The Air Conditioner, ice chips, and $10 ~~~

The summer heat has been brutal, even by Albanian standards it is hotter than normal for July.  I have a wonderful A/C-heater unit that works very well, I purchased it jointly with my landlord almost two years ago.

Three days ago...in the evening, small ice chips started flying out from my A/C unit.  I turned the unit off thinking I had it running too cold...I keep it on about 80 degrees because electricity is crazy expensive here. The next evening, the same thing happened, only the pieces of ice were much bigger.  I spoke with my pastor, Tom Grimes, and he had never heard of anything like that before. I am pretty sure he wondered what was really going on in my apartment..??? 

Another friend told me that they had their A/C unit worked on yesterday, using a man from one of the local churches.  This afternoon the A/C repairman and his two sons came to look at my A/C.  

Enter my landlady...!  (and more drama than was needed)

She was not happy that I called this man to look at "our" A/C unit.  Finally she gave in and left us alone.  The filters were rinsed off in my bathtub, put back into place and that was it. The A/C guy looked over everything else, gave me some tips for best results with this type of A/C...and I paid him $10.  

If you hear someone laughing really loudly...that would be my landlady...she started laughing when she found out that I paid this man $10.  He was here for about 35 minutes...he did a service for me, taught me how to clean my own filters, and I learned something new...in my mind $10 was a bargain. How much is a service call in the US...even if they don't fix anything...???

I guess the $10 was worth hearing my landlady laugh...she and her husband have been really stressed out lately. 

Yes, life in Albania still makes me laugh...!  ;-)

marrëdhënie ~~~

The last few months I have started Albanian language lessons, again.  I felt I was at a place in ministry that required me to take my language skills to a higher level.  My current teacher is very encouraging, and she is pushing me to take all the "stuff" I have learned in the past, and putting it all together and using it correctly. This is still the most difficult part of ministry for me, but I am trying and working at using my Albanian language skills more often, more consistently, more confidently.

Two weeks ago my teacher shared with me a very cool word...

marrëdhënie is an Albanian word, translated it is the word for "relationship"...

but...

when the word is broken into it's parts, marrë means "take/receive", and dhënie is a form of the verb "to give".  

Isn't that such a wonderful word for relationship? Relationship is about giving and taking, but the order of the words is very interesting..."take" is first, and then "give".  That is how it is with our "relationship" with God...we "receive" from Him first, and then we "give".  In any relationship...it isn't about giving to others first, it is about receiving and then giving. 

When I come across this word, or use it in a conversation, it makes me smile...! Such a wonderful reminder of my "relationship" with my Abba Father. 

Feeling like "Queen for a Day"...!

Sometimes patients or mothers of my little ones bless me with special gifts. Often it is fruit or something from their garden or their pantry.  I understand that this culture does not understand "grace"...a gift of helping with no strings or expectations from the receiver.

Last week I saw a new little girl in Elbasan at the Catholic orphanage. Amalia is 10 months old and she has some serious developmental issues, and she is blind. The mom carried Amalia, the huge fuschia plant in the photo below and a huge bouquet of flowers she bought for me.  I gave the bouquet to some friends to enjoy, and took the fuschia plant to my home.

Today...another surprise.  The mom brought me another huge bouquet of flowers. In the package was: 2 hydrangea, 10 roses, 3 tiger lilies, many dahlias of all shapes and colors and a gladiola.  I cut a plastic 2 liter bottle for one vase...both vases are packed full of flowers.   I asked the mom to save her money...that she didn't need to buy me flowers each week...the therapy is my free gift to her and little Amalia.  

Carrying that huge bouquet into my apartment...I felt like a "queen"...or like I had just won a beauty pageant.  

I love God's surprises...

+35544105010

Well, this is definitely a first.  I just received a telemarketer call on my cell phone in Albania...!  The caller was trying to sell me online shares of gold  as an investment.  The man on the other end spoke English, and then asked me what country I lived in.  I told him..."you called me...and I am not interested...do not call me again!"

I have blocked this number on my cell.  Really...online shares of gold...???

Anyone have a bridge they would like to sell...? 

Even my friends that were at my apartment at the time thought it was very strange...
only in Albania.

Good Morning....Spring....!

Today...I have the balcony 

door open, first thing in the 

morning.  It is so wonderful 

to have the fresh morning air, 

and the fragrance from some 

of my flowers...especially the 

"stock"...it smells so sweet.  

This is a sign that Spring is here...

and it won't be long before the 

Summer heat and humidity arrive.

But for this morning...as I sit in my favorite spot on my couch...with my Bible, and other books...and a cup of coffee...I enjoy the freshness of the Spring morning. 

Thank you Lord....! 

(of course, I still hear the turkeys, but there are more birds "chirping" also, and the "busyness" of life in Tirana) ;-)

When I was working with my babies at the Catholic orphanage in Elbasan yesterday, Tanja, (my wonderful missionary helper that lives in Elbasan) and I began noticing that the little girls fingernails were all painted.

My first comment was, "Mother Faustina would never have allowed the babies to have their fingernails painted.  I wonder who came in and painted their fingernails without her knowing it?"  

Before we finished working with all the babies, we discovered that even little Ervjol, a little boy with Down Syndrome, had his fingernails painted.  Hmmmm....?

Then Mother Faustina came into the play room, and we asked her about the fingernail polish. She was the one who painted all the little ones' fingernails.  Tanja and I just laughed and laughed...the Mother Superior was the culprit, when we were trying to figure out how someone did this without her knowledge.

I love the times when things just make you laugh, so good for the soul....! Precious God surprises...!

Easter Monday, twice...!

In this part of the world, living very near Greece, Easter is celebrated twice...according to the the Western Christian Church and the Greek Orthodox Church.  The thing that makes me laugh in all of this...is the "Easter Monday" holiday...I will get to that in a minute. I looked it up on the internet to get a better understanding why there are two Easter holidays.  

So  here are the 3 reasons:

     The first factor, the calendar, has to do with the fact that the Greek Orthodox Church, continues to follow the Julian calendar when calculating the date of Easter. The rest of Christianity uses the Gregorian calendar.

 The other factor at work is that the Orthodox Church continues to adhere to the rule set forth by the  First Ecumenical Council, held in Nicea in 325 AD, that requires that Easter must take place after the  Jewish Passover in order to maintain the Biblical sequence of Christ’s Passion.

 Finally, it must be on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, which is a fixed date, March 21. 

In 2011, Easter took place on the same date for the Western Christian Church and the Orthodox Church...but that won't happen again until 2034. 

Now for the Easter Monday issue...!

I live in a country that is 70% muslim, although not all are practicing their faith.  There is a law in Albania, and in Kosova, that if a holiday occurs on a Sunday, the following day Monday, is a national holiday.  Banks, schools, ABC Health Center are all closed.  So for the last two weeks, Monday has been an extra day off.  

The one blessing from having two Easter Celebrations is that the Orthodox Church behind my apartment, plays "All Creatures of our God and King" on the chapel bells, it is so special to hear that hymn being played.  (and I don't hear the mosque...and the call to prayer!) 

Even in the US...there is no such thing as Easter Monday, and it would never be allowed to happen twice...!