Sixteen Years and Two Weeks

For a change, this will have very little to do with our life here in our new home, but a lot to do with the man who is my home.

Sixteen years and two weeks ago, on August 13th, 1994, I got to marry my best friend.  We were so young (24 and 21) and skinny and naive.  We had no idea where these last sixteen years would lead us...11 different mailing addresses,  8 full-time (and countless part-time) jobs between the two of us,  and 7 churches.  We've been to 7 different countries and 21 states together.  We've ridden just about every type of transportation know to man...except maybe a helicopter and a rickshaw.  We've seen hundreds of movies, and eaten enough guacamole and ice cream to kill us at an early age.  We've been blessed with three amazing children and more *"heart-friends" than anyone deserves in a lifetime.  When we got married Trey, of course, picked the music.  At the last minute he added a song that was sung while we lit the unity candle.  Here are the lyrics:

We lift our voices, we lift our hands.

We lift our lives; they are yours.  We are an offering.

Lord, use our voices, Lord, use our hands.

Lord, use our lives; they are yours.  We are an offering.

All that we have, all that we are, all that we hope to be...we give to you.

Lord, use our voices, Lord, use our hands.

Lord, use our lives...they are yours.  We are an offering.  We are an offering.

I've thought of that song a lot over the last few months.  It is still true.  Although we've both failed numerous times and in many ways our hearts' desire is still the same.  We are His.  He is the reason for all the blessings over the last sixteen years.  He deserves all the glory.  We would have completely ruined the whole thing.  I don't know why we have been so blessed, but I do know that we are humbled by it and want to be faithful with what has been entrusted to us.  We are an offering.

*This is a term I'm stealing from my friend Bonnie.  Your heart language is the language you talk about the things closest to your heart in.  It is almost always your mother tongue.  We are struggling through learning Serbian so we can talk to people here about "heart" matters.  Bonnie said some friends are like that...you just speak the same "language" and you can talk about the most important and intimate things with them.

Buses, Trains and Automobiles...our trip to Bulgaria

Our journey began about 5 o'clock one Friday afternoon in July.  We left our apartment in Novi Sad with 2 rather large suitcases, 5 backpacks 2 purses, a computer bag, and a few other random items...and...

• took a city bus to the bus station 
• took another bus to Belgrade 
• walked a few blocks 
• took the overnight train you see above to Sofia, Bulgaria 
• took a different train to Plovdiv, Bulgaria where we got to hang with the Grozevs!!! 
• took a bus to the Hissaria bus station 
• took a cab to the hotel 
• took a very large van with some great friends through Bulgaria and all the way back to Belgrade 
• !!!Connor and I took a bonus ride in a Bulgarian ambulance, but that is another story!!! 
• took a bus from Belgrade back to Novi Sad and... finally 
• took a cab from the station in Novi Sad back to our apartment 

And there you go...

• 11 vehicles 
• 10 days 
• 9 worship times
• 8 new t-shirts 
• 7 other youth for Connor to "hang" with 
• 6 days with co-laborers 
• 5 US fast food chains (Burger King, McDonald's Subway, KFC and Dunkin Donuts) 
• 4 (at least) babies for Brooke to hug on 
• 3 days at the beach 
• 2 foreign languages 
• 1 great trip 

 I couldn't get Kyle to keep his head in the train...He loved watching everything pass by.

Connor and Trey standing outside our sleeper car and enjoying the fact that the VERY HOT train had started moving...the view and the breeze were very nice.

Brooke and Kyle in the sleeper compartment on the overnight train...the lady that sold us the tickets was very sure that the three bed compartment would be plenty big for our family.  (She lied).  Connor slept on the top bed (where Brooke is in the picture), Trey and Connor slept in the middle bunk (where you see Kyle here) and Brooke and I slept on the bottom one.  She also said the three bed sleepers were much nicer than the 6 bed compartments...well... 

Brooke and I enjoying a peach tea about 17 hours into the journey on the train 

between Sofia and Plovdiv.

The boys on the train...we couldn't wait to hang with the Grozevs in Grozio's homeland.  They were already waiting for us a the train station.  We were late because our first train was late and we missed the early train to Plovdiv...they were looking for us all over the Bulgarian countryside, afraid we'd gotten off in the wrong city.  They were awesome hosts!

This one's for you Kyle Stevens...Oh, the posts that will never be...

This picture really has nothing to do with this post...other than the fact that Kyle Stevens allowed his children to bury him first and then Trey was obligated to do the same.  I guess too, that this is one of the things I "thought" a blog post about...notice the strategically placed shovel in front of the baby in the background...I could have done a whole post on the way people dress (or maybe I should say don't dress) on the beaches of Eastern Europe.

Okay, okay, I know I said I would post every Sunday and I've failed miserably...I could list some excuses, but I will spare you all my sad stories of my blogging short comings...I know you...all 17 of you who follow this post don't want to hear excuses you want to see posts!
My dear friend named in the title of this post has shamed me into getting back on the blogging bandwagon.  And in his honor I decided to make a post listing all the ideas I could have blogged about...many of which I even "thought" the post, but never got around to typing...so here we go:

• What it must have been like to take the train from Yugoslavia to Bulgaria in 1953...pretty much the  same as in 2010, only the border crossing at 5am would have taken a lot more than an hour and a half.
• How it messes with your mind when in Bulgaria a nod means "no" and a shake means "yes"...very confusing my friends...very confusing!
• How a bird can be flying overhead in the rain and miraculously poop through the very small slit in the canvas covering over our table to hit Trey in the head. 
• Burger King in the middle of no where...is it real or is it a mirage to these tired eyes? (Seriously, the middle of nowhere...on a road in the middle of sunflower fields, many kilometers from the nearest city...a brand new, clean and modern place to have it your way!)
• Never get into an ambulance with a man you don't know.  It could cost you 65 Euro.
• The "Ambassador Club" isn't just in Chicago.
• Care packages ROCK...all the love we've received in the last six weeks has been AMAZING!!!
• "No, I don't know the names of the people who just took my son out of the country for ten days to a place I really don't know the name of and no, I don't know exactly when they will return, but that doesn't really bother me like it would have a few months ago."
• How many people can you feed and get out the door by 8 am without water, and what will your house look like after the fact?
• The importance of carrying a driver's license with you when you are driving in Serbia...I really can't state this strongly enough...it is; as we have found VITALLY important.
• How a very powerful God can change the mind of a very angry police officer at the very last minute.
• The best way to strengthen your prayer life is to drive on the country roads of Eastern Europe...just WOW!
• There are a lot of things that just don't get done when your days are limited to 24 hours.
• How blessed we are to have people who still love us and lift us up even though I am doing a lousy job of updating them on our lives.  
• Sesame seeds are big in Serbia...just ask Jackie.
• I work with some amazing people who really love God and others!
• Klima is really a good thing.
• 42 reasons I miss dependable internet

And that is all I've got for today.  Thanks for bearing with this back-sliding blogger.