In Albania we have 28 shopping days until Christmas

I sent this e-mail to my husband tonight:

You have 28 shopping days until Christmas. That gives you four weeks to plan, shop and order and a 1 week window for shipping to Oklahoma before Amy and Wopsle come to Albania.

Was I subtle enough?

Have you done any fireproofing lately?

I am really excited about the opening of this movie today.  Have you heard about it?  From the creators of Face the Giants, Fireproof: Never leaver your partner behind, is about what God can do in our marriages if we submit ourselves to Him and ask Him to teach us how to love our spouses.  Since I started reading Cindy’s blog and hearing her story, I have been more aware of needing to watch the health of my marriage and doing more to “fire proof” it.

I was really hit by this today since I watched the trailer it after I sent my hubby off for two days to a church leadership conference in Durres.  I confess I was not super nice to him before he left.  He was interrupting my day, ya know?  I had things to do and I just was not very helpful.  I was tired and worn out from the week and all the catch up we are still trying to do after being sick.

Then I was listening to the words of this song from the movie:

Love is not a place, To come and go as we please
It’s a house we enter in, Then commit to never leave
So lock the door behind you, Throw away the key
Work it out together, Let it bring us to our knees

Love is a shelter, in a raging storm
Love is peace, in the middle of a war
And if we try to leave; May God send angels to guard the door
No, Love is not a fight, but its something worth fighting for

My smallest actions impact my husband.  And I have to fight against my own selfishness to help meet his needs as a part of my commitment to love Him the way God wants me to, not just with my own interests in mind.  The boy’s scripture memory verse for this week is “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”  Phil 2:3.  Hello.

Then you know what happened?  Yup… he called.  He was praying for me and just wanted to make sure I was okay.

Sigh.

I am blessed.

You know you’ve have a good rain when….

You find 10 worms in the hallway.  Enough said.

(Yes, I did return them to their natural habitat.)

Meeting with God

I am slower than I had hoped in my efforts to return to blogging… sorry about that sweet friends!  Amid our return to life, we have been having a host of internet problems which are fixed now (the modem had gone bad…. took several days to get the company out to get it all fixed), and a 3 day retreat for the Youth Strategy team, things are just slowing me down!

But…. in the midst of all the busyness, I have gotten back to reading The Shack, which I started at the end of of the summer.  I never really reached the main problem of the story and so I was never compelled to keep reading (I only got through the first chapter or so….).  Now, I can hardly put it down.  It is one of those books that draws you in and you feel like you can spend days reading and soaking in all that you have read.  It challenges all that I think about God, His character, the facets of His personallity, and asks all the questions I have always wanted to ask God if I were to meet him face to face.  Although, I am still only half way through the book, I can recommend you read it and allow yourself to take a look at your faith journey. Please let me know your thoughts if you have read it and I will write more when I finish reading the book!!

I’m from China!

Well, after I long hiatus, I finally feel like I can get back to writing!  I have stories in the wings that I now just need to find time to write!  Just to get us started… I will let you know that for the first time yesterday, Jaydn let us know that she is from China!  We were looking at the world map hanging above the boys’ beds and finding countries all over the world.  When Robert asked the boys where China was, Jadyn got so excited and shouted, “I’m from China!” She said it over and over and was so excited to point to China on the map.  We have talked alot about where she is from in China but she had never verbalized anything about it.  It was so fun to see that light come on in her eyes when she was telling us where she is from!

Birthday Boy!

It’s Robert’s birthday today!  Read more about how I feel about this great man in my life over at journeytoalbania.com.

Leaving on a jet plane

By the time you read this we will be on one of three flights to the States, final destination: Colorado Springs. Our parents are excited about meeting us at the airport to gather our tired family after 22 hours of travel! We are so excited for some time home for rest, rejuvination, reconnection, and FOOD! 🙂 Read more about our time at home (also called HMA or Home Ministry Assignment) in the next couple of days at journeytoalbania.com. We have a busy schedule of visiting supporters, friends and family. Exciting times! Stay tuned!

Jesus at the Farmaci

Yesterday I went to the pharmacy (farmaci) close to the my house (about 200 yards from my door). The woman there, a pharmacy technician, has helped me frequently when we have needed something. I was stocking up on propanolol which I take to prevent migraines. Her name is Meli. Also there sitting at a little table in the corner and having coffee with Meli was another older woman from our neighborhood (75 years old, she told me) named Eva. We greeted each other in the Albanian way, grasping hands and kissing cheeks while asking each other, “How are you, how is your family, how are the children, how is your daughter, what have you been doing, how are things going?” (At least 4-5 questions would make you truly Albanian!) After discovering that they did not have what I needed, but would be delivered the next day, the questions began. People in our neighborhood are becoming more bold in their questions of us. As our Albanian approves so has our comfort level in greeting others and being generally more friendly. We can speak more so that helps a lot! This has opened the door for people to ask us about ourselves and us to answer. (Hip, Hip, Hooray!)

They asked several questions about Jadyn and how we came to adopt her. As we meet more and more people this seems to be a catalyst for talking about Jesus in some way. Today we came upon expressions in Albanian.

DISCLAIMER: Remember that everything that follows is filtered through my American eyes and my lack of language. I still DO NOT understand everything that is said to me, so I am always working on understanding the big idea.

Eva said to me that I was or I am or I have (take your pick) “top sheqer” a sugar head. This is an Albanian phrase they use for children who have a sweet spirit. She told me that I have a face that reflects who I am on the inside (by the grace of God). She went on to tell me that she has a brother who in fact has a bad spirit about him. He is unkind, mean spirited and generally a bad person. What an opportunity! I quickly was able to respond that I am a believer in Jesus Christ. As Christians, we believe that we all are “bad”, in fact even I am “bad” (remember, I am talking like a 4 year old). But because I have Jesus in my heart, His spirit lives in me. He changes my heart. All good things in me are from Him.

I don’t know how much I was understood …. but praise the Lord for the opportunity to speak His name and plant seeds. Pray that there will be WATER!

Turkish coffee and toilet paper

Every day, I realize more and more that I need to gain a greater awareness of the situations of others,  both those that I can see and those that are beneath the surface. It is easy for me to live in my own little bubble, dealing with my own perceived problems and never venturing outside of my own little world. This week I had a few opportunities to learn more about some of my neighbors over coffee.  I can honestly tell you that I still have a lot to learn about living simply. (I have been really convicted by some of Shaun’s posts this week on simplicity. Read more here and here and here).

With that said, I was entirely humbled this week when I went to visit my neighbor, Albana for coffee. Drinking coffee is a sign of friendship here in Albania. When someone asks “Do you want to get a coffee?” or better yet, “Would you like to come to my home for a coffee?” it is a way of saying “I like you and want to be friends.” In their homes, Albanians serve Turkish coffee, an espresso like coffee but thicker.  It also has a sort of sediment at the bottom.  Not exactly what we call coffee. I have been wanting to learn to make Turkish coffee so that I can serve my Albanian friends when they visit. Last week, when I bought all the supplies at the market, I happened to see my neighbor Albana, on the road as I was returning home. I showed her my purchases and asked if she could teach me.

It is really much easier than I thought! A little Turkish coffee (almost like a coffee powder that mostly dissolves), sugar and water. Bring it to almost a boil, and voila. Gezuar! (Cheers!) Albana told me I did a very good job on my first Turkish coffee! Later during our visit, I had to use the bathroom in her apartment. Now here comes the humble part…. she brought me a roll of toilet paper from the cabinet in the hallway (it was old and obviously not used except for special guests) because they keep none in the bathroom. There is likely no money to spend on things that are superfluous. How much TP does our family use just in a month? Her husband has a job as a security guard but their monthly income is probably less than $500 per month. It really left me with a humbleness about how rich I am among my neighbors.

Just a few days later, I was able to practice on my neighbor Bona. She and the her children (there are four of them… never a dull moment) came for a visit and I showed her my newly learned skills. She was very impressed that I was serving her Turkish coffee in my American home. We sat at the kitchen table and ate left over crescent rolls (which she had never seen) and I explained how I had made them into the crescent shape. When she visits, she always asks a lot of questions about how I cook and prepare foods. I also had some Jell-o which someone had sent me that I served to the kids. It was a big hit! Again, I was aware of how much we have and how rich we really are.

Hijacked

That’s right…Jenny’s not here.  This is her husband and I’m hijacking her blog today to tell you it’s her birthday!  I’ve shared my feelings about her over at journeytoalbania.com.  Thanks!