On the Ohrid : Thawed

Last year, at exactly this time, I wrote this blog, entitled "Frozen."

I was literally frozen.

And as you can see, today's blog titled, is "Thawed," which isn't exactly accurate because I was never frozen this winter to begin with.

This winter has been a joke. I would say that if I was a fan of winter and all things winter. Because I would be disappointed with this winter.

But I am not. So I will say this winter has been AMAZING. GLORIOUS.

WARM? Yes, I would say it has actually been warm.

Here are Shiloh and I the other day.

I even had to take my coat off because I was so warm in the sun.

No one seems to be making as big a deal of it as me.

But I, I am thrilled out of my mind.

Grant it, there have been some cold days, in fact the last few have been colder, but nothing like last year.

Last year I sat in one room of my house for the majority of 4 months.

IF I went outside, I wore:

A long sleeve shirt.
A heavy duty sweatshirt.
A coat.
A scarf.
A hat.
Leggings.
Jeans.
Two pairs of socks.
Boots.
Gloves.

And I was pregnant and isn't that supposed to amp up your body temp?

This winter we have gone outside most days.

When the above picture was taken I was wearing:

A shirt.
A sweater.
Jeans.
Boots.

Is this for real?

In November I kept waiting for winter to start. It never did.

In December I braced myself for it to be even colder. It didn't happen.

Now, I am just enjoying it. If winter hits, I won't even care because of how the last 2 1/2 months have been.

And how ironic is all this?

Last year I had NO IDEA how cold it got here and it was an exceptionally bad winter.

This winter I was completely prepared (with extra sweatpants, slippers, heaters) for it to be even colder, and here I am ditching my new coat on our walks.

So I am extremely THANKFUL.

I am thankful that we are able to be out and about.
I am thankful that our water pipes have only frozen once.
I am thankful that I don't feel quite as cooped up or stranded.

So, it just goes to show you how the Lord teaches us things, even in something dumb like the weather.

He doesn't give us the hard thing we are expecting or He does give us the hard thing we weren't expecting.

And it could partly be too, that I am adjusting. I can't tell though. I know for a fact that it hasn't been as cold, but I may also define cold a little differently than I did before.

We change as do our circumstances, and it always is a combination of the two.

For example, I wrote this on New Years and never posted it:

...We just rang in the New Year here in Albania.

LAST year, I remember this very moment.

I sat on the couch in my living room, watching the fireworks, and crying.

I was crying because I was tired. It was so loud. I was afraid my baby would wake up. I thought it was a dumb tradition.

Why? What's fun about lighting fireworks and hitting your neighbors windows??

THIS year, we stood on the balcony, eating popcorn, and watching the fireworks.

I'm not sure to what I can account such a drastic change. In fact, I was expecting to thoroughly NOT enjoy this year as well.

But it's been a blast. We've stayed up talking and laughing, and now here we are in 2016.

I don't know if it's because I was pregnant last year. Or because the sudden war zone of fireworks was unexpected.

But it was definitely not welcome in 2015.

And I'm not sure if something has changed in me.

If I'm less uptight. Or more "Albanian."

But it is pretty hilarious to reflect...

So I don't know if there were actually less fireworks, or if I just experienced it differently because I have changed.

I guess there is now way of knowing for sure.

But I'm thankful that the Lord changes us even when we don't realize it, and even in the little things like weather and fireworks.

And next time, I will do a little catch up and tell you about the Christmas season and the ministry that has come out of it.