... the lonely in families.
Psalm 68:6
It's a verse frequently cited in adoption circles, but I've found myself applying it to our situation these past several weeks. God has indeed blessed us with a family -- His family -- to keep us from feeling lonely in this season of life! I know not every family new to the mission field is blessed with the company of others -- in fact, it can be quite a lonely calling. But this spring we have been showered with guests to rejuvenate our hearts just when we needed it. I know it's been quiet on the blog for the past several weeks. Here are a few of the very good reasons why!
The day after the Asbury team left, my mom arrived. Ellie especially had been yearning for the company of loved ones, and while Gigi's visit was brief, it was nevertheless timely. Next time though we will take pushim because the busy-ness of everyday demands (school, meetings, and ministry obligations for us along with work appointments for Mom, etc.) meant that while Mom got a glimpse of our real life, our time together flew. I think we could have been better at making special memories during the very short time she was here. Hopefully next visit will be with both Gigi and Gjyshe together!
I can't remember if I blogged this or not but do you remember the sweet little boy from Reni's orphanage whose photo camped out in the margin of this blog for more than a year? His new family came for him this winter/spring and we got to meet them! They are AMAZING. What a gift to meet them in person and briefly see JM graft into his new family. They spent nearly their entire 6 weeks in Elbasan and so our time together was very brief, but it was a faith-builder to see God's provision through this couple for JM, just a few weeks shy of his 4th birthday. To all of you who prayed for him to be adopted, meet his parents below!
Then, through some God-ordained meetings this winter, I became acquainted with a very kind family who lives only 45 minutes east of where I grew up in central Illinois! They had adopted their daughter from the same orphanage in Vlora as our Ellie had lived in and were returning to visit Albania for the first time in 14 years. They were only in Albania less than five days, but we got to spend a couple of evenings together getting acquainted in person. I know our paths will cross again - whether here in Albania or in Illnois, who knows! I think both are possibilities! Love, love, love our fellow Albanian/American adoptive family friends!
I'm sharing a photo of our Albanian zysha (teacher), Anila (below). We have been so blessed with a wonderful instructor of Shqip! Having learned that she hadn't visited Petrela Castle before (not unusual since it's not accessible by public transportation), we promised to take her along with us the next time we had guests. Not sure you can tell, but the kids were smitten with her, insisting that she should be their teacher too (not just mom and dad's)!.
We like to take folks to Petrela because it's 1.) close and 2.) free. And even though I've shared pics of Petrela before, because the view is stunning and never grows old, I just had to share a snapshot below.
The guests we were taking to Petrela were our regional directors, the Zirkles. They arrived the day after Mom left. This was their first visit to Albania so we had the privilege of showing off this place we now call home. In between class and time in the village, we got to show them a few things within a limited radius of Tirana. It was so nice for folks from our sending mission (WGM) to finally see where we are and what we do! And I have to admit, hearing Mr. Z say that he thought Albanian was a more difficult language to speak than Japanese made me feel a bit better, too!
An unexpected community has evolved from our Albanian language class. This isn't quite all of us, but you tend to learn a lot about each other over the course of describing yourself, what you've done, and what you will going to be doing all in a new language. Below we are sharing a coffee before class to say goodbye to one of our classmates who will be returning to England with her husband. We hail from Germany, Macedonia, England, Poland, India, and USA.
One family member we felt we had here before we even moved to Albania was our South African 'sister', Kerri. (She volunteered at Reni's orphanage which is where we met her in 2010). Alas God has chosen to move her on to something else for her next season of life. While we are sad for ourselves that she will no longer be a local phone call away, we are grateful for the months we overlapped. You might remember she was invaluable during our transition here, dropping everything to come stay with Ellie and I while Nathan and Reni remained in the States by Mom Waggoner's side during the early days of her recovery. Kerri helped us clean and settle into our apartment, set up phones and internet, shop for household goods, and prepare the first floor apartment for Abby and Anna. I can't imagine how long and bleak those days might have otherwise felt. Since then, she has been instrumental in helping us further develop our relationship with Reni's 'temporary mama' at the orphanage, Dyzi.
As we get firmly entrenched in spring, we have more goodbye's on our horizon. Goodbye's seem to go hand-in-hand with our life, which makes me all the more grateful for the promise of heaven.
‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4
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