28 years and Grateful

Below is part of the email my momma sent me this morning.
"Its just 10 minutes till the 30th here, though its already
the 30th there. You were born exactly 28 years ago at 8:48
tonight, Super Bowl Sunday! And our doctor (Magazi) kept
telling us he was on his "bipper" while he was watching the
game. He was Egyptian. :0))"

Thanks momma (and daddy) for giving me life, raising me, loving me unconditionally, and teaching me to love God. I am so grateful for both of you today (and everyday). Thank you for being faithful to our Lord, for loving Him first and loving each other so passionately. You were truly an example of how I want to be. I love you both so much.
I heard this song this morning and thought it appropriate for you both today



She rises up as morning breaks
She moves among these rooms alone
Before we wake
And her heart is so full; it overflows
She waters us with love and the children grow

So many years from now
Long after we are gone
These trees will spread their branches out
And bless the dawn
These trees will spread their branches out
And bless someone

Your branches have spread all the way to Macedonia. ;)

Sarma = YUM!!!

One of my absolute favorite Macedonian specialties is sarma, stuffed cabbage leaves. It's not something that ever sounded appetizing to me, and the first time I was invited over to someone's house to eat it, I was a little nervous. I am not really a sauerkraut girl. Brian is a Yankee of Polish decent so, I knew for certain (from Easter dinners) that I could stomach soured cabbage, but it is certainly not something I craved. The Macedonian version of soured cabbage leaves stuffed with meat is INCREDIBLE! You have to give it a try. It's worth the time and effort-trust me.

Macedonian Sarma

1 large head of brined cabbage (see below)
2 lbs. grounded meat (beef or combination of beef and pork)
1 cup rice
2 medium onions chopped
2 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoon of paprika
cooking oil
water, liquid from the brined cabbage or vegetable soup
1 tablespoon chicken boullion
salt and pepper

First saute the onions in oil about 2 minutes. Add the meat and saute until the meat is cooked. Add the rice and cook about 5-10 minutes. Add salt, pepper and boullion. The rice should be half cooked. Take out the leaves from the cabbage and cut the thick parts from the leaf. Add the filling onto the leaf and wrap it while you tuck in the ends of the leaf. Cut the thick parts from the leaves and all the leaves that are left. Into a deep pot, place the cut cabbage leaves then the meat-filled leaves (sarmas), than again cabbage leaves then rolled leaves until all is gone (you should finish with cut leaves) into a deep pot. When you're putting the sarmas try to put them as close to one another as you can so that they won't unwrap. Add the water, liquid from the brined cabbage or vegetable soup until the sarmas are covered. Add little salt and pepper. Now, if you're baking it, close the pot with lid than bake it for 2 hours at 350 C. If you're cooking it onto stove, close the pot with plate and onto the plate place something heavy (at my home we're having a river rock which is used only for that purpose). If you don't do this there's a chance that the sarmas will unwrap when it comes to a boil. Cook it for about 2 hours. After 2 hours take out the pot and remove the lid or the plate. In a pan add about 6 tablespoons oil then fry the flour until golden. Than add the paprika. Add this into the sarmas, than cook it (open pot this time) for about 5 minutes. Try it and you'll see that it's worth the effort.

This recipe was taken from: http://macedonianfood.blogspot.com/2009/01/sarma.html

I am not real sure where you can get a head of brined cabbage in the states, but you can always make your own like this: 
Boil a head of cabbage for about 10 minutes in a mixture of water and vinegar. As the leaves soften, gently peel them away, cut them free, and lay them flat. It's important that they not tear, so be gentle.

Love Story

Brian and I just celebrated SEVEN years of marriage on January 24th. WOW! We were able to get away for a couple of days and spend some time together just the two of us. It was great. As we reflected on the last 7 years it is so evident that God's hand has been all over us. He has been so faithful to grow us in Himself and grow us together as one body with one goal and passion in this life. We went from living a very comfortable American dream kind of life at the beginning of our marriage to living out our passion among the people of Macedonia. We have said numerous goodbyes together, poured over one another in prayer, learned really hard lessons together, and told each other the hard truth sometimes. We have learned a new language together, moved...a LOT, made new friends, we have cried together (ok, mainly I'm the one crying), we have certainly laughed together, we have had a lot of cups of coffee, a lot of fun and some very hard conversations. We have sharpened one another as iron sharpens iron. We have learned the meaning of grace in a whole new way. We have been blessed with two beautiful, healthy kids. We have prayed over them together. We have been blessed beyond what we could have ever asked or imagined. Our love abounds still more and more for one another.

We pray that you have seen an example of Christ and His love through our marriage. That is our passion and goal: we want to bring Him glory in our relationship with each other and with our children and we want others to see and know that God's hand is sustaining us and growing us together. We want you to see Jesus in our marriage. We pray that you have and that more and more you will see an example of His great love for you in us.

We hope you enjoy the song. This is our love story.

Girl Time

December was a big month for the our women's outreach. We hosted a Breast Cancer Awareness Day as well as a Taste of American Holidays. Both went GREAT!

We didn't have a fantastic turn-out for the Breast Cancer Awareness Day. I personally blame it on the rain. We had a believer from Skopje who is a doctor and a breast cancer survivor come and speak. She did a great job! We sent all of the women home with a bag of information on physical health as well as spiritual health. We have already seen fruit from that day. Praise the Lord.

Most of the women in the picture below are believers who came from Skopje to help out

with the event. They were a huge help and we are so grateful!!!!

The Taste of American Holidays was an absolute hit!!! The women loved coming and tasting all the yummy food we eat around the holidays. The menu was complete with turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cheese ball, crock-pot weinees, spiced nuts, and lots of Christmas cookies. It was a blast! We were able to give every woman that came a cookbook full of American recipes, Bible verses and the Gospel presentation in it. This event will probably become an annual thing!

We had sugar cookies for the kids that came. They painted and decorated them, and I think they loved this American tradition.

Also, just so you all know our two new journeymen arrived the end of November and they are pretty stinkin' great!!! I love them both so much already and I am so grateful for how God has already used them here in Ohrid. Pray for them as they focus on learning the language for the next month and a half and for their transition into coffee house ministry after that.