig a bit and get unstuck.  No need for a tractor this time.

Eight gifts, four visits, three teas

Today we went around to all of our babushky to give them the small Christmas gift we had for them.  A few didn’t answer but we were able to give eight of them the gifts.  Four invited us in.  The first one was Babushka ZF.  It is the first time I’ve been to her apartment.  She offered us tea, but didn’t actually drink any herself.  With the tea, she made us try her pickled tomatoes. Strange thing to have with tea but she was happy we tried them.  We had a really good take with her.  She told us that she had read the whole Bible.  She said it was hard to understand in some spots but she thought it was necessary to read it all so she kept reading.  Then she started again and it was easier to understand more of it.  We offered to read it with her if she wanted to.  We didn’t want to scare her off so we suggested getting together like once a month.  She said she would think about it.  She is one that hasn’t appeared very interested so we were a little surprised about today’s conversation.  The reason she might not have every show this before is that others were around and this time it was just her and us.  We are so thankful to God for this change we had to talk with her. Please pray that she will take us up on the offer to read the Bible with her.

After that, we went to Babushka T’s.  She also invited us in but thankfully didn’t offer us tea.  She did give us candy when we left but we didn’t have to eat it right then so that was good.  We learned more about her family.  She is probably one of the more active babushky that we know.  She still spends lots of time at the docha during the summer and was even there during the New Years holiday for a few days.

The next one to invite us in was Babushka NA.  She will be 85 in about a month and is one of the few that almost never goes outside now.  Of course, she also lives on the fifth floor and say, while she can make it down, she can hardly make it back up so it is better not go down.   Because she doesn’t go out much, we don’t see her as often so it was nice to be able to talk a bit with her.  She lives with her son, who is already retired and is an atheist.  He often brings up spiritual things but basically to try to prove he is right.  Of course, he also use all religious holidays as an excuse to drink.  He clearly hasn’t found peace.  Babushka NA doesn’t agree with him.  She used to read her Bible regularly until she started having trouble with her eyes.  Now the print is too small for her to read.  Though she has been have more trouble with her eyes in the last year so it is possible that even with a larger print she might not be able to read it.  She has some level of faith but still had some doubts.  Please pray that God will reveal himself to her in a way that removes her doubts.

After that we went to Babushka K’s place and discovered they were having a little dinner to remember Babushka A who died about a month and a half ago.  We ate a bit with them and remember Babushka A.

We thank God for the time we were able to spend with the different babushky today and for the chance we had to again share God’s love with them. Please continue to pray that God would draw them to himself.

 

Christmas tea with Babushka N

Today is Christmas in Russia.  We were able to go to Babushka N’s for tea.  Of course, tea for her meant potatoes, fish, caviar, bread, and cookies!  It was good to spend some time with her and she was very happy we came.  She is still grieving the loss of her son, who died this fall, but doing better.  She sang a Christmas song for us that her and her sisters and brothers used to sing when they were kids in the village. They would go to each house in the village and sing about the birth of Christ.  It was interesting to hear about their lives when they were young.  She remembers a lot of religious traditions that her mother taught them growing up. How much of it is just tradition for her and how much is real faith is very hard to tell.  Please pray that God would help her to see Him in those traditions.

Village, snow, and new babushka

Nastya and I went to the village today. It was a snowy trip there and snowed most of the time we were there.  The trip back wasn’t too bad though as it seems that it wasn’t snowing any place else but there!  We shoveled some snow and hauled some wood. We also made a snow man!

We met another babushky in Karpovo, Babushka AE.  She used to live with another babushka but a few months ago the other babushka’s relatives took her to live with them because of her health.  It was really sudden and unexpected and it has been hard for Babushka AE to adjust to the change of being alone.  She asked if we could being her medicine next time which we said we could. We offered to bring other groceries too if she needed them so we will see if she takes us up on it.

Holiday Preparations and Celebrations

New Years is right around the corner.  It is the biggest holiday here with a tree and gifts and, of course, food!  Tradition holds that you eat the supper after ten normally and then at midnight people often call each other and go out to walk around the different squares and set off fireworks.  Most people stay up until three or four!  The official days off are from January 1 to January 9, with Christmas being on January 7 so it makes for a long  holiday and plenty of time to celebrate!

Most of our babushky won’t do too much for this holiday.  Their families might come over on January 1 but not too many will come to spend New Years Eve with them for many different reasons.  Today I brought Babushka K a bunch of fruit that she wanted so that her table would look festive.  She can’t eat citrus, which is more traditional because of allergies, but she can eat other things like grapes, bananas, kiwi, and pears so that is what I bought for her.  One of the neighbor ladies will probably come over to spend the even with her.

We had wanted to have a tea for the Babushky after New Years but so many of them are feeling so bad this year that we aren’t sure any would come.  We decided that instead we would take them goodies door-to-door in the days after New Years.  We want to split it up how many we go to each day so that if they invite us in for tea we can agree. If we go to all of them in one day, we wouldn’t be able to stay for tea because of time and because we just can’t drink that much tea!

Blood Pressure Problems

Many of our babushky have blood pressure problems and have had them for years.  Most already know what to do and which medicine helps them.  Babushka K’s problems are recent and it seems it has taken awhile to find the medicine that helps her.  I went to see her again last week.  The doctor had that day to follow-up on what had been done when the ambulance came.  Babushka K was still have trouble getting her blood pressure stabilized so the doctor told her to buy a different kind of medicine.  I went to the drug store and got the medicine for her.  Yesterday when I stopped by to bring her some groceries, she said that the new medicine was so strong it was causing her blood pressure to drop too far.  After talking to another doctor, she began taking just half and it seems to be working.  Her blood pressure is still really high each morning but she take the medicine and in 15 minutes it is fine and stays fine all day.  She takes another one before bed but for whatever reason, her blood pressure still goes up at night.  At least this medicine is helping keep it stable during the day. That is already better than before.

Village and snow

Today we went to the village.  We had a full trunk of groceries for them.  Thankfully the road into Karpovo was hard enough to drive on so we could deliver them right to their doors.  We shoveled a bit of snow, hauled a bit of wood, and hauled a bit of water.  We also had tea several times!  It began to snow early afternoon so we ended up cutting our trip a bit short.  The roads got better as we got close to Vladimir but we still went pretty slow the whole way home.