To a Deluxe Apartment in the Sky...

We've moved on up to a deluxe apartment in the sky...

Our own little version of house-hunters international finally came to end almost one whole month ago when we settled on one place. It wasn't our dream place. It wasn't the house with the yard and fruit trees on a cute little backstreet of Sofia, and there was no bathtub. But like all those international house-hunters, you learn you can't get everything you want and sometimes, you have to lay down all those crazy expectations. We did find a great place that we love and that already feels like home. We are on the fifth floor of a sixteen story concrete building. There is a beautiful park and playground outside that is always full of children riding bikes and playing. There is a great little store right at the bottom of our stairs full of fresh fruits, veggies and other daily necessities that makes life so much easier. We are within walking distance of the city center, metros, trams and buses that will take us wherever we need to go in the city. And the apartment itself is so lovely. We are so thrilled the Lord opened the door for us to live here in this great location, and we prayerfully wait to see how He is going to use us and grow us here in this new home.

The moving-in process was chaotic to say the least. If you've ever moved with kiddos, you know it's no easy feat. But moving internationally, with kids, is a special level of chaos that can only make you think of Dante's Inferno at every new box and every new bag of IKEA screws. We had some furniture and belongings shipped from SE Asia, we had 15 suitcases that we brought from the states full of winter boots, coats, homeschool materials, toys and every other thing we could throw in there including American candy for those hard days we knew were on the horizon. And then we descended on IKEA for beds and a few more odds and ends for our new home. 

 

Brian and his helpers put together 4 beds, 3 wardrobes (because only American homes are blessed with closets), 1 loveseat, 1 ottoman, 1 coffee table, 1 tv stand, 2 bookshelves, and 2 chests of drawers. 

1 truck load of boxes that was finally released from customs and delivered,

and with it all, this was our new circle of ...  Well, this was our reality for several days.

And this. 

Where does one put all of this trash? You sneak it through the halls, down the small elevator and to the small little dumpsters outside your building when no one is looking so you don't get yelled at for filling up the dumpster. Brian only got fussed at once, but it was a good verbal lashing. So after that, we made the kids take out the trash because we figured surely they wouldn't yell at the beautiful blonde children. Every time we left the building, we took a load down. We would run by the dumpster and do a dive and dump. Head down! Throw it in and run!

Once the dust and trash started to clear, the kids had fun playing with the boxes. They built houses, chairs, and spaceships with their new brown toys. We should've just skipped IKEA and let our children build our furniture out of all of that cardboard. I could've slept in a cardboard spaceship for a while. I was so tired I could've slept anywhere. 

Today, almost a month later, the kids are playing in their rooms, there are pictures on the walls, our favorite cozy blankets are on our beds, and there is food in the fridge. Through the open windows, I can hear the traffic of Sofia and the sounds of children playing on the playground downstairs. And it truly feels like home. We are so thankful. And all of those things I wanted, like a yard... well, maybe I just don't need them. Maybe God has provided in other ways. Maybe this is where my kids will make some of the best memories of their childhood--not in a private fenced-in backyard, but in a public space where tons of kids come and go every day. Maybe I will make great mom friends here. Maybe God will open up doors for us to see families meet Him, right there, in that public space, with car horns and revving engines in the background. Maybe God will allow us to build deep and meaningful relationships with the neighbors in this giant concrete building. Maybe people will bow their heads in humble surrender right here on my new loveseat.

Maybe we don't get all we wanted or hoped for, but maybe this is the good God has for us and for this neighborhood to know Him for His glory. 

And so today we thank God 

for a great swing

 that's so fun. 

We thank Him for a tree to climb because our babies love climbing trees, and as silly as it may seem, it was one of my prayers. Give them a place to run and trees to climb.

And y'all, He did! How He loves us so!

We thank him for smiles and giggles and new adventures in our new home.

 He is good all the time in every place. 

Jesus in Her Place

Our sweet girl made a huge decision over two years ago. She was young, to be sure. She's still young. But I have no doubt that she committed her life to Christ. She admitted that she was full of sin and that she needed a savior to restore her relationship to her Holy Creator. She believed on Jesus as the only one who could save her. She believed that His death on the cross was for her sins and that His resurrection gave her new life. She chose, on her own, to turn from her sin, and believe in Him as the one who took her death, took her place and made her alive. And for two years as we walked with her through scripture and as she read on her own, she asked to be baptized. Jesus says to be baptized. I need to do that. When can I do that? And since we believe one of the biggest lessons we need to teach and model to our children is obedience to God, we decided preventing her from being baptized because of her age would be wrong. So our little sister in Christ, who loves Jesus so much, made her faith public in front of our home church in Raleigh while we were stateside. She understood the symbol that baptism is. She understood that her old sinful man has been buried with Christ and the new creation has been raised with Him to new life, and she wanted to tell the world through the symbol of baptism. She knows baptism doesn't save her. She knows only Jesus is her salvation.

One of the pastors at our church asked her two questions: 1) Do you believe Jesus did everything needed to save you? 2) Are you willing to follow Him wherever He leads you? She answered a rousing yes! to both.

And so, Brian had the privilege of baptizing her.

Jesus in My Place. Jesus in Her Place. She is His, and He is hers.

My heart!

This girl, my precious baby, my sister in Christ. Her faith is young (though somedays stronger than mine), but she loves her Savior. She loves His Word and loves learning more about Him. She is learning to be obedient. As I read in a book one time, her faith is like a small sapling tree. The tree is real, alive, and has roots in the soil. But that tree needs to be tethered to a larger tree to be able to withstand the storms until it grows stronger and can stand on its own. This is raising our children in Christ. We don't doubt their faith or make them prove it. We tether them to ourselves, teach them, model Christ to them, hold them fast as they grow, point them to Jesus, and as their roots grow deeper in Him and as they bear more and more fruit, we can begin to let them grow on their own.

The following was the song playing in the background as she was baptized. It couldn't be more fitting.

"The Lamb of God in my place. Your blood poured out, my sin erased. It was my death you died. I am raised to life. Hallelujah! The Lamb of God."

We are rejoicing with our girl! We are praising our great God! 

The Body in Action Again

Isaiah is getting better. We think.  He was fever free for about 4 hours today which is the longest he has gone in over four days. He played ball for a while and ate some crackers which is a good sign. Praise the Lord! We still don't have a diagnosis, but it is looking like it isn't anything serious and that the meds they are giving him are working.  Thank you for praying us through this!

I have said it before, and I will say it loudly again.  I love the Body of Christ!  Here we are in a new town a bagillion miles away from anything familiar, we have no home, we don't know the language, our babies have all but gotten over jet-lag, and our little Bug is sick in the hospital. It could be dark, lonely, stressful. And to be sure we have had those moments of stress and feelings of lostness, of loneliness.

But there She is. Brothers and sisters, children of God, members of the same Body, loving one another like crazy, bearing one another up in prayer and in real, live, practical ways. She does wild things, compelled by love her Savior and her brothers and sisters.

As we sit with our Isaiah as he fights fever and infection, I keep thinking about all that the Body of Christ here in SE Asia and around the world has done for us over the last few days. And my heart is full of thankfulness!

Sitting with our kids until late, late at night while we rush our burning hot baby to the ER. 

Bringing by bags of snacks and goodies. 

Sending texts, fb messages and calling to say, "I'm praying." 

Bringing by a delicious dinner because hospital food is bad everywhere! 

Sending homemade magically delicious coffee cake warm out of the oven. 

Keeping our Thomas so that he can play and not be cooped up in the hospital room. 

Grabbing our Kate from school, helping her with homework, and washing her clothes so that she has a uniform for school tomorrow. 

Keeping our kids over night even though it isn't really convenient, and it certainly isn't easy. But poor little Isaiah didn't have to have a screaming fit again because his beloved daddy left. He got to keep his mommy and daddy by his side tonight. 

 

And people all over the world praying for our boy to be healed and for our family to get through this.

Once again I am in awe of the Body of Christ. Y'all, those people here who are making giant sacrifices for us aren't doing these things because we have been the best of friends for years and years. They have known us for like five minutes, and yet here they are serving me and my family by stepping in where we are weak and bearing us up so that we can get through this muck and mess.  It's God's beautiful grace poured out on me yet again.  I'm so undeserving. I have never done anything like this for these families who are serving us. They aren't just paying it forward or paying me back. No, they don't owe me anything. They simply love Jesus and because of that, they love me, they consider me family and they have treated me as such. It is wild and reckless and beautiful.  And I am so thankful!  I love seeing and being a part of God's plan for His church as it is lived out in practical ways all over the world. I love that some of you have stopped dead in your tracks to intercede on our behalf. I love that some of you haven't stopped praying since you heard he was sick.  I love calling you wonderful people my brothers and sisters. Thank You for loving us so well!!!

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.

The Kiddos

The kiddos love it when I take pictures of them, and as far as I am concerned you just can't have too many pictures of these pretty faces. 

Life as of late has involved Kate falling more and more in love with school.  The girl loves to learn and loves to be with her friends at school. She has started speaking in Macedonian again, and I know she understands pretty much everything.  Thanks so much for praying about that with us! God is good. She has started playing basketball, and it is one of the cutest things ever. She plays with 6-9 years olds which I feel like is a big age jump, but the big kids don't seem to faze her. She is much braver than her momma. :)  

After a good start to preschool, Thomas has once again decided that he just can't/won't do it, and the hysterics that ensue at drop-off every morning have caused his school to suggest we find another option. Not. So. Good.  I have struggled over this...big time. But he has got to learn the language. But he won't learn it at home. But he needs to be with some other kids... But he is miserable... BUT God... (I love the "But God's" in scripture) Our great God has so graciously opened a door for a private preschool here (I didn't even know such a thing existed), and what's more is that it is very close to home (we can hear the kids playing from our back porch). The teacher speaks some English, and the group of kids is MUCH smaller which won't be so overwhelming for him.  He will be starting there next week. We believe that God's hand is in this. He heard our prayers, and He gave an obvious answer.  Thanks to all of you who have been praying for Thomas.  Pray that transition into this preschool goes much smoother. (Is it me or have I asked that before??? Ha!)  

 

In other news, Isaiah is trying is hardest to crawl and he has started solids.  He is one happy little boy as long as you keep that cutie little belly full. He gets that from me. ;)  

Thanks so much for praying our little family.  

Getting Settled

We are finally back in Ohrid and it feels wonderful to be home.  We found a great house back in a wonderful little neighborhood.  We even have a semi-yard. Granted there is no grass, but the little plot of cement is our plot of cement, and we are excited about it. It is the closest thing to a yard we have had with kids in Macedonia. They are enjoying riding their bikes around our 4 foot by 5 foot yard, and I am happy because there is a nice fancy gate that separates them from the road.  Kate and Thomas have already made a few friends, and I am so happy to be in a neighborhood with lots of little kids. God is so good to answer our prayers. He knows how to give good gifts to His children, and I am so thankful.

This is our house.

We are still working on getting our place set up. We have two floors of the house, but the bottom floor is still occupied with tourists. So we are basically still living out of suitcases.  In my down-time (aka while I nurse Isaiah cause what other down-time does a mom of three who is moving have), I have been scanning pinterest for some design ideas, not that we can do much to our rented home, but I am so excited to make this place "ours."

While we have been getting set up, the kids have had to occupy themselves a lot...

Isaiah went for a swim in the laundry.

Thomas terrorized his little brother. Notice only one of them is smiling...

Kate read some books to keep Isaiah busy.

Isaiah smiles at me every time I walk by with another box to unpack.  Sweet baby.

And Kate learned to ride her bike without training wheels. Golly, she's getting big!

Thank you to all of you who prayed for a place for us. The One who is faithful provided all that we needed and more.  Pray that we will build good relationships with those around us and that those relationships will bear fruit to the glory of God.  

The Trip

We finally made it to Macedonia after a long but wonderful time in the states. We went to church with my mom and dad, got loved on and prayed for by the precious people at their church, climbed into the church bus, and we were off.

We hit McDonald's one last time (no more McDonald's in Macedonia. Boo.), and the kids got their last Happy Meal toy for a while.

 Then we hit the Charlotte airport with great force. 

Thomas' face and shirt say it all.

We said our final goodbyes to Granna and Poppa, and Kate and I cried all the way through security. We were those people that made a scene at every turn. With insane amounts of luggage (12 suitcases, five carry-ons, five pieces of hand luggage, and a carseat), two preschoolers, an infant, and a stroller, it felt like the whole world was staring. First with checking in that much luggage, and then crying through security, we got lots of "Oh!"'s and "Poor thing." Once we were through security and were trying to gather our stuff back up for the trek across the airport, one lady said "You guys deserve a medal. You are the family of the year." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have an audience. I do appreciate her encouragement though.

The kids did great on the flights, and they even did good in the airport. Airports tend to be way boring for kids. You can only look around the stores and watch the planes take off for so long. 

That is where the moving sidewalks come in very handy. If you can find one of those, you can run the kids around and around until they are good and worn out--which makes for good sleeping on the planes.

 But the planes are super exciting for the kids. On the giant planes, they have their own TV filled with games and movies. They have their own neat blanket and headphones that they get to take out of the hermetically sealed plastic bags like it's the best present ever. You would think the bathroom was Disneyland. The meals are exciting... at first, and then you pull out the goldfish you packed in one of the 10 carry-ons you have. They love that a very smiley lady keeps bringing by drinks. They fit perfectly in the seat. In fact, they have room to curl up and sleep, right there... in one seat. Amazing! And when all of that excitement wears off, there is always spending time looking out the window. The world becomes miniature and the kids thought it was fascinating. It was fun to show them the beautiful snow-capped mountains of Europe. Kate commented that the mountains looked like an ice-cream sundae. The clouds are puffy and beautiful. Every bounce of turbulence made them giggle like they were on a roller-coaster.   They had a blast on the trip, and stayed pretty happy most of the time. God is good!!!

And now that we are here, they are super happy. Because of some hold-ups in looking for an apartment, we have been hanging out in a town about 2 hours away from our town.  Our team here has loved on all of us, and it has been wonderful to be reunited with them.  

 We LOVE these guys!!!

Thanks so much to all of you who prayed for the trip. Keep praying as we are still far from being settled.