Bears, Cows and Chickens

*I have this grand idea of making a prime rib roast for Christmas dinner. 

The problem is that I cannot go to the grocery store, look in the meat section and find the plastic wrapped chunk that says "Prime Rib Roast." Even if I could do that, I would probably still butcher it. Haha. 

There are like 400 different ways to do it on Pinterest. The instructions are kind of complex for my cooking abilities. I'm no Martha. If anyone has any Prime Rib Roast cooking advice, send it my way. 

So, I have been doing some research. FYI the Prime Rib Roast is also known as the Standing Rib Roast which is cut from the cows ribs, specifically ribs 9-12. This is in the loin section, not the chuck section of the animal. 

I went to the butcher's today with this picture on my phone. I'm going to attempt this before Christmas so that I'm not crying on Christmas day when I ruin it. 

He grabbed my phone with his bloody fingers. Then lopped off a chunk of beef that looked nothing like the Prime Rib pictures. So I showed him a google image. He scrolled through the pictures with the same fingers. 

He lopped off another chunk and I'm pretty sure it's the right piece, just with the bones in? Well I'm gonna try it and see what happens. It's a lot smaller than the chunk in the pictures which makes me wonder if the cows here are smaller? They look pretty big to me so I don't know. 

Some days, I walk down the street and it actually feels normal to me. But today I saw a little old lady hobbling down the road holding a dead chicken by the wings. I thought you carried dead chickens by the neck but I guess if you slit the neck it makes more sense to carry it by the wings. It looked miserable...but that's probably because it was dead...

Then we were driving down the road in another town and we saw a man walking a bear on a leash. Yes a bear. He has a pet brown bear. I don't know what else to say about that. 

So between the bloody cow, the dead chicken and the bear on a leash, I would say today felt a little less normal than usual. 

**Our Albanian lessons are coming along. That's a relative statement. It depends on what or who we are comparing ourselves to. 

Today I told the butcher, in Albanian, that my husband was singing in Albanian for the drama. He said he was Muslim and couldn't come. I explained to him that it was at the theatre and not at the church. He said he would come. The smallest conversations are encouraging...both spiritually and in regards to Albanian. 

Some new words we have learned...

The word for "gossip" is literally translated "I said, I say." A good way to describe gossip is it not? 

The word for "pregnant" is literally translated "busybody," which has a separate connotation in English but when you think about it is actually very apt. I definitely feel like my body is busy right now. 

If you want to say "I'm sorry" you literally say "Bad comes to me." I don't totally get this but it's the idea of you feeling bad, or relating to their pain ect. 

We are still spending plenty of time laughing at ourselves and feeling completely lost. 

The other day Cory said "I like to eat my parents." 

He meant vegetables.

We have to constantly remind ourselves that learning this language is a NECESSITY. Our ministry is empty without it. We will never be able to minister on the level we hope to until we learn this language. The desire to learn this constantly consumes us. Please continue to pray for us as we study, listen and learn. 

***This month has been full of getting ready for our Christmas play next week. This last weekend we went away to a conference center with the kids to do a full dress rehearsal. Lot's of hair curling and laughing. 

It was a blast and it's amazing to see how they have bonded in the last months. Our youth group has gone from feeling like a bunch of random kids, to a group of friends. 

The play is "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens and the script has been modified to include the gospel story. The kids have been working so hard and are so excited. We are looking forward to meeting the parents that we haven't met and following up with the response. 

Cory is working hard to learn 3 songs in Albanian and is doing an amazing job. There are definitely some tongue twisters. The letter "y" makes a French "oo" sound which isn't difficult to say on its own but when you combine it with certain consonants and vowels, it becomes pretty tricky. 

We pray that this will be an incredible outreach to the community and an awesome experience for the students.

****Yesterday in my girls bible study we read the story of Jesus birth and talked about what it means that he is called Immanuel. We read the prophecy in Isaiah. I explained what a prophecy and there was one girl who was very amazed that the birth of Christ had been foretold. She knew the story of Christmas but it's been so neat to show them how scripture is redemptive story that shows the plan of God! 

*****Shiloh is a blast right now. We are constantly laughing at her. She walks like a champ and I can't believe she follows me around the kitchen! She LOVES to look at books. In fact, that's mostly what she does when she's awake. She oohs and aaahs at the pictures that have animals in them. We are in love with her and thank the Lord for the gift she is. 

*****This week marks 22 weeks with Taliah! At our last doctor appoint we were told that both her and I are healthy. We feel so blessed and can't wait for Shiloh to be a big sister! 

******We feel so encouraged this Christmas season by so many of you! Thank you for your kind emails, packages and prayers! We are so thankful to be here and every day are amazed at what the Lord is doing in our owns hearts and in the hearts of those around us. 

We had anticipated this Christmas season being the most difficult for us, but that hasn't been the case at all. That must be attributed to the prayers of so many of you and the joy of working hard with these students. 

Thank you for your continued prayers and support as we serve in this place.