A Baby Girl and a Girl Fight

Some Bible Study girls :)

My girls bible study is this beautiful mess of conversation and confusion.

Last week, I was waiting for all the girls to come and all but two of them were late. I couldn't figure out what was going on and then I looked out my balcony window and saw a crowd of messy hair buns and pony tails in the street. Most of them were my girls and the rest were ones I hadn't seen before. 

I asked the two who had already arrived what was going on.

Apparently, someone had created a Facebook page entitled "The *Nice Girls* of Pogradec." 

Except it didn't actually say "Nice Girls." It said a bad word. Like the opposite of "Nice Girls." 

Everyone tracking? 

And on the Facebook page were the names and pictures of a bunch of the girls in my Bible study. 

So, that day, right in the street, my girls were waiting to meet with the girl who *they thought* had done it. The girl hadn't actually admitted it but "her best friend had." I was thinking she wouldn't show up but then I heard SCREAMING.

I looked out the window again and the huddle of heads was growing. 

Instinctively (because I obviously wasn't thinking through what I was doing) I put on my coat and boots and walked down the street. 

Straight into the middle of screeching Albanian. 

I had no idea what was being said but as I walked up I saw one girl from my bible study about to smack the Facebook Page Maker Girl. 

I told you I wasn't thinking because I just pushed my way into the middle and started speaking English and they all stared at me and silenced themselves (for 98% of the Albanians we know, we are the only Americans they have ever met)...

"Hi, I'm Kristine, what's your name....do you speak English?"  I heard nervous laughter and the girl told me her name which had way to many constants and syllables for me to remember what it was. 

She didn't speak English. Apart from knowing the answer to "what is your name?" 

So, I told one of my girls to translate for me and I said..."If you say you didn't do this, I believe you (my girls gasped and she teared up), but if you did do this, please take the Facebook page down. If you did not, I'm sorry we bothered you and we are going to go now." 

I turned around with my arms spread out and literally swept my girls up the hill towards my house. I ended up with some extra girls at bible study that I had never seen before. 

We are going through the book of John and that day I had prepared for us to read and study Jesus' first miracle and the cleansing of the Temple. 

I had a feeling that wouldn't really resonate with them on that particular day so I decided to have them open to Matthew and read the passage in Chapter 5 about loving your enemies. 

They were all very upset about what had happened and one girl told me she'd been crying all night. They felt that their reputation had been tarnished. 

They hadn't heard anything about loving your enemies before and it was very difficult for them to grasp. They even asked to read through it a second time. 

As it ended I shared with them about Christ's love for us. How He forgave us when we are so undeserving and how we are incapable of acting like Christ without His help. 

I don't know how much they understood or took to heart. It is crazy to say these things to girls with absolutely no spiritual context. 

For me to say it's not ok to rip this girls hair out by the roots and scratch her eyes out with your long fake nails, was an absolutely revolutionary concept to them. 

The page has since been taken down, everyone seemed to forget about it by the next week, and we continued with our bible study. 

I love being a part of these girls lives. I love watching their confused faces as we read about loving your enemies. I love watching light bulbs go on in their brains. I love thinking about the fact that many of them first heard about Jesus this summer at camp. 

It's hilarious and weird and awesome. Please continue to pray for these girls as we talk about who Jesus is and what He has done for them.

At coffee with some Bible Study girls

In other news...

I don't know where the last 2 1/2 weeks went. 

A combination of language learning, meal cooking, bible studying, Shiloh caring and doctor visiting. 

*We found out on Tuesday that Baby Girl #2 is on the way! Her name will be Taliah Pauline. Taliah means "Dew of God" and Pauline was my Grandma's middle name. We cannot wait to meet her in April! Shiloh is excited too. 

**That same day Shiloh took her first steps and has since been toddling further and further. She gets a big, proud smile on her face right before she crashes on the carpet. We LOVE watching her grow and after she goes to sleep at night we just sit in bed and watch videos of her. 

***After being here almost 6 months, I feel like I am beginning to grasp how to meal plan and cook. The only disaster I had last week was when I tried to make tortillas. Twice in one night. The first time with gluten free flour and they turned out like flubber. Then, I tried with regular flour and it was like a ceramic paste that got stuck in my wedding ring for days. We just ate a pile of beans and meat without tortillas. Better for us anyways right? Actually, that was not the only disaster. I also somehow destroyed some Jam Thumbprint cookies I was making for the boys bible study and zested a chunk of my thumb off trying to make Lemon Cupcakes last minute. That would have happened to me in America too...so I guess it doesn't count. 

****Language learning continues every day and right now we are trying to grasp why each noun has about 15 different endings, why each verb has about 40 different endings and how to translate the verb "to like." It doesn't actually mean "to like." It's more like "is pleasing for me," so it changes the structure of the sentence and you can't translate it literally. Last week our tutor told me she understands that it's hard for me because your brain doesn't work when you are pregnant...I wasn't sure how to take that. 

Here are some noun endings...

We are so thankful for each passing day here. All that we are learning and experiencing blows us away. 

It was almost exactly 3 years ago that we sat in chapel at Master's and heard about Josiah Venture and Albania for the first time. We were dating and open to whatever the Lord had for our lives. 

The ride we have been on the last 3 years is one what that we wouldn't trade for anything and we are overwhelmed by the Lord's guidance in this process. Thank you thank you for being a part of it! 

And here's Shiloh Belle on a swing in Tirana...