Filling in the gaps

I've had a cold.  My second for the month of January, which is sort of unusual for me since I rarely get sick.  I figure with all the coffee bars we study at with all the accompanying second-hand smoke we are inhaling there, respiratory illnesses should not come as a huge surprise.  While many are waiting for warmer temps to shed winter layers, I'm anxious for the outdoor patios to reopen so smoking can resume outside again. 

Thankfully we have turned another page on the calendar getting us closer to spring, but before too much more time passes, I have some images from last month nearing their expiration mark, so here follows a mish mash of pics that didn't make it up on the blog yet:

We got some great surprises in the mail for Christmas that trickled in through the month of January.  Thank you to everyone who helped us feel loved and remembered with gifts and cards!  I don't know who's more excited when something arrives in the post office box -- the kids or us!

One day I looked out my window and saw this.  Unfortunately, you can't see how high he is above the ground.  I have no idea if he's official or not or if he's just trying to get free internet but he was an amateur compared to what I had seen earlier.  A few days before I was too frozen with fear to grab my camera when I saw a woman in the opposite building from us stand on the ledge of her 6th floor window to wash the outside glass. No one was spotting her from the inside, no rope around her waist, no one-leg-inside and one leg out, but both feet on the outside ledge and hanging on with one arm. Now I just keep my camera out all the time because I have no idea what I'll see next.

Here are some picts from our visits to the Hope Center.  The first weekend Abby and Anna taught a yarn weaving technique.

But really it's less about transferring a skill or knowledge, and more about building relationships.

One night crepes was on the menu for supper.

They were so sweet as to make some for us.  Delicious!

Crepes with chocolate creme sauce?  Yum!

If you come to Albania, creperies are popping up everywhere.  I recommend the crepe with chocolate sauce, nuts, and apples!  You can't beat the price of $1.50 for a snack that's large enough to feed two!

Another weekend Nathan taught American football and then we played.

Finally, our Friday night youth group continues to grow and we usually have a new person or two each week.  If they all showed up on the same night, we wouldn't fit!

Thank you for lifting up those times!  This past week Abby and Anna facilitated...

Tonight if the internet cooperates, after language lesson we're going to try to watch the Big Game via slingbox, then tomorrow we're taking a day off to travel to Elbasan and meet up with some missionary friends about a joint project this summer.  We're looking forward to a change up in our regular routine and connecting with some friends!

Thanks for checking in!

And He's Gone...

 As I type, Dad should be approaching Chicago...

His visit went by so quickly... from meetings to get Planters registration updated, to attending a language session with us on Thursday, and class with us on Friday followed by church in the village on Friday night... here's an assortment of photos from his visit.  And as a disclaimer, my mind is so fatigued, I have no business blogging...

Friday night church in Vlashaj

Jetlag kept him from staying up through 'youth group' afterwards but we pressed on (what's youth group without teaching kids lessons on faith without exercises like 'trust falls'?)

And when the big kids couldn't get over their fear, a certain 8 year old volunteered herself before we could say "you're too young for youth group!" 

She looks a little too much like a crowd surfer to me here...

Then we needed handkerchiefs for another activity, but all Nathan could find at Jumbo were these lovely leopard sleeping masks in the Valentine's seasonal section...

Dad tried to see as many friends as he could in the short period of time he had... I was a lousy journalist, but here he is with the Konis...

Sunday we had fun hosting Fredi for lunch after church.  Ellie thinks 1.) that everyone should find her bird adorable and 2.) this pose is irresistably charming and begs me to take her photo like this with her bird all the time.  Warning: if you come visit us, you may be expected to hold the bird and proffer generous compliments on his beauty and intelligence.  Fredi was a good sport, as you can see.

Monday while the rest of us went to school, Dad was blessed with a rare day of sunshine for his trip over the mountain to Darshen.  

I won't steal his photos with cute babies in case he plans to use those somewhere else... thanks, Mandi, for being journalist!  You did well!

And with that it was time for him to leave!

We have this tradition that started around the time I was leaving for college.  Before one of us would leave to go back to Asbury, then later, back to wherever was home away from Mom and Dad, we took photos in the driveway with Dad.

Here's my photo with Dad as he leaves.

See that giant tear-shaped water stain on the side of the building over my head?  I wish I could say that's from the tears we shed saying goodbye.  That's actually our upstairs neighbor's bathroom leak.  We discovered a few weeks ago that we had evidence of water damage on our bathroom ceiling and on the kids' bedroom wall.  Given how long it takes to get problems addressed here, I'm not looking forward to seeing how long it takes to get this resolved...

And before we knew it, he was off!  We told the kids to say goodbye, but after school, they were asking if he was joining us for supper.  I think it was short, even for them!

mirupafshim!

P.S.  THANK YOU to everyone who bought a scarf or shared about the sale.  We sold every single scarf but one!  WOW!

Keep warm!

We heard it's cold in America and I promised last month to make available to our friends in America some of the scarves knitted by our friends in the village.  My Dad is here until Tuesday morning!  If you would like a scarf for yourself, check out our remaining inventory here:

http://villageknitsalbania.blogspot.com/

I shared this link last night on Facebook and over half of the remaining scarves have been spoken for and taken off the site, but  a few remain.  After shipping and paypal fees, 100% goes to the knitters.  

And on Friday I will have the unmerited blessing of walking up to them, putting one arm around their shoulders and with the other slipping some crisp cash in their pockets.  A pretty, pretty cool part of my 'job' that I wish you could see.

Anything sold through Monday, Dad can take back to the States and ship to you!

Please accept a big, big thank you to those who have purchased these scarves! 

And just to plant a little seed in your head... we have some visitors coming to visit us in March.  If you would like to donate some yarn that maybe you bought with good intentions (but secretly you know you won't ever get to it), please let me know and I can tell you where to mail it.  They will have lots of luggage space to bring it over to us.  We prefer more 'wintery' colors like black, brown, charcoal, oatmeal, navy, cream, wine, etc... as those tend to be preferred colors for matching winter coats and such.  Good yarn is difficult, if not impossible to find here.  I know some women who would be grateful!

I've created a board on Pinterest so you can see nearly all of their creations.  If a style strikes your fancy, let me know, and we may be able to arrange a 'special order'. http://www.pinterest.com/cydil/knitted-scarves-village-ladies-creations/

Look who's here!

We have him for five days so we're soaking up every minute!  Here's a few photos from last night (pretty much straight off the plane)!

Company!

We've been counting down the sleeps!  When we woke up a short while ago his plane was getting close to it's second-to-last descent.

In Ellie's words, "I get to bring my bird to school and Gjyshe is coming today!  I think I'm going to faint!"

Weekend Re-Cap

We are back in our routine and it feels good. 

Friday night we were back at Vlashaj. While Nathan was sharing out in the living room with a packed house of youth, the kids were back in one of the sleeping rooms with their friend Elio.  Yes, playing one app or another... it keeps them pretty quiet (ha, ha)...

I wish I had gotten a photo of the room but it was packed.  Not a single coffee cup or chair to spare!  Next week we are going to be implementing some exercises/activities to underscore the idea of faith in what you can't see.  Would you pray for us that the Holy Spirit would help them 'see' what can't be seen?

Afterwards we got a big surprise gift from our friend Eda... She and her mom baked this for us from scratch...

That's 80-plus pieces of baklava... weighing about ten lbs of honey-soaked pastry and nut sweetness.

This is Eda demonstrating how her mother cut it so symetrically.

They call it a flower pattern.

It reminds me of old-fashioned quilt designs.  And it tastes as good as it looks.

The next morning:

Singing a song with motions...  unfortunately Ellie is doing motions for the macarena... Hmmm... who taught her THAT???

"L" is cramming below for Bible memory time...

Ellie and Reni have lots of friends who like to help them!

 Ambra is their favorite friend and it's now our custom to just come down to Ambra's house on our way back to Tirana because that's where our kids can be found after Kid's Club.  We hear all kinds of stories about what they do at Ambra's...

(no photo for this) Of his mud spattered jacket -- "I slipped in the mud feeding the baby chickens at Ambras..."

I can't tell you how cool it is that the kids have friends like this and I can let them go and explore.

This past Saturday the team distributed Operation Christmas Child Boxes.  We were going to do it on Christmas day, but so many kids showed up, kids we had never seen before, and we didn't have enough, so distribution got postponed.  I think it was more fun to surprise them this way.

For all of you who participate in this program, enjoy these next few images...

Probably the best part of our weekend was an impromptu lunch with Ambra, her sister, Xhesi, and her mom, Xhani.  After cleaning and locking up the center, we drove down the hill to pick up the kids.  I stepped in the house to announce our departure.  I got cajoled into bringing Nathan in and staying for coffee, which turned into bread and plums and then dhalle (a yogurt drink) and finally egg and cheese byrek.  Without any translation assistance, we had a really nice visit for over an hour, learning all about the origins of their family and their arrival in the village, their family in Greece, and plans for Ambra's birthday on Tuesday. Abby paid us the highest compliment when she told us that our language classes were paying off! I think we got about 80% of what they were saying, but they were patient and slow.  And probably spoke simply for our benefit, but it was rewarding nonetheless and encouragement to keep on keeping on!

Ellie on the internet! | Resources for involving children in missions

Do you have children or grandchildren?  Do you pray with your children for our family? 

Or, do you work in children's ministry at your church?

Are you looking for ways to increase their interest in other cultures or help them relate to the children of missionaries?

WGM's website is chock full of resources and we were so flattered that Ellie was featured in one of their Kids World articles this fall.  The piece refers to our use of a popular language app/game (uTalk) to get acquainted and learn basic phrases of Albanian before we left the States. 

Click here to read the feature in full.

There is a companion PDF that you can print or download with sensory activities to cement some cultural tidbits about Albanian culture as well as give tangible reminders of ways to pray for Ellie (and Reni) and the people of Albania!

Thank you, Rachel E, for this creative way to involve children in missions!

Ironically, just today Ellie asked, "Mom, how did I learn English when you brought me home?"
Realizing she must be struggling with the language barrier here I explained then asked, "Are you sad you don't remember how to speak Albanian?"

"Yes."

It'll come, Ellie.  It'll come.