Christmas 2012, Pt 1: Bear Claws

This was our year to spend Christmas day with the vanOrman family.  A few days before Christmas, we repeated what we did for Christmas two years ago and drove up to Starved Rock to spend a few days together in a cabin.  It's affectionately been renamed "Bear Claws" by our family. On the way up, we picked up Seth, Bug, and the girls who had traveled out from Vermont on Amtrak.

We like that we can all sleep under the same roof (whereas we're split between the two farm houses, 7 miles apart at home).  While Dad and Nathan were in Albania, Mom and I made up several meals ahead to save cooking time.  By the way, on a completely different note, you will see the all-out butchering job I did on Reni's hair in attempt to be frugal.  Um, I think we'll go back to the $10 cut at Great Clips for a while longer.

You need to eat well to make up for all the calories consumed at the indoor water park, the perfect activity for our family at this stage of life.

We also had fun "grandma time" making cookies.  Warning:  do NOT try Ghiradelli's Chocolate Shortbread cookie mix if you're trying to stick to any new year's resolutions.

 (Above) Look who snuck a drink of Daddy's Sierra Mist when he wasn't looking?  This boy has a serious soft drink craving! (It's all "Diet Cote" to him!)
(Below) My sister tries to eat vegan at home to be healthy so my nieces pig out (pardon the pun) on sausage and bacon when they're with their Gigi and Gjyshe!

We celebrated Pippa's birthday one evening!  (Yes, my nieces are all about the pink).

That, my friends, is what may happen if Ellie and Reni are in the vicinity of your child's birthday candles.  Don't worry, they were scolded.

Candles, Take 2.

Story about the birthday cake.  Apparently my taste in cake doesn't jive with what kids eat.  I mean, why wouldn't a vanilla bean cake with cranberry filling and lemon, cream-cheese icing be eaten enthusiastically?  Nathan told me it was more fitting for a wedding cake.  I say they missed out on something special.

All the swimming, playing, partying, etc. was too much for Reni.  He didn't even finish his pizza and fell asleep right on the hard, wooden chair!

And refused to be roused!  Even though it wasn't even 6PM!

I Like Adoption

I saw this tonight on my friend, Amy's, blog and had to share it.  Quite possibly the best adoption video we've ever seen.  You'll be smiling and tearing up at the same time.  PLEASE  indulge me and take a minute to watch it. You'll be glad you did.



New Film Premiere - I Like Adoption. from ILikeGiving.com on Vimeo.


When the boy with no arms gets in and drives the car, Nathan and I are like, "Oh yeah.  We knew he could do it."  'Cause we know just how much those kids CAN do. Because we see it every. day.

Tonight I read this on Nancy's blog and I'm just going to copy and paste it here because I couldn't say it any better.

...once you set foot in the orphanages and you see the children who are waiting, and see their eyes looking at you, once you see them you can never go back.  You can't un-see them.  You can't un-imprint the mark they leave on your heart.  They live there everyday with no mama to call their own and few prospects. Hundreds of millions of them are out there without a forever family to wrap them up in their arms and call them her own. 

And it's no different when you know lost people.  Hurting. Broken.  Estranged from a heavenly father they don't even know exists. There's no light in their eyes.  But they're chosen.  And need to know.  And that's why we're going.

But when they are redeemed, wow.  It's a beautiful thing to behold.  Like the family in the video above.  

What a privilege we have to join in His business of redemption.  It's hard, and messy, but oh so worth it.

Long-Distance Family

I know some of you with family spread far and wide can relate to the image above.  Last month while Skyping between Illinois and Albania, my niece Pippa chimed in for a little Facetime with her grandma on Gigi's iPhone.  

Nathan took the photo above in Albania. What you see is Pippa in Vermont saying "hi" to her grandpa in Albania via a computer monitor in Illinois.  I guess you could call this our version of conference calling?

Kingdom-Style Recycling

(by Nathan)


For the first year our family is in Albania, we will be living in Planter's Seed Foundation's second floor guest apartment in Tirana. It is a familiar space for us as we stayed there during the adoptions of both Elisona and Reni, as well as pretty much every other visit since 2003. While the apartment has been great for short stays, last February as we walked through it again thinking about being there as a family for our first year of language study, we began to consider ways it might need outfitted for longer-term family living. We have already shared about the installation of the interior stairwell (that will be huge blessing with Reni), but the other need was adapting the kitchen for a family's needs, as well as teams and guests that will also use the space after we move to the village. 

It was indeed a kitchen made for a bachelor (the previous owner) and not for a family that anticipates a lot of hosting and entertaining for ministry. The cabinets were sufficient to hold the basics, but not the tableware,  cookware, and pantry items for feeding groups. The only food prep space was a lone 18 inches of counter top, already fully occupied by a microwave (about the only part of the kitchen regularly used). With a plan that had been percolating for nearly ten years in (mom) Sarah's head, this fall the guest apartment kitchen got an update. What a blessing it will be to enjoy the fruits of her design and space-planning skills as we extend hospitality to all of those the Lord brings across our path!

new cooktop in the guest apartment

Some of our long-time blog readers will remember our Tirana neighbor, Vera. She is a sweet Believer who lives in the adjacent building. This fall Vera lost her brother and last living immediate relative. Her family was persecuted under Communism, and she limps from a hip injury she sustained as a young woman, but she has the love and JOY of the Lord in her life! More than once, she has literally given the coat off her back to someone who was in need. It wasn't a hard decision to pass along the 'old' kitchen to her when the time came.

Vera with her 'new' stove

In November a church team from Vermont arrived to assist with the stairs and kitchen projects. After removing the compact kitchen unit from our apartment, they modified the pieces to fit in Vera's existing space and performed some long-needed home repairs for her. The result is a kitchen with a full stove instead of a glorified toaster oven. Electric and gas burners now give Vera the ability to cook when the electricity is on or off, and a small hot water heater gives her hot water in her kitchen sink for the first time! Leave it to God to use the leftovers from one blessing to bless someone else!

K and M with their Mother

On the other side of the city, a widow with two teenage girls and an adult son have recently moved from the village of Darshen seeking a better life in the city.  On the last Sunday of our visit, my father-in-law David and I had the privilege of going with our colleague, Mondi, to visit this special family .  It was the first time we had seen them since our visit to the mountains last February, and it was good to see that overall they were  happy with their decision to move. Life isn't easy though. The girls work at a factory making Italian-label suits for $6 a day. They walk the 3 miles, one way, to work six days a week,  rain or shine. They found a nice remodeled two bedroom apartment that they all share. It is clean and dry compared to their mountain village home, but the electric heater "isn't quite as warm" as their old wood stove. The mother misses the quiet and her daughters the sheep, but they are thankful to have a job that covers the rent.  

Dad and Mandi unloading Vera's former stove which will be given to K, M and their mother...

Their kitchen has a cutout for a stove but it is empty. A single burner hotplate sits on the floor where the stove was meant to sit. Cooking for four on that hotplate has been another adjustment. Mondi noticed this on an earlier home visit, so instead of retiring Vera's toaster oven/3-burner hotplate, he thought it could have a new life with a deserving family!  Yet another ripple in God's chain of blessing!

that's Vera's former combination toaster oven/hot plate on the right.

I wonder where the single burner will end up?

Catching Up: OCU, LCCA Friends, and Christmas in Lithopolis

Ellie loves to play pretend.  And we are frequently asked by her about different movies or tv shows if something is real or pretend.  In that same vein, if she were to ask about the images on this blog, I would say the following photos really happened.  Let's just 'pretend' that Cydil isn't several weeks behind on posting these images of special memories from our November trip to Ohio!

The week after Thanksgiving we had lots of visits on our schedule...

First up:  Global Cafe` at Ohio Christian University in Circleville.  We were super excited about this since you know college students are our absolute fave (especially those interested in missions) and that we used to 'do' Global Cafe` every Sunday down at Asbury. AND, not the least of which we would also get to hang out with our friends, the Williamsons.  I appreciated seeing how Andrea did things and had so well appointed the WGM house there.

The kids enjoyed hanging out with the Williamson kids and we were also able to have Mom and Dad Waggoner bless us with their presence!  The missions prof attended and afterwards invited Nathan to come share at his class the next morning.  All in all, we were really encouraged by our time with our old (and new) friends at OCU!

The next evening we went to Newark and met the families of a couple of Nathan's high school classmates, Jason and Susannah (Jason was a groomsman in our wedding!).  In the bottom right you can see our first clue that Reni was coming down with something that would eventually knock us (and our plans) down for the rest of the week.  It was a neat evening of conversation and sharing.  Susannah's family is also headed out in the next year for their first term as missionaries in Belize!

After three days cooped up in the house dealing with coughs, colds, and fevers, we ventured out with Mom and Dad W to investigate the nearby village of Lithopolis.

Every time we visit Mom and Dad W, we drive by the beautiful library below.  This particular day I was excited to finally venture indoors!  Wow.  What a treasure for this tiny town!

The children's section of the library hosted all sorts of special activities for children.  Ellie wasn't brave enough for a paint brush to touch her face, but consented to a Santa on her hand.  Reni requested the gingerbread man and made some cute comment about how we would never be able to catch him.  In all subsequent photos, you will see Reni holding his hand out stiff to protect the artwork from smudging.

We don't really 'do' Santa in our family, but I couldn't refuse the photo op.  I wish I could remember everything that was said, but I love out attentively Santa appears to be listening.  He did ask something to the effect of whether or not we had a dog, and Reni told him that his Nonna had a dog, but that she had bad breath.

More "catching up" posts to come!

Gezuar Vitin e Ri! Happy New Year 2013!

Gezuar Vitin e Ri!  Happy New Year!

It's been a very relaxing week and a half of Christmas break.  I think I really needed these days of no schedule, visits with family, playing games and watching movies.  It's no secret that I have a hard time relaxing, but this week I gave myself a pass.  Tomorrow it will all start back up again.  And that's not to say it hasn't been bugging me slightly that my camera's memory card is filling up with images that need processed, sorted, and posted.  And that I have thank you notes that need written, Christmas decorations to put away, and an overflowing tray of paperwork to be filed...

No, I'm not going to think about it.  Instead, I'm going to remember some fun times with the kids and family today, here in the snowy, rolling hills of central Ohio.

Thanks to a gift card and post-Christmas doorbusters at Bergners, Reni and Ellie scored snow pants for a steal. I didn't know how practical the purchase might have been, but I figured they were cheaper than antibiotics and a walk-in clinic fee should even one of them get sick from too much time outside! Yes, Reni's legs look like the ends of tootsie-rolls thanks to his daddy sealing the ends with electrical tape (couldn't find any zip ties) to keep the cold and snow from creeping up his pant legs.

I love the image below with Aunt Rebecca!

We walked a short ways to a little hill on the edge of the development where Mom and Dad live to make some runs with the sleds ... the new stroller was great in the snow!  Yay!

Funny memory from today:
Reni crying because he got snow "sprinkles" on his face and it hurt, then quickly having a change of heart and deciding he LOVED snow, so much that he chomped on it for a good 10 minutes or so.

Our international snow man representing the countries of the Waggoner family ... We couldn't find sticks for arms so we used flags.. then we added Nathan's Albania scarf that he happened to be wearing...

We hit the road to go back to Illinois in the morning.  Hopefully I'll be able to publish some of the blog posts percolating in our brains, as well as share memories of special family times that we don't want to forget!
Now off to bed!  I have a feeling sleep will come easy tonight!

If the last few months are any indication, 2013 will fly in the blink of an eye!  All the more reason to blog!

Merry Christmas from the Waggoners!

This is how God showed his love among us:  He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him....

I JOHN 4:9

No place for a baby!

Monday morning we got the call. The road to Darshen was open after being snowed in for more than a week. David and I scrapped our plans and headed to this Albanian mountain village where Planters has ministered for more than a decade. This trip was a little different though. Instead of hosting a children's program or visiting and assisting the village school, we were there to meet a family that had somehow fallen through the cracks of even this rural society. Mondi, our colleague and translator, 'found' them a few weeks prior and was shocked by their living conditions. He shared his burden for this family and we talked together of the best way to help.

The 25-mile drive took more than an hour and a half through the slushy road. We stopped in front Darshen's pool hall/post office/bar/convenience store and warmed ourselves by the wood stove while Mondi picked out the food staples we would bring on our home visit. Buying the staples in Darshen helps keep the money in the local community. With bags in tow we began our hike up the mountain towards the edge of town. 

The further we got from our van, the more deserted houses we found. Water is hard to come by in the summer, and many families have abandoned their homes in the country for the concrete jungle of the city of Tirana. Many of these homes will be purchased and destroyed for the centuries-old stones they are made from.

As we reached the top of the hill and the end of the road I saw a house that had remained unchanged for a century or more. Unchanged that is except for the satellite-style TV antenna attached to the corner.

It is customary and practical to take your shoes off at the door as you enter a house, but this was different. Boots were needed inside the kitchen/living room as we dodged mud puddles in the dirt floor from a leaking roof. The walls were black from the smoke of a fire with no recessed fireplace. There was a pot of boiling water on the ground heated on a hotplate fed by a bare wire attached to the 220 voltage provided by the state.



Wind blew in windows that held no glass. The 13-inch TV was on, and chickens constantly wandered into the room only to be shooed away by the lady of the house. But most troubling of all was a tightly bound baby strapped into a tiny wooden box with rough rocking legs. This was no place for a baby! 

He cried as we entered and his mother rocked him with her foot as she talked with us. He was the youngest of three. His sisters were in school. One of them as a baby had been burned badly by the fire and the other had pins in her leg from a bad break. This was no place for a baby!

I took a picture of he and his mother and showed it to them on the back of the camera. His eyes brightened and he cracked a smile. A few more pictures, and bigger smiles! He won my heart and troubled my mind. What does the future hold for this precious boy? How will he live to adulthood? This was no place for a baby!

In a village 1000 miles away, 2000 years earlier, another mother wrapped her baby tightly and placed him in a wooden box to keep him safe. She probably shooed away the chickens and tried to avoid a draft. The shepherds kept their shoes on. It was no place for a baby. 

As we left the little house on the hillside in Darshen our hostess quipped, "I don't think heaven comes this far, this feels more like hell." But heaven DID come to a place just like this! It was no place for a baby, but the perfect place for a savior!

----  Nathan