Women's Day

It's an international holiday did you know that? 

Why don't we celebrate it in America? 

Probably because of Mother's Day but someone blew it when they decided we shouldn't have both. 

In Albania it is basically a day of "freedom" for women. 

They go out to coffee or lunch with their friends. Their family attempts to free them from housework. They enjoy themselves. Some are given flowers. 

We took the Women's Bible study over the border to Macedonia (it's about a 10 minute drive) for a nice lunch. 

They were all extremely excited and decked out for the occasion. 

The restaurant made it very special and gave each lady a flower and had musicians come play Albanian folk songs. 

When I wrote THIS blog, the lady below is one that I had in mind. She is the epitome of the woman I wrote about. I also wrote about her in HERE. She comes to bible study because 2 of her children have gotten saved the last two summers and are in the youth group. Her son is in Cory's bible study. She is hearing the truth for the first time and while I don't know where she is at exactly with the Lord, she definitely has a hungry and open heart. 

She has 4 children and it is obvious that she did something right because they all adore her. They bought flowers for me to give her in the middle of the party and they were giddy about it. 

It was a beautiful bouquet and when I gave them to her and explained that they were from her kids, she started crying. All the ladies clapped and she had the sweetest smile on her face. 

She has served her family tirelessly without expecting anything in return. It was so touching to see how her children honored her and how she responded to it. 

There were also 2 ladies there that are sisters. One of their sons comes to the youth group. I found out that their father has been blind his whole life and their mother has been paralyzed for 30 years. There are 3 sisters and they take shifts each day taking care of their parents. 

Another lady's husband left her for another woman. She was extremely hostile to anything spiritual or religious. Her son was saved this summer at camp. She has been very impacted by the change in her son, has attended some events and has become good friends with Melodie. 

Actually Melodie has drawn all of these women together. Melodie and Erion are the couple we are working with here in Pogradec. Erion is Albanian and Melodie is American. She moved here from San Diego right out of college, met Erion and they now are married with 2 little ones.  They were sent by their church (45 minutes away) to plant a church here. I can't say enough about them, and in fact I will write more in another blog post. They deserve their own. But, right now I will say that this couple has been our lifeline since we moved to Albania. They have been our best friends. They have been our greatest encouragement. They have been our inspiration and stability. I don't know what we would do without them. We can't think of more amazing people to serve with and we are constantly challenged by them. 

Melodie and another woman who's son is in Cory's bible study 

I've said this before but I will say it again. It was crazy to look around the room at all the women and to see that most of them have kids in the youth group. A little community has been created for these women, but it's all because they saw a change in their kids. It's also because Melodie has reached out to, loved, and become a friend to them. I am so excited to see what the Lord does with these relationships down the road. 

What might be even crazier is that I am not sure of where each of them is at with the Lord or if they would even claim Christ. I know of few of them are definitely believers and some of them I do not know. 

One woman said just a few weeks ago when we were studying the parable of the sower that she believes in Jesus with her whole heart. The roots have sunk deep and she believes. She said this in Albanian and it brought tears to my eyes to hear someone profess Christ in this language I so desperately want to understand. 

Another woman said that she was arguing with her son (who is in Cory's bible study) because he was saying that Jesus is the only way to God. But she thought that Jesus was the only way to God for Christians and that every other religion had alternative ways to God. Melodie told her that her son was right and she agreed with him. 

So while we have some opposite sides of the spectrum, they come to bible study. 

Many of them are from Muslim backgrounds. 
But they come to this bible study. 
They come and hear the truth and ask questions and are loved. 
Please continue to pray for these woman and for this time every Monday afternoon. Many of them have very difficult home lives and my prayer is that Christ would be the answer to their pain.

It was a sweet first "Women's Day" in Albania and I came home to these incredible flowers from my wonderful husband :)

 I cried and then I informed him that this doesn't mean Mother's day is out :) 

In other news: 

*Albanians do not have their kids close together for the most part. Hence, I was asked today if my stomach has still not "gone down" from Shiloh....No...I am having another baby in 6 weeks....

*Shiloh had an allergic reaction to something she ate (I think it was some kind of tree nut). Swollen lips and hives all over her body. I had to remind myself of the lesson the Lord has taught me over and over again. My sweet babies and my husband are in the Lord's hands. Even in a place where the medical care is insufficient. Easier said than done. But I'm thankful that there are people at home that I can text and who can help me make medical decisions. You can't totally tell but here she is with her fatty lip. 

*We leave for Tirana (the capital where I will have Taliah) in a little over 3 weeks! Here I am at 34 weeks with my friend Alda. She has a baby that is Shiloh's age. We met her because her husband worked at the supermarket we always go to. 

And here is Shiloh drinking some bitter lemon Schweppes at the Women's party....