On Saturday morning, June 3, we loaded up our trusty minvan and set off for two months of living 'on the road.' It's probably the most I will ever have in common with a rock band.
We said goodbye to my parents and sister, Hannah, who I'm sure were happy to get their house back and enjoy some quiet again after 9 days with us. :-)
Our first stop was Ligonier, Indiana.
Below, Nathan provides an illustration for the high school aged Sunday school class with colored beans about what "1%" looks like in a total population. Less than 1% of Albania's population identifies as evangelical Christians.
Our replica antique Albanian weapons are always sure to draw kids to our display table (and our kids like to show them off).
Below, our wonderful hosts and friends, the Lowe family.
They took us to a fun little soda shop that boasts several hundred varieties of international soft drinks in glass bottles.
Ellie had the misfortune of selecting one that happened to taste a lot like Dimetapp children's cough syrup (out of all those varieties, ha ha).
If it's red, Reni likes it.
One weekend in the middle of our two weeks of missions meetings, a generous family from a local church invited our missionary family to relax on their property for an afternoon of picnic-ing and swimming. Ellie lacked no confidence in taking a friend out for a spin in a kayak, no doubt remembering our days in Kentucky of enjoying family kayak rides on the Kentucky and Dix rivers.
We were able to have dinner one night with our dear friend, Mark. (Eszti and the boys were unable to join us while their oldest recovered from a recent surgery -- we missed them!)
Another evening we connected with our friend, Maria, and her family. Maria and I were in a mentoring relationship one year while she was at Asbury.
The next Sunday found us with our dear friends in Eaton. We misjudged the travel time and arrived nearly 45 minutes early. We took a family selfie in the car while we waited for the church to open.
I will try to make a separate post about our two weeks of spiritual retreat and and strategic planning discussions. So fast-forward a bit and below, here we are on our way down to Kentucky last Saturday. We were graciously accommodated by our friends John and Erica and their three children just outside of Indianapolis. John was on our student cabinet when we first started working at the WGM Student Center as newlyweds in 1999! We were thrilled when we was hired earlier this year to work at WGM now as the VP of Mobilization and Communication!
Life on the road doesn't mean we don't still have needs for things like haircuts! Here Reni's cutting it up with some of the fun girls at Great Clips. It took two of them to shave his neck, he was so ticklish!
A big part of our time in Kentucky is taking care of important things like wellness checks. Thankfully we have great health care providers here in Lexington who know our family and provide special care! Below, the kids were having just a little too much fun while they waited to see the doctor. :-)
One of our special 'communities of friends' in Kentucky are friends through the adoption community.
While our group doesn't meet formally anymore, a few of us have stayed in touch and joined us at the park Monday night for an impromptu picnic!
So that's what we're doing... seeing lots of dear friends, eating lots of good food, visiting doctors, dentists, and eye doctors, speaking at churches and with small groups, and all the while marveling at how much changes over here in two years... and wondering how in the world Kroger can have a whole shelf of iced tea and not sell as single bottle of UN-sweet tea. You'll never be able to convince me that Kentucky is not part of the SOUTH!
Check back later for more updates!
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