it’s been far too long since i have written a blog! i apologize. there is quite a bit to catch you all up on - i really should be doing a better job at this. ok... where to start? the last time i posted a blog about some of the history surrounding Strumica; a blog widely read i am sure (haha)! my history lesson has proved to be insightful (for me at least) and i am glad to know a little bit more about this small town in Macedonia we are calling home for now. Since last posting we have celebrated two holidays, said goodbye to the American couple that brought us here, sustained (and continue to recover from) three injuries as a team, lost and won some games, lost and gained a new language tutor, made quite a few trips to the capitol (Skopje) while doing our best to meet new people and take in the culture more fully.

so i guess it best to try and expand on each of the items i mentioned have occurred since early October when i last posted (first, another sip of tea... my new morning ritual since we have no coffee maker)! the first few days of October we got a package delivered from my brother and sister-in-law. upon opening it we were reminded that Halloween was approaching... my sister-in-law had kindly packed up small plastic pumpkins and stuff for decorating them along with some other fun decorations. Brady and I quickly hung the decor in his and Cal’s tiny room and let me tell you... it really added something. we put the pumpkins on the windowsill and I can honestly say I have never enjoyed decorating for a holiday more. some people may think Halloween not to be a significant holiday (or not like it at all for that matter) but when you have a child that loves to dress up as much as mine does you may feel differently. in fact to be honest most days are Halloween-esque around here because of the fact that brady changes into a new costume/outfit every 30 minutes! on top of decorating with the stuff my family sent we also painted some butternut squash (finding a real pumpkin to paint it pretty impossible here - but the squash was a perfect stand-in), made carmel apples and funny as it may seem, October 31 came and went and since it was on a Sunday we kinda forgot about it... but Brady and Cal did not seem to mind; i guess what I am trying to say is that it was nothing a little candy couldn’t fix. this was probably a better way to celebrate it seeing as they don’t recognize Halloween here and as a result trick-o-treating would probably have been quite problematic.

the basketball team has faced quite a few challenges and although challenge can be seen as a strong word I would even go as far to say that’s even an understatement. on October 27th during our away game against MZT one of our best players and probably our best shooter (Jeremiah Boswell) hyperextended his knee and has been out ever since. On October 30th, the point guard (Marcus Neal) who we worked very hard to get here after losing Todd Hendley early on to a heart issue also sustained a knee injury. then at practice the week following Marcus’ injury David Buchberger, after just recovering from a corneal abrasion rolled his ankle so badly that it turns out his injury might keep him out the longest. the guys are working really hard to get healthy and back on the court... lots of therapy and Dr’s visits (that is where all the trips to Skopje come into play). unfortunately healing just takes time which is something we can’t do much about. As a result of losing these guys on the court John has had reroute his strategy as a coach, which can often be frustrating. along with looking at the team a new way we have had to look at our time here in a new way as well... being reminded why we are really here. we never thought that we would face this much adversity as a team when it came to injuries, but God has allowed it and is asking us to walk through it in Grace while trusting His plan. trusting God and being patient through all this is very difficult; because like every athlete the desire to win is very present and real and without these three guys our chances of winning are unfortunately reduced drastically. we are hoping that Jeremiah will be back in the next few weeks and maybe Marcus by the last game. David will not be able to play until after the holiday break... which btw all teams in e. europe take the month of January off because the gyms are not heated and even with the best under armor it’s far too cold to do much of anything.

Ryan and Jyl left us a few weeks before Thanksgiving... i may not have mentioned them much but they are how we got to this “place” so I apologize if this is the first time I am mentioning them. they are having their first baby toward the end of January and wanted to be in states to begin this new journey of parenthood! as a mother of two... I so understand wanting to be near family and with healthcare that you know and trust - it’s also a plus to have a nurse that speaks english when your pushing a baby out -haha! we are excited to meet this new girl and to have Ryan and Jyl back in the ‘donia with us this spring. we were very thankful for their time here and trust that God will continue to direct their ministry as their lives change with this new addition.

as for Thanksgiving... it was a very nice time. Anna, Hallee and I had to improvise a bit and some of our culinary delights almost turned out to be culinary disasters, but in the end it all came together. we enjoyed a 22lb turkey that i was blessed to get from a fellow CRU buddy in Skopje. i stuffed it with lemons, onions, garlic, rosemary, parsley and slow roasted it for 7.5 hours. we had a lot leftovers, but it would not have been the same to have Thanksgiving without a turkey or the other trimmings we made: mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, green-bean casserole, squash (pretending to be sweet potatoes for the day). we had some yummy desserts too and i can say with confidence that everyone went home satisfied and smiling.

so here we are almost three weeks away from coming back to the states for a month and it has me looking back on these past three months thinking, “WOW”! I can’t believe how they flew by... but in truth not every day has felt like that. The adjustment to being in a new culture has taken longer than i had anticipated for both myself and the kids (john seems to be doing quite fine assimilating to the culture -haha). their are still days that i find myself throwing my hand ups and yelling, “i can’t do this”, but in those moments i am reminded that compared to what Christ has given up for me... i have not even come close to given up what Christ has by moving our family here to Macedonia. i truly believe that God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time even though the right place and time can often feel like the wrong place and the wrong time. that statement could easily ring true for us given some of the challenges we are facing; the injuries of our players only being a small percentage of that. i know for us that our “problems” can seem BIG right now but i think sometimes out problems seem BIG because our view of God can be small - in fact at times we reduce God to the size of our biggest problem... forgetting that God orders our steps (if we are HIS) - even the hard steps - they are all considered part of His plan because He knows the ending and He has our best interest at heart. so as we continue to walk through this journey i am reminded to fix my eyes on the Lord and strive to conduct myself in a manner worth of the gospel of Christ. Remembering too what it says in 1 Peter 4:12 “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange was happening to you”! I love that verse because it kinda makes me chuckle... we always ask “why” when we are faced with a trial and here God says why are u surprised and although as believers we are never promised an easy life we still think we will or should have one at times. in our trials now and to come my hope is that i will continually be reminded to look to the Lord and remember that anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. for such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life. james 1:12 (the message).