Roaring Lions

   There are times when bed time conversation with little ones are so precious you just want to keep them up all night; tonight was one of those times.
    After a snuggle time with Marta, Feather Tella Tale (her doll), and Chicco Grizzly (a teddy bear) and several Curious George books we went up to brush teeth. Once both Marta's and Feather Tella Tale's teeth were brushed I tucked Marta into bed and snuggled in next to her just like I always did with Keri and told her stories. She loves to hear stories of when I was little and with the upcoming family addition I told her stories of when I was little and when my Mommy would go to the hospital to have babies. We talked about missing our moms and how when she misses her mom when she is in the hospital she can come to me and we can miss our moms together. As I was kissing her goodnight she said, "I'm hungry". Typical stall tactic I thought, but then she said, "Can I eat meat?" Which is different than asking for a yogurt or another treat. So I brought her downstairs and cut up some left over pork chops from dinner and she sat at the table and ate them while I proceeded to do some of the dishes. As she was eating and I was cleaning she said,
"Will you make sure no tigers or lions come inside?."
"Yes, I will. But lions and tigers don't live in Macedonia so you don't need to worry about that," I replied
 This prompted an in depth discussion on where tigers and lions live and why they live there instead of here. Then Marta said, "Well I am just afraid they will comes inside".
 "Marta even if there were tigers and lions in Macedonia we don't need to be afraid because God is always with us and He is bigger and stronger than anything in the world. And when we do become afraid we can talk to God about it and He will remind us that we are safe with Him."
As we were finishing up our discussion the neighbors opened their iron gate and I saw Marta's eyes get very big. I suddenly realized that one could imagine that the sound of the iron gates opening and closing could sound like a roaring lion or tiger so I asked,
"Marta what is that sound? Does that sound make you think of lions and tigers?"
"Yes" she said.
"That's the sound of the neighbors opening and closing their gates, just like we open and close our gates when we leave or come home. It does sound similar to what a lion or tiger could sound like when they roar but it's just Miss Mary returning home! And we don't need to be afraid of that!"
 We laughed and talked a little more about how to respond when we are afraid of something then I proceeded for the second time that night to take her upstairs and tuck her in bed.
   Later I was finishing up the dishes thinking of our sweet little conversation and thanking the Lord for revealing to me that the sound of the gates was connected to her imagination of lions and tigers outside which enabled me to dispel Marta's fears. I felt sorry that she had been afraid of that sound but also found it funny to think of the iron gates as roaring lions and tigers.
      Then God pointed out to me how the fears I have aren't that different than imagining the sound of iron gates to be the sound of roaring lions. All fear is irrational in light of Father's care, protection, and provision. There might as well be neon flashing signs all throughout the Bible that say, "do not fear"! In fact there are approximately 365 places in the Bible that say to not be afraid, which makes me think that not allowing fears to control our thoughts and actions is rather important to God. When I realize how fearful I am I want to cry out like the disciples, "Lord increase my faith!" I want God's perfect love that drives out all fear to be the reality of my life. I am thankful that through a little conversation with Marta I was reminded that whatever I may find to be afraid of is as harmless as the opening of an iron gate because of the reality that I am held in the Father's strong, capable, and protecting hands. So now whenever I hear the sound of the gates opening or closing I think of Marta, of lions and tigers, and of the confidence I can have in a God who calls us out of a life driven by fear and into a life driven by love.



I was able to take a little get away trip last week before the baby arrives and go to Ohrid with friends Jordan and Bosa. Here are a few pictures from our time.

Lake Ohrid, Macedonia

Church of St. John of Kanao

On the cliff at St. John of Kanao
(which I later jumped off of into the lake below)

Beautiful Ohrid!

 

4th of July on US soil

   So how does one spend the 4th of July in a foreign country?

        Recently I have celebrated several 4th of Julys in Belgium, and it is always a blast. You have Rebecca who is very patriotic and brings out all her flags and red white and blue decor and weather permitting always has a cookout at the fire pit at the bottom of the garden and Paul (Canadian) and Annie (French) who graciously join in the celebration. But this summer for me was not to be celebrated in Belgium, but rather in Macedonian which included a 4th of July picnic at the US embassy. That meant technically celebrating on US soil. According to international law embassy grounds are not the territory of the host country but of the country representing the embassy (thus why fleeing individuals often seek asylum in various embassies), so yes I was on US soil for the 4th of July!

Happy Birthday America!

        The embassy picnic was a fun event with very American music (walking towards the picnic my friend Jordan and I were both excited to hear country music!), hot dogs and hamburgers (pickles andyellow mustard that you can't easily find abroad!), and games for the kids.
                   

This is how Marta feels about her hot dog!

 Due to the relatively small size of Skopje most Americans know each other or of each other so it was fun to see and meet other Americans or American/Macedonian families. Unfortunately the event ended early due to God's fireworks/thunder storm but the previous evening they had a larger more formal 4th of July reception and a display of fireworks that we were able to see from our backyard. So I did get a dose of fireworks!

     

 The new faces of Lady Liberty?

 

         Perhaps the most significant part of celebrating the 4th of July abroad is the perspective shift. Sometimes it takes going to another country to see how much I take for granted in my country and how grateful I can be for being born in the US and being able to call the United States of America my country. God bless the USA!

In front of my state flag! OH-IO!

A Birthday in Macedonia

    It is evening once again, the kids are in bed and I am on the terrace taking in the wheat and hay fields beyond the yard and the beautiful blue mountain skyline and listening to the traditional Macedonian music that drifts across the field from a neighboring town. There are so many thoughts going through my head that sometimes it is hard to track them down. But for now I'm going to share about the celebrations of this past week.
    July 1st was my 23rd birthday. The day began typically with Filip's wake up babble turning into wining sobs at around 6:30 AM I was greeted by the morning "kaka" gift and after cleaning him up got him settled with a bottle of milk. A little later on I was presented with an adorable card that Susannah helped Marta make.

On the card Marta had dictated, "We love you very much", instructions for things she wants to do with me when her mommy is at the doctor, affirmation that she likes to play games with me everyday, and the best, "I know my baby should not blow cigarettes".  A popular game she likes to play is that she is the mommy and she is going to have a baby. Usually when we play this game Marta is a bit of a non-compliant patient and informed me that both she and her baby were blowing cigarettes which of course prompted a long lecture about the dangers of blowing cigarettes from the impersonating doctor. She clearly was listening well because she repeated the lecture to a friend who smokes later on as well as writing it on my birthday card! 

Oh the things little ones say!

       

Thank you Marta!

    Susannah was so sweet to make my birthday special. She had a few gifts for me a bracelet and a beautifully silver embroidered piece of traditional Macedonian artwork.

   

Photo credits got to Marta

Susannah also put together a fun dinner outing. We invited her neighbor Mary who has been so kind to take me out with her on several occasions, she is a speech therapist who had lived in the US for 16 years. We also invited Rochelle a friend of Susannah's who has children the same age as Marta and Filip who visit frequently, Rochelle is from the US and teaches ESL here in Macedonia.

 We went to a traditional Macedonian restaurant in Kapan An a 15th century inn originally used for traders and caravans located in the old bazaar of Skopje. The food was wonderful but sadly I can barely remember the names of any of it. There was shopska salad (which is basically tomatoes, cucumbers, and Macedonian cheese) Ivar (a pepper puree spread) and several different cheese spreads with delicious bread and meats topped off with some Macedonian wine. I was beginning to wonder if turning 23 also entailed gaining 23 pounds!

       

    After we finished at Kapan An we walked across the stone bridge to the modern part of the city and had dessert at a lovely cafe right on the center square. Again I cannot remember the name of the dessert but it was essentially chocolate lava cake, and it was amazing.

 

  This cafe is also known for its little Macedonian proverbs for each guest at each table (basically the fortune cookie with out the cookie part). We all picked one out and had fun reading over them and laughing. Some of them were truer for the individual than others. I sometimes wonder if the writers of these proverbs or fortunes look up statistics on what type of sayings are applicable to the most people. Anyhow, mine happened to be quite applicable. It said, "trust and you will understand". That morning I was reflecting on my past year and upcoming year and wrote this prayer in my journal,  "God I trust you with this next year, in fact I am dependent on you to lead me step by step through this next year. Let me step joyfully into the uncertainty of this season......" So that is the plan, trust Him, know Him, dance joyfully through life with Him and watch where the steps take me! 

             

And I get to be with these precious ones all day? I am one lucky girl :-)