Taking Time

I know I haven't yet posted my reflections on the Albania trip. That's partly because we have been very busy, and partly because I am still trying to be ok with being back here. This week I hope to have time to write some of my thoughts and feelings about the trip and our experiences. For today, though, I want to share about our yesterday.

One of the areas that the Lord has really been working in me is to be able to relax and just enjoy time with people. I have a tendency to either think about things that I should be doing instead of just sitting around talking, or I think about how much I don't belong in whatever group I am with and that maybe they would have more fun without me. Neither of those things is healthy. They both take away from my ability to enjoy people and their ability to really know me, which, like my pastor says, is robbing people of relationship.

For those of you who don't know what our month has been like, here's a quick recap: The weekend of the 4th of July, Mark & I took the kids to Wisconsin to spend three weeks with my parents. We drove the 36 hour round trip in 3 1/2 days. Four days later I left for 10 days in Albania. Three days after getting back from Albania, we left to drive back to Wisconsin to pick up the kids. We got there Friday night and had to leave Saturday morning to drive back to Tennessee.

My grandma has been ill, and I really wanted to see her on this trip. In order to do that, though, we added about 5 hours of drive time to an already long trip. We needed to leave my parent's house first thing in the morning to make that visit and drive a good part of the way back to Tennessee. My niece, who I haven't seen in years, invited us to breakfast on our way out of town. We left two hours later than my goal, but we had such a great time eating breakfast with her and meeting her fiancee.

We then drove over to Minnesota to see my grandma. On the way, we realized that our new route home would take us very close to our best friends from college. We also knew that stopping there would put us way behind schedule. We just couldn't be that close without at least calling them, though, so we did. They were so excited, and we made plans to eat dinner with them.

We got to grandma's about 2, and visited with her for an hour & a half. It was such a special time. The kids talked with her and spent some time playing outside. I shared my Albania pictures with her, and Mark took some pictures. It was worth every bit of driving out of our way just to have that time with her.


We left grandma's and drove down to the cities to see Kari & Greg. I love watching how easily our kids mix and play together, even though they hardly ever get to see each other. Mark & Greg headed out to the grill to hang out. We didn't have to worry about whether they would have anything to talk about like wives often do. When they left, Kari said, "Ok, you've been here at least 5 minutes. How's your marriage?" No small talk necessary. We could just jump into the important heart stuff, because no matter the distance, that connection is always there. We spent 3 hours at their house eating, talking and enjoying our kids together. I wouldn't trade that time for any number of miles behind us.


The funny thing is, we found a new way back to Tennessee from their house that is actually about 2 hours shorter than any way we've driven before. I sit in a hotel room in Iowa, 7 hours from Jackson, and realize that the time we spent with people yesterday was so much more important than anything else we could have done. And I am thankful for the lessons God teaches me in preparation for times like that.

One More Update

Well, we are back in Jackson. Saturday and Sunday were VERY busy, and I didn't get time to post any updates. So, today I will post an update on our weekend. Later, when I've had time to process a bit more, I'll write some of my reflections. Right now I'm not so sure I'd make it through.

Saturday morning we went to Shkoze for the children's ministry meeting. They are absolutely adorable! A lot of the same kids were there, but there were quite a few smaller ones we hadn't met yet.

Mary, Norman & Lela led the children in worship. I love to hear them sing!

We taught them "Inright, Outright, Upright, Downright" in Shqip. That was fun!

We did the chair skit, and then Matt explained how we can get stuck in sin, and no matter what we or others try to do to set us free, only prayer and Jesus can do that.

Bethany from California told the story of Joseph interpreting dreams while Carol drew out the story.

The kids did some Scripture memory games that they had a lot of fun with.

They had snack & a craft outside. We also had some time just for hugs and talking.

Saturday night we were back at the Brewer's for youth group. We sang some of the same songs from the morning, did the Jesus vs. Satan sin skit that we had done at Berti's church, and Meg & Wayne shared their testimonies. We played a really fun game that broke the light three times. Afterwards we all walked for ice cream :)





Sunday morning we had church in Shkoze. The worship just brought me to tears. The thought of all of us, from every tribe, tongue and nation worshiping Jesus together in heaven moves me every time. I shared my testimony, and Fredi shared the sermon. It was very difficult to say goodbye to the ladies we came to love so much so quickly.



Sunday evening was our last church service with the Brewer's. This one was in their home. Carol shared her testimony and Norman gave the message.


A lot of tears were shed that night as we said goodbye to the kids and the Brewer's. We had a wonderful time of prayer with the family before we left. I am always amazed at how strongly the Lord knits together the hearts of His people through Jesus. They will be missed more than they will ever know.

More About Our Albanian Adventure

Well, when we said it would get crazy-busy, it did! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We have been going non-stop since Wednesday morning. Here are a few pictures:

These are from the English class we got to teach. The kids were so much fun!



Hervin & Sedika came over for dinner. We really enjoyed spending time with them and meeting their children, Joel & Edon.



I got to teach the lesson at the ladies Bible study in Shkoze. What a blessing to be able to open the Word with these precious women!



Carol also got to share her testimony at one of the church plants outside of town. I don't have pictures of that, but I know it went very well. She also had the opportunity to teach the leaders of the Roma ministry how to make jewelry so that they can teach the gypsy women they minister to.

While Carol was teaching the women the jewelry making, Wayne, Meg, Cindy & I listened to a power point presentation on the Roma Gypsy ministry and prayed with the men who lead it. It was very interesting.

Today, Saturday, we have a VERY busy day. We will start out with children's ministry this morning, youth this afternoon, and church this evening. It's hard to believe we only have two days left. This trip has flown by. I'm not sure any of us are ready for it to end.

Albania Update 3

There is way too much to post in one entry, especially since it takes 15 minutes to upload two pictures. Tuesday afternoon we went to the gorge with two of the Brewer's. Nathan is still sick, and Mary was not able to come. I think Norman & Bethany really enjoyed it, though. I know we all did!

Yesterday was a great day! We visited with Memli & Louisa, a missionary couple we met the last time we were here. We had a wonderful time of fellowship & prayer in their home.

After lunch, we headed up to Shkoze, the village we will be working in a lot with the Brewers. Carol taught them how to make jewelry, and Meg taught them how to make ribbon bracelets. They loved learning both, and were excited that we were coming back on Friday.

For dinner we were invited into the home of Jona & Elda, two girl's we met on our last trip, and their parents, Tusha and Xhavid. There are no word to say how blessed we felt to be in their home and eat a meal of rice & beans (which was REALLY good). The ladies moved to the bedroom to talk, and the men watched soccer in the living room. We were there for three hours. It was one of my best Albanian moments ever.

Albania Update

Wow, have we been busy! And our real intense ministry stuff doesn't even start until Wednesday. Yesterday Carol spent most of the day meeting with local missionaries and seeing the school in preparation for moving here. Meg, Erin, Emily & their friend Sarah went to Bethany Children's Home to spend time with the kids. I don't have pictures of those, because I wasn't there :) Matt, Wayne, Caleb & I painted the Wright's living room, dining room & hallway. When you see the pictures, you'll understand why!




I'll post some after pictures when we get the apartment put back together. It look's great!

Last night we went to a combined Bible study of Matt's young adult class and Cindy's worship team. Wayne taught a great lesson on "All We Like Sheep". It was great to visit there with some old and new friends.



Just for fun, here are a couple of extra pictures of Albania.

These are two gypsy children we passed on the street.

This is in a shopping mall we walked through on the way to the Wright's from the bus stop.

Today we are spending some more time with the Brewer family, who we will begin ministering with tomorrow. We are going to a place called the gorge, where all the water runs down from the mountains. We will be able to swim & climb on the rocks. Pray for us through the rest of the week. We will be much busier. I will continue to post updates as often as possible, but we won't be home much.

Finally in our Second Home

Carol, Wayne, Meg & I arrived in Albania on Saturday. It was an eventful, but fairly easy trip. We were extremely amused by the airport security screener who wasn't quite sure what to do with the 9 bottles of soy sauce we had packed for Matt. I wanted to take a picture of his face, but learned my lesson about taking pictures in security areas the hard way the last time we came over here. In Munich we had a 40 minute layover and were taking off from gate 25. The gates were labeled 1-24 and 26-40. Hmmmm... I saw a lady in a restaurant wearing a yellow vest who looked like she might know her way around. I interrupted her lunch to ask where gate 25 was. She said, like it made perfect sense, "It's right through that store." Of course! Why didn't we think of that? When they called our flight, we went through the gate, where there was a perfectly good plane connected to the ramp. Instead, we walked down 5 flights of stairs only to find ourselves locked in a glass room. Luckily there was a man from Colorado, who Carol nicknamed John Locke, who had done this before and assured us it would be ok. Then, 5 minutes after we were supposed to take off, a bus came to get us. The bus ride was 15 minutes long and took us WAY out of the airport, past the small planes in the back, to a lot with three planes on it. Finally, a half hour after our scheduled take-off, we left. Catching the bus from the airport into Tirana was also an adventure, and got us to Matt & Cindy's just 2 hours behind schedule. Good thing we have a flexible team :)

Saturday night we walked to church and were all doing very well. We enjoyed seeing many of the people we remember from our last trip. When the sermon started, which was actually very interesting, we all started falling asleep. We ended up having to leave church early. We got our first ice cream and went to bed.

Sunday morning started off with a trip to a new church plant that Caleb has been helping to start. We had a prayer time with Berti (the pastor) and Ava (his wife) and their friend, Sonida. Then 8 children between 5 and 15 showed up. They really enjoyed the worship, singing and clapping a lot. I taught a lesson on Luke 5 while Carol drew a picture of the men lowering their friend through the roof to Jesus. Caleb & Meg sang a song, and then Wayne, Caleb & Meg did a skit. Afterward, we had a snack and visited with the kids.





When we were leaving the church, three cows greeted us in the alley. Here's a picture that shows how close they were to our taxi.


Sunday afternoon we went shopping in Kruja. Afterwards, we helped Cindy prepare dinner for the Brewer's, who are the family we will be working with the rest of the week. Mary & Norman came, but their kids, Bethany & Nathan, couldn't make it. We will meet them tomorrow. We are really looking forward to the rest of the trip. We have a very busy schedule, but the work is perfect for our team. We can't wait to see what the Lord does through this week!