For the sake of structure and time, I'm going to swipe some questions from another blog... I think answering these questions will be a good exercise in processing all we learned and experienced.
1.) What did you do in 2013 that you had never done before?
Hmmm... where to begin? Let's see, how about moving our family overseas, beginning a new career in missions, beginning formal Albanian study...
2.) Did anyone close to you die?
In November we lost Nathan's grandmother, Dorothy Champion.
3.) Did anyone close to you give birth?
Most of our friends are at the age where babies are coming less frequently... however we have been blessed to see a few families from the States adopt Albanian children. My cousin, Elyse, delivered a baby boy in September.
5.) What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
More discipline/structure/balance/rest/fun.
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| The smile on my face belies the heaviness in my heart. More likely it's from watching Ellie try to wield a heavy camera in the middle of Terminal 5 at OHare... |
September 9 -- the day we were to fly together as a family to Albania, but received the news that Nathan's mother was critical from a severe stroke. We made a difficult decision for Cydil and Ellie to fly on to Albania but for Nathan and Reni to remain behind and travel to Columbus to be with Mom until her prognosis could be known better. We had to make a decision with little time to think. All of our expectations of what this transition would look like went out the window as we prayed for Mom's life to be spared and for her subsequent recovery.
7.) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Not really sure what to consider an 'achievement' (and I'm not trying to be falsely modest). There is no achievement without God's grace. May He always get the glory for any 'success.'
8.) What was your biggest failure?
I'm too chicken to post that here. Or maybe that's something I need to work on?
I probably could have read more, especially considering all the miles spent on the road.
9.) Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing except a cold here or there. We have been blessed with good health.
10.) Where did most of your money go?
Don't laugh, but this won't be a huge surprise. Our money went to new tires, a new transmission, and a lot of alternator belts for the Winnebago (and probably more that I can't remember).
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| Art imitating life -- this is us passing time at a Hardees while a local shop repaired a radiator hose that got cut when the engine cover was put back improperly by another mechanic. |
11.) What was the best thing you bought?
We splurged this year and bought an iPod and Bose Mini speaker. We use them ALL the time for listening to music and sermon downloads. The Bose mini has an impressively long battery life (rechargeable) and has been fantastic for taking to the village or plugging into a laptop (for watching movies) or the electronic keyboard to give the volume an extra boost. The blue tooth technology means no cords (more often than not) and it's small size means we can drop it in our back pack and it takes no more space than a water bottle! Normally I don't like to spend a ton of money on electronics because technology changes so rapidly, but we use both daily and I haven't regretted this purchase. I only wish we would have bought it before we went on HMA and not at the end so we could have used it in our presentations.
12.) What did you get really excited about?
Oh my goodness, so much. Seeing God's care for us during our HMA travels, the coalescing of our prayer team, His answers to specific prayers, His provision in the month of July as we saw our funds come in for us to leave for Albania 'on time,' anticipating our training at MTI in August, starting Albanian class, reconnecting with old friends in Albania and making new ones here...
13.) What song will always remind you of 2013?
"Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" by Hillsong United. I first heard this during worship at MTI in August, then I bought it on iTunes and played it over and over in our early weeks in Tirana. "You called me out upon the waters, the great unknown...in oceans deep, my faith will stand... Your Sovereign hand will be my guide... when fear surrounds me, you've never failed and won't start now ... Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters, wherever you might call me. Take me deeper than my feet may ever wander and my faith would be made stronger...I will keep my eyes above the waves, when oceans rise, my soul will rest in your embrace..."
14. Compared to this time last year, are you richer or poorer?
Probably slightly poorer (refer back to #10) :-)
fatter or thinner?
I think about the same -- we are walking a ton more, but thanks to the diet here, eating more carbs and fats than ever before and subtle stresses can't help the metabolism
happier or sadder? -- I feel happier in the sense that we are more settled than we've been in a long time and we are so glad to be in Albania. I'm sadder in the sense that the Waggoner family is in the midst of a valley with Mom's health and we feel helpless to contribute much from our side of the ocean. But just living cross culturally has definitely amplified my emotional sensitivity and requires more intentional care than before.
15. What do you wish you would have done more of in 2013?
-Visited our public library in Illinois sooner. There wasn't much close to the farm house, but this little gem was within reasonable driving distance and a highlight for the kids to visit.
-Shot more video of Reni talking. Photos just don't capture it all. He's grown up tremendously in the last year and our 'little boy' is more and more grown up. I told him last week he's not allowed to lose his smushy cheeks which I like to press up against with my own.
16. What do you wish you had done less of?
Worry
17. How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas Eve we were up in the mountain village of Darshen, then we came home and had a special supper at a Chinese restaurant before watching The Nativity Story. Christmas morning we attended a Christmas program put on by the youth of Vlashaj, then had a Christmas dinner back at our apartment with our neighbor and dear friend, Vera, before opening gifts. Afterwards we knocked on every door in our building's stairwell, sang a Christmas song and delivered Christmas cookies. I think we were all a bit nervous, but it was so worthwhile.
18. What were your favorite books of the year?
If you remember #8, then you know that this will be a short list. The first two books that come to mind are I, Saul (Historical fiction thriller that alternates between the present day and the last months of the Apostle Paul's life, I felt it really personalized my reading of his epistles for me, having a better understanding of his life, training, intellectual background, etc.) and (after re-visiting many Lincoln sites during our stint in Illinois, Nathan and I checked out the audio version of) Team of Rivals (Kearns-Goodwin). Great for all of you poli-sci junkies, like me. Thanks for the recommendation, Mark Landerholm!
19. What was your favorite film of the year?
This may tell you something about our stage in life, but I think Despicable Me 2! Sometimes you just need to splurge on a bucket of popcorn and slap on some 3D glasses with your kids. For me, it was more the experience than the film itself -- it's probably the best film I've seen in 3D.
We haven't made it to the movies much in the past couple of years! And it doesn't look like that's going to change much in the foreseeable future!
20. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013...
I think I have already elaborated to a lot of things I learned through our pre-field training. They were gifts that I don't want to forget. Then add all of the ways in which living in a different culture turns the magnifying glass on one's own set of values, expectations, needs and wants... Yeah, we'll just say a book could be written about what we've learned this year.
So because I can over-think some of these types of things, I'll just keep it light and say: Instagram is the bomb for remembering the best of every day life -- it doesn't require a 'big camera'. Just looking through my instagram pics from this year felt like a great recap of not just the big moments, but all the little things that make up every day life. Anyone out there have a favorite Instagram book binder/publisher?
I think 2013 was one of the most stretching years I can remember in my entire life, but it has also been one of my favorite. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of 2013.
