Albania Trip Recap

A few months ago, this trip wasn't on my radar, but when I heard its purpose, I couldn't imagine NOT going!  What an investment it could be in our future in Vlashaj!  Nine days without Nathan and the children gave me lots of time to think, however our time was short and I had limited access to internet, so I wasn't able to blog my thoughts at the time. Now I'm home and jet lag has given me some quiet early morning hours to share some of those thoughts here...

The trip started out with an unexpected 24 hour layover in Chicago ... that led to meeting a beautiful woman.

We had a very busy first day in Albania, frantically assembling everything from storage that we would need in the village, purchased produce at the market, and stopped at QTU for everything else for the eight ladies who would join us for the next week.  The lights went out twice, but eventually we had bedding on ten beds (by "on", we really mean that we had a stack of bedding on each bed) and fires in the stoves and were off to the airport to welcome our guests at 7:30pm.

view to the east of Maminas, Vlashaj and Marikaj and the autostrada to Tirana

I met Sue (far right) eight years ago when Nathan and I attended the first Global Impact Celebration at The Family Church.  It was a joy to get to know her better this past week.  I so appreciated her wisdom and maturity as a team leader.  She started the week with an excellent devotional message, walking through the book of Nehemiah, giving context to our theme verse from Nehemiah 8, "...the joy of the Lord is our strength."

One of the aspects to the trip that appealed to me most was the fact that we would be visiting homes of as many attendees as possible prior to the retreat.  I couldn't imagine a better way to get to know the ladies of the community than to see where they lived and learn about their families.  I loved how this woman below, though not a participant in any of the programs at the Center, saw us admiring her daffodils as we passed by and picked several for us.

At one of the homes we visited, our hostess was so sweet to tell me that when we move to the village, she will send her daughters over to meet me when they are in town to see her so that I can make some friends my age.  How sweet was that?

The Wednesday night women's meeting met around the ping pong table.  Shpresa shared that many of the ladies have seemed content to come and hear teaching from her, but she's struggling to encourage them in their own personal study and growth in between meetings. We shared that some issues are universal...

Two ladies on the team are skilled nurses (Sue is a nurse practioner).  They solicited several donations of medical supplies and delivered them to Mira, the village nurse, at the clinic a few doors down the street.  Sue was particularly excited to deliver an otoscope. This will be a much-used tool!  I love how God uses our talents and gifts and the generosity of others to meet practical needs and tangibly show love.

Eda, Sue, Mira, Emma, and Karen

Communication to and from Albania has changed dramatically over the course of the last 20 years!  My freshman year of college (and a few years beyond), I would hear from mom and dad every few weeks via fax machine (not even phone).  Eventually we moved up to prepaid cards for 8-minute phone chats now and then .... after spending 5-minutes typing in the 32-digit PIN, at least a couple of times, until you got it right. :-)

While we didn't have internet in Vlashaj this trip, wherever we went that had wifi, several women on the team whipped out their iPhones and within seconds could Facetime with family!  No clunky desktop computer, restricted to one place, no bulky headset and microphone, no waiting to catch a loved one at home... Yes, we will appreciate much easier communication with "home" when we settle there.

It was a special treat to connect with my friend, Kerri! She took the bus in from Elbasan to meet me for lunch on Tuesday.  I appreciate having a friend who's been-there-done-that in missions!  She has so much wisdom and experience and a generous heart!  We are blessed to call her friend!

The day we were stranded in Chicago an e-mail arrived on my phone from B.  She and her husband had just gotten custody of their son, G, from the Vlore orphanage that Ellie called home until she was ours.  How do we get him to drink?  How do we get him to chew and swallow food? I fought tears as I recalled our early struggles in dealing with Ellie's institutional behaviors and delays.  I was also reminded again that what she endured wasn't just something I have manufactured in my imagination, that's been exaggerated as time and distance have increased.  Oh how my heart hurts that children still endure those conditions.  (And it doesn't sound like a thing has changed).

On Tuesday evening I was able to meet B's family in person!  The Bethany house parents, Bob and Cathy Watanabe, hosted us for dinner and we were able to chat about our mutual experiences.  This is the first family I've known in six years to have adopted a child from this orphanage!  How sweet was it that we overlapped in Albania?  Given that they live on the west coast, I don't know that our paths would have ever crossed anywhere else!  I look forward to seeing how G flourishes in the safe and loving arms of a family!

At the last possible moment, my youngest sister Hannah was able to join us on this trip.  For Hannah, it's been at least four years since she's been to Albania.  It was a joy to see her visit places and get reacquainted with old friends.

It's given that our weak American stomachs can't handle the tap water in the village (or the city, for that matter).  Nathan has been talking for months about our need to find a water filtration system to save us the money of buying all of our drinking water.  Low and behold, Sue (a frequent traveler to Haiti) brought a filtration system for the team that she had used on a previous missions trip and donated it to our family!  Hurray!  Jenna demonstrates it below!

Whenever Mom and Dad host a team, they take them to an historical site in Durres rich with meaning for those of us who follow Christ.  It really puts a lot of things into perspective, especially at the beginning of a missions trip. Lest I spoil the surprise for those of you who plan to visit us, I'll just share a few snapshots below... :-)

What a fantastic group of ladies!  I'm so glad to now call them friends!  What a privilege it us for us when others take the time out of their lives to come and serve and leave a piece of their hearts in Albania.  We love and appreciate you, women of TFC!

Finally, it was a rich blessing to once again visit Albania with my mom and dad, and see how much they are dearly loved by those whom they've been called to serve.  Nathan and I are stepping onto a strong foundation, laid by their years of work and sacrifice.  Many doors are open to us because of their testimony.  Whenever I sense fear rise up, I'm reminded that we are not breaking completely new ground.  The hard top soil has been broken up, and seeds have already been planted. Thank you, Mom and Dad!  Thank you, Lord!

Joyful, Joy Filled

The Women's Day retreat was a wonderful success! What a GIFT it was for me to attend! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who prayed for us!  In the days leading up to our departure we had not yet heard how many village neighbors might be attending.  Would it be a dozen? Would it be more? Or less?  After all, retreats are a completely foreign concept in this corner of the world.  Would all the preparation and goodies be for naught? When we arrived, Shpresa told us that there was a WAITING LIST of ladies who wanted to attend!  Praise the Lord!

In the days leading up to the retreat we visited about half of the women who had registered.  We were curious to hear how much of a hardship it might be for some of them to attend, to get permission from husbands and fathers to leave town overnight.  From what we heard, participation would not have been nearly so high ten years ago, but today, there was a trust in my parents and Planters that allowed many of the ladies to come.

(Below) Shpresa knew of a hotel on the sea in Durres (known in ancient times as the city of Illyricum), just about 20 minutes from Vlashaj. In the history of Christianity in this region, this city has played a significant role.  This particular hotel had facilities well-suited to accomodate our event (i.e. a conference room).  The Florida team brought gift bags for each attendee and before their arrival at the hotel, we placed gift bags on each bed, chocolates on each pillow, and tacked a scripture verse (related to the theme) on each mirror.

Of course, every conference requires a registration table!  I have a funny story for later related to my use of "Google translate" for the program text.  It may be in next newsletter we send out, so you'll just have to wait.

A bus was rented to transport the ladies from Vlashaj to Durres. The advance team served as the welcoming committee.  Can we just say we were blown away by how nice the women looked?  Many had obviously visited the hairdresser that afternoon and were dressed 'to the nines'.  This was obviously a very big deal and we were touched.  It was also sweet to see them search out with their eyes for the ones of us who had been to their homes.  The pre-retreat home visits were so beneficial.  We only wished we could have made more!

We opened with crafts and a few games before dinner.  They made wreaths out of coffee filters and wire hangers (I can't say that I've ever seen a wreath in Albania before, but hey, maybe this will start a new decorating trend!).  They also decorated wooden picture frames that would later be filled with a memento from the event.  These ladies cranked out the crafts FAST!  One would have thought it was a competition or something, not a relaxing activity!  I have a feeling that most of these women are conditioned to only operate in "work" mode!

When craft time was over, everyone was released to their rooms to change for the banquet in the hotel restaurant.

While this was my first time to celebrate Women's Day in Albania, I understand traditional dancing is customary.  I should have jumped in and joined in, but my lack of rhythm, combined with my two left feet kept me hiding behind my camera while the others danced! I'm going to have to study the steps and practice before next March!

The ladies basically sidestep in a circle, and the line leader waves a handkerchief or cloth napkin.  I'll see if I can find video to upload later!

(Below)  I brought a photo backdrop and took portraits of each attendee for a later project/gift (remember those photo frames they made during craft time?).

After the dancing, Tina and Lacy came to my room to help me set up our little photo lab, plugging in transformers, stringing cords and changing out toner cartridges.  They were troopers because we were all exhausted by this point and we had to dump the images, select the best to print, color correct and export to JPG!  It was after midnight before we closed up our shop!

It turns out that Lacy, Tina, Hannah and I weren't the only ones to stay up til the wee hours.  We were told that the women were up very late visiting with their friends, swapping rooms, combining in some rooms so they could chat even later and not have to run back and forth in the hallway in their 'jammies'.  It reminded me of summer camp and I was tickled that they so enjoyed their time of fellowship!  One participant told me, "We never have time to just have fun with our friends!"  Others told us they wanted to go walk on the beach.  Because they had never been before.  My mind can't even wrap around the possibility that some of these women had lived 20 minutes from the sea but had never been there.  I traveled further to high school each day.

I was so glad to get the photo above at breakfast. Unbeknownst to us at the time, these ladies were four of the six women who would be in my small group!

Friday was all about JOY!  Joy in the midst of difficulties, joy that can only come from the Lord, joy not affected by circumstances surrounding us.

The three women from Florida who shared during the three sessions (Renee, Renee's daughter Jenna, and Sue) were real, sharing struggles and difficulties from their lives, but how the Lord had helped them through those trials.  The ladies at the retreat told us in their small group that they were blown away by their vulnerability.

Each session included worship, even though the vast majority of attendees were not self-identifying believers.  On a personal note, I was concerned that tardiness would prevent many from missing some of the key elements of each session.  It turns out that cell phones were the biggest distraction (in spite of politely, and sometimes humorously, reminding them to turn them off before each session).  Inevitably, whenever Jesus' death and resurrection was discussed, someone's phone would ring.  And ring.  And ring.  And then usually it would be answered.

Aren't their smiles just lovely?  They had such a good time.

During the last set of 'games', I snuck out to the lobby and with the help of my friend, Mira, the village nurse, we matched every one's portrait with her respective frame. It was so fun to see their faces when they walked out at the end of the retreat to find their frames filled and waiting for them!

The weather had been rather bleh.  Cool, misty, definitely overcast -- there were no sparkling views of the sea out the window to distract us.  However, after the final session, we told the women in our small group that if they had a prayer concern, they could pray with their small group leader.  We specifically asked if they wanted to invite Jesus into their hearts and four responded, "YES!".  We had many precious moments, and during it all, the sun broke through and filled the room with a warm glow that lasted until the ladies loaded back up in the buses to go home.

Sue, the team leader from The Family Church, had the wonderful idea to bring sand from Florida to mix with sand from the beach outside the hotel... unfortunately, the bag of sand was one of the many items which 'disappeared' out of their luggage in transit.  Thankfully, the shells did not, so they put Florida shells in Albanian sand and we closed out the retreat.

In spite of leaving after the ladies (to pack up all of our supplies and equipment), we managed to get back to Vlashaj as they had just disembarked from the bus which dropped them off at the bottom of the hill.  I jumped out the van and whipped out my long lens.  I'm afraid you can't truly sense the number of ladies in the pack below from my perspective, but it was a beautiful scene.

After showing these photographs to my mom, she shared a story from a couple of years ago.  She had been hosting a friend from Texas who has a prayer ministry. After this individual had completed a prayer walk in the village, she approached Mom and Shpresa to say that she had seen a vision of village women walking as a group down the street.  She said, "I see a harvest of souls from the women of this village!"

More goodbyes...

Lavdi Zoti! (Praise God!)  What a beautiful time.  What a gift.  For all of us.

Girl Talk

A group of Floridian women landed in Albania this weekend and 12 hours later were hiking the hillside village of Vlashaj to get acclimated to their new community for the week and acquainted with some of its female citizens.

In one day we visited six homes and heard six stories.  We heard stories of years of menial labor (37 years of digging fields, in one case), years of work abroad to support one’s family while missing her children’s formative years.  Years of living under the roof of an in-law who hurled curses and inflicted beatings.  Stories of mothers whose children are their sole source of love, security, and identity but have moved away, leaving them to bear burdens alone.  Stories of children forced by economic circumstances to take on more responsibility than most to help the family.

We met women who have a palpable excitement over the opportunity to have a break from everyday tasks, from caring for elderly parents, for a reprieve from an air of hostility in their own homes.  We were asked, “Can you make the retreat not just one day but 7?”  Others said they were looking for fellowship and fun and to meet new friends.  Another said she wanted to spend time with women in prayer. 100% of them said they had never done anything like this before. 

photo courtesy of Lacy Basford

We were in homes of plenty and homes of want. In each home we were welcomed and served.  Acquaintances were made, family photos and testimonies shared, tears shed, and prayers prayed.  

photo courtesy of Lacy Basford

We came back to our little team apartment above the ministry center better understanding where our hosts are coming from. We were amazed to witness Spirit-driven conversations, how He weaved together pieces of our personal stories into mutually relate-able experiences that transcended cultural divides.

We can’t wait for more days like these!  Thank you, Lord, for this privilege!  What a JOY! Oh friends, hearts are soft.  We are expecting great things.  Would you pray for us?  Sickness threatens some on our team.  Time is growing short and lots of details remain...

(And for my husband... some photos that include me...)

Because of the reputation of my father, I was warmly received by this gentleman whom we passed on the road...

You might recognize him from his portrait I captured here  He didn't recognize me... you can't tell but he's nearly completely blind (and 93 years strong).

Open Letter to Reni

Editors note: While sitting in O'Hare airport waiting to board her plane for Albania, Cydil sent this to me to save for Reni when he is a little older. It impacted me and I asked if I could post it on the blog now. If you are like me, you may want to grab a Kleenex. - Nathan

Dear Reni boy,

I am sitting here tonight, waiting to board a trans-Atlantic flight. I feel like I've already left the country, even though I've not even left the state of Illinois. You're in Ohio with your sister and Dad, but I wanted to tell you something, as if you were here, though an older version of you.

A lovely, dark skinned woman has been sitting across from me. Dressed in a tweed coat with a fur-trimmed collar and cuffs and perfectly coifed hair. I didn't even notice her crutches propped next to her until she grabbed them easily with her hands to get up and throw away her sandwich box.  As she returned limping to her seat in the waiting area, legs weakly bowed in at the knees, I was horrified to hear another woman loudly ask what 'happened' to her.

She quietly explained that she had had polio as a child. The enquirer didn't hear and, as though she was owed an explanation, asked again. More loudly, and now within ear shot of several rows, the beautiful woman repeated herself.

I suddenly felt extremely protective of her. And I was surprised at my reaction. It was as if the impertinent woman was asking you. The beautiful woman calmly sat down, and I pretended to be engrossed in my Kindle while I mulled how I should respond. After a quick prayer for courage, I slipped across to the seat next to her and told her about you. Then I told her if she needed anything, like help carrying her bag on the plane, I would be happy to help.

She looked at me with kind eyes and asked me my name. I told her, and she told me hers (I was embarrassed that I hadn't asked first). Then she said yes, she would appreciate my help.

I sat back down, and had to tell you how grateful I am, for the way you are changing me. I didn't know how oblivious I had been before you came into our life, never to have had eyes to see people who have more challenges to overcome, nor courage to act on those instances when I would take my eyes off myself long enough to notice.

Thank you, Reni. I have so much more to learn, but thank you for this moment tonight.
Mom

---------------------------------------

Now for the rest of the story taken from the texting Cydil and I did once she boarded the plane to Istanbul...

After writing this letter to Reni, Cydil began to visit more with the woman we'll call Mary.  It turns out that she is a Christian from Ethiopia.  This precious sister-in-Christ was invited as a child to attend a healing service seeking the healing of her legs. But instead she said, "God healed my heart!"  Mary is on her way to Ethiopia to witness to her dying father one last time. His name is Mogus. She desperately wants to see him in heaven. Please join us in praying for him. It will be her first time back to Ethiopia in seven years. She was reading a book in Amheric about Ephesians and shared with Cydil what she was learning about our inheritance in Christ as God's children.  She also committed to pray for "one soul" from the ladies retreat taking place next week in Albania. 

Cydil was really encouraged by her encounter with Mary. It made Cydil thankful for the 24 hour delay that made meeting her possible. Mary shared that she was thankful for her polio because it was her legs that led her to Christ. How thankful I am that we serve a redemptive God!

I'm here!

I don't know where to begin!  

What a roller coaster of a trip over here!  After waiting at the Turkish Air counter from 3:30 until 6:30, we finally got our boarding passes and luggage straightened out and were able to get on our flight.

Everything was pretty smooth until we landed and got our bags (thank you, Lord, that they all arrived!).

Out of the entirely sold-out flight, we were the only ones that were asked to open each and every bag before we could leave the airport. They demanded documents (which we didn't have) proving what our things were for (they didn't believe us that it was mostly personal and items for the village, until Mandi could get in and explain for us). At this point we were exhausted and just wanted to get to bed.

When we woke up this morning we discovered that Mom and Dad's fridge died and on top of every other insane number of tasks to do before the team's arrival, cleaning out the fridge was another task to add to the list.

On a lighter note, a black cat ran in front of the van last night and we all burst out laughing!!!

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.  Please remember the team from the Family Church arriving this evening (around 1:30PM EST).  I hope they don't have to go through the same ordeal at customs (which we learned is rather customary for flights coming through Istanbul).

Bringing up the rear...

Following our special time at The Family Church's Global Impact Celebration, we put the Winnie on I-75 and headed south to Ft. Myers!  After years of invites, we were finally going to be able to see some special folks down in southwest Florida!  First up was breakfast with Leann.  We have joked that she's our cousin, kind of.  That is, Nathan and Leann have mutual cousins, but they are not cousins.  Anyone confused yet?  She treated us to a delicious breakfast and we caught up on her life, chiefly that she's getting married in June - -something very, very exciting!  Leann was VP of the student center student cabinet when we came to WGM way back in 1999.  It's been a joy to stay in touch over the years and now see where she grew up and has made her permanent home!

Our next visit was with Cydil's Aunt Marcia, who now winters in Ft. Myers.  We got to see her Florida home as well as visit an animal rescue/rehab center (with native Florida wildlife) and then sample some fantastic citrus products for which Florida is well known!

Monday evening Nathan's Aunt Elaine and Uncle Ken (who were hosting us for the nights we were in Ft. Myers) invited some friends over to meet us and hear a little bit about what we'll be doing in Albania.  It was a special treat that Nathan's former childhood pastor and his wife just happened to be in town and were able to be a part of the evening gathering!  They are featured below!

Our time in Ft. Myers flew by and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye and get on the road again. The days with Aunt Elaine and Uncle Ken were so encouraging! As we have looked back at this road trip, one of our regrets was not having more time to be with them in Ft. Meyers.

Uncle Ken and Aunt Elaine

Just 90 minutes north of Ft. Myers found us in Sarasota where we met my mom's cousin, Connie, and her husband, Randy, for lunch at Der Dutchman. In spite of living 'way down in Florida', Connie and Randy are always good to attend our family's reunion every year, so we appreciate that we know them better than some might know extended family members.  They are outstanding champions of the ministry in Albania and we're hopeful that Randy might get to finally visit in person later this year!  (As county manager, his schedule's pretty demanding, as you can probably imagine).

Wednesday evening we were happy to reunite with our college friend, Brian Hurley, and meet his new wife, Kelley.  They attend First United Methodist Church in Lakeland and invited us to share with their small group.  It was a blessing to meet their community of friends and they made us feel very at home and welcome!

The church is situated across the street from a little lake chock full of ducks and swans.  We had a lot of fun feeding them before small group began!  

with Kelley and Brian

In 2002, Nathan and I took our student cabinet down over spring break to Mt. Dora, Florida, to minister together with some dear WGM missionaries (the Madsens and Aunt Sue Martin) engaged in work with Haitian immigrants.  We worked at this church and when we were invited to join some of those missionaries for a lunch visit whenever we were to come to Florida, we enjoyed a walk down memory lane, surprised to see that some of our projects were still   standing!

When we crossed paths with the Madsens last summer at WGM, they were eager for us to meet their daughter, Pam, and her family, if possible.  Pam's family had served as missionaries with the Nazarene's, and while ministering on the border, had adopted a little girl with a limb difference. I got a little bit of insight as to how other children might feel upon hearing of Reni before meeting him in person.  After telling them about the home were going to visit next, Ellie and Reni both indicated a little bit of fear about meeting someone made a little different than themselves.  Of course, within minutes of being together, differences were completely forgotten and they had a fantastic time!

From Mt. Dora, we drove up to the panhandle to spend our final day of visiting with our Asbury friends, Bryan and Tammy.  We reconnected when they returned to Wilmore a couple of years ago and joined our adoptive families group after bringing home their daughter, B.  Then we shared even more in common when they decided to pursue the adoption of their youngest who has a limb difference.  We remarked how unusual some of our conversations must sound to others, after discussing things like sockets, stubs, and therapy, etc. ;-)

With several year's of overseas living experience, we picked their brains for advice and suggestions in all sorts of matters.  Their family relocated to Florida from Wilmore shortly after we left Kentucky so Bryan could become pastor over missions and small groups at a church in his hometown. We discussed the possibility of future partnerships with their congregation and ways in which short and long term missionaries work best together. It really was a perfect way to cap off our trip to the south!

I included this photo because while it looks like we're laughing, Tammy and I were both trying to direct B's angle of her lens to be sure we got in the picture!

Sunday we were blessed with gorgeous weather while we headed north.  Thankfully our route took us right through the town my cousin Luke now calls home.  He treated us to some delicious 'Bama bbq!  We're so thankful for the gift of family and cousins scattered near and far that we can always visit!

Whew!  There were more photos but alas no more time to get them up.  This concludes our travelogue of photos from our trip south!  We are so blessed with all of the friends and family God has given us over the course of our lives.  We really felt "refueled" by our time with them!

Editor's note:  Today is a double-poster day!  Please scroll down to read another post from the Airport Sheraton! 

Stuck

(note from Cydil: first there will be an explanation of our current travel state, followed by a special prayer request at the bottom, un-related to travel, sort of).

Yes.  We were supposed to be landing in Albania right now.  Instead, I'm typing from the business center of our Sheraton Hotel, trying not to think about that right now.  One thing after another just didn't go right for us last night.  First, our plane was 2 hours delayed arriving in Peoria.  Then, we got to Chicago at 9:15, but sat on the runway for 45 minutes while we waited for the plane at our assigned gate to board and then, de-ice (a 20-minute process).  Our flight to Istanbul was to depart at 10:00.

To add insult to injury, we were at the very end of terminal C (if you're familiar with O'Hare, you'll know that's United's large terminal, connected to the rest of the airport by an underground tunnel).  I will spare you the labored description of our trek on foot to the shuttle train, which we watched pull away as we got to the escalators at the platform and had to wait another 10 minutes for the next one to take us from teriminal 1 to the other end of the airport at terminal 5.  All that to say, it took us 35 minutes to travel on foot from our gate to the Turkish Airlines Counter.  We arrived just as the employees stepped out from behind the counters to go home, on their cell phones, in their coats.

Their word?  Come back at 4PM tomorrow!  Our prayer is that those same two individuals are working the counter this afternoon!  We've been unable to confirm any further travel arrangements either in person at the United counter, over the phone with United, nor talking with Turkish Airlines on the phone (twice) or through our travel agent.  Since waking this morning we have secured paper documentation from United about why we missed our connection and hope that when we arrive at the counter at 4pm, Turkish will put us on their 10PM flight tonight.  We've blown off any hope of getting an earlier flight to Albania today that would get us in Friday afternoon instead of Friday evening (we have SO MUCH TO DO before the team arrives Saturday).

In spite of all of this, I'm SO thankful that we've all had good attitudes.  We called several hotels before we found a room at the Sheraton (believe me, we don't usually stay in digs this nice -- though it's seeming like a better and better deal with all the times we're riding the shuttle to and from the airport and taking advantage of their ample supply of complimentary toiletries).  We didn't get to bed until 2AM, but they are graciously allowing us to stay until 4PM so we don't have to glue our bums to an airport chair for 9 hours before boarding, like we feared.

Changing direction COMPLETELY, I got an e-mail this morning that blew me away.  It was from a mom who's adopting a little boy from Ellie's orphanage in Vlora. As she shared their challenges and concerns I struggled to hold back tears.  It was so de ja vu.  How do we get him to eat solid foods?  How do we get him to drink out of a cup (or drink fluids period)?  There was more which I won't share out of respect for their privacy but would you pray with me that in spite of my very tight schedule that we could find time where we would both be in Tirana at the same time?   In six years this is only the second family I've encountered who has adopted a child from Ellie's orphanage. (Sadly, the first family didn't bring their child home -- the kids in this orphanage have so, so much to overcome).  I remember my emotional state and I would love to be able to offer some encouragement and hope in person, if possible.  I told my mom today that instances like this remind me just how far our Ellie has come, and re-orient my expectations for her anew, thankful for God's provision for her in so many ways.  Finally, I would like to be able to find a sippy cup for them just like what we brought over for Ellie (it was by Nuby, and was soft, pliable plastic).  I hope that O'Hare has some sort of pharmacy store that might sell them.  Is that too much to ask?

Thank you, friends!  I appreciate that you love and pray for us!  We sense your prayers!

P.S.  Later this afternoon a previously composed post will go up which, according to my dad, is full of "here's so-and-so, whom we know through such-and-such."  I apologize that my travelogues lack more creativity!  By no means does that mean that their relationship is more or less special to us than any one else!  I'm just trying to introduce you to our friends :-)

Leaving on a jet plane!

In 45 minutes we are supposed to be pulling out of the driveway.  Do I feel ready?  Hmmm... Depends on what you mean.  I'm trusting that what hastily I've thrown in suitcases will be sufficient.  You may see me wear the same three shirts in photos from trip! I barely remember what I've packed.

We've been home not even 48 hours from the trip south.  The house is a wreck. But it's okay.  I can work on it when I return.

What we're going to get to do in Albania next week is so exciting, only God can take credit for ordaining it.

I'm going with my mom (Dad and Hannah are coming too) to host a team of ladies from The Family Church in our future home village of Vlashaj.  The team's purpose is to host a retreat for a select group of women in the village and pour love and God's Word into them at a beautiful seaside hotel.  I'm going to have the privilege of seeing where these ladies live (we're doing home visits prior to the retreat) and will get  acquainted with them in a setting apart from the demands of their every day life.  We couldn't imagine a better way for me to get to know the women who run the homes of the community where we're eventually going to live and minister.

Would you please pray for the retreat?  For the team?  For me?  Pray for health (so all can participate), for no last minute distractions that might prevent the Spirit's work, and for unity of spirit amongst all.

I look forward to posting (when I can) from Albania!