Freely we receive, freely give....

"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love"-Mother Teresa

It is only appropriate to insert a Mother Teresa quote after spending 11 weeks in her homeland, standing in the location of her birthplace, and visiting her memorial chapel. But this quote is also symbolic of what these past months have been for me. None of what I have spent the past months doing would be considered doing "great things". I haven't launched into a "great" career, poured into a "great" ministry role, or tried to make the world a better place through participating in a "great" NGO or community organization. 

  Instead I have just spent this time changing diapers, preparing meals, giving a toddler a drink of water, reading stories, and going on many many pretend camping trips. But all with great love- a love that I know I wouldn't be capable of giving if it hadn't already been generously given to me.

"Freely you receive. Freely Give"-Matthew 10:8

So much in these past months have shown me how much I have been given and how much I've received.

 I've received much just by being born and raised in the US, by the security  living their at this time provides and by the opportunities that exist.

I've received so much just by how I was raised and loved by my parents and family. So many aspects of my upbringing have resurfaced throughout the days with the children here. Memories that have turned into stories to tell Marta, games and activities that I can apply with the kids, a fascination of the precious and unique moments in each child's life, an appreciation of family time, and of course countless examples of tender and loving parenting that have contributed to enabling me to do the small things with great love.

 Finally, I've received so much more from the Father. From Him pouring His love into my life, supplying strength for each day, wisdom for each situation, grace and peace within moments of chaos, and the joy of living in each moment with Him.

So the only natural response to all of this is to give:

 I have been provided for in order to provide for others, I have been cared for in order to care for others, I have been loved and cherished in order to love and cherish. I have been given much in order to do small things with great love.

  I am so very grateful to have had these past 11 weeks to give to and receive from so many lovely people here in Macedonia. It will be a very broken heart that boards the plane early Monday morning at the Skopje, Airport. It is never an easy thing to leave such a lovely place with such precious people.

      But I will also be returning to some precious faces in Belgium for a few days before being joined by my dearest friend Katherine who will spend several weeks with me on a travel adventure to Paris, England, Ireland, and Italy all made possible by a very generous gift.
So once again freely I receive.............in order to freely give.

"God is in love with us and keeps giving Himself to the world-through you-through me..............May you continue to be the sunshine of His love to your people and thus make your life something truly beautiful for God"-Mother Teresa

With Marta and Filip at the Cross that overlooks Skopje

Snuggle time with Filip

Slodaled (ice cream) time with Marta!

                                   

Amazed at God's goodness towards me in this beautiful country

Just to Be With You

"Miss Anna can I wash the dishes?"
"Can I help make the French Toast Miss Anna?"
These are just a few of the many questions that come out of dear Marta's mouth during a typical day.
And as heartwarming as it is to hear an offer of assistance, when it is coming from the mouth of even the most competent 3 year old it is quickly followed by thoughts of how it would be much quicker to do the dishes alone, or simpler to make the French Toast without help.
    But then I see a pair of eager blues eyes belonging to a little girl who just wants to do anything and everything with me and I realize that my preferences of doing things a certain way or at a certain pace are not important compared to the opportunity to do something with Marta.
          It also is not unusual in a typical day for the chubby hands of a toddler to almost de-pants me in an attempt to get me to pick him up. Once held he is happy to just be with me amused at my attempts to peel a carrot or whatever other task I am attempting to do with one and a half hands.  If I am unloading the dishwasher he is right there as I quickly and strategically remove the non plastic items. One day I was watering the rose bushes and he deserted his balls and plastic bottles to help hold the hose. All of these portray the beauty of a child's desire and delight to just be with a person the look up to and love.
   Of course kids have a tendency to be interested in whatever they see others interested in, but there is also an endearing aspect of their desire to just to be with you. There have been several instances where my first response was impatience at having to share a task or limit my ability to do a task efficiently because either Marta or Filip wanted to be with me. But it is in those moments that the Lord has pointed out the beauty of their desire to be with me. Not because it felt good that they wanted to be with me, but because of the example they are of how we can have the same childlike desire to be with God and do everything with Him.
            Through these daily moments I am reminded that God wants to be with us. That is why He sent Jesus to be "God with us". He not only wants to be with us but He wants us to be a part of what He is doing in restoring people to Himself. And unlike me with the kids, God is not limited by our being with him nor is He impatient by our slower pace or many distractions-just to be with Him is His delight.
    So just as Marta and Filip desire to be with me in anything and everything I do, so too do I hope to have that same childlike desire to be with God in anything and everything. Without an agenda but with a pure desire just to be with Him, live life with Him, to be and do everything with Him.....
 
"For in him we live, and move and have our being"
Acts 17:28

At the pool with Filip (his pants came off somewhere along the way!)

Spent a few days relaxing at a mountain resort in Marlboro, Macedonia