One year in Albania

On Sunday, we celebrated our one year anniversary in Albania. 

This afternoon Cory walked into the kitchen super excited and said "That was the first time since we've been here that I have been able to pay all three bills in one day!" 

There is no online payment plan. There is no mailing system for bills. 

You go directly to the office, wait in a line that goes out the door, and try to pay your bills. 

Ours have been messed up since January. Sometimes Cory would be gone for hours and come back, the bills still unpaid. 

He had to go to a different office, or talk to the landlord, or didn't understand what they were saying. The line was too long, or we had been charged the wrong amount, or the office was closed. 

We've had our electricity shut off, our water shut off and our internet has stopped working. 

But today, the bills were paid in less than a half hour! 

A year ago, on June 6, Cory, 5 month old Shiloh and I left America with a one way ticket to Albania. 

First family pic in Albania, One year ago

And the fact that we are celebrating paying the bills, illustrates what has been "difficult" in this last year. 

Simple life kind of stuff.  

The cold winter. 
New food.
Health care. 
Learning to shop each day. 

Sometimes I wanted to just be baking in Malibu. 
Sometimes I wanted Ezekiel bread really bad. 
Sometimes I wanted to just go to the doctor. 
Sometimes I wanted to drive to Costco and get 8 carts worth of food. 

But yesterday I was talking to one of the girls in my bible study. I asked her what her parents thought of her being involved in church. 

"Oh they like it," she said. "My mom and dad have been reading the Bible and they think it is good." 

"Your mom and dad read the Bible?" 

"Yes the Bible you gave me. I took it home and my parents have been reading it." 

"What are they reading in the Bible?" 

"They started at the beginning. I have told them everything I have learned about God and about His son Jesus and how He has died for us and given us life." 

"And your parents are reading the Bible?" 

"Yes they read it together." 

6 months ago this girl wasn't even part of the church. She got involved through the Christmas play. 

Now she is telling her parents everything she has learned and they are reading the Bible together!?!

And this is the nature of our first year in Albania. There are so many stories like this. 

A boy who's Dad is broken by reading the story of the prodigal son. 

A woman who says "the seeds have been planted deep in my heart and I believe in Jesus." 

A woman who says, "I don't know what has happened to my sons. They have changed." 

 A girl who says, "My whole life has changed because of Jesus. Everything about me is different." 

What is long lines for the bills when you are watching Christ transform people? 

In all reality, this year has been so much more amazing, rewarding, and "easy" than I anticipated. 

I was bracing myself to struggle more often than not. 

BUT it really is true that watching Christ work SO clearly brings incredible joy. 

It makes everything else truly seem less important. 

And I knew this was true but I am kind of amazed at how I have seen this happen in our lives. 

Not intentionally. 
Not because we have worked hard to make it that way. 
But because it actually, naturally happens. 

And we feel privileged. 

We feel privileged to be in a place where the harvest truly is plentiful. 

There are extremely hungry hearts. 

It's like we've spiritually struck gold. 

Life has hard things no matter where you are or what you do. 

So, rather than feeling like we are "sacrificing" we feel incredibly blessed. Like its not fair to everyone else that we get to be here and watch God work in this way. 

And I understand that He is working all over the world. Obviously. 

But there is something pretty impactful about seeing him work in a country that just over 20 years ago was an Atheist nation. 

Many spiritual minds are blank slates. 

We feel humbled to be able to watch what God is doing here. 

On Sunday as we were singing in church I was thinking about the past year. 

And as we sang the songs in Albanian, I realized I understood almost all the words in every song. 

"Jesus is King."

"He is alive." 

"Jesus has defeated death." 

And hundreds of voices filled the sanctuary worshipping God in Albanian. 

We are so far from family. We are so far from what we know. We are so far from the culture of America. We are so far from comfortable. 

But, God is here and He is working. 

And more than anything this year we have seen that. We have been impacted by that. 

And when we think of this year we think of all the things we have seen God do. 

And we are thrilled for all the years we will spend here.