Back in the Game

A lot has happened since my last post.  I was so busy over the past week - sorry I didn't update!

I mentioned in the last post that Karl and Darko were digging the well deeper.  Well, Karl came home that evening with his arm hurting and swollen.  It had begun raining, so Darko left early the next morning, since they couldn't dig.  Karl's arm continued to hurt all day, so we called our friend Jordan to make sure we'd be going to the correct hospital.  He offered to take us to this lady who could make it all better.  With many doubts, we headed out to see her.  Jordan knocked on her door, and she opened it up.  Jordan asked if she would please take a look at his friend's arm.  She rolled her eyes, gave a huge sigh of disgust, then turned around and walked into the kitchen, leaving the door open for us to follow her in.  What a welcome!  She had Karl sit and began moving his wrist, fingers and arm all around.  She'd do that for a few minutes then say, "It is all better now."  Karl politely said, "No, it actually hurts worse."  So, she moved it around more, again proclaiming him healed, which he denied.  With sweat beading on his forehead, grasping my hand in pain and looking like he would pass out any minute, the lady finally declared, "Well, it might be broken.  You need to go on to the hospital."  So, we went on to the hospital (after paying her for her "services," mind you!).  At the hospital, the doctor took one look at his arm, touching it for about 2 seconds, asked what happened (Karl still really didn't know other than after digging the well it was swollen and painful).  Without an x-ray or anything, the doctor said that he had sprained a tendon and needed a cast for 2 weeks.  They put a cast on, but put the plaster directly on the skin - no "sock" or anything before the plaster to protect the skin!  The cast lasted only about 3 hours before Karl cut it off and put on a brace that Scott had when he broke his arm.  So, he's had it immobilized for about a week now.  It is better, but still not totally healed.  Always an adventure in medical matters.

After that, I had to kick into gear to get things ready for the weekend retreat.  Ziza and I planned the menu, bought the groceries and began working!  We had a retreat at the camp for workers in South Serbia, and Ziza and I were the cooks.  The retreat was wonderful!!  Our good friend, Daniel, came and spoke on Matthew 14:22-33.  He talked about how we need to listen to the mission or goal that Jesus gives us (v.22), we have to untie the boat (let go of the things holding us back), start working, but realize that we have to balance work and prayer, keep our eyes on Jesus during the storms, recognize that Jesus is the Son of God and worship and serve Him!  It was a great encouragement.  Ziza and I were in the kitchen most of the time, but it was such a blessing to serve everyone.  By the end, we were so exhausted!  We got home about 5pm, and I was asleep by 8pm.  I didn't wake up until 9am!!  Thirteen hours!  I had started getting a cold as well, and by Monday afternoon, my sinuses were killing me.  I ended up sleeping another 3 hours Monday afternoon, slept 9 hours Monday night, and took a two hour nap on Tuesday!  I'm taking meds now for the sinus infection and am finally feeling part of the world again!

Also last week was my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary!!!  Congratulations to Uncle Don and Aunt Virginia!

Hard to believe that September is quickly coming to a close.  Is this how it's going to be?  Every month will go by faster and faster?  I thought they would drag along with no kids here.  But it's flying by me!  I realized something this morning as I was getting dressed.  I pulled out a blouse that is "dry clean only."  And I didn't have to hesitate before putting it on!  I guess these are the "golden years" - that time where I can wear "dry clean only" without worrying about kids staining it.  I know that grandkids are in the future, so the "dry clean only" clothes will be put away when that happens (and just to clarify, that's still way, way in the future!!).  So these "golden years" of "dry clean only" clothes will only be ruined if I stain them myself and have no kids around to blame... :)  

Random Things

Last week was a good week.  Lots going on, but all good! 

Karl was able to do some wood splitting and mowing.  I know he enjoys getting back to serving the people in our community in these practical ways.  I love this picture - Karl was on the riding lawn mower, heading off to find some grass to cut!  :) 

I loved talking with the kids last week - all are doing well and exciting things are happening!  Kurt's girlfriend, Macy, has the amazing opportunity to interview Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, and possibly the current governor of Arkansas, Mike Beebe!  Go, Macy!  She is a communications double major (speech and mass) at Ouachita Baptist University.  This year is the 125th anniversary of the school, and several famous former students (including former Gov. Huckabee) and special guests are visiting the campus, so this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Macy was selected for this honor!  We're so happy for her!

Kelli is doing great at school, too, enjoying college life!  She even met a guy in Walmart!  As I told my Serb friend Jovana (who loves Walmart, even though she's never been to one!), "You can get everything at Walmart!"  :)  Kelli is joining organizations, apparently playing a lot of games of Spoons with friends, started her own business of knitting/crocheting hats and other items and selling them to friends, and doing well in her classes.  She was bummed about a speech she gave in one of her classes, really feeling that she did poorly on it, but actually got a good grade on it!  And one thing really did stink - her car was moved out of a parking place into the middle of the lane and she got a ticket!  Parking is apparently a nightmare there, and it looks like someone pushed her car (it's a standard, so it's a little easier than an automatic) so they could have a parking place.  She's appealed the ticket, so hopefully they will refund her money. 

Scott is also enjoying his new life at BFA.  He's busy with school; he told me some of his classes require a lot of reading!  He has made really good friends.  He did say that the food is ok, but that all of the meat tastes the same.  :)  Ahhh, he does miss his momma - her cooking at least!  :)  He's had fun helping to fix some things around the dorm.  He's so much like his daddy!  He even found a bike that had been left by another student, changed out the gear box, and got it working again!  So now he has a bike! 

On Friday, Karl and I headed north to Belgrade.  We had lunch and dessert with teammates in BG.  It was such a great time of fellowship!  Then we took off for Opovo and HUB (Bible school).  We were so thankful to be at the missions conference there!  The entire weekend was amazing!  It was so great to see friends that we don't often see, to meet new people, to listen to great Bible teaching, to pray with our brothers and sisters in Christ, to hear what God is doing all over Serbia and beyond, and to be encouraged and refreshed!  It was such a joy to be with the body of Christ! 

Now we're back home, back to all that God has for us!  Karl and Darko Srnka (Darkic) are digging the well deeper.  The water level had gone down to about 25 cm!  There hasn't been hardly any rain for over a month, and things are so dry, including the well!  So, they'll have fun digging today!  Last night they went to Mrcajevci for Kupusiada (cabbage festival) with their friends there!  I was tired from the conference so I stayed home and went to sleep early.  I think they came in after 11pm, and I'm sure they had a great time with the men that they have developed friendships with over the last few years. 

I loved one thing that the speaker talked about this weekend.  He talked about being different, but still relevant (in the world, but not of it).  He talked about being "spiritually and morally different, but not socially segregated."  (John Stott).  Engaging the world - being active and involved in what is going on around us, but with love and the hope of the Gospel!  Yes!!!  Also loved this quote by Robert Bellah, "The quality of a culture may be changed when 2% of its people have a new vision."  2%!  Just 2% can change the world! 

Remembering 9/11

It's hard to believe it's been ten years. And it's hard to believe how it still feels like yesterday. 

We were in Nis, Serbia.  We had only been living there for one month.  We didn't know many people.  We had satellite TV, and we laughed how we were able to get Fox News from the US.  Most afternoons we would watch the morning show, Fox and Friends.  It was nice to be able to have that connection to the US.  That day, we had lots of errands to run around town in preparation for a volunteer group who was coming.  We sat down for a late lunch and turned on Fox and Friends.  We saw the coverage of the first tower that had been hit, and then saw the second tower hit.  We couldn't believe what was happening.  We were dazed, but we had an appointment in town, so we left and went to the hotel.  We walked in the hotel and saw the TV turned on, covering the events in the US.  Then we saw the Pentagon coverage.  We knew we had to get home and find out what was going on.  We got home and turned Fox News back on.  We saw the towers fall.  We were in shock.  And we didn't know if we were in danger.  All we knew was that it was a terrorist attack on the US.  Serbia had been bombed by NATO just two years before - was this some sort of revenge?  Or even if it wasn't, would we still be in danger by some who would take this as a call for revenge on America for previous attacks?  Almost immediately our neighbors whom we had just met came to us, saying how sorry they were for what was happening and asking if there was anything they could do for us.  They cried with us.  They comforted us.  They told us that we were safe with them.  They would take care of us.  These people who we had only known for a month, comforting us - mostly in a language that we were just learning and not fully understanding.  But we felt their comfort, we were so touched.  One friend said, "Now you have a little understanding of what our country went through."  God had comforted them, and they were now comforting me. 

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

My prayers are with all who lost loved ones on 9/11.  I pray that many will look to the Lord for comfort and salvation. 

Life Without Kids

We are in a new phase of life, as most of you know - NO KIDS AT HOME!  It's been a week since I returned from getting them all settled in their new nests, and now I'm getting settled in my "new" home and life.  Things are different!  Less laundry, fewer dishes, more food - just a few of the differences.  It's also very quiet in the house! 

I'm working to get more of a daily routine.  I've started swimming laps at a pool in Ovcar Banja, about 15 minutes away, almost every morning.  I'm enjoying the exercise!  My goal is to get back to swimming butterfly!  I'd love to be able to do 100m of fly - maybe by the end of October.  This past week I've been working on preparing vegetables and fruits for the winter.  I've cut up lots and lots of peppers to freeze and made and canned applesauce.  I still want to make and can salsa.  I try to spend some time each day on different work projects - Bible study for our ladies' group, stuff for language learners, newsletters, website updates, blog updates, emails to different people, etc.  There's always a little cleaning that needs to be done around the house, so I try to do one big task a day.  And then there's my favorite part - visiting friends!!  I try to visit at least one person/day - visits are usually more than an hour long around here!  One day this week, I was able to visit three friends in one afternoon!  Unfortunately, because I was seeing so many, the visits were shorter than I'd have liked.  Well, now I have time.  Evenings right now are time spent with Karl and trying to reach at least one of the kids.  I'd love to hear from all three every day, but for now, it's usually one/day - spreading out the love!  :)

It's still a bit strange not having any kids around, but I am so thankful for where God has them!  They are happy and enjoying their schools!  God has given me JOY, even in this new phase of life!

The Long Way Home

When I boarded the airplane in Dallas Wednesday, August 31st, I had no idea of the journey that lie ahead.  We all settled into our seats, had our meal, began watching movies or falling asleep.  We had been on the plane about five hours when the lights suddenly came on.  It was about 10pm (Texas time).  The pilot came on the speaker and said that the crew had detected a chemical leak and would have to make an emergency landing.  We were already over an hour out over the Atlantic ocean, so we had to turn around to return to the closest landing place - Gander, Newfoundland, Canada.  Believe me, the prayers were being spoken for a safe return and landing! 

We landed in Gander at about 11:30 Texas time, 2am Gander time (they are in a 1/2 time zone!).  We all left the plane and walked into the airport.  We were confused, concerned, upset, and every other emotion that goes along with that.  We were thankful that we were not at the bottom of the ocean, but we just didn't really understand what was happening.  We were so grateful for free internet at the airport so I was able to contact Karl and other family members via email, Skype and Facebook.  The captain came out after a few hours to inform us that there were 400 containers of chemicals/hazardous materials on the plane in the cargo hold and that they were going through each one to find the leak.  And he let us know that because he called in a Mayday, we would have to wait 12-15 hours for a certified mechanic to be flown in to sign off on the airplane before we could fly out again. 

After several more hours, he let us know that they didn't find the leak, but that we still had to wait for the mechanic.  Thankfully, they lined up hotels for us to go to and meal vouchers for the hotel restaurants. We were in the airport for 7 1/2 hours before we got to the hotel.  I quickly ate breakfast, then went straight to bed.  I woke up about 5pm local time, went downstairs to get something to eat, and learned that we would be picked up at 6:30 to return to the airport!  Yipee!  We were all so excited to resume our journey!  We arrived at the airport, but didn't receive any additional information.  About two hours later, we finally saw the crew arrive.  We really thought we would leave soon.  Another 2 hours passed before we learned that they were taking the cargo of hazardous material off of the plane (not sure why that didn't happen 15 hours earlier!) and were loading up the food for us.  We were all going a bit crazy - several of us even began a fashion show with the Lufthansa blankets! 

Finally about 12:30 we began boarding the plane.  We took off at 1:15am to resume our flight to Frankfurt.  We had been in Gander for almost 24 hours, most of it in the airport.  We were very thankful for the people of Gander - they were absolutely wonderful!  And the really cool thing was talking with the workers who had been working on 9/11 when 39 planes had to land there after airspace was closed.  They cared for more than 6500 people for several days!  Check out this article about it.

After 51 hours of travel, I finally arrived home in Cacak.  I was absolutely exhausted.  I had only slept about 7 hours total.  I'm still trying to recover from the jet lag.  I'm so thankful to be home, safe and alive.  It could have turned out much differently, but I'm thankful that the Lord spared us.  I'm also thankful for new friends that I met during our hours in the airport.  We were able to find JOY in the midst of the craziness.  Thank you, Lord!