Rain of glass. [from Montenegro]

Last week I went to Rakvere for a day. Rakvere is the town in Northern Estonia to which I'll move in January. I had a meeting with the local church elder there, we had to discuss a number of issues dealing with the place I'll live and the stuff that needs to be done in that apartment before I arrive. It was a terribly long day, rainy and grey and cold and kind of sad. The pastor's apartment was in a shape much worse than I had expected. And I hadn't had a proper breakfast. So it wasn't exactly the brightest day of my life. The church elder had asked me if I could go and visit an old lady from that church, and I had said I could. So in the afternoon before heading back to Tartu I went and spent some time with this lady at her place - she's something 80+ years old, never married, no kids, living alone in a tiniest and most modest apartment imaginable. I hadn't seen her for quite some time so she started crying as soon as she recognised me. She was so glad to see me. We talked a little and I asked about her life and such. When I left I took her Bible and said I wanted to read her something before going. I picked Psalm 103 and as I began reading she started sobbing again. And I couldn't help myself, I started crying, too.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him

And so we sat there at her kitchen table and I shared the Word and we both cried. For different reasons and with different worries in our hearts but with the same longing for the Almighty God and for His deliverance. Two ladies, one old and one young, one with most memorable events behind her and the other one still looking forward to the future for great stuff to happen, with the Word of God being the rock for both of us and the glue that connected our lives - even if just for a moment. And with Jesus being the centre of both of our lives.

As I left her place, I knew it would be the moment to remember and to cherish for a long time. And I'm slowly learning that these small and seemingly unimportant moments are the most important ones for a pastor. 

These are the moments that are made of real Kingdom stuff.