Praise Him...God opened the door! We are back from Sofia, Bulgaria

"All Aboard!"

Well, to say the least, we are glad to be back in Athens with our new 90 day tourist visa stamp in our passports! We left for Bulgaria late Wednesday night (11 pm) and arrived in Sofia 14 hours later in a "fog." Literally, it was foggy, but also we were a bit "foggy" our selves after spending a good bit of that time on the train sleeping. I don't know what it was (maybe the dramamine we took), but it seemed like we had a tough time waking up and staying awake.

I'd have to say that Sofia, under the "fog" of day or night, was a depressing place. We didn't get to see much of the city except by way of taxi from the train station to our hotel which was located on the outskirts of Sofia...about a 15 minute taxi ride. Supposedly, Sofia has mountains near by, but the fog prevented us from seeing across the street, much less to the distant mountains. We had heard of "stories" and "warnings" of Bulgaria so we just stayed in our hotel for the next 24 hours or so until we got back on the train Friday afternoon at 5:30 pm...again in the darkness and disguise of "fog."

However, when we got to the Hotel, we were pleasantly pleased. Actually, it was hotel/sports club with a beautiful heated indoor pool that the Wadewitz's took advatange of . For our evening supper, we ate at the hotel restaurant which also turned out for a nice meal for everyone. I was, of course, hoping for turkey and dressing, but I settled for beef stroganof over rice instead. And, even though there was no pumkin pie to be had in Bulgaria, we did not let that deter us from sampling some of Bulgaria's finest deserts. "Sweet deserts" translates well in any language!

On our return train trip...before we reached the Greece border, I must say I was a bit apprehensive about crossing back over into Greece. Would they stamp our passports? Would it go smoothly for us as it had gone for others we know who have recently made this same trip? I thought I would continue reading a book I had started while on this trip to pass the time away instead of "fretting." The book I was reading was "Created for Commitment" by Ms Johnson (founder of Bible Study Fellowship) and while perched on my bunk on the train, I opened the book to the next chapter. It was the chapter concerning her calling by God to go to China. The scripture was;
Rev. 3:8 "I know thy works; behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it; for thou has a little strength, and has kept my word, and not denied my name."
It was as if God had spoke..."I have set before you an open door and no man can shut it."

I showed Claudia and Caitlin the verse and we all praised his name for his faithfulness and his provision...God was going to "open the door" to Greece for us! What a relief! What an honor it is serve such a God as this.

So, we are glad to be back in Athens to say the least. God is faithful!

talk with you later...

serving the Lord with gladness,

Gary and Claudia Walthall