1st Haircut

I don't think I documented the first haircuts of the two eldest.  And really I should have. I mean, Kate went 5 and 1/2 years without a haircut--there was no hair to cut... Not. A. One.

Bless.

So, her first haircut should've been a monumental thing with photographers and fireworks and all kinds of pomp and circumstance.  But ya'll, I was just terrified they were going to cut her back to bald, which wouldn't have taken much. So, no. I didn't take a single picture as I was busy guarding her five pieces of hair.  Thomas' first 5 haircuts, before Kate's first, caused us to downplay them as much as possible.  Poor Kate wanted to be Rapunzel. She wanted bows that weren't pasted to her head, and the girl wanted to get her hair did. (And this momma wanted people to stop making comments about her lack of hair in front of her. She can understand you people! Ugh!) So we downplayed the cutting of Thomas' fast growing mop. And now, nearing her 7th year, she has had... wait for it... TWO! Count 'em! TWO haircuts! What! What!  She can wear beautiful bows without paste, and some days her hair even cooperates enough for a ponytail.  Her littlest brother, with hair as white as hers and as full as Thomas', got his first haircut last week.  He screamed through the whole thing but his two pro-haircut-getter siblings stood by him in support, for a little while anyway.

The sweet old man did the best he could with a squirmy, sca-reaming baby.

We started with a beautiful purple cover, but Isaiah wasn't having it. Perhaps, the purple just wasn't macho enough for him. Thomas and Kate quickly lost interest and became involved in their own needs and wants. "I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. I want ice cream. You said we could have ice cream. I want it now. When can we go home? I want to go home. Isn't this life all about me?" all while Isaiah continued to scream. Deep breaths everyone cause we are on display. This guy from "the cousin faith" is watching, listening. This guy needs to see a picture of love and grace, and so. do. my. children... 

Brian's barber did a great job. He has now met the whole family and seen us at our worst. Oy. And so we have a leg to stand on when we talk about being saved from our sin nature, and maybe he will begin to yield a listening ear to all that Brian has been telling him about Jesus, the Lord of all who doesn't ask us for perfection. He knows we can't do it. He just asks us to trust in his finished work, his grace that saves to the uttermost--even stressful haircut days with whiney uncooperative children. Yep, even there.

Look at that little stud and his new doo. 

His first haircut will go down in history as yet another lesson that my kids can go from sweet and supportive to flat-out mad-crazy selfish beasts in less than half a second and that I seriously need to work on a patient tone of voice that doesn't sound like something from "The Walking Dead." And well, of course the day isn't a complete loss, cause we learned even more about grace. Ha. Bless us all.

When you Completely Ignore the Opportunity

After a week of coughing and sniffling, cleaning up the effects of the stomach virus, and riding out the wretched virus myself, I was beat. It took everything I had to get to our Sunday morning worship. Weak, tired and still a little nauseous I got the kids dressed, helped my ailing husband lock-up the house and latch the children in the car and off to church we went.  By the time I got to church, the three minute car ride had my stomach whirling. I got the kids inside the church building and walked across the street with the smallest Davis to get some sort of soda in hopes of it soothing my stomach.  As I walked in I saw two very familiar faces--the guy who owns the shop, knows my story, and currently wants nothing to do with it --and the other, one of the people who lives on the street of our coffee house/church building. I said the usual, "Dobar Den." "Good day.", and really hoped that would be the end of the conversation. I didn't feel like saying another word.  I heard every word of their conversation, though, as I walked to the back of the tiny store to grab a Fanta. I didn't know what or whom exactly they were talking about, but there was camaraderie in their banter. They agreed. They were on the same side. And the side they came down on was that everyone "messes up." Everyone! No one is perfect. No one has ever been perfect. No one!

If there was ever a moment when Jesus could have entered the conversation it was right then. He could have walked in and said, "I was perfect. I am perfect. And I love you--all of you with all of your imperfections, your mess-ups, your sins, I love you. And I want to make you holy as I am holy. I died for you while you were still dead in your sin, and I want to make you alive in Me. I want you to know me and be found in me. I took all of your mess-ups, your sins, on the cross. Nails were beaten into my hands and feet and a crown of thorns was pressed into my brow. And with every drop of my blood, I covered your sins. I will bring you to life through the power of my resurrection. Just repent of your sins, believe in me as Lord, and your faith will make you well."

Did He want to use me to say those beautiful true words to them? Did he want me to speak up and speak love, grace, hope into their conversation? Of course. Did I obey him and make the most of the very obvious opportunity before me? Nope. I paid for my drink, agreed with the lady when she looked at me and said, "We all mess up. We're all sinners, right?", said, "Ciao." and walked out.

I.Walked.Out. I left two people who were hopelessly saying 'mankind is a bunch of screw-ups and we are included in that and, well, what are we gonna do about it?' to figure it out on their own.  I HAVE THE ANSWER and I walked out in silence.

I could make excuses.  In fact, all afternoon and even through the darkest part of the night, I made some pretty good points to that gnawing conviction in my stomach. I was feeling nauseous. Church was about to start. I had a very ill baby in my arms. I was ill. I had no energy to engage. They have heard me talk about Jesus before. They already know. 

Those excuses didn't make me feel better. I knew what I should've done. I knew I failed. I knew I had only thought of myself at that moment.

And so what do you do when you know you should've said something and you just didn't? What do you do when you feel guilty for not taking the opportunity that God put in your lap to share of His powerful redeeming love?

Confess to the giver of the Good News that you messed up. He is faithful and just to forgive us all of our unrighteousness. He is kind to lead us to repentance.  Let him deal with your selfish heart like a gentle Father with his child. But oh! rest in the grace that your debt has been paid in full. His burden is light. He did not save you to wallow in the guilt of your filthy rags. No. He saved you to depend on the fullness of His awesomeness. His goodness. His righteousness. So humbly come before him, and say, "I'm sorry. I sinned. Forgive me." And as He promises, He will. Fellowship restored. Peace acquired.

Remember that He is pursuing those individuals that you may have passed over. He hasn't passed them over yet. Proof: they are having conversations about the failures of mankind.  They hate it, and they want more. They are searching for better. They are searching for good.  It is His goodness that has caused them to begin to see this. He is after their hearts like a passionate lover because, my goodness, He loves them passionately! Trust in His unfailing love and sovereignty, not just over you, but also over the lost around you.

Ask God for another chance to share with these people you ignored. Look for that chance prayerfully, expectantly and readily. I believe he will be faithful to grant that request.

Be ready... for the next time. Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that it is you.

I failed miserably on Sunday, but I know that I am still accepted and loved by my Lord and Savior. I know that He is still pursuing the people here regardless of my failures. I am sure His grace is sufficient to let me keep on telling His story of how He brings people from darkness into His marvelous light.

I write this to set as a remembrance of the time I could've, of the time I should've, and pray that next time, by His grace, I will be faithful to answer those who are lost and undone with words of hope and healing.  No excuses. No regrets. By His grace...

Summer Concerts

We get pretty excited around here when we see believers and churches getting all wrapped up in Matthew 28:19-20. And we are thrilled when we see Balkan believers getting fired up about telling people the story of Jesus. Like squealing and shrilling thrilled!!!  It's big, y'all! This week a team of 8 believers from Croatia, who are members of a band called, Adonai, came to Macedonia to use their talents for the glory of God--to make His name famous here and around the Balkans.  

They preformed two concerts in Ohrid, one Friday night and one Saturday night. Between the two concerts, we were able to hand 250 New Testaments and have a lot of gospel-centered conversations with a few of the hundreds of people who stopped in to listen.

The concert was in the center square of our city--exactly where you want to be in the summer. YAY! Thomas hung out at the foot of the statue during set-up. 

Set up and warm up

Pretty cool location, uh?

The concerts were amazing.  They are so very talented and drew a huge crowd. The first night we were able to have a table for New Testaments set up to give out to people. The second night, we were told we couldn't do that, but we were still able to give out lots of New Testaments just by walking around handing them to people.

If you look close, you can see Thomas, Kate, and two of their best friends standing up front.  

The group joined us for church Sunday morning and did a great job of leading us in worship. So good, y'all!!!  It was such a privilege to get to know them and partner with them in reaching this neck of the Balkans with the good news of Jesus. Sunday night, they headed to Struga, the town right next door. They will be in a different city of Macedonia for the next couple of nights this week. I've already heard reports that last night went great with lots more Bibles handed out and lots more gospel-conversations had.  So thankful!!!  God is SO good and SO kind!  Pray for them this week as they boldly proclaim Christ as Savior and Lord through music and personal testimony.

Summer

It is a blast getting to live in Ohrid in the summer. Granted there are days when I could do without the traffic, lack of parking and crowds, but we mostly love Ohrid in the summer (and every other season). What with kite-flying on a breezy beach and the amazing (cheap) produce that fills the corner mini-markets, how could you not like it?!  We have had our fair share of adventures this summer. There have been x-rays, stitches, lots of skinned knees and elbows, beach days, road-trips, long walks with friends, and lots of cold coffees. 

Kate finished school in June and did amazing.  

I am so thankful for how the Lord blessed her with tons of friends, a great teacher and the ability to learn and thrive in her second language. She did great, and we are so proud of her.

The teachers take a couple of weeks to prepare the report cards after school has let out. It is basically a paragraph on how she did in each subject and there were only positive words to describe her achievements.  So proud!

We let her have a sleep over with some of her best friends from school.  They watched Frozen and danced and played Barbies and giggled like little girls are supposed to.  My favorite part was listening to all of them sing "Let it Go" at the top of their lungs in English with their cute Macedonian accents. 

We have been able to take lots of days at the beach with friends.  It's where the people are so we might as well be there too. :) 

And yes, there have been days when the children have literally been climbing the walls. 

Brian was able to do the Legion run with some friends down in Greece. We are still digging out splinters from that adventure, but he had a blast.

Lots of bike-riding around the neighborhood.

The neighbors love watching Isaiah toddle by.  He stops in people's yards and says hi, waves goodbye and keeps on going to see who he can meet next.  

Brian and I celebrated our 10 years anniversary (finally) in Venice without the children (can I get an Amen!)! It was unbelievably good! So thankful for cheap airfare, tax returns, and amazing friends who we can trust to keep our babies so we can relax and just enjoy one another!!!

Tasting the local produce is always a summer time favorite.  

There is Isaiah taking a bite out of a delicious Ohrid tomato. Yum!

And the summer art projects are always fun. Who needs paper when you have perfectly good skin to draw on?!

We took a trip up to Skopje (our little American get-away) and saw a movie, went bowling and did some shopping (YAY!) AND ate Burger King and Dominoes. Yum!  (No judgement! We eat stuff over here that we wouldn't normally eat in the states just because it's American, and it is amazing after you have been without American burgers and pizza for a while.:))

The summer allows for long afternoon naps because it is just too hot to do much else.  Most people eat lunch and take a rest from 4-6.  We have joined in on the 4-6 rest this year.  It's my favorite time of day. :)  Once we rise from nap, we get ready and head outside to hang with the neighbors who are out with their kids in the street, or we meet friends for a walk by the lake in the cool evening air.  

We have had the opportunity to get to know one particular family even better this summer. Conversations and intentional time spent with them is beginning to bear fruit, and we are so thrilled to see the Lord opening their eyes to his love and their need for him.  After months of prayer, this summer afforded them the time for Brian to study the Bible with them for the first time. We are so thankful! Like always we can see the enemy trying to destroy their desire to learn about the Lord--to convince them their traditions and vain religious practices are enough, and so we ask that you pray for them to be hungry for more of the Word, to be convicted of their sin, and to turn to Him for salvation. 

There are only a couple more weeks of these dog-days.  So we are off to enjoy them.

A Tripod and Some 'Cheese'

I finally got some updated family pictures taken. Brian did it for me for Mother's Day, and considering we did it with a tripod and a camera remote, I think they turned out pretty good.  

Thomas's face.... That child...

Technical difficulties.

That man! He makes me swoon!

Crazy fun!

Love these three so much! Brian always spoils me good on Mother's Day.  The kids got me flowers for my window boxes on the terrace.  My balcony is now full of a rainbow of colorful flowers from all of my babies. Brian even bought me flowers from the one that waits for us in heaven, the one we never got to hold. But even as we long for him, we are not without hope....

LOVE these people!!!! 

The "Great" Day

In Macedonian, Easter is literally translated, "The Great Day." I love that. What I hate is that only a handful of people really understand, have really tasted, why it is so great.  The weekend of Easter is always a good one--full of opportunities to point to the crucified and risen Lord. Because we live among an Orthodox people, they take this holiday very seriously.  It is one of the biggest weekends of the year, and every day is full of traditions that have been past down for centuries.  They start on Thursday morning. Before the sun rises, they get up and dye eggs red to symbolize the blood of Jesus. There are some people who do green eggs, blue eggs, purple eggs, etc, but those people are often regarded as less spiritual than those of their devout counterparts who only do red eggs. They do not hide the eggs around the yard for the children to run around and find for a prize. No, this is serious.  No games allowed. Friday is normally very quiet. Some people go to the church to light candles.  Many people take their dyed eggs to the church to be blessed by the priest.  One lady told me she takes her eggs and socks to be blessed for good health.  Mothers and grandmothers wipe the dyed egg on the faces of the children so that they will have good health. Brian went to the church building on Friday with a friend. There was a table full of eggs and people crawling under it three times. He asked his friend why they were doing that, and he said, "For good health." He wasn't sure but he said that the table, which is put out only out on Friday, represented Jesus's grave and that is why they passed under it.

Here is the table that gets set out on Friday

Easter Saturday is also a relatively quiet day around town. Some people are out buying new clothes (another "healthy" tradition). Others are buying their meat for Sunday lunch. I, too, ran to the butcher shop Saturday to grab something yummy for our Easter dinner and there was a line out the door.  Everyone was waiting to buy their lambs.  There were whole, skinned lambs hanging from the ceiling. Lambs were being chopped into pieces and hauled out the door to meet their destiny on a platter.  You think that is gross, you should've tried smelling it.  It was almost enough to make me forego meat altogether for the rest of my life. I stuck it out, and thought how very appropriate it all was.  I asked one lady why everyone eats lamb on Easter. I was testing, just to see what her answer would be. Maybe she would get it.  Her answer wasn't surprising. "Tradition. For good health." 

It was cold and rainy, so we stayed inside the rest of the day.  It was a great time as a family. On Friday we read the story of the crucifixion and tried to read at the time increments that were given in the Bible.  Kate kept a watch on the clock for us so we wouldn't miss reading about every event on the cross.  We all stopped what we were doing at noon and 3 P.M. to read about what happened at that time on that dark and glorious day almost 2,000 years ago. We, even the four and six year old, were able to stay focused on the price that Jesus paid for us that dark Friday.  We listened  to "Jesus in My Place" by Matt Papa several times all throughout the day, and we talked about the giver of life, laying down his life so that we can have life abundantly.  That's what it is about.  Sure, we want good health. We sometimes even pray for it. But Jesus came that in our fleshly sufferings, there is hope. The question I am compelled to ask everyone here is what if Jesus died so that we could have more than good health? I'm talking holiness, righteousness, LIFE!  Maybe we get do sick with a cold or the flu or something way worse. It doesn't change the fact that Jesus died to give us abundant life so that in life or in death we KNOW we are His. This light momentary affliction is creating for us an eternal weight of glory. Why? How? Because of the cross of Christ through the resurrection! 

A neighbor gave me these eggs Sunday morning (per tradition). 

Исус Воскресна. Вистина Воскресна. 

"Jesus is Risen. Truly He has risen." 

This is what you say when you greet someone the three days after Easter. I love it, but again, most do not know why it matters.  Praise the Lord this is an open door to tell them of the power of the cross and resurrection of Jesus and how it can change their life forever.

Leading believers in worship of our risen Lord.

Sunday we spent the day with believers in our city and in the city nearby.  It was a fantastic time of worship and fellowship. I basically felt like dancing all day.  Y'all, Jesus is alive!!!  Let's get excited! The next few days, we were in homes of close friends making the most of this opportunity of 'The Great Day' to talk about why it is so great--why every day is so great because Jesus paid the price for our sins. He did it all. He finished the work. He satisfied the wrath of God. He died a criminal's death. He died the death that I deserved. He covered my sins. He was buried. But, then, He arose. He's alive!!!  And he has made me alive together with him!!! Good health or not, my Jesus, my Savior, my Lord, he did it all and then he called me His own to the glory of God the Father! We're pretty excited about it! It really does make every day great! 

"This is life. This is grace. Jesus in my place."

Happy 1st Isaiah

It is ridiculously unbelievable that the littlest Davis is already a year old.  How did that happen?! Where did the time go?  These are the questions I have been asking since Kate turned one, and I suppose I will be asking them for the rest of my life. We are so blessed to have this handsome happy little dude in our lives.  He is such a joy, a precious treasure, a gift we don't deserve.  He makes us laugh every day.  Makes us stop and enjoy some sweet cuddle time several times a day and makes us further understand the deep love that our Heavenly Father has for us.  

We decided to have a small version of the Macedonian style first birthday party (not as much like a wedding reception and more like a party for a child) with some of our closest friends here.  We had the party at a little play-place for kids.  So good for everyone.  I didn't have to have a clean house and had nothing to clean up after the party. Kate and Thomas along with the other kids at the party had slides and trampolines and other sweat-inducing play things to enjoy during the party.  The girls who worked at the play-place served everything so I could just visit with the guests and best yet, there was a start and a finish.  This introverted momma loves when there is an "end time" to a party.  Thank you, Lord, for that!!! I think Isaiah was grateful for that, too.

These were Isaiah's little cupcake toppers.  We just took some of our favorite pictures of him and printed them off, wallet size, on some card stock paper, cut out his head, glued a party hat (a paper triangle) to the top, and taped it to a skewer. So easy and so cute.  (Thank you pinterest for the idea.) The guests loved them. Several women went around trying to collect all the different Isaiah heads for their party souvenir. 

Hee. Hee. I love it.

Look at that handsome boy and his handsome daddy.

Little man. 

So big and so handsome in his little button down-collared shirt and slacks. 

Greeting his guests who were still arriving an hour after the party started. :) He was such a good little host.

Kate and Thomas enjoyed the play area at the party.

Isaiah and all his big friends.

The candle was a little scary. That's how they like it here in Macedonia. It's not a birthday until some child has almost singed his eyebrows off.

Our little family with a big 6 year old, 4 year old and ONE year old!

Isaiah and his birthday pancake. 

Whoo! I'm one!!!

 

His very first cupcake.  It took him forever to finally dig into it.

Once he figured out how yummy it was, he tried to stuff the whole thing in his mouth.

Yum! Sugar!

From his grand entry into this crazy Davis world last year, he has captured my heart completely.  He is a cuddly 23 lb. load of sugary sweetness. A thousand of his snuggles and cuddles and I would still want more.  His giggles and excitement every time we play peek-a-boo make it my favorite game, too. He loves music, bath time, and skyping with grandparents. He adores his big brother and sister and wants to be just like them.  His 8 teeth and constant drool make for one amazing smile. He loves to wave bye-bye accompanied by the most beautiful "Buh-Buh" you've ever heard.  He can walk like a chubby little champ if you just hold his hands. He is one loved little baby who is becoming less and less like a baby every day.

Isaiah Hunter, you are loved and honored in the eyes of your creator God. You are precious in his eyes. He sustains you and provides for you every day. He loves you with an everlasting love. He sings over you. You were created for Him, to love Him, to know Him, to worship Him with your whole life. I pray every day that you will know the one who died so that you won't have to fear death, so that you can live a full and abundant life. I pray that you will be found in Him and that you will live your life to know Him more and to make Him known among the nations.  I love you, my sweet sweet Isaiah Bug. You are my precious boy and I am so incredibly beyond grateful that I get to be your mommy.  Happy First Birthday!