April Cell Phone Dump

Forgive all the random, catch-all nature of this post, photos courtesy of my cell phone...

My favorite thing about spring... the return of gorgeous sunsets as the sun makes its trek into the northern sky from behind the foothills to the south.  I will so miss my Albanian sunsets this summer.

One of the happy 'accidents' of starting our visits to Kids Club in the village next door with a big group of visitors from America is that we had to hire an extra driver for those first two meetings... and then we never let him go and just have him drive our big ol' gang every week.  We have a lot of fun!

Thanks again, to anyone who has donated craft supplies to our supply closet.  These were perfect for Easter!

This sweet girl came from our village to help me run crafts one Saturday -- we never have 'too many' helping hands (well, until the van is full, that is)!

The kids were totally quiet during this week's lesson...

Earlier this month we brought Bocce Ball to the Hope Center, little knowing that they had never played before.  It was a big hit!

Then Pam planned a fantabulous Easter Egg hunt (minus the eggs, which I just couldn't find in spite of crawling in tight spaces and opening many boxes and suitcases -- of course, I discovered them the day after, right under my nose).  And no, you cannot buy plastic easter eggs here.

This boy... check out his belt.

Chocolates from a friend in Lithuania that tasted as amazing as they looked in this so-cute paint palette.

Reni is SO Albanian in that he LOVES anything fresh grown here, including these green plums (which are way not ripe enough for Nathan and I to eat, but this is how everyone here eats them).  In this case, our buddy L brought these just for Reni knowing that he would enjoy them.  Of course he gobbled them up.

We got a care package right before Easter that arrived just in time.  It contained this beautiful, lit pop-up book of Jesus' last week on earth.  I asked Elio to share it with the kids during our Good Friday service.  The children were absolutely enraptured!

At our kids clubs the day before Easter we colored eggs at both.  They had never colored eggs before and really, really enjoyed it.  We gave them a white crayon to write messages or draw designs on the egg before coloring it.

Aren't they so colorful?  They didn't last very long!  As soon as they were dismissed, the eggs were gobbled up!

We went straight from coloring eggs to making a banner for the Easter Sunday march in Tirana...

The church of V declares Jesus is risen!

Sunday's march in Tirana...

The experiencing of singing worship music in Mother Teresa Square was beautiful (in spite of the heavy security presence -- note the top right side of the photo)!  The worship team did a fantastic job.  Ellie was giddy to see her piano teacher on keyboard (left, in red).

Reni and "A" get along so well when we visit the Hope Center.  I love seeing Ellie and Reni reaching the age that they are playing along with the kids at the center instead of just being the token "little siblings".

Below -- teaching Rummikub (followed by SkipBo).  We will be stocking up on games this summer!

Comment if you have any favorites that are not English-language only.

photo courtesy of Pam Arney

I love that Ellie has clothes folding down (mostly).  Now to work on sorting...

Earlier this month Pastor Genti preached on the covenant-keeping nature of God. I had the idea of soliciting favorite Scriptural promises from friends and family on Facebook.  They promptly responded with an abundant number of verses.  I printed them in Albanian and Nathan distributed them at the end of church.

We had some glorious weather this month.  One Sunday evening we went out for a walk.  Along the way, Reni got too close to the ditch and fell in on his seat.  Only the top of his head was visible!  We all got a good laugh out of it!

No Vacancy

After a nearly four-month hiatus, we were happy to welcome guests to the village again!

The first were our regional directors, here for their annual spring visit.  After four consecutive visits (albeit short trips) we have been able to show them a variety of places in our area, but we still had a few spots up our sleeve to share with them.  This time we decided to take them to the national park at the Cape.  The weather could not have been more perfect and we had the park to ourselves!

A few days after the Zirkles left, we welcomed our long-time friends, the Booker family.  For months leading up to Easter, the plan was for Steve to travel solo.  Then on Wednesday before Easter (the day he was to arrive) Steve gave us a ring to see what we thought of him bringing the family too!  We were thrilled of course, and it was fun to surprise the kids at the airport with the arrival of one of their favorite Albanian-American friends..
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Easter lunch right after picking them up at the airport

They were able to join us for multiple home visits in the new village where we are working part-time.  It has been wonderful to get a better picture of the community and the children whom we serve there.

In all, we visited five homes over two days...

We were happy that while they were in Albania they were also able to make some important connections to source organic supplies for their natural soap and beauty product company... (and in the process, we have learned what an amazing natural resource God has blessed Albania with through its abundant wild herbs and flowers).  Apparently, during communism, the nation exported millions of dollars worth of essential oils to be used as carrier oils as well as perfumes/scents in lotions and soaps!  Albania has abundant supplies of lavendar, peppermint, oregano, sage, olives, grapeseed, and helichrysum, to name just a few.

The Bookers were able to bring greetings to our village church from their home church in Delavan, Illinois.  We are all encouraged to know that the Body of Christ extends around the world and it is praying for us and our neighbors!

Of course, they were able to catch up and renew connections ...

And it was so nice to know that this 'goodbye' was really a 'see you later!' because we'll see them again when we go back to America this summer!

My Favorite Night of the Week...

Mondays used to be my favorite night of the week... it was the night that Little House on the Prairie came on.  

Given that it was the only television I was permitted to watch -- aside from the PBS after-school line-up of Mr. Rogers, The Electric Company and 3-2-1 Contact -- it was a really big deal.

Then Little House went off the air, I grew up and Monday night was just the first night of the regular week.

Until last summer.  We wanted to start a Girls Night and Mondays seemed the most logical time to hold it, in light of the pre-existing schedule at the center.

Over the last nine months, I've grown to anticipate Monday evenings again.  No week is exactly the same.  We gather, we chat.  We talk about things like food and fashion or whatever is on their mind.  We also try to do something creative, all the while building friendships.

A few months ago we started planning for the annual visit of our regional directors.  As we discussed potential dates, I told Becky that if she was here on a Monday, she could visit  Girls Night, and if she had an idea of a craft we could do, we were eager for something new and different!  She immediately replied with photos of some lovely items she knew how to make.

Yesterday the Zirkles arrived and Becky blessed us with an activity she learned from nearly 40 years of life in Japan... origami!

We learned about the kimono, the sleeves, the sash, the collar...

And we learned some greetings in Japanese too!

Below, my neighbor didn't want to be photographed (she came straight from a 10-hour shift at a factory), but she let me take a photo of our 'best friends'. 

We'll  just say that after last night I have a new appreciation for this form of artwork! :-)  It requires a special level of patience and attention to detail.  And like any skill, once you attempt it, you have a new admiration for someone who has mastered it and can do it well.

The craft reminded me of a story I heard about the development of the Disn*y princess line.  I shared that with my friends as evidence of how God has wired each of us as girls to yearn to be princesses -- treasured and special, and that's just how our heavenly Father sees us.  If we allow ourselves to be adopted into the family of the King of Kings, we are princesses too!

Thank you, Becky, for taking the time to plan this activity and for sharing your adopted culture with us!  It was another lovely, memorable Monday night!

The Pop-Up Book

We were leaving a worship service in Tirana late last fall when she approached me.

"Hi! Do you know who I am?"

I paused just long enough for her to realize I was stumped.  Thankfully, she shared her name without making me ask.

Immediately I was able to place her as a friend of my parents from more than twenty years ago -- when they had rented the upper level of a villa in Selite.  It was my senior year of university and I was in Albania on my Christmas break.  We had eaten lunch in her home.  Since that winter day in 1996 I think we may have crossed paths only one other time, but her name was more familiar as someone my parents really connected with.

I hadn't realized she had moved to a different church, so the context this November morning had been especially confusing.

Her husband walked up to us and she re-introduced him saying, "Your dad led him to Jesus!"
Wow. Now I knew why they held a special place in Mom and Dad's hearts.

On the spot she asked if we could connect on Facebook.  Of course I agreed, and promised to pass along their greetings to my parents the next time we spoke.

Fast forward about a month and Nathan and I decided to use some time we had each week in Tirana to resume some language study.  I suggested we see if my new friend had availability in her schedule to work with us.  After several Messenger exchanges we started what would be recurring visits to the classroom she had set up below her home for teaching private English courses.  In our case, she was helping us with Albanian conversation and instruction.

Yesterday we were discussing Easter and Easter traditions when she reached behind herself to pull a worn book off the shelf.

She said, "Your parents gave me this book more than twenty years ago.  I want you to know I use this book to tell the life of Jesus from his birth to death and resurrection to every English class I have ever taught since then.  The students never cease to be amazed at the way the pictures pop up!  All I can do is plant seeds and trust God to do the rest."

I immediately whipped out my camera, snapped a photo, and sent it to Mom's phone.

A few hours later Mom messaged me back... "You never know... a word you say or a gift you give can have a profound impact for years and never know it."

I agree.  This little episode has me thinking about my own generosity in years past -- in both gifts and words.  Have I considered the long-term impact beyond my own short-term sacrifice (or in many cases, it may not be a sacrifice at all). I know my parents had no idea how the gift of this children's book would be used to spread the seeds of the Gospel for more than two decades!

I also feel blessed to be able to see the fruits of my parents' time invested in Albanians over all these years. As it becomes more and more challenging for them to travel here, I'm grateful to be able to share the ripples of their impact that continue through reports like this.

And this message is to encourage anyone reading this post who supported the work of Planters over the past 22+ years.  I want to encourage you too, that the resources you invested in the work of the Gospel through Planters goes forth through the next generation!

New Practices

2016 was a good year.  It was a great year, in fact.  

I've been thinking back on last year more than usual as we've walked through the first weeks and months of 2017 -- particularly because this year just feels so different than last. 

Last year felt like our foot was on the accelerator.  We had a few moments of letting off the gas, but for the most part, it felt like we were always on the move and the view was ever changing.  

This was mostly due to a revolving door of visitors and all the different activities and events we planned around their stays.  

Returning to the States every-other-summer means that those years with summers where we stayed in Albania would hold disproportionately heavy times of hosting. 2016 bore that out in spades.  I think we hosted nearly 30 different individuals for overnight visits ranging anywhere from one night to many weeks. The ministry activities were as varied as our guests.  It was busy but it was really good, too.

But now we find ourselves nearly a quarter of the way through 2017 and we have yet to host a single overnight visitor. It's a strikingly different pace in which we find ourselves.  At least for now. :-)

 As a family we have had time to re-focus on or resume activities that were put on the back-burner -- like catching up on projects and meeting with a language helper again.  We have also been able to devote time to good things like reading, listening to sermons, and starting some new practices too.  I'm going to share about one we started this month that seems to be working well!

I admit that we allow our kids enjoy a fair amount of screen time.  We have programs nearly every evening at the center that demand our attention, so it's been easier to leave the kids to themselves upstairs or in the next room and more often than not, they would find themselves absorbed in some game or another.

In feeling convicted about our laxity in that area, I decided to try a 30/30/30 program I heard about on a parenting podcast.  30 minutes of reading, 30 minutes of chores, and 30 minutes of playing together before any screens are allowed (this is after they have already completed a full morning of home school). Ellie also has an additional 30 minutes of practicing her instruments.

Wouldn't you know it works?  Starting this practice now, when life isn't so crazy, means that I have had time to work a few minutes each day teaching the kids simple skills that contribute to keeping our household functioning. (Like folding clothes, putting away the dishes, dusting, wiping down surfaces, etc.).

I have also discovered that a love of reading doesn't come naturally to everyone, but it's something that needs to be cultivated and this daily habit is moving them in the right direction.  Reni still gets overwhelmed at sitting and reading by himself for that long, but he doesn't mind reading every other page with Nathan or I, or having Ellie read aloud something to him. (Maybe I'm loose here, but for the moment, it feels okay to me).

My hope is that as the weeks and months progress, taking time to read each day will be something they both learn to love.  After all, they both have wonderful imaginations -- I think it's just a matter of time before they learn to submerge their imaginations in a world that someone else has created through the written word.

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Now when the kids finish school, they want to know their list of chores.  My challenge is to save the work for them to do! And while we often have to guide reading choices, it's a good excuse for us to sit down with them and share an activity together that stimulates conversation and discussion. Win, win, win!

Unfolding

Ellie, with her kind teacher who administered Ellie's achievement tests and gave us some direction for the next steps in her  education plan.

This girl of ours is growing up so fast.  

Most days I hardly remember that there was a time in her life before she was ours. But every day we deal with the lingering effects of early institutionalization. If I had the chance,  I would stand in the town square and hail any judge or social worker who would listen of the need to get children in permanent homes as quickly as ethically possible, and to provide meaningful social development in the interim.

Last month our family had the opportunity to attend an educational conference.  In the interest of full disclosure, you can label me a 'reluctant home-schooler'.  Education conferences are not something that ring my bell. I do not get excited researching curriculum, hanging out in online forums discussing the ways in which to improve immature handwriting, nor do I have a framed print of Charlotte Mason over my work desk.  However, I have begun to embrace the reality that we are a home-schooling family, and I need to start thinking --as someone famous noted -- with 'the end' in mind, instead of just dealing with things one year at a time. 

The carrot for this conference was the opportunity to get the children tested academically to make sure they are staying on target.  Little did I know when we registered how many other wonderful resources would be available for those of us with children who learn differently. Or that we would meet such amazing families who understand our situation. Or that we would be ministered to so richly. And as I type this list, I also realized how blessed we are to serve with an agency that doesn't see our children's needs as a hindrance to our service in our host country. 

We live in a fascinating age as discoveries continue to unfold in our understanding of the way God has created us.  Thanks to individualized tests and consultations, we learned some new things about our girl, as well as had some other realities confirmed.  We covet your prayers as we seek a possible therapy regimen to help train her brain to idle a little slower, less stressed. 

In the mean time, we keep taking it, one day at a time, watching our little flower continue to unfold. We praise God for His provision of her needs throughout, this conference just the latest.

Ellie performed an Albanian worship song at the student talent night during the conference.
She was thrilled to have an audience.  Her parents were proud.