h20
H2O . . . a.k.a. water . . . “a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life.” Water is used in agriculture, as a scientific standard, for drinking, as a dissolving agent, as a heat transfer fluid, in extinguishing fires, for chemical & industrial applications, in recreation, and in food processing.
In Russia, water is ABUNDANT! Water is literally everywhere we look at all times of the year:
Above
• Horizon-to-horizon clouds blanket us on most days. These masses of water vapor become visible only when billions of the tiny droplets gather together. One beautiful side effect of living so far north on terrain that is mostly flat as far as the eye can see is that we often see the sunset below the cloud layer – it’s very beautiful as it stretches across the lower south-western sky.
• The term “precipitation” extends far beyond the rain that I associate it with . . . I’m not sure what precisely differentiates snow pellets from snow grains, but I think I can safely say Russia regularly receives every one of these variations: rain, freezing rain, drizzle, freezing drizzle, dew, snow, snow pellets, snow grains, ice pellets, frozen rain, hail, ice crystals, hoarfrost, atmospheric icing, and glaze ice. We had our first snow the last Saturday of September!
Below
• Large, unjumpable, muddy puddles are a common sight here, thanks to the disrepair of most streets and sidewalks, and lack of ground cover. They’re a lot of fun for the young’uns!
• Pretty soon we’ll hope to completely avoid those puddles as they turn to slip-sliding lakes of doom 🙂
Around
• Audible water trickles in the pipes from the apartments above us!
• Fog rolls in from the river on many mornings. I grew up in a town with similar pea-soup fog, and love it! It speaks of the Father’s embrace, as it completely surrounds and enfolds us.
Nearby
• Daily we see beautiful views of the Volga, Europe’s longest and largest river. The name of the river is akin to the Slavic words for “wetness” and “humidity.”
• The Oka River literally defines Nizhny Novgorod with its 3 trafficky bridges, and the line of separation between the upper and lower parts of the city.
For sale
• Every store and mini-mart sells a favorite Russian drink, mineral water. When ordering water, it’s important to say, “bez gas”, unless you’re fond of that variety.
• This morning we received our weekly delivery of four 19-liter water bottles, thankfully hoisted for us up the two flights of stairs.
Recreationally
• Russians seem to favor water-related activities when it comes to recreation . . . the favorite one being visits to banyas (steam baths), also ice skating and walking by the river.
Water, water, everywhere! Isn’t the abundance of water such an amazing testimony to God’s presence and faithfulness? He pours out so much blessing on us – more than we can contain. He goes to great lengths to display His love to all people. Creation shouts to our senses and to our spirits, “I LOVE YOU!” But despite the profuse quantities of water in every arena of life, the people here are really THIRSTY! Jesus said to the woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13 – 14). He also said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17). Praise God for His creation which speaks so clearly of the supernatural – water – What A Treasure Exhibiting Redemption! Pray with us for the people of Russia to thirst for Jesus Christ, the only One who can quench their thirst.
