Selling my Favorite Thing

Last August, I was 23 weeks pregnant, we returned home to Seattle from 3 weeks of camping in Albania and we (for many various reasons) found ourselves planning an immediate move to Southern California. The plan was for us to be in California for 6 months (then to training in Colorado, and then back to Seattle for a month before we leave for Albania) and we did not want to take all of our “stuff” with us. We knew that we would be selling it anyways before we left for Albania so it did not seem cost effective to move it down to Southern California for only a short time and then back to Seattle again only to sell it all before we left. AND we had found a place to live in California that was actually furnished, so that sealed the deal. 

We had a garage sale. We made piles of everything we could not take to Albania or we would not want for the next 6 months. 

• We are not taking appliances (the voltage or whatever its are called are different and so appliances don't last very long). 
• We are not taking furniture (we will buy it at an Ikea two hours away in Greece) 
• We are not taking dishes (except for my blue and green glasses I got when we got married) I am currently try to contrive how to bring pots and pans. 
• We are not taking “knick knacks.” It is shocking how many I accumulated in just one year. Such as the old antique barn window I had hunted down for my mantle. 

Basically, we are taking clothes (most of which are mine and Shiloh’s), books (most of which are Cory’s) and any colored glass I own (I have a thing for colored glass). And towels and sheets. We've been told they don’t have good ones in Albania. And Shiloh’s stroller, and pac and play, and bouncy seat, and…yes most of the big stuff is hers. Go figure. 

So we had a garage sale. Early one lovely gray, rainy, cold morning in Seattle. 

When I registered for my wedding, I only registered for what I knew I would need for one year. We knew we were going to Albania. So I had 4 place settings, a basic set of silverware, basic bathroom stuff, ect. 

***To those of you who gave us these items, we could not have done without them. We lived in Seattle a year. We had many dinners with those dishes and silverware. And I did not register for anything we did not need or use. So thank you with all my heart. 

We had a goal of course. To make money from this garage sale. Which is dumb. You don’t make a lot of money at a garage sale. 

But some of it was new stuff, I thought. It had barely been used! Only 1 year. That, again, is not why you go to a garage sale: to find barely used things and pay a slightly discounted price for them. 

So as the morning dragged on, we began to slowly lower the prices. 

Furniture that I bought from Goodwill because I “wouldn’t care to get rid of it,” had become dear to me. I think there is something about the first place you live after you get married. It’s just special. You learn to keep a home there. 

A $13 coffee table that was clearly very old, had somehow become special. The $10 window on my mantle took me a long time to find! The $1 picture frames that I spray painted (how do you even spray paint in a state where it rains 364 days of the year?) looked so nice with my black and white pictures in them!

What I am saying is that even though I went into setting up my home KNOWING that I would be selling it soon, it was still hard to get rid of! A lot of it wasn’t even new stuff! It was Goodwill, garage sales and hand me downs. And on a scale of 1-hoarder, I'm definitely on the lower end.  If you had told me when I first got married that it would be hard to sell that stuff I wouldn’t have believed you. 

Anyways, I was doing pretty good at the garage sale. A few tears before we started, and then I was determined to make money. I made Cory ask me how much something was worth before he sold anything. 

As the hours passed more and more things cost $1. 

We couldn’t take it with us, we had to get rid of it. So we might as well make $1 off of it.

Then he sold my toilet bowl scrubber (without consulting me). I asked him how much he sold it for….$1. 

I lost it. (23 weeks pregnant)

First of all, WHO buys a toilet bowl scrubber at a garage sale? 

Second of all, WHY did I care about the toilet bowl scrubber???

It was actually a nice toilet bowl scrubber. (You know those plastic

ones that drip soapy toilet water all over the floor when you take them out and you don't know where to put them?? Ya, definitely not one of those) 

It had a little metal case and a lid. (No drips...)

It was a dark bronze color and had looked so clean and nice in my bathroom. (AND it matched the trashcan...)

I had scrubbed the toilet with it so many times in order to have a clean, fresh home! 

It should definitely cost more than a dollar!! (why this exact item is what did me in, I will never know)

My “home” was being slowly sold away $1 at a time. 

And it wasn't like we were making room for bigger and better things…we were just dispensing. 

It was as if that put me over the edge and made me realize what was really happening. My “home” was being dismembered. The place I had taken care of, made dinner in, and invited people over to, was gone.  Or was it? 

And in the midst of reacting I was actually shocked at myself. Shocked at how attached I had become first to my Goodwill furniture, but most definitely to my toilet bowl scrubber. 

My definition of “home” had become misconstrued. It had become a VERY important pile of “stuff.” 

Cory’s face…. sweet man could not figure out what he had done wrong. He was trying so hard not to laugh. 

Although it took me longer than it may have normally (pregnant), I did start to laugh at myself.

The Lord used something very ridiculous to remind me what is truly home and what is truly valuable. 

And my dramatic reaction made me begin to think about what “home” is. On this earth, home is where my husband and daughter are. Home is where I am currently living. Home is where the Lord has placed me.

And ultimately HOME is heaven. It helps to think big picture like that because then everything else makes more sense. 

I won’t even need a toilet bowl scrubber there. 

Matthew 6:19-“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” 

Fevers and Chains

Albania is not a third world country. But it is close. During 50 years of communism the Dictator, Envar Hoxha, had Albania on a lock down like that of North Korea today. Nobody went in, nobody went out. There were no outside books or movies or music. Albanians were made to believe that they were the most prosperous nation in the world even though they are one of the poorest nations in the northern hemisphere. The roads were made to wind so that traveling distances were longer and the country seemed larger than it actually is. 

When communism fell and missionaries began to flood into Albania, it was as if they were traveling back in time. 50 years back in time. 50 years when technology and health care and industry had drastically grown and improved in the developing world. 

That was 20 years ago. The Albania of today is much more developed that it was when the curtain fell. However, it still feels like you are traveling back in time and you can feel the effects of 50 years of isolation everywhere you go. 

Before Shiloh Belle I didn’t think much about the lack of health care in Albania. Neither Cory or I have any health problems or concerns and if we were to get sick there are over the counter antibiotics. Apart from an extreme emergency you don’t go to the hospital on a regular basis anyways.

Shiloh changed everything for me. Babies seem so tiny and fragile. The first month was a roller coaster simply because I didn’t know what was normal. 

She was congested. Did that mean she was sick or do babies just get stuffy? 

She had a swollen finger from a hang nail. Was it infected?

Part of her belly button was still sticking out. Was that a hernia? 

How many times a day should she poop? 

I was never so thankful for a doctor. And I’m not really a “call the doctor” kind of person either. 

The more I realized about the lack of good health care in Albania, the more worried I became. Not outwardly or vocally, but internally and subconsciously. 

Thoughts like “is this wise to take my baby to a place with minimal health care?” entered my mind for the first time. 

What if she gets croupe? There is no ER 10 minutes away. 

What if her fever gets too high?

What if something is wrong and I can’t figure out what? 

These thoughts crossed my mind often after she was born and I think I just stuffed them or thought I would deal with it when it came to that point. 

A couple of weeks ago we were in Brain Head Utah with my family. 8000 ft. in elevation. 

The last day after my family had left, Shiloh woke up with her first fever at midnight. I gave her some Tylenol and she fell asleep a few hours later. 

The next morning we woke up to leave for Colorado. I thought at least we would be off the mountain and could go to an urgent care or ER if her fever got too high. 

There was a blizzard outside. White out. 

There was already a ton of snow on the ground and it was coming down fast. 

Shiloh still had a fever and it was higher than before. It’s so sad when their little bodies are so hot! 

I felt very stuck. 

Shiloh had a fever. 

We were on a mountain.

It was covered in icy snow. 

Our car doesn’t have 4 wheel drive. 

To some people this might have been no big deal BUT we are NOT mountain people, we are not SNOW people. In Southern California and Seattle, when it snows, you don't GO ANYWHERE. We don't even know how to drive in the snow! 

We packed up as fast as we could and Cory put chains on the tires and slowly drove down the icy mountain. 

At one point it was so slippery we spun onto the other side of the road and someone had to help us maneuver the car back onto the right side. 

We (obviously) made it to the bottom. We were fine. Shiloh’s fever went down a couple days later. Now its just a memory.

But…it could have not been fine. 

There COULD HAVE been too much snow for us to leave. 

Shiloh’s fever COULD HAVE gotten too high.

We COULD HAVE slid so much on the ice that we were really stuck. 

And a lesson I have already learned hit me all over again: 

It doesn't matter where I am. Our lives and health are in the hands of God. 

So simple. 

I may be in a small Albanian town with poor health care

OR

I could be in a wealthy resort town in Utah completely snowed in. 

I can trust the Lord for my husbands health, my baby’s health, and my own. 

Very simple. 

Not easy. But simple. 

Psalm 139:7-9 “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. I I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me and your right hand will hold me fast.” 

I’m sure I will continue to learn this lesson. Please pray that I would remember this and that I would trust Him for the health of my family!

A Story of Discipleship-Verse by Verse

This picture was taken about 9 years ago. 

Cory had gotten saved a couple years ago on a missions trip to Honduras. He realized he had no plan for his life and new that God did. He told the Lord he would do anything for him, "even if it meant pulling out old people's teeth in Russia." ...that was the worst thing he could think of at the moment. But he meant it. 

He knew he needed get involved at church. He went to Jr. High group one Wednesday night and found himself hurling dodge balls at tiny 6th graders. 

He was hooked. 

He had begun to learn how to study the Bible verse by verse and had learned enough to know that disciples are to make disciples. 

He started to pray that the Lord would give him guys to disciple.

Though he knew that he had so much to learn, he wanted to do it alongside younger guys that he could teach. 

So he prayed. He prayed that the Lord would give him guys to disciple. 

A month later he went to summer camp. At the end, two guys who had been in his small group came up to him.   

They said, "Will you do a bible study with us?" 

Cory was 21, they were 15.

So they started studying the Bible. 

1 Peter. Verse by verse. 

Cory always says "I really had no idea what I was doing."

But they went verse by verse. Elected. Predestined. Sanctified. 

What do those words mean? 

2 years later there were 10 guys in the bible study. 

Studying the Word of God. Verse by verse. 

Now, 9 years later, those two guys have become two of Cory's best and closest friends. He has roomed with both of them, traveled with both of them, been in ministry with both of them. They were in our wedding. 

Cory never thought he would be doing missions. 

Today, all 3 of them are. 

Those two guys are Chad Lambert and Daniel Reimer. Now, they are Josiah Venture missionaries as well. 

Today Daniel leaves for the Czech Republic. He will be serving on the communications team. He will have a variety of jobs, one of which will be to make videos such as this one, for missionaries. 

In one month Cory and I leave for Albania. 

In one year Chad and his wife Jess will come to serve with us there. 

Together, we will all be a part of a church plant and continue to disciple, teaching people to study the Word of God for themselves, verse by verse.

We are amazed at and humbled by what the Lord has done and cannot wait to serve Him together in Central and Eastern Europe! 

Philemon 1:6 "And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ." 

Pregnant in Albania-Cultural Realities

Last summer we were camping in Albania for 2 weeks. I was 20 weeks pregnant. It was a blast. I was tired by the second week but it was a blast. 

From what we have seen and been told, Albania is a male dominated culture. Generally speaking, this means that the men are “lords of their homes.” Their word is law. The women work harder and longer. During the day, the coffee shops are filled with men conversing. You never see a woman outside sitting around in Albania during the day. They are at home working, where they belong. 

However, pregnant women in Albania are almost worshipped. Not literally, just in the way they are treated. 

The Albanian word for a pregnant woman is “thesar.” This literally translates “sack of gold.” As a pregnant woman, you are carrying gold.

Sort of biblical? 

I was not allowed to lift a finger. 

I was scolded for picking up a tiny melon. 
Everyone smiled at my belly like it was the most wonderful sight they had ever seen. 
I was covered in blankets at night when it was cold during our sessions. 
I was given extra food.

Extra food. 

This meant that at every meal, kids would come and scrape their extra food onto my plate….

It was fine when it was like a piece of watermelon. But when they dumped red chunky soup into my bowl…

“Thank you!” I would just smile. And then pray, “Lord please don’t let them be sick.” Eat. 

I was a queen. Sometimes not in the way I would like to be.

When I came home and went to my doctors appointment I stepped on the scale. 

“Wow Albania hit ya hard huh?” Thats what the midwife said. I cried. 

Well yes it would hit you hard too if you were eating the leftovers of 25 teenage boys! 

Everyone asked me constantly how I was feeling, how the baby was, and if I was tired. If I needed anything. 

Truly I could not have felt more loved or cared for. In a way, it was the first time I actually “felt pregnant.” Everyone acknowledging it made it “feel real.” 

In Albania, pregnant woman are treated specially. You are a sack of gold. 

But as our friend Klodi pointed out to us, when a woman delivers the baby…

she is just an empty sack :) 

Tiny Shiloh Belle with some sweet Albanian Friends 

Greatest Joy

At MTI (the missions training we were at last month in Colorado) we sat down with all the wives and were asked many different questions about what we were scared of, stressed about, cautious of. 

One of the questions was: What do you anticipate giving you the greatest joy in your new life? 

I didn’t have to think for more than half a second. 

As Cory and I have prepared for Albania the last 2 years we have constantly asked ourselves this question: “Why are we doing this?” 

Why are we selling all our stuff? 

Why are we leaving our family? 

Why are we going to a place with minimal health care? 

Why are we asking people to support us in this? 

Why are we so passionate about this in the first place? 

And this story illustrates the reason why…

Last summer at English camp there was a boy who showed up that no one new. He was not a part of the church we were working with. He had no friends at the church. Come to find out he lived in a town 6 hours away. 

His name was Dionis. 

The week before camp started he was walking along the road in the town where he lived. A guy who was working with JV for a couple weeks that summer saw Dionis. He told Dionis he should come to camp next week. He told him he would learn English and learn about the Bible. 

Why not? Dionis thought. 

So he got in the car with his Dad and drove the 6 hours to Pogradec to come to camp. He knew no one. 

But, he had the most outgoing spirit and personality and within a day everyone on the American team was talking about Dionis and how funny he was. 

His English was pretty good too so that helped. He was easy to talk to and easy to befriend. 

He was in my small group every night. In small groups we would discuss that evening’s session. It was a gradual introduction to the gospel. We talked about their hopes and dreams. We talked about if the realization of those hopes and dreams would truly make us happy. We talked about what sin is. We talked about hope. We talked about who Jesus was and what he did. How he lived and how he died. 

Dionis was quiet every night. While he would talk and laugh all day, in the small groups at night he was quiet and withdrawn. 

One night I asked him in small groups, “Dionis why are you so quiet?” He said he did not want to share with everyone and he said “I am Muslim.” I will address this at another time, but when an Albanian says they are Muslim, this could mean 8 different things. I knew from talking to Dionis he had no idea what he meant when he said he was Muslim. 

The next day he told me he would like to talk to Cory and I.

 He told us that he did not understand this gospel we were talking about. He did not know why it was important or why he needed to listen. He had no hopes for his life. He was content with the way things were. 

We started from the beginning, sharing the gospel with him in depth. After saying that we are sinners in need of a Savior and that God sent his only son even when he didn’t have to, Dionis said…

“But why would God do that?” 

Why? 

Why? 

“Why do you think Dionis?” His eyes were big and he looked as if he was reaching back in his brain, wracking it for the answer. 

“I don’t know.” He said. 

But really Dionis, why do you think God would do that.

Shrugging his shoulders he again said, “I don’t know.” 

And Cory said, “Dionis, if you do you something wrong towards your parents, that you shouldn’t do but instead of being mad at you they say, ‘it’s ok Dionis, we forgive you,’ why would they do that?” 

Again, wracking his brain. 

“Because they have to, they’re my parents.” Dionis said.

New example. 

Cory said, “Ok Dionis, if I do something that hurts Kristine, but instead of getting mad at me she says ‘it’s ok Cory, I forgive you,’ why would she do that?” 

Again, wracking his brain. And then, we watched a light bulb go on. 

Literally his eyes lit up and he said with a smile, “Because she loves you.” 

And then it all clicked.

“GOD LOVES ME.” Dionis said. 

Now there are tears in his eyes. “GOD LOVES ME.” He said again with a smile. 

God loves you and that is why he sent his only son to die Dionis. 

Do you believe that Dionis? 

“God loves me.” Dionis said. 

And he prayed. For the first time. He thanked God for dying on the cross for his sins. He thanked God for bringing him to camp.

He later said in his broken English, “I think it is not luck for me to come here but I think it is the purpose that God brought me here to reconnect with him.” 

Dionis has since told us that he is going to a church in is home town and is doing a bible study. He has his own bible, although he was scared to take it at first because his Grandpa is actually a devout Muslim. 

I love this story because it is so clear how God obviously drew this kid from Schkodra to himself. 

I love that the missing piece of the gospel puzzle for Dionis was God’s love. 

I love that he recognized God’s love for him because he saw Christ’s love in the way Cory loves me. 

I loved watching his eyes light up and watching the reality of God’s love pierce his heart. 

When they asked us at MTI: What will be your greatest joy? I thought of Dionis. 

I cannot wait to watch hungry hearts hear truth for the first time. I cannot wait to talk to kids who have never even heard the name “Jesus.”  I cannot wait to see lives changed. 

So when Cory and I ask each other why we are doing this, we think of Dionis. We think of Dionis and the thousands of other Albanian youth who are hungry for the hope and the love that Jesus brings. They are not calloused or embittered to the gospel. They are open and hungry. 

Could we see this happen in America? Absolutely. 

The Lord has simply laid in on our hearts to go to a place where the workers are fewer. 

Matthew 9:37 “Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, therefore pray earnestly tot he Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” 

I cannot wait to share with you more stories like Dionis’. 

To those of you that have supported us, loved us and walked through the last years with us, we could not be more thankful. 

As we go to Albania we know that we are not going alone. We are going with the best people we have ever met. The people who have spoken into our lives, walked with the Lord in a challenging way, and who understand us and what we are doing. Though they will not be there physically, we know they will be with us  in their thoughts, their prayers, and their commitment to staying in touch with us. 

We will be sending updates. Sometimes monthly, mostly biweekly. Many of you are subscribed to that. That will include updates, prayer requests and stories of changed lives. This blog will be for everything else. The day to day language embarrassments, cooking catastrophes, and small triumphs as we navigate a new culture. 

I want you to feel a part of it. A part of the journey the Lord is taking us on and has used you to send us on. We are not going alone. I want it to encourage you to see how God is growing his kingdom in a tiny country of 3 million atheists and nominal muslims. 

This next month will be full of preparation. I will share as we prepare and even more when we are there. 

As to the name of the blog, we are living in the town of Pogradec on a lake called Ohrid. 

This blog will tell the stories of our life on the Ohrid. 

Again, we are so thankful for and so blessed by you all. 

-K