Creativity and Individuality (February 24, 2015)

Today I am sitting in my kitchen, baking cookies and keeping an eye on laundry as the sun shines brightly through my window. I love sunny days. They make me... happy. Its a simple part of who I am, and not everyone will be just like me. Some may like snow and cold, others may like rain and grey skies. There is another thing that may make me slightly different from other. The cookies I am baking. Don't get me wrong, I am SO excited about the cookies. My good friend Irna gave me some brown sugar while I was in America to bring home to Albania with me, as it is very hard to find here. However, no matter how excited I am about the brown sugar, it is not what makes my cookies unique. My cookies are special because they are chocolate-chipless cookies. No, you did not read that wrong. Every time I eat a delicious chocolate chip cookie, I DREAM of how amazing it would be without the chocolate chips. I am sure some of you are wondering if this is legal, and knowing it is not sane, but just face the fact. I am a unique individual made by a masterful Creator God and I love my chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips. No, not sugar cookies. They are more like BROWN sugar cookies. Yum yum.

When I think about the last 4 years I have spent in Albania, I realize more and more the importance of recognizing God as a divine creator. It is so easy to get caught up in the things that annoy me or cultural differences that are hard to overcome. When I change my mindset, however, to a one that is curious to discover all the tiny intricacies of this humanity our God has created, I find life is a lot more interesting and fulfilling and a lot less bland, boring and difficult.

When I first started teaching my class of Roma girls, they did not even know how to color in a picture. They wanted me to tell them what color everything should be. They didn't feel the freedom to create something of their own imagination. Today, however, I see how far God has brought us. I am so thankful for the various art projects we are able to throw into our schooling, such as tye-dying T-shirts with my roommate Rose (who was very kind to provide the supplies needed AND come show us how to do it). Every shirt came out completely individual, and 4 years later, that is ok in Roma school.

I love asking God to show me what is special about individual people. There is always something that makes them unique, special and interesting. The other night I was at a dinner with the Christians couples of Elbasan, and I remembered just WHY it is that I love this culture. They love to laugh. It is all about relationships. When you are in a room with someone, you are their priority, and they are yours. There is something deeper here than at home in that way. I appreciate that God is even showing me the lovable differences in cultures. Neither is bad, they are just different. Why?

Our God is the ultimate Creator. Why would he want us all to be the same? Our creativity, our individuality, our passions and our annoyances all bring Him glory because He is a master designer. No two from His production line will ever be the same. So, as you go about your day, just as I have done here in Albania, challenge yourself to ask God to show you the awesome and special things about the people in your life, even the more difficult ones.

(Tye Dying)

Thanks for reading,

Julie

Update 1-23-2015

It has been forever and a minute since I have blogged or even sent out an update. Three months in America whizzed by and I am so happy that I got to touch base (personally) with so many of you all, my friends, family and supporters. I thank you all so much for your hospitality while I was in the DFW area and I look forward to maintaining these very important friendships for life. To those who I did not get the chance to meet with personally, because of conflicts of schedule, I hope that we will make it work the next time I am in town.

So, how has life been since I have been back in Albania? Well it started off with a bang. Literally. I arrived in country on the 30th of December. The next day was New Year's Eve, and if you have any sort of fear of loud noises or fireworks, Albania may not be the place for you on this particular holiday. I was very happy to be back to celebrate the most important holiday of the year with my friends in Albania. At midnight the skies light up with fireworks from seemingly every single house in the city. It is a beautiful sight to behold. A small child once said "Its like a beautiful, beautiful war.". I concur. This year the fireworks were a little short-lived because it was VERY cold outside. For the last week of December and the first week of January, Albania experienced a very harsh cold snap, sending lows plummeting to near 0 degrees Fahrenheit. I am thankful for the fleece blanket one of the sweet ladies in my church bought me while I was home. I used it a lot during that cold snap. I also finally gave in and got an electric blanket, which has made all the difference. Now my bed is cozy at night. Just hoping it doesn't affect the electric bill too much!

The work here in Elbasan is going strong and I am happy to see the direction things are going. One of the main purposes of serving as a missionary is to empower the people to reach their own for Christ and to help one another. This spring, I am very proud to say, after only a few months, I will be handing off the Elbasan youth church to a team of young Christian Albanians. Their leadership and commitment thus far has been top notch and I am amazed at how much God has built a strong leadership team amongst us already. I will be honored to let them carry on that work and I know that they can be 10 times (if not more) more effective than I can be, because they will be reaching their own culture, and their own people. God has really done a beautiful work in this Youth Church.

As for working in the Roma area, the girls are reading books now and are probably going to be married off soon, as is cultural for them. I am very happy to have served these 4 years building them in their knowledge and in their faith in Jesus. I cannot wait to see how this new generation of Christian girls run their families and how their faith will affect their households and in turn that entire neighborhood. I am sad that this will be our last year of school, but I couldn't be prouder of everything we have accomplished. I know that God holds them in His hands and that He will lead them and guide them now as they become adults in their culture.

So, having said all of that, some of you may be wondering if my time in Albania is coming to a close, because it seems like the works here are no longer in need of my help. While that is true, the change will not be as big as me coming back to America to live.  I know that God has called me to Albania and I truley cannot wait for my next adventure to begin. I have been offered a great opportunity to help a church in another city in Albania. The city is called Korce and I will be moving there in May. Having been to Korce many times before, I have a great relationship with a church there. The church has grown by leaps and bounds and the Pastor has asked me to come and help create some new outreaches that the church has had on their hearts to do for a very long time. I am in awe of how God has lined everything up to work out for all of us in just the right timing and I cannot wait to see the amazing works He will do in this new city and new adventure. I cannot wait to bring you more news, and believe me, there is more good news coming from Albania very soon. Stay tuned!

I want to thank each and every one of you for your friendship, love, prayers and financial support. Without you, none of this would be possible.

Thanks for reading,

Julie

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