"Home" for the Holidays

Being away from family at the holidays could be a tough part of this calling on our family if we chose to dwell on it.  But last year we were blessed to share Christmas with Abby, Anna and Vera, and just a few months ago we could have never imagined that this year we would spend several of the days leading up to it with the amazing G family! 

 

The Gs had prepared for years to move to another country when that door was abruptly closed last summer at the eleventh hour.  Unsure of what to do next, they responded to an invitation to housesit for some Americans in Tirana for the next several months while the Gs determined their next steps.  Our paths crossed through the homeschool co-op, then shortly after that at the AEP conference and the rest is history.  We invited them to visit us in the village and it turned into a temporary ministry opportunity for them, joining us on the weekends (much like what we did last year from Tirana) for church and Kids Club, until their time in Albania comes to a close.

 

For the holidays we chose to sort of adopt each other as surrogate family during the days leading up to Christmas (remember when the cousins would come from out of town?), including a family sleepover in the village!  God provides family in some of the most unexpected ways!

 

Here are some of my favorite memories:

 

We discovered that Dave and I would turn the big 4-0 within 2 days of each other, so on his birthday (the day before we distributed shoeboxes), we took them to the nearby coastal city of Durres to see the ancient Roman amphitheater ruins and have coffee and dessert at sunset on the sea.  We love introducing folks to the rich history of Albania  ...and Nathan loves making awful jokes about the sun setting on the dwindling days of our lives.  We hope it was a memorable time for Dave!  We sure had a lot of laughs at his expense!

 

 

Then later that night we had a gift-wrapping party of presents that we would later take up to the kids in Darshen.

 

The next morning we got decked out for an end-of-year party at the grade school to hand out shoeboxes. 

 

I can't describe what a blessing the friendship of these kiddos has been for Ellie and Reni!  They have lots of Albanian friends, but they are still pretty limited in their ability to communicate, and more importantly to them, be understood.  That's why the G kids are pretty special to them right now.

 

 

After the party concluded and all the kids were fed lunch, we arranged to visit our favorite grandma in the village who is housebound and we excitedly climbed the hills above to take the Gs up to experience their first village home visit.  Can you see the incline from the photo below?

 

 

 

Bukeria surprised us with her homemade donuts (frybread).

Gezuar!

After we finished our yummy food, we went to the backroom where Grandma stays.  Arthritis in her knees has confined her to her home, and so we were happy to bring her some Christmas cheer through a visit, prayer, and a little drama to the song Drummer Boy.

Through tears she thanked us for coming.

But we ended the night with smiles on Sybi's gomar.
If you come to visit us, he gives free photo-ops on the authentic wooden saddle!  They look comfortable, don't they?